Chapter 2: First Battles
Jess recalled Travis and me into our Pokéballs. Being inside those things is quite an experience. You still kind of know what's going on around you, but you can't feel your body. Time also seems to run faster when you're inside those things. Jess soon called both of us out, when she encountered a wild Pidgey.
"Nick you just stay back and watch. Travis, use Tackle!"
Travis charged at the Pidgey ramming it with his body.
The Pidgey was knocked back, but tackled back at Travis, who took seemingly less damage from that hit than Pidgey did.
"Alright Travis another Tackle should do it!"
Travis charged at the Pidgey again and after hitting it again the Pidgey fainted.
"That was perfect Travis. Here's an Oran Berry for you."
She grabbed an Oran Berry from her backpack and handed it to Travis, who happily ate it.
"Have you watched carefully Nick? The next one is yours."
I was a little nervous when she said that. I've never battled myself before. I don't even know how to use moves.
Jess went through the tall grass looking for another Pokémon.
Hey Travis, how do I use moves? I've never battled before.
Don't worry about that, I know you just hatched but you'll know how to use your moves when you're in a battle.
I wasn't really convinced but I didn't have much time to think about it, because Jess just found another Pokémon. It appeared to be a Rattata.
"It's your turn Nick, you can do this!"
I nervously stepped in front of the Rattata, and mustered my opponent. It was even smaller than me, which is actually a thing now that I was only 50cm (1'08'') tall. It had sharp and dangerous looking fangs. I'd better be careful to not get hit by those.
"Alright Nick let's try a Tackle!"
'Ok, a Tackle shouldn't be too hard to perform, I just need to do the same thing as Travis did before.'
I started running towards the Rattata, who also startet charging at me. The Rattata was faster than I and hit me with his Tackle first. It hurt, but less than I expected, after being knocked back a little, I contintued charging at the Rattata who just recovered from his own attack. I tackled it, knocking the Rattata off its feet. But it wasn't finished yet, The Rattata got up, charged at me with super speed and hit me on my chest. It hurt a lot but I could still stand. Surprisingly I didn't feel upset or anything. I was just excited about that battle now, and I wanted to win it. But why do I feel like that? Is it because I'm a Pokémon now? Does every Pokémon feel like that in a battle? My pain was gone, or to be honest I just ignored it and went for another Tackle. This time I hit it harder than before, not holding anything back. When the Attack hit the Rattata, it fainted.
'Wow, I won my first battle.' I was a little proud of myself, but suddenly the pain returned and I couldn't hold myself on my feet any longer. Jess ran over to me and took me in her arms. "Oh my, I think that was a little too much for the beginning, but at least you managed to win your first battle."
She grabbed another Oran Berry from her backpack and gave it to me. I took a bite of the berry. It was tastier than I thought. I quickly ate the whole berry, and the pain was soon gone. 'Those berries work surprisingly well.'
The day went on and I had some other battles against wild Pokémon. With every battle it felt easier to win, and I also got more used to my new body. That made me feel stronger. I also learned how to use Watergun. Travis also had some battles but he also had no Problems defeating his opponents. In the evening we reached Cherrygrove City. The Pokémoncenter was just next to the towns entrance. Jess just let us walk next to her outside our Pokéballs the rest of the day. I think she liked to see us talking to each other even if she couldnt understand us. I actually talked a lot with Travis. I had a lot of questions, but I still didn't tell him who I really was. He's still a kid, and I didn't want him to carry this burden. After all he just wanted a friend to talk to. And to be honest, I actually enjoy being a Pokémon, it's just hard to get used to being so small.
In the Pokémoncenter, Jess went to the counter where Nurse Joy was standing.
"Good evening and welcome to the Pokémoncenter of Cherrygrove City. How can I help you?"
"I'd like to get my Pokémon checked up, and I'd also like to take a room for the night"
"Alright I need your Pokémon then, could you please take them inside their Pokéballs?"
When Jess grabbed our Pokéballs, I wasn't too happy. Being inside a Pokéball may be comfortable, but I didn't like the idea of being stuck there unable to do anything. Jess noticed my sad look.
"You don't like your Pokéball? Don't worry it'll only be for short, I'll let you stay outside all the time if you want, but for now you have to go in there."
I nodded and the Pokéball sucked me in.