I'm sorry that I've been away from this story for so long, but as you all know, I've had quite a few ideas up in this noggin of mine and just ended up going and going from there. But I hope this chapter makes up for it. We'll see just how much Barriss can improve, as she has most certainly done very well up until this point. But for now, let's get back to the story, shall we?

*I still don't own Star Wars: The Clone Wars, nor do I own Pokemon!*

Dialogue Key

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon." = Normal Speech

'Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon." = Thoughts

"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon." = Someone Yelling

"When competing in intense battles, Charizard's flame becomes more intense as well." = Pokédex Entry

Journey of a Beginner - Part 1!

Barriss held her head high as she walked down the path of Route 1 on her way to Viridian City. She knows that there's a Pokémon Gym there that she can challenge, and she intends to do so. All the while, she will work on filling out the pages in her Pokédex like Professor Oak instructed. She was so excited for this journey that she was out on route one faster than Geki, even though he left before her.

And yet, she can't keep the feeling of paranoia at bay. She can sense the Republic is looking for her. Whether to drag her back to prison, or just outright kill her, she doesn't know. But she does know that if the Republic finds this planet, they'll either try to get them to join their side of the war and turn the Pokémon that live here into living weapons, or they'll draw in the Separatists and drag this planet into the war. A war which will cost billions of humans and Pokémon their lives.

And that's something she just can't allow.

'I don't understand though,' Barriss mentally said to herself. 'How was I able to sneak aboard any shuttle without being seen, and not get caught by the guards that would no doubt have been stationed there? Let alone escape from Republic prison?'

She was broken from her thoughts as a sound caught her attention. She looked back to the path, and saw a Pokémon pecking at the ground for grubs. It looked an awful lot like a bird; possibly a pigeon. It was covered in brown and cream colored feathers with black marks over its eyes and a pink beak.

"Whoa… a wild Pokémon!" Barriss said in awe.

The Pokémon must've heard her, as it looked up at her with a curious gaze. In response to this, the young Mirialan woman pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it at the bird.

It flipped open and showed a picture of the bird Pokémon, but everything else about its data was blank. Barriss was confused about this, until she remembered Professor Oak's words about the Pokédex.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. It won't record the data unless I capture a Pokmon."

She then pulled out Zeke's Pokéball, and looked at the bird Pokémon.

"Hey, how's about a battle? If I win, you join my team. if you win, you can go on your way. Deal?" Barriss challenged.

The bird Pokémon got a determined look on its face and puffed up its feathers as it chirped in acceptance.

[Cue Pokémon Leaf Green/Fire Red Battle Music (Wild Pokémon)]

"Okay, here we go! Zeke, standby for battle!"

Barriss hurled the Poke Ball containing her very first Pokemon with the accuracy and strength of a proffessional pitcher in a baseball game. It popped open, and in a flash of light, the young and inexperienced Charmander appeared.

"Char!" Zeke growled.

The bird Pokémon started off the fight, and flew up a bit before charging straight at the Lizard Pokemon with the intent of ramming into him using a basic Tackle attack. Fortunately, despite her rather recent burst of insanity, and thanks to her even more recent battle with Geki, Barriss seemed to know at least the basics of battling wild Pokémon.

"Zeke, hurry! Dodge and counter with your Growl attack!"

The flying Pokémon may have had speed on its side, but Zeke was quick enough to dodge by the skin of his teeth. Once he landed, he let loose a growl that sent a few sonic waves at the bird. Upon impact, a red aura shone from the bird Pokémon before disappearing.

"Nice! Its attack power's been lowered! Now, Zeke, jump up and hit it with your Scratch attack!"

"Char!" Zeke growled in acknowledgement.

He waited until the bird Pokémon turned in flight to try tackling him again, then jumped at the last second. The attack missed, but Zeke was able to land a solid blow on the bird, swiping his sharp claws against its back.

The bird Pokémon cried out in pain before falling to the ground. Barriss was certain that it was down, but not out. And she was right.

