Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

Inferno (Tepig) Lv 6 / Male / Careful (Tackle, Tail Whip)

Route 19, here I come!

So, anyway, I dropped by home to change my shoes. Mom gave me some cash so I'd be able to survive on my own for a while. Hugh's sister dropped by too. Apparently, that moron forgot his map. Hey, at least she had one for me, too. I still find it weird that I can never remember her name, even with Hugh talking about her constantly.

I will say, Pokemon Centers are useful. They sell Potions, Pokeballs, double as hostels for League trainers, and have all the state of the art machines you need to heal your Pokemon. Sweet.

So Mom finished seeing me off, and Bianca came back to drag me out to Route 19. I guess she wants to teach me how to catch a Pokemon. I mean, how hard can it be?

Bianca ran off after a purple cat-like Pokemon. She sent out her little brown dog — she called it 'Lillipup' — and Tackled the cat. While it was dazed, she threw a Pokeball. The woozy cat vanished into the red and white ball. It shook three times, then settled with a clunk. Huh, looks easy.

Waving off Bianca's advice, I set my course for Floccesy Town… eventually. I mean, I don't have to meet up with Hugh right away. First things first… let's see how 'dangerous' the tall grass really is.

[Nate saved the game.]

Arrg! So many Patrats!

They're basically pests. I really don't want to catch one, especially since I only had money for ten Pokeballs. On the bright side, I'm getting better at commanding Inferno in battle. He finally figured out how to breathe fire, and Ember has been proving useful.

Hey! That's not a Patrat!

I encountered one of those cat things that Bianca caught. My Pokedex says it's a Purrloin. It even managed to hold up in the face of my immediate Ember attack.

Why not?

I chucked a Pokeball to try my luck. Success! It's caught! Hmm… how about I call you 'Lucky'. Because it's lucky you're not another Patrat.

First thing I found out about Lucky was that he… doesn't do well in battle. Lucky's a very prim and proper cat, and his Scratches amount to him elegantly flicking his claws at his opponent, one of the many Patrats. It hurts about as much as a feather duster, so I had to have Inferno finish the fight.

On the plus side, I found a Potion. No joke, just lying on the ground. Guess someone lost it.

I ran into another of the Purrloins, this one a lot stronger than Lucky. I don't know why, but it looked nasty and uncooperative, so I had Inferno fight it. Not quite as tough a battle as I expected, but a cat versus a fire-breathing pig can only really go one way.

Hey, is that Floccesy Town? I think I'm almost —

"You there, Trainer!"

I looked up in shock. There was a fairly high plateau to my left, and a man who looks like he's wearing a campfire on his head instead of hair hollering down at me.

"My name is Alder! I'm a Trainer with a keen interest in the world. One of my goals is to tell people about how wonderful it is to walk toward the future together with Pokemon."

Thanks… You couldn't have, I dunno, told people that in town, instead of stalking new Trainers from the top of cliffs.

Holy father of a Ditto! The dude suddenly jumped down the cliff. Seriously, I've only seen that kind of wall-slide in action movies!

"And you are?" he asks, landing like he just stepped down the front stairs of his porch.

I wondered to myself whether a middle finger would be an appropriate answer.

"Hmph! So you're Nate from Aspertia City!"

That's me — why are you looking at me like that? You're making Inferno uncomfortable too!

"Your Tepig is a fine-looking Pokemon! But, you're not exactly a seasoned Trainer yet…"

I concur, since I got said fine pig only a few hours ago!

"Indeed! I'll train you a little! Follow me!"

Wait! When did I agree to this?! Aaaand he's gone…

Oh well, I'll just try to avoid him. Maybe a bit more training…

[Nate saved the game.]

A long session of training against Route 19's population of Patrats and Purrloins later, I had reached a conclusion. Lucky… wasn't a fighter.

Sure he tried hard enough, but he didn't really go all in. It was like he hated getting his claws dirty. He did learn Growl… whatever that does, and Assist, but all in all, Inferno got much more benefit out of the training session than Lucky did.

