Cover image is from ColbyJackRabbit.

Chapter 4

It was a day after I caught Oddish that I started my journey. We went ahead and gone through Viridian Forest, almost nearing Pewter.

Things were going fine. I managed to scrounge up enough money for myself to buy food for both me and Oddish through battling. There were plenty of trainers on the road that challenged me and weren't nervous about making bets.

And right now we're in the middle of one of them.

"Caterpie, use tackle!"

Oddish dodged to the side without me needing to say anything, then retaliated with a kick to the side of the bug. The caterpie landed hard on the ground from the hit. It laid down there for a moment, then struggled to stand up.

Young blood made for arrogant trainers, and a great source of money. Newbies, especially teenaged ones, think they're hot shit. You only need to separate which ones do have the pokemon to back up their words or the ones who are just full of hot air.

"Damn it!" the trainer I was battling raged. The kid challenged me earlier with a cocky smile on his face and used a caterpie of all things. "Caterpie, you can do it! You can beat that piece of grass anytime! You just have to believe!"

To my surprise, the caterpie began to cry out its name as it tried to stand… and its body started glowing. The trainer gasped as his pokemon began to change form in front of him.

The caterpie had evolved into a Metapod.

"Haha, yes! Take that!" the trainer shouted. "This is my win! Metapod, use tackle!"

The Metapod, revitalized by its evolution, cried its name out and charged at Oddish.

Oddish rolled her eyes and sidestepped the attack, making the Metapod flop to the ground. It then tried to stand up but it seemed to have difficulty doing so. It's probably not used to its new form yet.

Oddish looked at the flopping metapod on the ground then turned to look at me impatiently. "Odd, oddish!"

Well, it's time to end things anyway. Time to use the new move Oddish learned.

"Mega drain."

Oddish simply stepped on the Metapod and green tendrils of energy absorbed the pokemon's energy into her. It didn't even have the chance, unable to move and completely under the mercy of Oddish despite the not very effective move.

It was honestly kind of sad.

Then finally, the metapod stopped moving as it fell unconscious.

"Metapod!" his trainer cried as he ran and kneeled on the ground to check over his pokemon.

Oddish removed her foot from the bug pokemon and walked towards me, and the trainer stood back up as he returned his pokemon back to his pokeball. I nod at him.

"Good match." I say politely with a palm extended.

"Yeah yeah whatever." he grumbles as he puts the money in my hands.

I grin as I count the sweet, sweet earnings as I walk away. Five hundred pokedollars. Chump change considering the price of bottled water around here, but if summed with my other earnings for the other matches I now have enough money that at least solves food concerns for the rest of the week. That's insane considering it's been a single day ever since we started battling.

I turned to Oddish, who looked disappointed at the fight and was starting to look bored. It's understandable—she kept curb stomping the previous pokemon for our fights after all.

"Do you want to return to your ball?" I asked and got a shake of her head in reply. "Alright, suit yourself. We're nearing Pewter City anyway. There we could challenge their gym."

Oddish looked at me confused. "Odd?"

I think I could guess where the confusion came from.

"Pokemon gyms. It's a place where you can fight strong trainers to prove your worth." I explained to the grass type. "They have strong pokemon there, so if you want to be stronger then the goal is to beat them. There are lots of Pokemon gyms in the region and if we beat the gym leader we'll receive a badge. Most elite trainers with the powerful pokemon have received all the gym badges."

I glanced at Oddish while the both of us walked. Her face didn't change, but I can tell from the short time we've been together that there is interest in her body language.

"The one we're headed for is the Pewter City gym, mostly known for having Rock-type pokemon." I continued. "You might have a type advantage, but you're looking at pokemon that can hurl large rocks at you. Not to mention how the gym leader should have a large Onix…" I trailed off.

With the world not being limited to turn-based battles and simple move commands, I can't really underestimate the danger Brock possesses. Facing something as large as Onix will be hard. A little sweep of its tail and this little Oddish might go splat.

Oddish frowned at that, then gained a contemplative expression. "Odd…" she muttered.

"So to beat them, we're going to need to train."

Oddish blinked, then turned to me with a bemused expression.

I raise an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that? It's our deal, isn't it? That I'll make you strong."

