First Steps
"You finally caught up Gertrud." Persephone crouched down and scratched the Roselia under its chin. "We're going to say hi to Cecil, I think he'd want to know we are finally on our Pokemon journey." She put out her hand for the Roselia and it climbed up.
I'm a bit frightened to fight him, but at least we won't be facing him now. If we were facing him now we would have no chance. Gertrud was pouting at the thought of it. I guess we have to choice.
"I'm personally looking forward to it. He is the only gym leader who I won't be nervous around since I know him. Everyone else will be a struggle." Blaze already had his head down. Even in his hometown where he knew a lot of people, his nervousness was a massive problem.
Blaze was rubbing his arm, looking at the floor. Gertrud had been lifted up to Blaze's shoulder, which she jumped onto. The Roselia was hugging her trainer, trying to keep him comfortable outside of his comfort zone.
Don't worry Blaze, I'll be here with you the entire time. Blaze smiled at Gertrud's support for him. He rubbed the little grass type's head. It was only then that he realised the Roselia had a root wrapped around her neck and a makeshift backpack.
"Gertrud. What's that?" He pointed to the backpack and the root. "When did you get those?"
Oh, the root was an item that Austin gave to me to hold. I'm sure you know what a big root does. Persephone and Blaze both nodded. He gave one to me as a present. The makeshift backpack it to hold this. Gertrud pulled one of the straps off of her shoulder (or as close to a shoulder as a Roselia could have) and opened the lid to show Blaze.
I was late catching up cause I was picking up my little backpack from home. Austin also gave me this. Visible at the bottom of the bag was a Shiny Stone. I was hoping that we use this before the first gym battle we do, I could become a Roserade.
"That is so cool. I'll make sure that I'm there for that. Me and Blaze discussed the idea of going on our own journeys though, meeting up with each other occasionally to battle or just catch up." Persephone gave a soft smile to Gertrud. "Don't worry though Gertrud, I'll make sure to come and watch stuff like gym battles and the like. Maybe we should part ways after our first gym though."
Gertrud looked at Blaze quizzically. So, you agreed to this? I would have thought that you would have wanted to stick around with Persephone for your journey. Gertrud was a bit sad to learn that her friend would be leaving her.
"Well, yea. I guess so. With Persephone there I feel a lot more confident than I usually am, but at least you will still be there." He rubbed the little Roselia's head. "With you by my side, we can still do great things."
Blaze and Persephone were roaming around Canalave City. This would be their last time seeing their home town for a fair while. Persephone was holding back tears at the thought that her hometown. Blaze was trying to have a smile on his face at the idea of starting his journey, but he was saddened leaving his hometown as well.
This must have been why most kids started at ten. They were at least slightly mature, but they didn't get overly homesick and had a great sense of adventure. Blaze and Persephone locked hands and started walking towards Cecil's gym, their last stop before leaving Canalave City.
When they finally reached the gym, they both stood at the doors. They released Amy and Laxus and opened the doors to the gym.
An announcer spoke over a loudspeaker. "Welcome to the Canalave City gym." Cecil looked to the door and was about to introduce himself when he realised who it was.
"Persephone, Blaze, Gertrud. It's good to see the three of you. And happy birthday to you Persephone. His Scizor also made himself noticed. "Sciz."
Scizor says it's good to see you guys as well. Gertrud waved at Cecil's Scizor. It waved back at the Roselia.
Cecil looked at Persephone and Blaze, noticing the two new Pokemon they had. "And who are these two?"
Persephone picked up her Shinx. "This little guy is named Laxus. Isn't he cute?" She was smiling, and Cecil looked at the little electric type and smiled. His serious-looking demeanour with the glasses and the scar across his right cheek not really showing that he was quite the encouraging person.
"Well, he looks quite strong. I look forward to one day facing him in battle. And you Blaze?"
The little Flabébé floated around, trying to fight the slight breeze that was in the gym. "This little one is named Amy." Blaze held up his hand to stop his new Pokemon from floating away, but the Flabébé was holding onto its position in the air quite well. For its small little size and lightweight stature, it was quite strong-willed.
"She looks like she is going to grow into quite the strong Pokemon there. I look forward to seeing that little one grow." Cecil drew his sword and slammed the tip onto the ground. Laxus jumped back in surprise, but Amy continued to stare at the gym leader. He chuckled. "She really is a strong Pokemon."
