Mars and I decided to wander the tall grass of National Park one day. It was early in the morning, but I woke up with Mars jumping on my bed. He was really hyper, so I thought maybe he wanted to take a stroll somewhere. Since it was so early in the morning, I didn't really want to go and get yelled at in the streets of Goldenrod City by other people, so I chose the next best place. National Park. There were wild Pokémon there in the grass. And maybe even a few other Trainers like me looking for a battle! Mars just needed a fix of excitement, and it was getting to me that day too, I remember.
National Park looked different during the day than it did early morning, and it was calmer and prettier. Too bad there were no Trainers anywhere. So, Mars and I walked around for a bit, explored a path that was through a rift in the fence that I didn't know about before, and sat down on the big fountain rim. I heard that if you flew up somehow and looked below, the park's grass was shaped like a huge Pokéball, and the fountain was the button to release a Pokémon. Now there was something that I'd like to try one day! But then I realized I'd have to catch a Flying type first…
Mars had enough resting time, and grabbed my hand and ran towards the grass. He wanted to battle. I remember when Mars was just a curious but sneaky kinda Pokémon, like a child, but now he wanted to get active and actually battle. My Dad did some more research on the name 'Mars' and told me that it was also the name of a god of war and battle. I think Mars decided to live up to that name and cut out the childish act.
We found a Sunkern in the grass. It was collecting dewdrops from the other plants, standing still the whole time. Perfect prey, I thought. Mars beat it fast with a few Tackle while it couldn't react. Soon, more Sunkern came out of the grass to gang up on their friend's attacker, but Mars still beat them. Most of them couldn't even get an attack out before Mars beat them with a fast and hard Tackle attack!
After that we moved onto Caterpie. After those weren't enough, we tried going up against some Pidgey. Their Gusts soon proved to be too much, though, so we stopped for a break. Now we were both sweating and panting from our running around and fighting again the wild Pokémon of the park. Still, Mars was getting impressive; beating all those Pokémon, and still standing, albeit a little worn out. We were gonna to be a great team. And then it came to me. Pokémon weren't the only ones we can challenge. And by now we began to see a bunch of Trainers around the park, strolling and battling.
So by instinct, I challenged the first person I saw. Mars was still weak and panting, but I went in ahead without thinking. I guess that was my fault in the end, and what caused the problems of my life. The person I challenged was a boy my age, maybe a bit older, and he laughed at me. He had many other followers; boys a bit younger than me, I presumed. His posse. He looked at Mars and laughed again.
"You think you can actually beat me with that thing?" He asked, pointing at Mars, who was still catching his breath. "Alright, no problem. Easy picking, go Bloodhound!" he said, throwing a Pokéball to reveal a Snubull. First I giggled to myself at the name, but soon enough I was speechless when Mars was sent flying by a Take Down. I quickly turned back to look at the smirking boy.
"H-hey, that's not fair!" I yelled. He just laughed it off. And then things went from bad to worse. I tackled him to the ground, and punched him in the eye. I was getting into a fight I'd be regretting for a long while. The boy, getting back his balance, tackled me back with more force. Then the other boys followed with the gang attack, and I was soon in a world of pain. And with a situation of a bunch of boys outnumbering you, I had no chance. Mars found his way back, and tried to back me up by getting a hit on the Snubull he was unfairly attacked by. Of course, this show was over soon when the Snubull went back for a strong Take Down. Like Pokémon like Trainer. The boys soon walked away when I was left bruised and bloody. I looked at Mars, who fainted, and began to cry in the park.
That's when those unhappy days began.
The Machop was a strong opponent. And by strong, I mean that it took Mars a minute longer than the other wild Pokémon to take it down. But there it was. The first Fighting Pokémon I encountered. And the first Fighting Pokémon I was going to capture. I went into my bag to grab a Pokéball, but, the Machop looked confused, and then angered when I threw an apricot instead. It grabbed it and threw it at the small stream inside the river we were by. And trust me, I threw it on purpose, I-I swear! I looked further into the bag, while Mars kept the Machop from escaping. And I didn't find any Pokéballs in there. Because I went to the store to replenish my water supply and potions… and…didn't get Pokéballs. None. Zippo. Totally forgot about them.