I'm not as confident as I make myself sound, but I do still believe that we have a chance at defeating Brock. Just as the world not being similar to the games makes things harder for me, it also opens up a bunch of possibilities.

I'm not an experienced trainer, and I won't delude myself into thinking that I can reach their level with just a bit of battling on my part. I do however have the element of surprise on my side here, much like the fight in my trainer examination. That, and a very motivated pokemon. I only need to capitalize it and we might win.

I look up at the sky. It's still noon, so there's plenty of time. And now that we finally have enough money…

Turning to Oddish, I spoke.

"Say, are you up for experimenting with some of your moves?"

Oddish was a physical fighter.

She preferred to go up close and personal, fighting her opponent by kicking them with all of her strength. Normally a kick from something as small as her wouldn't do much damage, but she's shown to be strong and agile enough to pull it off. Those kicks of hers are strong enough to bodily throw away a beedrill after all.

Her stamina is decent. Compared to the pokemon of the trainers we fought, she ended up outlasting them by a large margin. However, her short stubby legs meant that if she wanted to cross long distances in a short time meant that she had to exert herself a lot. I did a few laps with her and she ended up being exhausted.

Normally that would be a problem as mobility is important if she wanted to go in her physical route. She needed to train her stamina more to compensate for the lack of long limbs or else she would end up tiring herself out in a match.

Thankfully, there was a way to fix that problem immediately.

Mega drain and Absorb. These moves revitalize Oddish for her to recover her stamina back. Both moves can be used in tandem with her staying close to her opponents while she fights.

The moves require Oddish's concentration to use, but she could still move around. With enough practice she can essentially drain an opponent of their energy while she kept fighting, keeping her revitalized with almost limitless stamina until the opponent gets drained dry.

It'll be far until she gets from that level though. Concentrating on something else while engaging in close combat is a sure way to get yourself knocked out. So either she had to stick close to the pokemon like she did with the beedrill or do it in short bursts. It won't be as effective, but it sure is better than nothing.

On a related note, she has an excellent recovery rate. I think it has something to do with the sun. From the short time we've been together I've noticed that she's most energetic at noon and becomes lethargic at night. I could chalk it up being her ability as Chlorophyll but I think it has something to do with her being a grass type pokemon.

And finally, there are the powder moves.

Oddish has Poison powder, Stun spore, and best of all, Sleep powder. She can spray a sparkling cloud of them from her leaves almost instantaneously, with the only problem being she can't control where it goes. Far away, the powder can be easily avoided and easily gets dispersed by the wind. But since Oddish prefers to go up close…

Well, safe to say that getting a faceful of concentrated sleep powder can knock anyone off their feet.

In the end, she now had a fighting style that depended on draining the opponent and wearing them down with powder moves while beating them up physically. There are still some kinks to be worked out, but faced in a fight, she's a dreadful combatant. The number of trainers we defeated on the way was a testament to that.

I'm not arrogant enough to say that it's enough to beat the gym leader, but it's enough to give us a chance. Rock type moves are super effective to anything as long as the boulder hitting you is traveling fast enough. I'm thinking of scouting how Brock battles first before trying to challenge him.

Now that all that information is out of the way…

…

…

The sounds of urbanity surround me. After a day of being in the woods and blessed silence, I was once more back into society. People pass by me, talking with their friends, listening to music on headphones, or hurrying their way to their work—each living their own lives while I live mine.

Unlike Viridian, Pewter wasn't that much of a developed city. Sure there were tall buildings. but they reminded me more of the countryside than a metropolis. Even the air is cleaner here, and I find myself liking it.

But as much as I'd like to relax, there are some things I should do.

I shook the dozing Oddish on my duffel bag. "Hey, we're here in Pewter."

Oddish grumbled in irritation as she stirred from her sleep, then she blearily opened her eyes and glared at me. What, you're angry? What we agreed on is that you're my partner, not my pet pokemon. We both get equal rights. And equal rights mean you don't get to sleep while I do all the walking.

"Oddish!?"

Oh, did I say that out loud? Oops, silly me.

"Anyway, we're going to be visiting a Pokemon center to check you out." I said, ignoring the glare that I get for changing the subject. "I don't really know what they're gonna do to you there, but it'll probably keep you healthy and whatnot."

Oddish gave me a doubtful look. "No, really. They have a Chansey and everything. They're as trustworthy as they can get." I said to ease her worries.