Tired, and kind of hungry, Inferno and I started on our way to the Floccesy Pokemon Center, Lucky resting in his ball. I could see the familiar red roof just ahead.

Aaaand… something else red. Crap, I thought I dodged that Alder guy. Well, maybe he'll be gone by the time I get out of the Pokemon Center…

Well, no dice.

He started talking at me about loving my Pokemon and stuff like that. I wasn't really listening, but I think he invited me to his house. I dunno why, but I might as well get this over with.

Alder's house was to the north of town. I checked my map just to be sure I could find my way back to the Pokemon Center later — what's that? Alder met a kid who was bemoaning his lack of map? Well, looks like I found Hugh. I'll run and find him; he couldn't have gone far.

Alder, thankfully paused his drive to 'train' me to let me deliver the map. Well, after I take another stop in the Pokemon Center. I was kinda running low on Potions.

I jogged back to the center, soon finding myself haggling with the shopkeeper. Well, he didn't actually lower any prices, but it was fun to haggle anyway. The TV inside had on an episode of Pokemon Idol. Special guest star episode, some singer who's getting big, I guess. Nancy, huh? She looks cute. Maybe I'll look up her songs sometime.

"Here I go, everyone!" the pinkette singer with her absurdy curled side-tail announced as she hopped up to the mic. What was that song called? Xtransceiver Love? What the actual…?

I shook my head. Her singing wasn't bad, but her naming sense is probably on the level of whatever Professor came up with Mr. Mime's name. I turned to go, new stock of Potions stashed in my bag. Route 20, here I come!

[Nate saved the game.]

Route 20 was covered in leaves, dyed in reds, golds, and yellows. Apparently, road maintenance is not a priority on forest-y roads.

As I took my first steps onto a wooden bridge crossing a stream, I managed to lock eyes with a kid on the opposite end of the bridge. Some kid in an orange baseball cap. He smirked at me and held out a Pokeball.

"You can tell how much your opponent wants to fight by looking into his or her eyes, don't you think?" he said, tossing the ball up and down in his hand.

Then can you tell I'm not interested? Just kidding, let's kick some ass! What's his name? Terrell, huh? Well, congratulations, you caught me at a fired up moment!

Well… that was anticlimactic. One tackle from Inferno set his Patrat reeling, and an Ember finished it off. Well, what do you expect? He used a Patrat!

Well, Terrell looked a bit blown away, but he thanked me for the battle. Nice kid. Hope he gets less lame in the future.

It was only after I walked away that I noticed my heart still pounding. My first real battle after Hugh! Sure it was a joke of a battle, but this was it! Someone saw me, recognized that I was a Trainer, and challenged me! And I won! Inferno and I wiped the floor with him! Take that Ms. Lawrence from Trainer School! I am Trainer material!

… Okay, I'm over it now.

The sheer amount of Trainers on Route 20… all of them weak, was staggering. There was the first kid, some girl with a Purrloin, another kid with a Patrat… the list goes on and on. The amount of Patrats and Purrloins that Inferno had to Tackle was immense. But finally I managed to get out of the woods… to a ranch? Yup, that's a ranch.

No sooner did I step onto the ranch then a charging sheep bowled me over. Control your Pokemon, ranchers!

No… wait. This one didn't have a bell around its neck, or any identifying marks. A wild one?

Inferno leapt into battle spewing fire at the offending bleater. It singed its wool, but the sheep retaliated with — what the hell? Lightning?!

Well, Inferno can't move. Guess this was the 'paralysis' Ms. Lawrence always ranted about. Shit.

Throw a Pokeball? Why not?

I threw one of my nine remaining Pokeballs. It shook once, twi — shit! It broke! Exploded! Poof! The murderous sheep launched a tackle at my paralyzed Pokemon.

Oh, I am not getting beaten by a sheep!

I chucked another Pokeball. It swallowed up the wooly demon, shaking once, twice, thrice… it's good!

So, this is a Mareep. An Electric type. Go figure. And a female. I know just what to call the little demon.

And so, Xena, warrior sheep joined my team.

Sigh… I need a Pokemon Center...