"Oh come on, really!" I yelled at myself. Mars glanced over at me, while keeping a look out for the Machop, and scratched his head. I didn't want his work to go to waste and leave this Machop behind, but I didn't want to run back to Ecruteak, buy a Pokéball, and then come back to catch the Superpower Pokémon… I contemplated on what to do… I looked in my bag one last time before giving up hope, but I found a small bag on the outside of my backpack, strapped on. Then I wanted to call Isidora how her present saved me from having to give up on catching my first Pokémon, but I had to catch the Machop before that could happen. I took out the Heavy Ball, enlarged it by pressing the center button, aimed and fired at the Machop, who Mars just let go of. I was thinking to myself that the Heavy Ball would look awesome on a Machop. It'd be me, Mars, and a Machop. I'd have to find a nice name for it, but now we'd have a new team addition. A step further to becoming a Fighting type master! But my reality didn't always carry out like I hoped, mind you. That was because it was dark (and I had no such physical skill of aiming a throw, but that's beside the point!).
I heard something splash in the water, and I saw in horror that the Machop wasn't compacted into energy by the Heavy Ball as it should have. Mars cried out at the river wondering what dropped, and the Machop stood there, confused. And while they didn't know what just happened, I did.
I missed the Pokémon.
"Wha…" I muttered. I missed the Machop, and the Heavy Ball went straight down the river. So, I just had a Lure Ball left, but that was reserved for the Poliwag I was going to catch; no exceptions. Mars waited for a command, and the Machop was awkwardly standing around wondering what our next move was going to be. And I had no plans. I looked at Mars, then to the wild Pokémon. I looked at the statures of both, compared them, and tried estimating weight… And began my new and improved capture plan.
"Mars! Knock it out with a Mach Punch!" I yelled. Mars complied, giving me an unsure look on what making the Fighting type faint like a normal wild Pokémon was going to do for us. Good thing I thought this through, kinda. In a way. Unorthodox, definitely. But I was not really keen on letting this Machop go. The Machop went down soon after Mars hit, and it was my chance. I went back to my bag, and took out the next literal meaning of "capture".
With the handy-dandy Escape Rope. I called Mars over to help me secure the Machop, and assisted me wrap it up in the rope normally used to help escape places like the cave we were in. We made sure to tie its arms and legs so it couldn't escape part two of my plan. We now had an unconscious Machop tied up and unable to move. Mars was giving me the 'This is so wrong' look with a raised eye, but I just gave him a sheepish look, and continued. I tried lifting up the Superpower Pokémon, but it would be too heavy to move out of the cave, travel through Route 42, go back to Ecruteak, and the Pokémart to buy an emergency Pokéball by myself. I wasn't really aware how legal it was exactly, anyway. I nodded Mars to help me carry it out, and he obliged, sweat dropping at the idea. Sure we were kinda shaky at first, but I just really hoped we didn't drop it and accidently wake it up. The faster we got out of here the better. A woken up Machop would give us trouble.
We got out of the cave pretty simply, but it still took around close to an hour. At this point though, I just ignored the potential training Mars could have gotten from the rocks and bats in the cave. But we made it out of the cave, and I was already exhausted. Though, Mars would have kept going. We gently put the Machop down in the clearing afterward, while I took out a water bottle, and began to replenish my fluids. I looked at the water inside the bottle, and I wondered what I should tell Isidora about losing her custom made Pokéball like that. In the end I settled with 'she doesn't have to find out…', and after giving a bottle to Mars, kept on our track rather undisturbed; by neither the wild Pokémon, nor the Machop. The day still looked like it had an hour or so before it got completely dark.
We reached the gate of Ecruteak City a bit later, and made a run towards the Pokémart. But as luck would have it, right as we turned the corner outside of the store, I bent my ankle at an awkward angle, and stumbled. This caused Mars to also stumble, and the three of us all fell down. I winced in pain, but then that pain turned to sheer fear when I heard a low "Chop" grunt from behind me. The Machop began to open its eyes and stood up, and looked hurt from the fall, not even mentioning the beating Mars gave it. Then it's big, childlike red eyes looked at me and Mars, and it was mad. Mars and I looked at each other, then back to the other Fighting type. I wondered what would happen, and I guess I didn't really see what happened coming.
The Machop sat back down with us, and took a deep breath, then began to lie down. In the middle of the Ecruteak City street. I think it was sleepy at the time. And well, I guess we didn't really spell comfort while we ran around carrying it. Mars and I looked at each other, and broke into a nervous laugh. It wasn't the most comfortable laugh, but still, we didn't have the problem we thought we'd have. I told Mars to stay with the Machop outside of the store while I went in to buy a Pokéball. I just needed one. The Machop was damaged, tired, and tied up for crying out loud. I'm glad that no police went to check up what was going on, because if they found out I tied up a Pokémon like that, they'd think I was a bad Trainer. Then they'd learn that Machop was still a wild Pokémon, and that I was actually a poacher. My imagination ran wild while I bought the spherical capsule. Still, imagine my delight when I found Mars and the Machop, still tied up, sitting down outside of the store. Not causing any disturbances, and just chatting. I scratched my head trying to think what they were talking about, but the amount of "chans" and "chops" didn't really provide me with much. I took out the new Pokéball from my pocket, and I showed it to the two Fighting types, who quieted down and looked at me curiously. Mars less so, but that's because he saw what was coming. I looked at the Machop then.
