Chapter 2
I do not own Pokemon. I only own my OCs.
Route 1 was a long path that stretched from Pallet Town to Viridian City. There were only a few species of Pokemon that lived on the route, most of which were pidgey and rattata. Some novice Trainers also liked to camp out on the parts closer to either Pallet Town and Viridian City, since they could jump unsuspecting Trainers with a battle, and catch some of the weaker Pokemon here.
However, some Trainers had reported seeing large flocks of spearow around the area. Spearow were usually found on other routes, but a large Fearow had outed many Spearows out of their own territory, causing flocks of them to search for new nesting places elsewhere. The Flying-types were very territorial and aggressive, and would not hesitate to attack anything or anyone that crosses their line of sight.
There were also sightings of bellsprout and oddish along the path (This is from the Let's Go series, will be important in this chapter). The grass types were mostly found farther east where it was warmer, but recent reports had intrigued Professor Oak to do some field research and find out the reason that these grass-types were so far from home.
Currently, Ash, Nate, and Angelina were setting up camp for the night. The sun was starting to set, so the three made preparations and set up camp. They had found a suitable spot not far from the main path and decided to drop their things after a long day of walking.
Ash looked at his Pokedex, which conveniently came with a map feature. The trio had covered about 20 miles before stopping for the night. Another day on the road and they would reach Viridian City.
Nate and Angelina were pretty easy to get along with, and Nate had even challenged Ash to a game of chess. Ash wasn't keen on playing the game, but was saved when Nate's Charmander decided it was a good idea to eat one of the knight pieces, which was shaped like a Rapidash.
They had also met a few Trainers along the way, which Ash was able to beat with Porygon. He wasn't surprised that the kids who hung out on this Route had no experience battling against an artificial Pokemon. His last match of the day was especially easy, in which a boy had sent out a lowly metapod, claiming it would wipe the floor with his Porygon. Needless to say, the evolution of caterpie only knew Harden, which didn't help much against ranged attacks, and was knocked out with a single Download boosted Ice Beam.
The kids that hung around the routes were usually from either Pallet Town or Viridian City, and liked to train here since the wild Pokemon tended to be weak and easy to catch.
He'd gotten a good amount of money from battling, which would be useful once they got to Viridian City. Generally Trainers tended to bet money on who would win a match. League sanctioned matches such as gym battles and conference matches banned any sort of gambling, since these battles had more at stake and were mandatory for a Trainer to progress through their journey anyways.
Ash leafed through the wallet his mom had given him for his tenth birthday. He had around three thousand Pokedollars, a sizable amount that would be more than enough to buy PokeBalls, Potions, and Pokemon food for the next few days.
He pulled out his rations for the night and started to dig into them. He had packed plenty of Pokemon food, under the pretense that he would be getting a squirtle, but since Porygon didn't eat anything, he decided to split some of it with Nate and Angelina, and save some in case he caught another Pokemon in the near future.
Speaking of which, he had his sights set on a Pidgey that was pecking at some seeds just a few yards away from their campsite. Pidgey were common partners for Trainers starting out, which was evident from the multiple Pidgeys he had battled earlier that day. They were loyal Pokemon that made great companions for anyone needing a flying Pokemon. Pidgeot were fast, unlike Fearow, a species that tended to be a bit on the sluggish side and mainly relied on its pointed beak as its main form of offense. They were docile, and usually scattered near the presence of humans, so he had to do this quickly.
He reached inside his bag to grab a PokeBall and…
… grabbed nothing but air.
He frantically rummaged through his bag, looking for any sign of the red and white balls. Nothing.
Ash groaned internally. In his haste to get to the Professor's Lab he had forgotten to pack one of the most important tools a Trainer could have.
Angelina noticed his dismay and handed him a PokeBall, but the Pidgey had already noticed his attempt to catch it and hastily flew away before he could throw a ball, stirring up dust with its wings. The boy sighed in defeat. There was nothing he could do now.
Ash turned his attention toward the camp, where Nate's Charmander had already started a fire. He realized he hadn't done a single thing to help his friends set up camp, and spotted Nate hauling some more firewood over. He walked over to the bespectacled boy and held out his arms.
"Need help with that?" Ash asked.
"Yeah." Nate said, placing the wood in his hands. "Thanks."
Ash dropped the wood on the already burning pile of logs, which made the fire grow in intensity. He unraveled his sleeping bag and started digging into his rations again. His mom had packed him some of her homemade spaghetti, and he made sure to savor it. It would be his last chance to have one of her meals for a long time.