The Pokémon flew back up with a bit of difficulty, and began to rapidly flap its wings in Zeke's direction. The result was a huge wave of sand being sent right at the young Charmander, forcing him to close her eyes. Barriss was forced to squint her own eyes as she knew what was going to happen next. The Force told her so. Even now, even after everything that's happened, it speaks to her.

Zeke was briefly engulfed in a purplish grey aura as his accuracy fell because of the Sand-Attack. Barriss and Zeke barely had enough time to open their eyes as the bird Pokémon screeched and bowled the young Charmander over with a Tackle attack. Zeke cried out in pain as he skidded across the ground. Fortunately, the damage was lessened due to the Growl attack.

"HANG IN THERE, ZEKE!" Barriss urged. "Get up and hit it with another Scratch attack!"

Fortunately, Zeke was still strong enough to get back up and attack again. And when he was ready, he charged at the bird Pokémon and landed another Scratch across the bird's underbelly.

It fell to the ground, but was having a lot more trouble getting back up.

"Now's my chance!"

Barriss pulled an empty Pokéball out of her bag, and took aim.

"GO, POKÉBALL!" she cried as she threw it.

The Pokéball hit the Bird Pokémon head on, and turned it into red energy before the wild Pokémon was sucked in. It landed on the ground and began to shake as the Pokémon inside struggled for freedom.

...One shake… two shakes… three shakes…

A click was the indicator that the Pokemon Barriss and Zeke had been battling was successfully captured and added to the Mirialan's party of Pokemon.

[End Music]

A successful capture! Needless to say, Barriss and Zeke were ecstatic about their first captured Pokémon.

"YEAH! WE DID IT! WE BEAT IT!" Barriss cheered as Zeke watched her do a little victory dance.

And as it turns out, Barriss is actually quite the talented breakdancer and she didn't even know it.

She calmed down enough, and picked up the Pokéball containing her newest Pokémon, and her newest friend. She then took out her Pokédex, and began to scan the Pokémon within the tiny spherical object. This time, there was some information about this Pokémon.

"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand. This Pidgey is male and possesses the Hidden Ability Big Pecks. He is level 5 and knows the moves Tackle, Sand-Attack, and Brave Bird. *Note: Brave Bird is an Egg Move.*"

That last line caught Barriss's attention.

"Egg Move? What's and Egg Move?" she asked. "And while we're at it, what the heck does it mean by Hidden Ability?"

"Char Char." Zeke said while shrugging, indicating that he had no idea.

But, as luck would have it, the good ol' Pokédex is a great way to look up more than just info about a Pokémon and its stats. It also helps you learn about the different and oftentimes rare abilities of Pokémon.

"An Egg Move is a move that is extremely rare for a Pokémon to know. They are attack moves that a Pokémon will sometimes learn upon hatching from an egg, and are more often than not very powerful. Hidden Abilities are Pokémon abilities that are not normally possessed by certain Pokémon. Example: Charmander can naturally possess the ability known as Blaze, but can sometimes possess the Hidden Ability known as Solar Power."

Barriss and Zeke were both very impressed. Our young Mirialan trainer knew that her Charmander has the ability Blaze, but these Hidden Abilities and Egg Moves sounded incredible! Just imagine what other sort of abilities and such were out there.

But she decided to put that information away for later. She took out a couple of Potions and healed Zeke along with her newly acquired Pidgey, and continued down the path in order to find and capture new Pokémon.

And thus, she did. Along the way to Pewter City, Barriss and Zeke fought and captured many new Pokémon. Among them were Rattata, Spearow, Weedle, Caterpie, Mankey, and a Pikachu. Several of these Pokémon were found and caught in the Viridian Forest, home to all sorts of bug type Pokémon.

And now, we find her about to be challenged by a trainer that's a ten year old boy in a yellow shirt with blue shorts, sneakers, and a baseball cap.

"So, you think your Pokémon is a match for mine?" the kid asked.