"Hello, my name is Sebastian, and that is Mars. We're trying to become a strong Fighting type Pokémon team… would you like to join us? We'll help you become stronger, and Mars will get stronger… I'll get stronger… It's a good deal!" I explained. The Machop took a quick thinking about it, and I think it was still kinda against it, but… needed an extra point of persuasion. "You know… if you train with us, you might be able to catch up faster level-wise than staying in that cave and so you won't look like such a pushover like you did against him." I gave him the best smug look I could muster up (which didn't say much; I rarely did this), and the Machop took offence to it. Apparently not just offence, but it tried to show me up. After struggling to break free of the rope, he gave up. Instead then the Machop looked at me, and gave a faint smile. I crept up a nervous smile of my own.
And then it hopped over to tackle me (having legs tied and all) hard. Well, I wasn't the original target. The Pokéball was. But we both went down, and Mars started to giggle to himself, still sitting. He was happy at what was going on. The Machop soon wriggled on top of me and managed to press the Pokéball's button, and he disappeared into the Pokéball right away. The ball began to shake on my torso, and I stopped breathing right there.
First click. A certain past situation began to take place in my head. I started to get nervous.
Second click. A certain green praying mantis Pokémon's cry began to play in my head. I was a little scared now.
Third click. A certain memory of the wimp from Goldenrod City's broken face when that Scyther broke out and crushed his optimism. I was beginning to panic in case of the same outcome.
One final click and my sudden doubts vanished. The Pokéball stayed shut on my chest cavity, and Mars beamed a grin at me. I looked at him, returning the favor. I withdrew Machop's Pokéball, and took out Mars' Pokéball. I went to return Mars, and got him back without protest. He looked like he could use some rest. The three of us, actually. I went to the Pokémon Center and dropped my new team of two in Nurse Joy's care. She readily took them, and gave me a smile.
I went to the lounge area for the second time that day, and took out my Pokégear. I recognized the same group of Trainers from earlier today, talking not about the Psychic boy anymore, but their Gym battle.
"Morty was not easy, you jerk!" one of the two girls yelled at one of the other boys. That boy won his Fog Badge a little before.
"But Mel, you can't really expect your Furret to do much against his Ghosts. Not to mention you pretty much run Normal and Grass types. Remember your matchups." the second girl said. "I won my match, though. Ghosts don't really have an edge on Dark types like my Murkrow!" she added, snickering at the first girl. I guessed she was the only one who didn't beat Morty. I dialed Isidora's number on my Pokégear, and began the call.
After a few seconds, she picked up.
"Hey, Sebastian? You get my autograph yet?" she asked, and I laughed.
"Not exactly, but I did catch a Machop. And I can get it to give you an autograph, if you'd like. No wait; I'll get Mars and me to sign it too. You'll save it, and give it a few years; we'll be more awesome than those Kimono Girls." I said, and actually looked forward to it. I could become something big if I become strong enough.
"Yeah, alright. What's your plan gonna be against Morty? Any of your Pokémon know moves that can hit Ghost types?" she asked. I honestly didn't know.
"I'm not sure, but I was going to be training tomorrow. Then face Morty the following day. I'll figure something out." I replied. It would give me a chance to get a team synergy together. I beat a Psychic type, so I was going to beat the Ghosts too.
"Oh okay, that sounds smart. Make sure that since you'll be staying in Ecruteak, get the darn autograph! I want no less than five signatures!" she ordered, and promptly hung up. I didn't even have time to mention that I lost her Heavy Ball in Mt. Mortar.
Putting away the Pokégear, I started thinking. With two Fighting type Pokémon, we can't land a hit on Ghosts without training hard. And not just training hard, but making sure that we can strike and also take the hits that Ghosts attack with. If it's the Hypnosis-Dream Eater tactic, I wasn't so sure if there would be anything like dirt to help us out like with that Drowzee. So there'd have to be an alternate solution to it. Well, before coming up with battle plans, I'd have to know what my new Machop can do.
The door to the infirmary opened and Nurse Joy, joined by a Chansey, called out to me. She had two Pokéballs with her. My team size had now effectively doubles since coming to her last time. And Nurse Joy's mind certainly somehow remembered this.
"This Machop… you didn't have him before, right?" she asked. Now I knew that my Machop was a 'he', I can stop calling him 'it'. I grinned, and opened my mouth to tell her of my quite ridiculous misadventure capturing this Machop. She stopped me before though.