"So Ash." Angelina said, trying to start some small banter. "How'd you end up with… that thing as your starter?" she pointed at Porygon, who didn't seem phased by Angelina's confusion. Ash managed to swallow his food before responding.
"I got it from the Professor since he ran out of starter Pokemon." Ash said. "It's called Porygon. It's a man-made Pokemon from Cinnabar Island."
"That's cool." Nate said. "At least you're not stuck with a naughty Fire-type who won't stop eating my jacket. RIGHT Charmander?"
Charmander unlatched its jaws from Nate's jacket and growled at the boy. Ash stifled a laugh. "You better hope you can get it to listen once it becomes a Charizard." he said, "Those things have too much pride for their own good."
"Yeah... I can hardly wait for when that happens..." Nate replied dryly. He looked over at Ash and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, how do you know so much about Pokemon? You seem to be able to get along with an artificial Pokemon just fine, even though you've never met one as far as I know."
"Well I've wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer ever since I was five years old." Ash responded. "I always tried to watch as many battles as I could, and went to Oak's corral a lot to interact with the Pokemon there. It was a way for me to see so many Pokemon without having to travel the Kanto region."
"Sounds like you've got your future planned out." Angelina said, "I'm not sure what I want to do though. Maybe travel the world someday. Kanto has a lot of cool places to explore."
"Me neither." Nate said, "I just want to make a name for myself at the Conference that's coming up. All the prodigies are going to be there. The Elite Four and Champion come to watch as well, so maybe I can get them to notice me."
The Indigo Plateau Conference was a region-wide tournament held every two years. It was a chance for trainers new and old to test their skills against each other. It was made up of a single elimination bracket, giving Trainers only one chance to prove their skills and steamroll through the competition.
The winner of the tournament would be given the honor of facing off against the Kanto Elite Four. If they managed to triumph against the four incredibly skilled members, they would face off against the Champion, Lance.
Each Elite Four member specialized in a different type, and all of them were extremely powerful. Ash could only dream he'd get to their level in a couple of years.
First there was Lorelei, the Ice-type expert who hailed from the Sevii Islands. Her strategy was freezing her opponents into oblivion, and while her entire team was a mix of Water and Ice types, it doesn't make her any less of a threat.
After that was Bruno, a Fighting-type specialist who trained his Pokemon as well as himself every single day, striving to get stronger. His team of fighters could throw and take a punch as easily as they could breathe.
Then there was Agatha, who specialized in Ghost types. Her team, like Lorelei's, was Ghost-types with some Poison types in the mix. She was the oldest member of the Elite Four and was a former companion of Professor Oak. Despite this, she was ruthless in battle.
Finally, there was Lance, the final member of the Elite Four, who was known as a dragon master. Even Trainers who managed to get past Agatha fell under the might of his dragons. Dragon-types were considered the hardest Pokemon to train, yet he had amassed an army of them he could summon with the release of a PokeBall. There was a reason why so many young Trainers aspired to be like him, including Ash.
So far, no one had been able to get past Agatha, and Ash had been dreaming of the day he would battle in the Indigo Plateau Conference. Even qualifying it showed you had skill as a Trainer.
"Well we need to get eight badges before we can even think about signing up." Angelina said, scanning over her shiny new Pokedex. "Pewter City is a 2-day walk from Viridian City, where the Rock-type Gym is located. The gym leader there, Brock, is pretty strong."
"How are you guys going to deal with the rock types he has?" Ash asked them. "I'm hoping to catch a second Pokemon before I get to Pewter City. Porygon can't do reliable damage against Rock-types that well."
"Neither can Charmander." Nate remarked. "I'm planning to teach him Metal Claw by the time we reach Viridian City. Hopefully that way I can take down his Rock-types."
Brock was one of the harder Gym Leaders to face, mainly because not many Pokemon lived in the surrounding area that could deal with Rock-types easily, making it so that Trainers that came from the west side of Kanto tended to face problems regarding him team. Newer Trainers were better off heading to Cerulean or Vermillion City and challenging the gyms there, then coming back to Pewter City to face Brock once they have a solid team and a couple of badges.
Luckily, Gym Leaders used certain Pokemon based on the challengers skill level. Still, Brock was a tough opponent to face, no matter whether you were a newbie or an Elite Trainer. He always went all out, and people in Pewter City and the surrounding areas called him the Stone Cold Scrapper for a reason.
"I'm not worried though." Angelina said. "I have Bulbasaur." She patted the head of the small Grass-type, who leaned into her touch happily.