The Flabébé used Fairy Wind to change the direction of the wind towards the steel type gym leader. It stuck out its tongue at the silver haired man, showing that it was not afraid.
"I'm glad to see that you got such a smart Pokemon as your starter Blaze, not to insult you at all Gertrud." The Roselia glared at the gym leader.
"Flabé" The little fairy type shouted at the gym leader.
Amy is challenging you to a battle. It's actually quite funny, I don't think she understands how tough a gym leader is. Gertrud grinned at its ability to translate.
"It always amazes me how much a Pokemon can say in just that little bit." Persephone looked towards the little fairy Pokemon, still hovering around Cecil's face. "Anyway, didn't you say you had a challenger today?"
Cecil looked as though he had almost forgotten. "Oh, that's right. He should be coming in a few minutes. You two might want to get going, unless you want to see your first gym battle as a trainer?"
Blaze spoke up for the first time in a while. "So, Canalave is generally the sixth gym that most trainers go through if they are doing the typical route through Sinnoh. You gym leaders use different Pokemon depending on the challenger, don't you?"
Cecil nodded and Blaze's question. "Exactly. If you were to face me without a gym badge you would likely only face three of my Pokemon, with one or two being unevolved forms of my main team that I keep out back.
"And gym leaders have some special tech that allow them to keep more than six Pokemon around depending on challengers as well, right?" Blaze was saying all this more to recap what he had read in the guides to being a Pokemon trainer that Rowan had sent he and Persephone when they didn't become trainers at ten.
Cecil only nodded in return. "Well, I'm sure you guys won't be staying for too long. How about you stay from the first round of the battle?" Blaze and Persephone both agreed to Cecil's offer and went up to the bleachers in the gym.
Cecil whispered into the Flabébe's ear to go sit with Blaze. Amy had still been floating around the gym leader, trying to be as menacing as one of the two smallest Pokemon in the world could be. It pouted before Cecil mentioned to it that they would certainly have a battle one day.
With that, the little fairy type used Fairy Wind again to blow itself over to where Blaze was. "Amy certainly is an impressive little Pokemon Blaze. She is a very good pick." Amy grinned in satisfaction as it came to a stop next to its trainer.
With that, the doors to Cecil's gym opened once again. The same announcer that had spoken when Blaze and Persephone entered the gym. "Welcome challenger." The boy looked about eleven. He had blond hair and a generic yellow top and blue shorts. He was clearly going for the Youngster look.
"Welcome challenger to my gym. My name is Cecil Aldhard. What is your name?" Cecil was putting on his gym leader persona. He was a lot calmer and he was already looking closely at his opponent. He had also adjusted his glasses quickly.
The boy hesitated slightly before saying his name. "My name is Raymond Duval, and I wish to challenge you." Blaze could already tell that the boy was nervous. It didn't seem like this was his first gym battle, but he didn't seem very confident.
"How many gym badges do you currently have Raymond?" Cecil walked over to the wall of the gym while he spoke. He typed in a code and a two trays with six Pokeballs each popped out.
"Uhh, I have three sir." Raymond was trying to be as polite as possible to the gym leader. "And I got a mega bracelet from Rowan recently as well.
"That's good. I wouldn't want my Scizor to miss out on the fun." Cecil looked to his partner Pokemon and nodded. He then got out there Pokeballs from their holders and strapped them to his belt. "And these three should do as the others."
As Cecil walked back towards his position, his silver sword necklace shone, a Scizorite Key Stone glowing inside it. "Well, shall we commence?"
Raymond nodded and the Announcer once again rang through the stadium. "The battle between gym leader Cecil Alhard and Raymond Duval will begin." Cecil looked at the Announcer and then rubbed his forehead in his palm.
"It's Aldhard, not Alhard. One day you will get it right." The Announcer shrugged and then continued.
"This match will consist of four Pokemon against as many as six from the challenger. The Challenger and leader may switch out at any time." Raymond looked shocked at the Announcer's words.
"Hold on, aren't gym leaders supposed to keep their Pokemon in?"