"We'll soon find out!" Barriss declared.

The kid, who we'll call Joe, took a Pokéball off of his belt, and pressed the button in the center to make it bigger.

"Let's go, Nidoran!" Joe called.

He tossed the Pokéball and out popped a Pokemon that looked almost looked like a light blue rabbit with small, poisonous quills on its back, and a small horn on its head.

Grabbing a Pokéball from her own belt, Barriss got ready to battle. "Zeke, battle stance!"

"Char!" cried Zeke as he popped out of her Pokéball.

"Nidoran, start things off with a Poison Sting attack!" Joe ordered.

"Nido!" cried the Poison Pin Pokémon.

Its horn began to glow, and a whole bunch of poisonous needles shot at Zeke. Fortunately, all of the battling against wild Pokémon has begun to sharpen Barriss's fighting instincts.

"Quick, dodge and counter with Ember!" Barriss instructed.

Zeke managed to dodge the Poison Sting, and shot a stream of embers from his mouth. They hit their mark, dealing greater damage due to it being a move of the same type as Wyvern. But Barriss wasn't done yet, and neither was Zeke.

"Now, get in close and use Scratch attack!"

"Nidoran, get up and counter with your own Scratch attack!" Joe ordered.

Both Pokémon charged at each other and began to strike at one another with their claws. But neither could land a clean hit on their opponent. Barriss saw this and got an idea for how to win.

"Zeke, use Growl while you're in close, then follow up with Scratch!" she ordered.

"CHAR-CHAR!" Zeke growled.

The attack was shot at point blank range and easily hit the enemy Nidoran right in the face, lowering her defense stat. Then Zeke went in for a Scratch attack, but at the last second his claws gained a metallic shine like steel. The attack struck home and caused Nidoran to cry out in pain before fainting with swirls in her eyes.

"Whoa, what the heck was that?" asked a surprised Barriss.

She took out her Pokedex and scanned Zeke. Upon scanning her Charmander, the device spoke in its usual, metallic monotone voice as it explained what happened.

"New move learned. Metal Claw: A steel type move that coats the claws of the user in a metallic aura. It also has a chance of increasing the user's attack points. This move is super effective against poison, rock, and ground type adversaries."

"That move will definitely come in handy if you plan to challenge the gym in Pewter City." Joe commented as he returned his Nidoran.

"Gym? Why would I fight a gym? Aren't those places where people go to exercise?" Barriss asked.

Joe almost groaned until he remembered one crucial fact.

"Right… you're just starting out as a trainer. Well, first of all, I'm not talking about the workout kind of gyms. You see, here in Kanto, there are eight Pokémon gyms that allow you to participate in the Pokémon League. If you battle the leader of a gym and defeat them, you get that gym's badge. All eight gym badges will allow you to challenge a group of trainers called the Elite Four, and if you beat them, you become the Pokémon League Champion." Joe explained.

Barriss was floored by this new information. And so was Zeke. Being the beginning stage in an evolutionary line of Pokemon with a warrior mentality would do that to the young starter, making him yearn for opponents that can give him a challenge. And the chance to battle new and more powerful trainers had them both giddy for more combat.

"That sounds so awesome!" Barriss squealed. "Hey, can you show me where you caught your Nidoran? I think one of them might come in handy someday, and will be fun to raise."

"Well, you did beat me in that battle, so sure." Joe replied.

He pointed to a patch of tall grass, and Barriss nodded in thanks. She walked over and got her Pidgey's Pokéball ready. She had a new friend to make, and had plenty of items to spare! Little did she know was that this next catch would lead her to a battle that would test her current skill as a trainer.

*To Be Continued…*

Again, I am so sorry that this story took so long to update. I just couldn't seem to find any inspiration for the chapter or any future ones at the time. But I'm happy that I managed to do so.

Thank you all so much for reading. Please don't forget to vote on the poll I have up on my profile. May the Force be with you, and have a great day, my Jedi and Sith friends.