The three of them talked about their goals, what they would do once they reached Viridian City, and Gary (all of them held a deep dislike for the Professor's obnoxious and arrogant grandson).
Soon enough, the sky started to get darker and darker, and they started to feel more sluggish and tired. Nate sacrificed some of his water canteen to put out the fire they lit, and curled up in his sleeping bag.
"Good night guys." he mumbled.
"Good night you two." Angelina said before laying down in her own sleeping bag.
"See you guys in the morning." Ash said.
The trainers' respective Pokemon curled up next to them and shut their eyes, and Porygon made a half-hearted warble before closing its eyes and settling down on the ground, shutting off its levitation.
Ash said goodnight to Porygon before eyelids started to feel heavy, his senses went numb, and he let sleep claim his body.
The sun shined on Ash's face as he sat up and stretched his arms and legs. He took a whiff of himself and wrinkled his nose. He really needed a shower. He had fallen asleep in his Trainer's outfit, which was already starting to look dirty and had a few sweat stains. Hopefully the Pokemon Center had a place where he could do his laundry. He'd go crazy if he couldn't change into clean clothes soon.
The ten-year old looked over at his starter, who had already started to stir from its slumber. Their conversation about Brock last night had gotten the boy thinking about Porygon's abilities. He already knew the robotic duck had some good coverage in the form of Ice Beam and Thunderbolt. It seemed more comfortable using its ranged attacks than physical ones, and its levitation could definitely help in certain situations. He still needed to find out more about his strange new friend, and he looked over at Porygon, who had opened its eyes
"Have a good sleep?" Ash asked the Virtual Pokemon. It nodded without a word.
"Erm... that's good to hear." he said. He felt a little uneasy as Porygon's soulless pupils gazed into his eyes. It didn't seem to show any sort of emotion whatsoever, which was a little unnerving. He supposed it was something he would have to get used to. "Let's wake up the others."
Ash scanned the campsite and saw that Nate and Angelina were both asleep, their Pokemon sleeping quietly next to them. He crawled over to Nate and lightly shook him, trying to get him to wake up.
"Five more minutes…" he groaned.
"If you don't wake up I'll have Porygon use Thunderbolt on you." Ash said. Nate's eyes still remained closed and he turned to the side. He raised an eyebrow. It seemed he needed a bit of convincing.
"Porygon, Thunderbolt." The Normal-type nodded and shocked Nate with the electric-type move, causing his eyes to snap open and he yelled in pain. He trusted that Porygon wouldn't use it at full power, but it would be just enough to wake him up.
"OW!" he yelled, rubbing his head. "Not cool, Ash!"
"I tried to warn you." Ash said with a grin. Nate proceeded to tell him off for attacking him while he slept, waking up Charmander as well. The commotion caused Angelina to sit up and yawn. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the two boys.
"Ugh… my back hurts…" she complained. "What are you two doing?"
"Ash told his bird thingy to shock me." Nate said with a frown, turning his head to glare at the other boy. Ash just shrugged.
"Like I said, I tried to warn you," he responded. "We should get moving though if we want to get to Viridian City by nightfall."
"Alright…" Angelina said as she reached into her backpack. "Lemme just comb my hair first."
Nate rolled his eyes. "You don't need to comb anything." he said. "We're in the middle of a largely undeveloped area where barely anyone hangs around. I don't think it's that a big of a deal. It's not like anyone will see you."
"Maybe not to a boy like you." the blonde fired back. "But I always try to look my best."
Nate just crossed his arms and sneered. "Yeah yeah, whatever."
While Angelina was busy getting ready, Ash dug into his backpack and found the rations he packed for when he ran out of leftover food. He opened it and saw an assortment of vegetables, fruit, and a gray paste that he couldn't identify. He frowned. Maybe he should've saved some of that spaghetti. Even Porygon seemed to bristle when it looked at the gooey substance.
"Ugh…" Nate said as he opened his rations as well. "This looks gross. It's like a Grimer and a Vileplume had a baby and it puked."
Ash snickered at the remark, and decided to just eat the fruit and vegetables. He'd probably be hungry in a few hours, but it was a small price to pay to not eat… whatever that paste was.
After Angelina finished combing her hair, the three of them packed up their sleeping bags and kept walking down Route 1.
The rest of the day consisted of more walking and Trainer battles. Ash noticed a rise in temperature from yesterday, which only served to make their journey down Route 1 much less pleasant. He'd already completely emptied his water canteen in just a few hours, and was sweating like crazy. He really needed a bath.
It was at times like this he wished that he'd gotten a Squirtle.