Cecil chuckled slightly. "That's actually quite and old rule. Recently the Pokemon league has decided to abolish that rule, but some other gym leaders keep it in play because they feel it is a better challenge for them. I like this way though."
"Let the battle commence." The Announcer spoke through the microphone. Cecil sent out a Kelfki whilst Raymond sent out a Kadabra.
"Interesting first choice for a steel type. I'm curious as to why you would pick it. I do have a suspicion though." Cecil drew his sword and was about to command his Klefki before Raymond spoke.
"Wait, why is your Klefki a weird colour? They aren't normally yellow are they?" Blaze and Persephone had witnessed this question a few times before. Cecil's Klefki was shiny, meaning it had a special mutation that coloured the Pokemon differently than usual. Cecil never got tired of the question, he generally smiled while he answered.
"It's a special mutation that Pokemon sometimes have. This Klefki is a shiny pokemon, its colouration is slightly different. It doesn't affect its fighting ability though." The Announcer once again spoke.
"The first round is Klefki versus Kadabra." Cecil called his first attack, holding his sword straight out.
"Let's see what this Kadabra's deal is Kelfki, use swagger!" The Kelfki twirled around, moving as if it was trying to intimidate its opponent by showing off. Blaze quickly pulled up his Poketch and analysed the Kadabra for the sake of it. Under ability, it said 'Magic Bounce.'
"So that's why Cecil didn't start out by throwing down spikes like he usually would in this case. He wanted to check if Kadabra's ability was Magic Bounce." Sure enough, the Kadabra didn't look aggravated and confused like the move usually would do. Instead, the effects of Swagger looked like they were affecting Kelfki instead.
"I thought that might have been the case. You're a smart one Raymond. Blaze, Persephone, take notes, always pay attention to Pokemon abilities." Cecil was trying to act as a teacher while fighting, one of Cecil's signature traits as a leader.
Raymond grinned at Cecil. "So, you did see through my little trick. I wouldn't expect any less from a gym leader."
Cecil smiled at the compliment his challenger just paid him. "This, though, is why I embrace the switching out rule. Klefki, your work for now is done." He returned the Klefki to its Pokeball and instead sent out a Pokemon comprised of two swords. There was a pink gooey substance that was on the shielded portion of the sheath.
"Doublade, you're up now." The sword Pokemon's eyes looked as happy as they possibly could. Raymond's grin turned slightly villainous now.
"And you'd think that I wouldn't come into a steal type gym prepared? Kadabra, Shadow Ball now." The yellow fox-like Pokemon conjured a shadowy blob in front of itself and launched it at the Doublade.
Cecil looked at the challenger. Overconfidence was the worst enemy of a challenger. "One thing that I'm not sure you've learnt yet, but Gym Leaders are prepared for most circumstances. Doublade, Shadow Sneak now. Dodge the Shadow Ball."
The sword Pokemon sunk into the floor and became one with the shadows. And went launching towards the Kadabra. Raymond's grin suddenly turned to a flustered shock. The Doublade rose out of the ground and slashed at Kadabra.
The Kadabra went launching across the gym with a large amount of force. Cecil then followed up with another attack. "Alright, follow up with Iron Head." The Doublade charged at the Kadabra, a gleam going across the Doublade and an extra layer of iron coated the Doublade as it rammed into its foe.
The Kadabra was up against the wall, it was extremely scratched up. Blaze checked his Poketch. A little bar on the moves and abilities screen was almost empty. He assumed that it implied how much fighting ability the Pokemon had left. Kadabra was not going to last much longer. Raymond was likely going to pull a last move in desperation.
"Kadabra, use thunderbolt now!" Raymond shouted, desperation quite noticeable in his voice. With the sword Pokemon so close and its ability No Guard almost preventing dodging unless another instance like Shadow Sneak came into play, Doublade was hit point blank by the lightning that Kadabra created in front of itself.
However, Doublade's HP did not reduce by a large amount. Blaze recognized the pink substance that was attached to the Doublade. It was called an Evolite, and it raised the defences of Pokemon that were yet to evolve. The ghost swords had barely taken a scratch from the bolt of electricity.
"Listen, Raymond, if you get this desperate when one of your strategies fall apart, you need to learn how a Pokemon battle truly works. Plus, get to know a lot more Pokemon a lot better, as well as items, because some of us gym leaders do use them." Cecil was trying to be more of a teacher than condescending, but to the challenger it came across as scolding.
