Back to me again! Not much longer til I can stop with this.
It's been a while since we left Cerulean. We passed by that guy AJ's place, but nothing too special happened, other than the fact that he had a Macho Brace. ...Wait, no, I tell a lie. There was one thing that was interesting when Team Rocket showed up...
Jessie and James had sent all their Pokémon out, but they had failed. Ekans had been tied in a knot, and Koffing had been punted away. Meowth also broke his teeth when trying to bite AJ's Sandshrew; I guess he doesn't know how to use a proper Bite attack. I would have thought it would have been over then, but James took out another Pokéball. "Alright, try this!" he yelled, sending out the Pokém-WAIT, WHAT?!
What came out was a Pokémon that looked like a blob of goo that was vaguely slug-like. It had beady little eyes, and was separated into two sections. By all accounts, it was a...
"Where the frick did you people get a Goomy?!" I asked in shock.
"Aw...it's so cute!" Misty squeed.
"Hey, my Pokédex won't tell me what it is!" Ash complained. Silently, I brought my phone out and scanned Goomy.
"Goomy, the Soft Tissue Pokémon. The weakest Dragon-type Pokémon, it lives in damp, shady places, so its body doesn't dry out. It's covered in a slimy membrane that makes any punches or kicks slide off it harmlessly. This Goomy is Female."
There was only one minor difference between the picture on my 'Dex and the Goomy in front of us. James's Goomy was Shiny.
One Fissure from AJ's Sandshrew stopped them in their tracks, but I'm still trying to figure out how those guys got a Goomy of all things. Goomy are from Kalos, so what's one doing in Kanto? ...Then again, those two are elite agents right now. It's entirely possible that Giovanni or some other Team Rocket executive 'obtained' Goomy somewhere, and gave it to them.
It's still weird though...Anyway, Ash and I were currently looking for firewood. Brock wanted to make some food and all that, but needed to boil some water. How did he fit a whole table and tea set in his bag anyway?
"What's with all this fog anyway?" Ash complained. He's got a point, this is ridiculous.
"I don't suppose you secretly taught Pidgeotto Defog, did you?" I asked.
"Err...no."
"Yeah, I figured."
We found those Pokémon Tech guys about where they should have been, harassing their classmate Joe in some bizarre hazing thingy on a treadmill. They claimed they were trying to help him, but considering how timid he is, I don't think that kind of help is what he needs.
Pokémon Tech apparently has a really iffy reputation as well, with even Brock commenting on its infamy. "And you know, a lot of things they teach here have been discredited," he mentioned.
I knew where he was getting at there. "The Level System."
Brock nodded. "Right. It's one thing to know when a Pokémon generally learns a move. But to rigidly say that this is when a Pokémon learns a move is a fallacy. And using them to say that this Pokémon is better than that one is wrong as well. Pokémon are living beings, they can't be quantified by some system."
'The Heart is so much more than any system.' Ansem the Wise said that in the context of Kingdom Hearts, but it's still valid here. Pokémon don't learn things in a set order. Otherwise, Spearow wouldn't know Drill Run, or Eevee wouldn't know Quick Attack before Swift. ...Why doesn't she know Swift, anyway?
But something struck me. "Hey, Joe? How come you didn't put Hurricane on that list of moves Pidgeot learns?" I questioned.
Joe blinked. "Errr...what's Hurricane?" he wondered. ...What. Wait, what?!
"That's the other thing. For whatever reason, Pokémon Tech only teaches their students about some of the most basic of moves. For certain, things like Hyper Beam and Flamethrower are important, but Pokémon are capable of so much more," Brock commented. Yeah, back home we're on the sixth generation, and I don't see Pokémon as a franchise ending anytime soon. Who knows what kind of things are going to happen, what kind of things we'll see in the future? ...Now I know why Ash is always so excited to see new things. To explore new places and see new Pokémon. And eventually, I'm going to see the same, assuming I stay here for that long.
...Speaking of, Arceus hasn't even communicated with me at all, despite my bombarding him with texts. I even tried to call him once with the phone. Didn't work. Which means he's likely not going to say anything until I get three Badges. And that means that I need to actually train my Pokémon for the rematch with Misty, because I need the Cascade Badge. Time to start getting a bit more serious.
In the end, Giselle wasn't really all that interesting. The only noteworthy thing about her was that Ash seemed somewhat attracted to her. ...And that was it. I literally cannot find anything else interesting about her.