Still, he didn't let himself waste the limited hours of daylight, and took battles as a chance for Porygon to practice Ice Beam and Thunderbolt. He assumed the Professor had only recently taught Porygon the TMs, and he saw that it preferred to use them over its Tackle, showing it liked to keep its distance in battle. He didn't really know what moves to teach it for now, so he decided to stick with practicing those two.
Nate and Angelina had also undergone their own early training in preparation for Brock. Nate had taken every chance he could to practice Metal Claw, much to the dismay of Charmander, who just wanted to sleep. It was their only edge against Brock they had as of now, and the boy wanted to practice it as much as possible.
Angelina was more lax about her training, since Bulbasaur already had a type advantage. She mainly worked on strengthening Bulbasaur's vines by having him lift things like rocks and other Pokemon during battles. Ash could see Bulbasaur tiring out as well, but unlike Charmander, he refused to show any sign of tiring in front of Angelina, and didn't complain once.
Ash started to notice that the number of Trainers began to increase as they got closer to Viridian City, which was a good sign. It meant that they were getting closer to civilization, which was an exciting prospect for Ash. Sleeping on the cold hard ground wasn't exactly comfortable, and he longed for a nice warm bed to sleep on instead.
The constant challenges from other Trainers got a little bothersome after a while, and one kind had challenged Ash to a battle while he was eating lunch. He just sent off Porygon to battle without him, and after a few minutes, Porygon came back unscathed, while its opponent's Rattata was out cold.
Currently, the sun was setting below the horizon, and the three tweens were continuing their trek toward Viridian City in hopes of getting there by nightfall. Nate was lagging behind the other two, carrying Charmander on his head. The fire lizard was too tired after training to continue walking, so Nate had to let him ride on his head.
Angelina was at the front of the group along with Bulbasaur, who refused to lag behind him and matched her pace as best as he could. Ash couldn't understand how she had so much energy. It was unnatural.
He was in the middle of the group, along with Porygon, who levitated beside him to match his pace. He had taken his jacket off and tied it to his waist so that he wouldn't be as hot. Still, his legs were hurting and he was constantly wiping sweat from his brow. He just wanted to get to the Pokemon Center...
A call from Angelina snapped him out of his trance, and he looked over at the girl, who had her finger pointed at something.
"Look!" she whispered, not wanting to disturb the Pokemon. Ash looked closer and saw that it was a purplish Pokemon with a rounded body and two short legs, with three glossy legs coming from its head. It had small red eyes, and was walking across the path barely five yards away from them.
An Oddish. One of the Pokemon species that was reported to inhabit Route 1. It looked to be around a year old, and didn't seem to notice the three humans near it. Ash stared at the strange plant-like creature. The more he thought about it, an Oddish would be a perfect addition to his team. They were generally friendly, and only reacted violently if you pulled one out of the ground while they were sleeping. After a moment of inner debate, Ash made his decision. He was going to catch it.
"Okay Porygon." he said to the Virtual Pokemon. "I need you to weaken that Oddish so that we can capture it. How about you start with Ice Beam?"
Porygon nodded and charged up the attack, the beam crackling with energy before it was fired at the unsuspecting Weed Pokemon. The Oddish squealed as it was hit in the face, knocking it back a few feet. It managed to get up rather quickly however, and charged in and spat an Acid attack out of its mouth, striking Porygon on the head and creating a sizzling sound.
"Get close and use Ice Beam again!" Ash ordered. Porygon floated closer to its opponent, charging up another Ice Beam, before shooting it at the Oddish again. This time it was prepared, and dodged easily, but not before Ash issued another command.
"Tackle!" he shouted. Porygon slammed its head into Oddish, sending it flying into a tree and knocking it out. Ash took out the PokeBall that Angelina had given him and chucked it at the unconscious Pokemon, engulfing it in a bright light and sucking it into the capsule.
*Shake*
*Shake*
*Shake*
*Click*
The button in the middle of the ball pulsed, signaling a successful capture. Ash pumped his fist in the air and went to retrieve the PokeBall from its position beside the tree. Angelina and Nate had been watching the whole thing, and congratulated Ash for his new Pokemon.
"I guess the rumors are true." Nate said, giving him a thumbs up. "Nice job Ash!"
"I'm sure Bulbasaur will appreciate having a new friend." Angelina spoke, patting her starter on the head. "We should get going though. It's getting dark. You guys don't want to sleep outside again, do you?"
Ash and Nate both shook their heads, and the three of them continued down the path toward Viridian City, hoping for a nice, peaceful stay once they got there.