"Doublade, lets finish off this Kadabra with another Iron Head." The Doublade charged at the Kadabra, Iron once again forming a layer over the Pokemon's steel body. Doublade slammed its foe, who fell unconscious temporarily. It woke up seconds later, but in a Pokemon battle that was what was considered a defeat.
"Kadabra is unable to battle." Raymond made a sound akin to growling. He had not been handling Kadabra's defeat well.
"Alright, Blaze, Persephone, you two should probably get going now." Cecil called out to them, taking a short break from his attention. The gym leader's Scizor also looked and waved at the two new Pokemon trainers.
"See you Cecil. The next time we meet, we will likely be foes." Persephone cheerily spoke to the gym leader. Her and Blaze walked out the door. Amy and Laxus had been returned to their Pokeballs, Gertrud was on Blaze's shoulder, waving goodbye to Cecil.
"Arceus damn it that was intense. I don't think I've ever paid so much attention to a gym battle before. I'm not too sure about this gym battle thing." Blaze looked at the ground again, nervous being out in the open.
Don't worry, you're both older and the kid honestly looked like he only had one strategy to win that battle. He couldn't adapt. You two are better than that. Gertrud looked at both Blaze and Persephone, smiling.
Both Blaze and Persephone saw that the paved road of Canalave City was coming to an end, indicating that this was the beginning of a Route between cities. For anyone who wasn't paying as much attention, there was also a large sign saying 'Route 218' near the edge of the paved road.
"Hey Blaze, What gym do you think we should head for first? The closest two would likely be Oreburgh City and Eterna City. I've heard some weird things about the Eterna gym leader, but I don't want to face dark types straight off the bat…" Persephone was walking casually along. She had let Laxus out of his Pokeball as well, who was bounding along beside his new trainer.
Blaze looked up to the sky and sighed. "I think we should go with the one that doesn't throw you off what you are comfortable with. Let's go with Eterna City. Plus, neither of us currently have any major advantage over that gym." Gertrud pushed Blaze's cheek.
No clear advantage Blaze? Please don't forget my secondary typing is Poison. Persephone laughed at Gertrud's mock hurt tone. Blaze just rolled his eyes. And I'll be a Roserade during that gym fight, so I'll be even more powerful.
Persephone grabbed Blaze's arm quickly as they edge of Canalave City. Blaze stopped in his tracks, surprised by Persephone. "Blaze, Gertrud, don't you think that we should all step over the border of Canalave City together?" Laxus was somewhat singing (or at least as close to singing as repeating different lengths of Shinx could be) a little tune, not quite paying attention to what Persephone was doing. She reached down and grabbed the little electric type, moving it back in line with the rest of them.
"Sure, I guess it's our first steps outside the city as a Pokemon trainer. Now that I think about it, I hope the ferry is working today, otherwise we will be stuck." Gertrud pushed Blaze's cheek again, trying to get him to shut up.
Blaze, let me off your shoulder. I'd like to walk across with you guys. Gertrud smiled as Blaze did what she suggested. She looked at both Persephone and Blaze, then spoke again. Persephone, whenever you're ready.
Persephone nodded. "Let's go in 3." Gertrud, Blaze and Persephone all looked straight ahead. "2." They all got ready to step over the line. "1." The three of them lifted up their right leg. "Go" Gertrud's small size meant she had to run to cross the line at the same time as Blaze and Persephone, but they all stepped over the boundary of Canalave City together. Laxus was already a metre in front of the group, confused as to what its owner was doing.
"Oi, Laxus you little scatterbrain, get back over here." The little lion like Pokemon came bounding back over to its owner. "I can already see you're going to be a problem Pokemon."
"Shiii" Laxus cried out having absolutely no idea what Persephone was saying. It struggled to understand human speech unless it was related to an attack move.
"Yea, so it is running today?" Blaze was speaking to someone over his Xtransceiver. "Good, it would be quite awkward for Persephone and me if it wasn't running today." The Xtransceiver was on 'Audio Only' mode. "Alright, we should be over there in half an hour. See ya then."
Persephone looked at Blaze, her face asking who he was talking to.
