Chapter 5: Training
If someone would have told Lucas three days ago he was going to be a Pokemon Trainer, he would have punched them for bringing up a painful wound and resurrecting a dead hope. Yet now, he was heading back to the Pokemon Center with the first Pokemon he ever caught in battle. Most trainers would not be too excited for their first caught Pokemon to be a Magikarp, but Lucas was thrilled. Lucas liked just about all Pokemon, finding each species special and amazing, his childhood dream to catch and train as many as he could find. To make as many friends as he could. He had a particular fondness for Magikarp. Magikarp were weak Pokemon with low attack, low defense and weak moves, but Lucas knew they were special, that they had an inner strength and while they seemed useless they weren't. Just like him.
As he got closer to the Pokemon Center in Eterna City he started thinking about his life and the events of the last couple of days. Lucas had always felt like people were judging him and criticizing him, just like his parents had. Treating him like a criminal even before he was ever first arrested. The only people he liked and trusted were his gang back in his home in Cherrygrove, the people he was most upset to leave when being sent to live with his brother. Yet in past few days the people of Eterna City have treated him with kindness and respect. Professor Oak helping him become a trainer, Grant giving him a place to stay and welcoming him to the Explorer's Club and now the Fisherman who had asked if Gizmo was okay and then gave him a rod and taught him about fishing. Even if he were a Trainer now, he was still the same person on the inside, and yet people were showing him generosity and friendship. He began to wonder if his jaded attitude with his own family made him judge others as badly as he himself felt judged. As began reevaluating his life, he started feeling extremely guilty for all the things he did in his small town.
"Oh, you caught a Magikarp," the nurse stated happily as she took Lucas's Pokemon for examination and healing at the Pokemon Center.
"Yeah, his name is Franky," Lucas replied, coming out of his self-reflection.
"Well remember to take good care of him," the nurse reminded the boy as she took the team to the healing machine. As she went behind the counter Lucas went up a vending machine and considered getting a drink. He reached into his pocket and compared his funds against the drinks' prices. As he put remembered the depletion of his funds and did some calculation in his head, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. The nurse soon returned from the machine and called Lucas over, "Here are your Pokemon. Good as new,"
"Thanks," Lucas said sadly and walked over to a couch within the center and summoned out his three Pokemon. All three of his creatures looked at him with curiosity and admiration as he addressed them, "Guys, I'm afraid we have some bad news. This," the Mohawked teen showed the handful of coins to his team, "Is the the last of my money. After this it's all gone. Once it's gone that means I won't be able to train anymore. I won't be able to buy Pokeballs, medicines, training devices, nothing. As of now I can't even buy a soda. Once I'm broke that means I will have to go to John's, like it or not. I don't think he'll make me get rid of you, but that means the end of the journey. No badges, no championships, no more exploring. That is going to really blow, but I think we can squeeze two days of out this before that happens. So while we can't go very far, let's work as hard as possible and do as much training as we can, okay? Just to see what we're really made of,"
Gizmo, Hotrod and even Franky replied back adamantly. Though he hadn't had them very long they were already extremely loyal to their Trainer.
He picked all three up and told them softly, "Thank you, I love you guys,"
Hotrod and Franky returned to their Pokeballs while Gizmo chose to stay on Lucas's shoulder. He left the center yet again and headed through the opposite side of Eterna City, closer to Mt. Coronet. While the mountain itself was impassable at his level, there was some tall grass and similarly leveled Pokemon as the route outside the forest. Lucas and his team worked hard for the next several hours, challenging himself against the Pokemon that lived in the area. It was hard between Gizmo's small move pool, Franky's low attack and defense and Hotrod's low level, but Lucas wasn't going to give up, and his determination inspired his team to work even harder and push themselves further. As the sky began to become more orange, pushing the afternoon into evening, Gizmo and Franky pushed themselves to level 15 and Hotrod reached Level 10 with now knowing some fire-type moves. With Lucas satisfied with their progress, he decided to head back into the city.
"Hey you!" Lucas heard a high-pitched voice call to him as he climbed over some rocks. He turned around and saw a smug looking little kid with a backwards cap staring straight at him.
"What do you want?" Lucas sighed as came back down the rock he had an especially hard time scaling.
"What do you think I want? I'm a Trainer and you obviously are, with that Eevee on your head. Let's battle!" The kid obviously was trying to come across as tough but was seeming more bratty, "And don't think you can walk away, once I challenge you, you have to accept. League rules,"
"I know the League rules," Lucas rolled his eyes. He pulled off a Pokeball from his belt and presented it forward, "But a battle sounds just fine by me. I've been itching to find out how good I really am,"
The kid sneered and pulled out his own Pokeball, "Go! Starly!"
A small gray bird emerged from his opponent's ball and flapped its wings energetically. It hovered in the air in a determined battle stance, waiting for a move from Lucas and a word from its trainer. The teen responded to the move by throwing his own Pokeball on the ground, "Go Franky!"
The teen's Magikarp flopped out of its ball and twitched listlessly on the ground. The young boy stared, stunned at the Pokemon his opponent selected. He looked at Franky and then up to Lucas, "Is this some kind of joke? Just because I'm a Youngster doesn't mean it's fair to treat me like I'm an idiot," then the boy crossed his arms and increased his obnoxious grin, "Unless you're the idiot and don't have any better Pokemon,"
"Oh, screw you, you little twerp. I summoned Franky for a reason," Lucas snapped back. He usually made it a point to not hit people much younger than he was, but he was willing to make an exception for this brat. In addition to losing, this kid also needed a swift kick in the backside.