About an hour later, Ash, Nate, and Angelina finally made it to Viridian City. Ash noticed that it was much bigger than Pallet Town, probably since it was a major city in Kanto, home to the Viridian City Gym and bordering the Indigo Plateau. The sun had set even lower, and the sky had become dark, the streetlights flickering on to illuminate the sidewalks.
The Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni, was ruthless in battle. Ash had heard stories from other kids about his prowess on the battlefield, and the mere mention of his presence was enough to send most criminals running. Many Trainers often challenged his gym last, since it took a lot of skill for someone to get their hands on the Earth Badge.
"Excuse me?" Ash asked a man who happened to pass by. "Do you happen to know where the Pokemon Center is?"
"Take a left at the next street and keep going." the man replied. "You can't miss it."
The three of them thanked the helpful stranger and followed his directions. After a few minutes, they stood in front of the Pokemon Center, relieved that they could finally get a room and rest. The building was easily recognizable by its red and white color scheme, as well as the giant PokeBall logo on its front. As they walked in, all of them sighed in relief as they entered the air conditioned building.
The three kids approached the counter, where a pink-haired lady greeted them with a cheerful smile.
"Hello and welcome to The Pokemon Center!" she said happily. "How may I help you?"
All of them placed their PokeBalls on the counter. "Could you please heal our Pokemon?" Ash said tiredly.
Nurse Joy beamed. "Of course!" she said. "In the meantime, feel free to take a seat in the lobby." She placed their PokeBalls on a tray, held by a pink, roundish Pokemon with a pouch containing an egg. All of them collapsed on the comfortable chairs in the lobby, giving their legs a much needed break.
"I'm so tired." Nate sighed. "I'm falling asleep on the first bed I see."
Angelina just shook her head disapprovingly, although she didn't try to chastise him for his behavior. Ash could sympathize with Nate though. All of them were feeling the exhaustion of being on the road for days. He could see a few other Trainers lingering about in the lobby, no doubt waiting for their Pokemon or reserving a room. It seemed that the other Trainers staying here had already retreated back up to their rooms.
A few minutes later, Ash heard a bell chime, and looked up to see Nurse Joy waving them over. He got the attention of Nate and Angelina, who reluctantly got up from their seats, and they approached the counter.
"Your Pokemon are ready." she said, handing them their PokeBalls. "Would you like a room to stay in as well?"
All three of them nodded, and she started to type away at her computer. The screen showed all the rooms available, as she looked through them to see if there were any vacancies. After a few seconds, she frowned.
"I'm sorry, it seems like there's no room available." she said. "A lot of Trainers are starting their journeys at this time of year. I can try to see if I can find a guest who'd be willing to share their room with you?"
The tweens nodded, too tired to even care about getting a room for themselves. It would just be a passing Trainer probably. Nothing to be worried about, right? After a few minutes, Nurse Joy looked up from her computer with a smile.
"Your request has been accepted!" she said, beaming. "Here are your room keys."
She pulled out a set of keys, each of them identical to each other. "Your room number is 148." she said. "Have a nice stay!"
The tired trio of tweens muttered their thanks and walked up the stairs to their room. After looking around for a bit, they finally found a door with the number "148" displayed on the front. Ash inserted his key into the keyhole and turned, opening the door.
Inside the room were four twin beds with clean white sheets that were calling their name.
And a Trainer all three of them had been hoping to never see again for the remainder of their journey.
"Hey losers!" Gary jeered, cackling loudly. "You just made the biggest mistake of your sorry little lives!"
Author's Note: Hey guys! So I'm really happy with the amount of support I got for my first chapter! It's nothing compared to the other fics out there, but I like that some of you are enjoying the story! It gave me the motivation to continue!
Anyways, Oddish is going to be Ash's second Pokemon! I planned out Ash, Nate, Angelina, and Gary's teams, and since Ash needed a team member to help against Brock, implementing some elements from Let's Go was the perfect opportunity to slip a team member in! PM me if you want to know the rest of the character's teams.
I also went back and added a few things to the last chapter. Nothing major, just implemented how Download would work for the Pokemon universe. I got a review that gave me a LOT of stuff to work on. I do really appreciate the constructive criticism, it makes it so I can make my story better and you guys don't have to cringe every time I make a silly mistake!
In terms of what's happening in later chapters, I will be giving nicknames to Ash's Pokemon. I was already PMed a great one for Porygon, but Oddish is still something I'm deciding on, so I'm open to suggestions!
See you guys soon!