Right now, we're continuing to travel on Route 5 trying to get to Vermillion. Or at least we were, because someway or another, we've ended up off the beaten path. And I was so careful to make sure I didn't let Ash near the map too!
Nah, in all seriousness, I didn't really do much of anything. After all, Bulbasaur and that Hidden Village are somewhere around here. I don't really want that to go wrong.
Of course, while I was contemplating this, Ash sat down on a random rock on the path. "Phew! I'm bushed," he sighed. He did have a point there. We've been walking for a while. My feet kind of hurt...
"Well, I suppose we can stop for lunch," Brock rationalized, setting down his bag in a clear area. Misty plopped down on a random log to stretch her legs, while I just sat against a tree.
"Hey, Brock, where are we anyway?" Misty wondered. Brock paused in his getting out supplies for lunch to check the map.
"Well, we're headed to Vermillion, and we are somewhere around Route 5. But if you're trying to ask me where exactly we are, sorry, but I got nothing," Brock admitted.
"How'd we even get lost anyway?" I wondered. "I'm pretty sure the maps aren't that complicated."
"That's just it. We shouldn't be lost. But somehow, we are. It shouldn't be this complicated," Brock said in frustration. I can't help but wonder about that. It doesn't look like they intended to get lost. They can apparently read maps fine. So why do they keep getting lost all the time? It's weird...
Anyway, time for me to begin with the serious levels! "Hey, call me when you get lunch put together, guys. I'm going to go train the team," I mentioned, before walking off from our rest stop. It was far enough away that they couldn't hear or see what I was up to. Which was good, as I didn't want to give Misty any more ammunition for our rematch.
"Okay, guys, come on out!" I declared, releasing all three of my Pokémon from their Pokéballs. Eevee gave a snuggle again, while Spearow gave me a nod. Meanwhile, Nidoran had a curious look on his face. And...okay, Eevee is really tickling me right now!
"Okay, come on, Eevee, cut it out!" I laughed, tousling her on the head. Eevee did a little backflip before standing back in line with the other two.
I cleared my throat to emphasize the point I was about to make. "Alright, we need to get started with actual training. We've had a few Trainer battles along the way to keep your skills sharp, but we need to start working harder. Our defeat at the Cerulean Gym proves that. We can't coast with momentum the entire time, we need to be proactive!" I declared.
"Vui!" Eevee declared with a fierce look on her face. ...Of course, all that did was make me want to cuddle her instead. ...Okay, focus!
"Anyway, we'll be having our rematch with Misty soon. We need to prepare for that, as well as the challenges after that! But first, Misty. She's already told me that she'll use Staryu and Starmie again, but I'm pretty sure she's not going to idle either. Therefore, we need to be ready! And to do that, we need to plan anti-Water and anti-Psychic tactics," I continued.
"Hey, Chronos, I need your help with something for a bit!" Brock called from our campsite. I surprisingly flowed right into my next sentence from that.
"Right after I help Brock with whatever he needs help with," I said without a beat, before turning to leave. Before I did so, I remembered something. "Oh yeah! Eevee, Spearow, I think you should probably let Nidoran know about the you-know-what," I mentioned. At their nod, I left to go help Brock.
Eevee turned to Spearow. "{I wasn't out for that. How bad did it end up?}" she asked, referring to the Gym Battle.
Despite having a beak instead of a mouth, Spearow still grimaced. "{Badly. I managed to knock out Staryu, but got myself knocked out in the process. And newbie here got knocked out by Starmie, not to anyone's surprise,}" he said with a dour tone.
Eevee pouted. "{He should have called me out! I would have handled everything!}" she declared.
"{Don't do that! It looks weird!}"
"{Um...What was that thing he was talkin' about?} Nidoran asked with undisguised curiosity.
Spearow caught himself from getting on Eevee's case. "{Oh yeah. Yeah, the boss is an alien,}" he said casually.
"{Oh, okay,}" Nidoran accepted. There was a pause as both of the other Pokémon were waiting for him to more properly react, but...nothing.
Eevee looked at him curiously. "{That's it? You're not shocked or anything?}" she wondered.
"{Eevee, I'm a 'Mon of simple tastes. If our Trainer is an alien, it doesn't really matter to me one way or another. 'Course, I reckon that it must be pretty lonely for him in that case, bein' cut off from the rest of his kind,}" Nidoran speculated.
"{You know, I didn't really think about that. He has explained that he's still a human, but the fact remains that Boss really is alone,}" Spearow mused.
