I walked back to the plaza, my head held low. What was I thinking using a feral and untrained pokemon to fight? I would have to do better.
The plaza was once again filled with trainers and their pokemon. Looking around at all the smiling faces was making me realize that I needed to try my hardest to get Rattata on my side. Oh boy, this was gonna be tough.
For the next few hours I was pacing around, trying to think of something - anything - I could do. All the while, Rattata was nipping at my ankles.
"Would you leave me alone!" I growled, getting more and more frustrated by the second. I then nudged it away with my foot, which seemed to only make it mad.
At this point, people had begun to look my way as I yelled some more at Rattata.
"Ugh! This is getting us nowhere!" I huffed. Then came a voice from behind me.
"Excuse me? Is this Rattata yours?" I turned to see the Pokemart attendant from before with a frown on his face.
"Oh, it's you. Yeah, this one's mine." I said flatly.
His eyes widened. "Oh hey, you're the kid who bought the chew toys. It might not be a bad idea to use those now."
I looked at my backpack and pulled out the blocks, throwing them to Rattata who began to chew on them. It looked pleased.
"You're a rookie trainer, aren't you?" he asked, the smile finally returning to his face. "You need to earn your pokemon's trust before it will listen to you. I can help if you'd like." He stuck out his hand. "The name's Rick."
I shook his hand, though I was a bit sceptical. "Red."
Rick had sat us down on a bench in the plaza and started going over things.
"I see a lot of new trainers come by who don't know how to raise the pokemon they catch. It isn't uncommon to struggle a bit at first, so don't be afraid to ask questions." He smiled warmly.
I scowled, but nodded anyway. Rick pulled out a pokeball and threw it, sending out a Wigglytuff.
"Wigglytuff, play with Rattata for a bit. I'm going to talk to Red while you do." He got up and beckoned me to follow.
We walked around a bit as he explained things.
"You need to be kind and understanding of your pokemon. This means treating them with respect, thinking about their needs, and of course," he paused, "You need to not yell at them."
I could feel my face turning redder by the second. "I wouldn't yell if it actually listened to me…" I mumbled.
Rick chuckled. "Perhaps you should try to see things from Rattata's point of view. It's been captured and confined in a tiny pokeball by someone it doesn't know and then forced to fight by said person. It's got to be a bit of a shock."
My face flushed. "Yeah…well…" I was at a loss for words.
Rick raised an eyebrow. "It makes you think a bit, doesn't it?"
After that, Rick led me back to the pokemart where he gave me a small bag of pokemon food free of charge. He told me to give some to Rattata.
In the plaza, I held out a handful of food to it, hoping it wouldn't bite my finger. It sniffed, then began to nibble. Soon it was gobbling down the food, then it looked up expectantly for more.
"Tell you what," I said to Rattata, "If you don't bite anyone I'll give you food, alright?" It blinked and then gave my finger a nibble.
"I guess that's a step in the right direction. How about we get some food, huh?" I was starting to get pretty hungry.
Inside the pokemon center there was a little cafe selling sandwiches. I ordered a "peanut butter delight" and sat down by the window. I had just began eating when I noticed someone looking at me with eyes wide.
"Can I help you?" I groaned, annoyed. Rattata had begun to lick the peanut butter off my hands. I'd never seen it so happy before.
"You really like to eat, don't you?" I asked. It gave an excited squeak as it began to sniff at my sandwich.
I sighed, then broke off a piece and tossed it to Rattata.
"If this is what will get you on my side, I guess I'll go with it…"
After that, I decided to go north to Viridian Forest. I didn't expect what was waiting for me.
"Hey, Red!" Green squealed, bouncing on her heels. "Are you ready for our battle?"
"Battle?" I said.
"Yeah! Don't you remember my message?"
"Oh, yeah…" I said, embarrassed.
I barely had time to think before she pulled out her pokeball. "Ready or not, here I come!" Green yelled.
Out came Bulbasaur and it looked ready for battle. I let Charmander out. It stretched itself, obviously having been in the pokeball a while, and stood, ready to fight.
Green wasted no time at all. "Okay! Use Vine Whip, Dino!" I couldn't help but smile at the nickname she'd given her pokemon. However, that also meant I wasn't paying attention.
Vines protruded from the bulb on Dino's back and swatted Charmander in the face, temporarily knocking it down. As I snapped back to attention and realized what was happening, I went through my options, but not before telling Charmander to hang in there and get up.
"Oh no you don't!" Green said. "Tackle!" Dino came barreling towards us, ready to deal the final blow. Suddenly, an idea struck me. "Charmander! Wait till it gets close!"
Dino came closer, closer, closer still, when finally…
"Ember!" I screamed.
I could hear Dino's yelp of surprise as it went down. It was a direct hit.
Green frowned. "Aw, that was mean." She sent Dino back to the pokeball.
"Okay, I won't lose with this one!" She threw the other pokeball. A particularly large Caterpie came out. "Okay, Kitty! Let's do this!"
Charmander got to its feet and stood strong, ready to attack at a moment's notice. I eyed the Caterpie, sizing it up. It was larger than most I had seen in textbooks at school. It had to be at least a foot and a half!
I tried to tell Charmander to use Ember again, only to be interrupted by Green's call of "String Shot!" The next thing I knew, Charmander was tangled in sticky thread. It couldn't move.
Green took this opportunity to attack, yelling, "Okay! Use Tackle, Kitty!" And that was it; Charmander had been knocked unconscious. I guess it was Kitty's size that made the attack so powerful.
I started to sweat. Was Rattata ready for a fight like this? How did I know it was going to listen to me? "I guess I have no choice..." I sulked.
Out came Rattata, who looked hungrier than ever. It looked back expectantly, sniffing at my backpack, right where I kept the-
"Rattata!" I said suddenly, "I'll give you food if you do what I tell you, okay?"
Its eyes lit up excitedly. Then, it turned around and stood, ready for battle.
Green giggled. "That's cute, Red. I can't wait to see who wins!"
Green beckoned in Kitty for another String Shot, but Rattata was quick on its feet, dodging this way and that, and soon Kitty looked dizzy.
"Use Bite!" I yelled, and Rattata followed suite. Once Kitty had shaken it off, it went in for another Tackle, knocking Rattata back. It looked like that had hurt, but Rattata was already getting up.
Immediately, before I could say a word, Rattata charged forward. I thought it might be going rogue again, but it seemed to be whipping its tail around, faking Kitty out. It suddenly clicked with me. Kitty's guard was down!
"Rattata! Finish it off with Tackle!" I bellowed. That was it, Kitty was down.
Green whistled. "You're really something, Red! I can't wait to battle you when I'm stronger." We stared at each other for an awkward moment, then Green said, "Oh! I'll heal your pokemon for you. Here!"
After that, she said her goodbyes and ran off into the forest to train. I decided to follow. I stepped into the trees and let the darkness engulf me, Rattata and Charmander by my side. Things were starting to look up, alright.