That seems to mollify her slightly. "Odd…"

"Meanwhile I'm going to do some boring stuff and register you as my pokemon." I take a look around and see a familiar logo in one building. "Speaking of…"

It didn't take time for me to do everything I needed to do in the pokemon center. When I entered, there was a Nurse Joy waiting in a counter with a professional smile whom I gave my trainer card and Oddish to. When I mentioned that she was my first pokemon I was given a form that I needed to fill out, but it contained a lot of troublesome stuff relating to my family's information, my hometown and address, et cetera.

I tried not to wince as Nurse Joy's expression turned sad when she read what I filed out. It always annoyed me when people did that, misunderstanding that I'm some sort of homeless orphan. But she never commented on it and instead took Oddish, who reluctantly went back into her ball, for a check-up.

I was told to wait a while after that because apparently there was a queue, but I didn't mind it that much. There was a lounge in the center with an installed TV, and I sat on their comfy-looking sofas. Best of all they have AC. If I had my way, I'd rather stay here forever honestly.

As I sank into sofa-heaven, I spent my time running my mental checklist of what to buy now that I have more budget. Naturally food is important, and now that I'm not traveling alone I'd have to factor Oddish as well. More tools like a knife or utensils would be good too… and I'll see about buying books also, since I'm pretty much an alien around here and know little of the ways of the Pokepeople.

I discreetly glanced at a group of teen trainers talking to one another near me in the lounge, then laughing obnoxiously at some joke that I didn't get to hear.

"Hey, hey. Do you think we should visit the museum today? Apparently there was a big event."

"Oh, you mean about the fossil pokemon? I dunno, do you want to?"

"Hmph, fossil pokemon are cool, but they're not as cool as my pokemon."

"Hey, hey, do you want to trade? My rattata for your nidoran."

Look at these creatures, socializing without shame. They're disgusting.

I was about to tune them out when a chansey came in with a trolley, containing pokeballs on top. She took one and raised it to me, giving me a bright and unfortunately just a professional smile. "Chan!"

I nod my head and take the ball. "Thank you."

The Chansey smiled again before taking the trolley and walking away towards the other trainers. I opened the ball and Oddish came out in a flash of light on the sofa. She looked around for a moment in the unfamiliar room before seeing me.

"What's up? Did they open you up there?" I asked jokingly and partially curious at what they're doing in the pokemon center.

Oddish grumbled and sat down on the sofa. She blinked at the softness of it, before sinking on the fluffiness that is the sofa. Heh.

"Anyway, we're going to be making a few shopping trips for the meantime." I say to her as I follow suit. "After that we're going to watch how Brock fights. Then we'll make strategies from those fights, and challenge him right after."

"Odd? Oddish, odd oddish!"

"..." I turn to look at her. "I have no idea what you just said."

Oddish looked at me with flat look in her eyes before opening her mouth—

"Breaking news! We're interrupting this current program with a live broadcast of something shocking happening in Pewter City. It appears the Pewter Museum of Science Expo happening as of this moment was interrupted by an unknown terrorist group!"

The lounge paused as they heard the voice of the reporter saying the news. I turned towards the TV.

It was showing live footage of a building's entrance filled with black smoke. A mass of people were seen panickingly running out of the building, chased out by zubats, raticates, and koffings who spewed out the gas.

The pokemon were being directed by a group of people wearing black uniforms.

One with a recognizable 'R' in their chest.

"The police haven't responded yet but they are on their way! People of Pewter City, please stay away from the Museum's general area for your safety! Stay inside your homes and be on the lookout for similarly dressed people!"

"Team Rocket…" I muttered.

"Odd…!" I turned my head to the side and saw Oddish looking at the TV with shock, which then turned into anger. "Oddish!"

Much to my shock, she jumped off the sofa then ran to the exit.

I sat there dumbly for a moment, before shaking it off and exited the pokemon center to hurry after.

"Just what the hell is going on?" I harshly whisper as I run to catch up to Oddish.

Surely, she's not planning to go to fight Team Rocket right?

Right!?

Bit of an infodump and the starting of munchkin. I'll try to overdo it too much and keep it in regulated, and most importantly, interesting levels.

Any reviews are appreciated. Thank you for reading!