"That was the ferry guy, I was just making sure that we wouldn't be stuck here for the rest of the day. It is running today, but maybe I should have told him that we would be there later than 30 minutes." Blaze looked at Gertrud, who was now back on his shoulder. Gertrud took the signal and slapped him as hard as she could, but it didn't do much given that a Roselia's hands were roses.
You know, it really doesn't work Blaze. No matter how much you hit someone with a rose, the flower doesn't hurt them. Persephone laughed and Blaze once again rolled his eyes. Your logic is highly flawed Blaze. Blaze winced as a result of the little Roselia's words. Assaults on his logic were his weakness.
In the nearby bushes, there was a slight rustling sound. A yellow snout was poking out from the nearby tall grass. Persephone pushed Laxus over to investigate the little snout. It roared at the grass and a shrew-like Pokemon jumped out. It was Yellow with lines like cracked, dried earth and a cream tummy. It had black eyes, tiny arms and legs with little claws, and a tail.
"That's a Sandshrew, right?" Persephone stared at the Pokemon. She had read up on a lot about different Pokemon, but sometimes the exact names of Pokemon escaped her. With 718 known Pokemon and counting, it was difficult to remember every single Pokemon's name.
As if to confirm Persephone's thoughts, the Sandshrew spoke. "Shrew." Persephone jumped when it spoke, not out of fear but out of joy. Her guess had been correct.
"Blaze, I'm going to battle this little guy. You already have two Pokemon, I may as well catch up. Laxus, you ready to battle." At the word battle the Shinx's ears perked up. It ran to its trainer's side and grinned mischievously.
"The Poketch says that his moves are Spark, Charge, Roar and Tackle." Blaze read through Laxus' attacks. "I guess now is a good time to check as any. Too bad we can't check the Sandshrew's moves."
"Alright, Laxus, use Tackle." The little lion charged at the Sandshrew. The Sandshrew went flying into the grass. It stuck its head back out of the grass. It jumped out of the grass and curled up into a ball. Its body shone for a second, its skin seeming to harden. As it did this it started rolling towards Laxus.
"Defence Curl and Rollout. A deadly combo. Persephone, Laxus needs to dodge or use Roar, but you definitely want to get Laxus to dodge it." Blaze was calling out strategies to his friend, his brain already working overtime.
Persephone yelled for Laxus to dodge, but it instead rushed at the Sandshrew while coating itself with electricity. "Laxus, get out of the damn way!" It kept charging towards the Sandshrew. Laxus was struck head on and was sent flying. Sandshrew was completely unshaken.
Laxus got up and charged at the Sandshrew. It was trying to Tackle it again. "Arceus damn it Laxus, listen to me." Persephone was yelling at her Pokemon to stop. It continued running and slammed right into the opposing Pokemon.
"Persephone, this has gone on for long enough. I suggest you try to catch it now." Blaze shouted out to his friend. She broke from her haze and returned Laxus to its Pokeball.
"Alright, Sandshrew, you're mine now." Persephone threw the Pokeball at Sandshrew. A red light surrounded the Pokemon and was absorbed into the capsule. It dropped to the ground and started shaking rapidly. A red light flickered on and off, eventually ending with a dinging sound. The capture had been successful.
"Alright, my first successful capture!" Persephone grabbed the Pokeball that contained the Sandshrew. "Now what should I name you?" After thinking for a few seconds she came up with something. "How about Spiny."
Blaze looked at her confused. "How is that relevant in any way to a Sandshrew?"
"It's not, but it is relevant to a Sandslash." She smiled and threw out her newly acquired Sandshrew. "Hey little guy, I'm going to call you Spiny." The little Sandshrew looked at its trainer.
"Shrew." The little Sandshrew spoke.
She says she likes it. Sandshrews aren't very emotive. Gertrud translated Sandshrew's speech from Blaze and Persephone.
"What am I going to do when I'm not travelling with you anymore Gertrud." Persephone laughed before returning Spiny to his Pokeball.
You could catch a psychic type. Gertrud tried to sarcastically give some advice. Oh, and Spiny is a girl.
"Oh… Well, let's get going to the ferry." Persephone started running, leaving Blaze to catch up.
"Damn it Persephone." Blaze started running after Persephone… and hoping that he didn't miss the ferry.