"{Whaddya talking about?! He's not alone; he's got us!"} Eevee cried indignantly. "{I'll always be there for him, always!}" she declared.
"{You are really hyperactive. But you've got a point too,}" Spearow allowed. He was about to say more, when...
"Okay, I'm back!" I cheered, walking back up to the three of them. It looked like Spearow was about to say something, but he was cut off by my arrival. You know, I really would like to know what they're saying, but, again, I'm not N, so I can't. Le sigh...
"Right, back to what I was saying. We need to get cracking on new techniques. Eevee, we should get started on Swift. Nidoran, I don't have a good handling on your areas of expertise. And Spearow...this is really important," I said seriously.
With Spearow giving me his full attention, I pressed forward. "You...haven't mastered Drill Run yet, have you?" I asked gently. Spearow looked off to the side uncomfortably.
I nodded. "Right then, our first order of business is for you to perfect Drill Run."
Well, we've made a little progress with Drill Run. I managed to figure out why Spearow couldn't properly steer the thing. Just like Ash's Oshawott will be with Aqua Jet, Spearow wasn't keeping his eyes open while performing the attack. So he just sprang forward every time he used the technique. But it can't be used to its full potential if he can't steer it. I started things off small. I stood off-center from Spearow and told him to keep his eyes open and steer towards me.
"Okay, Spearow, use Drill Run!" I encouraged. Spearow gave me a nod and spun into the Ground-type attack. This time, with eyes open. However...Spearow wobbled out of control and went veering off into the sky. He barely managed to prevent himself from stalling in the air, frantically flapping his wings.
I sighed as he flew back down towards me. "Got dizzy again, huh?" I said rhetorically. "Alright, take a small break. I'm going to go help Eevee and Nidoran for a bit," I told him. Spearow gave me a rather dizzy nod and fell back onto his tail in exhaustion.
So, yeah...didn't go so well. He is getting better though, but it'll probably be a while before he's got it down pat.
Anyway, as it turns out, Eevee does know how to activate Swift. Emphasis on activate. She can form the stars, but she can't figure out how to shoot them off, which probably explains why the 'Dex didn't pick it up. Instead, they just orbit around her. But that intrigued me a bit, so I commanded Nidoran in a mock battle against her.
"Nidoran, use Poison Sting!" I declared. Nidoran immediately launched the Poison-type attack at Eevee. Eevee yelled something in PokéSpeak and summoned the Swift stars around her. The Poison Sting plinked off of them. I then ordered a Tackle, and while Nidoran did manage to connect with Eevee, the stars hurt him in the process, like Rough Skin or a Rocky Helmet.
Sure, Eevee does need to learn how to shoot them off eventually, but this use of it is also interesting. I've dubbed this makeshift move "Swift Guard", but told her to ask Staryu how to properly use Swift in the future. It certainly knows how to use Swift judging from the bruises Spearow had...
And finally, Nidoran. Mostly it was just me getting a feel for him. Nidoran prefer physical attacks to special attacks, so I've been flipping through the 'Dex to figure out what to teach him. Since his currently only Poison-type attack is, well, Poison Sting, I've decided to try to teach him Poison Jab. I know Nidoran don't typically learn that until they've become more experienced, but got to start somewhere, right?
According to the Dex, before learning Poison Jab, a Nidoran should first learn Horn Attack. Simple enough, it's just an attack with the horn. Nothing too special. Nidoran's picking it up fine. After he's finished with that, then he needs to add his Poison-type to the Horn Attack in order to start learning Poison Jab. Like I said, simple enough. I did wonder about teaching him Double Kick as well, but I ultimately decided against it. Truthfully, I'm worried about him falling over if he attempts to use the move. I'll wait until he's a Nidoking.
...Never did manage to get a Moon Stone. Where else can I get one? It's been a while since I've played Fire Red. I wish I had my GBA...
Eventually, we packed the whole thing up, and left to go join the others for lunch. I could see Eevee walk over to Staryu, probably to get tips on Swift. Spearow and Pidgeotto were having a chat as well, and Spearow had a dawning look on his face. Nidoran and Pikachu were talking about something or another, while Butterfree was hanging around next to Starmie, Geodude, and Onix.
Something struck me at that moment. There have been numerous Pokémon that could speak human tongue. Meowth, and the Shamouti Slowking were the two that immediately came to mind. So if it was possible for a Pokémon to speak human...
...Couldn't it be just as possible for a human to learn to speak Pokémon?
Plot hook! ...Yeah, it's short. I didn't divide these as evenly as I thought.