"Hey don't swear at me!" the boy huffed, "I'm only a little kid,"
"Well, sorry if I offend your virgin ears, but I am going to swear as much as I damn well please. Especially by some twerpy shrimp with as an annoying personality as you," Lucas brought Franky out and pulled the second ball off of his belt, "Hotrod, it's your move!"
"Starly use Gust!" the Youngster ordered as Lucas' Charmander materialized into the battle. Before the small fire lizard could react, the flying Pokemon flapped its wings together viciously forming a small dust devil. The tiny tornado collided with Hotrod and slammed him to the ground.
"You can do this Hotrod. That was just a love tap, show that feather duster what a real attack looks like. Use Scratch," Lucas commanded energetically. Hotrod picked himself up and shook its head to regain its senses. Quickly, the small Pokemon hopped on some rocks and launched itself toward the Starly, its tiny claws bared. The bird Pokemon was too startled to dodge the unexpected move and was knocked from the air with the Charmander's nails.
"Use Gust again!" the Youngster reacted. Starly jumped back into the air and created another tornado. Hotrod was more prepared for this attack, and though it landed directly, its damage was much lower.
"Okay, let's stop stringing this kid along. Ember, and put some heat into it," Hotrod ran towards the Starly again, tumbling forward and swinging his tail like a bat. Bits of flame came off of his tail and rained down like hail, touching the bird. The feathers caught on fire and caused a burn. The hit clearly was critical as the Starly flopped on the ground, unable to make another move.
"Oh, Starly..." the Youngster whimpered, "You bully! You'll pay for that! Go Bidoof!"
"Me the bully huh? You challenged me," Lucas mumbled under his breath and rubbed his temple to try to ease off his impatience, "Hotrod, Ember again,"
"Bidoof, Headbutt that meanie!" the Bidoof looked towards Hotrod with a glazed over look as the fire-type repeated the charring attack, though not as strongly this time. The normal-type took the hit, winced and then fought back with its Headbutt. The Headbutt just about winded Hotrod, he gripped the ground with his claws to try to steady himself.
Lucas could see this Bidoof was fairly strong, and Hotrod was not in good shape. Not wanting to risk getting knocked out for the sake of getting in a second hit, he called his Pokemon back, "Okay, nice set up, let's relay this fight to Gizmo and call it a day," The Charmander nodded wearily and allowed itself to be summoned. The teen motioned to the Eevee on his shoulder and Gizmo jumped into the fray.
"Boy, what a wimpy-looking Pokemon," the Youngster remarked, "Go ahead with another Headbutt, Bidoof, this won't last long,"
"Gizmo, Tackle," Lucas said through gritted teeth. The last of his patience was running out and his temper threatening to explode. Gizmo appeared just as insulted at the comment as Lucas was. With an angry 'Vi!' he swerved to the side and completely avoided the Bidoof's attack. The small Pokemon spun on his heels and slammed the buck-toothed normal-type in the back.
"Ah Bidoof! Use Headbutt and don't miss this time!"
"Again."
Despite the Youngster's insistence, Bidoof missed Gizmo yet again. The tiny Eevee hopped up before the contact could be made, and slammed his paws into his opponent. The boy commanded another Headbutt while the teen continued his order of Tackles. Of this exchange of blows, Gizmo only was touched twice. The Bidoof was too slow and the Eevee's evasiveness too high for the result of battle to be any different. With a final critical Tackle the Bidoof slumped over in exhaustion. Lucas waited for the Youngster to send out another opponent, but the boy just stood there. The battle was over, the boy had no more Pokemon.
The Youngster looked from his Bidoof to Lucas with horror and shock in his face. His bottom lip shook, unable to speak. Gizmo ran back to Lucas and the teen picked up the Pokemon and scratched his head in reward. The Mohawk-bearing youth strode menacingly towards the small boy, stern look in his face. "Kid, you are an annoying little pain-in-the-ass. If you keep this attitude up you're going to end up in a world of hurt," The teen thrust his right hand forward, palm up. The Youngster jumped back in alarm, "Probably end up a lot like me, which isn't a good thing. Your Pokemon are pretty strong and it's clear they love you, so that means you're not a total lost cause,"
"H-here," the Youngster stuttered, depositing some bills and a few coins into Lucas's hand.
"Kid, I'm trying to shake your hand like a man, not rob you!" Lucas groaned.
"I know that, but you won. When an opponent beats you, you have to give them ten percent of the cash you have on hand, League rules," the Youngster explained.
"What?" Lucas looked back at him as blankly, "You mean I get money for winning?"
"You didn't know that?" the Youngster blinked in surprise, his annoying smirk returning to his face, "Wow, what kind of idiot are you? Everyone knows that about training,"
"Oh, shut up! It's been ten years since the last time I was in Pokemon School. Let's see how much you remember about today ten years from now!" Lucas growled. He stuffed the cash in his vest and gestured threateningly to the boy, "Now go to the center and get your Pokemon healed up before I change my mind about not drop-kicking you!"
The Youngster summoned his Bidoof back to his Pokeball and scurried over the rocks towards Eterna City. As the last of the boy's shadow vanished, Lucas returned his thoughts to the important piece of information he just rediscovered. If it was true that after winning a Pokemon Battle he's entitled to money, that meant he wouldn't have to go back to John's after all. It made sense, after all, how else would John be able to afford the nice house he lived in if it weren't from his winnings? John didn't work as far as the teen knew. Smiling, Lucas headed towards the Pokemon Center himself, planning to spend the next day trying to find as many opponents as he could.