"How dare you have this Pokémon tied up! I see many Trainers pushing their Pokémon so hard, but this is the first time I've seen something so atrocious being done to a wild Pokémon! Then you caught him? While he was tied up? You should be ashamed of yourself!" she yelled at me, raising the conversing Trainers in the lounge to stop and heed ear to the juicy scolding I was receiving. Again, somebody completely misinterprets the situation. Nurse Joy wasn't being so joyful right now.
"W-wait, hold on a second! You got it all wrong!" I tried defending myself.
It took a good half hour of explaining my situation as a whole to Nurse Joy. I even had to bring out Mars and my new Machop to try testifying before calming her down. Since she couldn't really understand a bunch of 'chans' and 'chops', we had to resort to simple 'yes' or 'no' questions. She readily apologized after she found out that Machop wasn't captured against his will. I made sure to take out any details that made me look bad, like taunting his strength for him to join my team. Still, I managed to rent a room in the Pokémon Center free of charge, and it was good too. I was alright with sleeping outdoors, but I don't think I'll ever want to pass the opportunity of sleeping in a nice bed, and sleeping out in the wilderness. We got some sandwiches delivered from room service, which we had to unfortunately pay for. Well, I did. Mars and the Machop just began eating the batch. I looked over at Mars, and then the Machop… And I forgot about something pretty important. I stared at him until he glanced over, chewing his food.
"You… need a name." I looked at him in the eye. The Machop almost choked on the sudden attention. Mars patted his back and he managed to swallow. Then he crossed his arm, and closed his eyes defiantly. I gave him an intrigued stare.
"What, you don't want a name? I'd rather not call you 'Machop', you know." I told him. Still he stayed the same, and unresponsive. I was gonna give him a name, since having one Pokémon with and a Pokémon without one would be kinda awkward. I was going to at least persuade him to let me name him. The name itself can wait. "Are you too proud for a name? Or you don't want me to call you something too good for you?" These questions would give me notable information. Machop twitched a little, and responded against the taunts and tried tackling me. I saw it coming (I was getting better at taking random Tackles from my Pokémon) and moved out of the way for the Machop to land on the floor. He got up to give a second attempt, but I moved faster. I took him, and threw him. If we were going to do this the hard way, I wasn't going to hold back.
Too bad that the species name 'Superpower' Pokémon showed me up. I was slightly bruising. I did get a few hits on the Machop, and we were both panting. Mars was still eating, but tried to egg us on by giving us tips on how to punch. We tried copying his style, but in the end rather than boxing, we began again with some more throwing around and pushing. Our little wrestling fest soon got a few complaints, and Nurse Joy came to our room asking me to please think of the other Trainers. She wasn't mad at all, though. That was because even the Machop was smiling. We were both having fun with this. She saw this, bid us good night, and left. There was one more sandwich left, so I split it in half. One for me and one for Machop. Mars groaned a little seeing the last sandwich go.
"Mars, you were eating the whole time!" I laughed. I looked over to Machop, and offered him his piece. "Come on, here. You were pretty good." I sang. He kinda just stared at us, and soon gave us the 'I'm not taking that' act by crossing his arms and turning away. Too bad I knew that this Pokémon was childish now. I grabbed his arms, unfolded them, opened his hands, and put the half sandwich down. I gave him a hearty smile, and in the end he looked at me, unknowing what to say. He fidgeted a little, swallowing his pride, but…
"Machop!" he smiled, gratefully. And now was a good time for formal acceptance into our team.
"So you're rude, violent, childish, and extremely arrogant. But you're also really fun and interesting to add onto our team… So what is a good name for you?" I wondered. He looked at me curiously too. I think he was accepting the naming idea. Now I had to come up with the actual name. Mars was named after a planet, but I could go the other way and name him after some sort of deity. So that meant I had to call some expert on this stuff.
My dad.
"Hey Sebastian! How are you doing? What's going on?" Dad greeted me on the Pokégear.
"Hi Dad. I caught a Machop. But I'm not sure what to name it…" I told him straight up. I guess it was sudden, but still.
"Oh, a Machop… Hm. I wonder. Can you tell me a little about it, personality wise?" he asked me. First step process of getting a name. My dad took classes from the Name Rater, but he always ended up applying mythology characters to names. He tried giving the name Artemis to Jiggly, but Isidora didn't think it was cute enough.
"Um, he's very immature, wild, stubborn… but I think he's perfect for my team." I told him. I was practically insulting my new Pokémon, but it was the truth. And honestly? I wouldn't really like it if Machop changed those attributes.
"Oh those are lovely traits. At least your journey will get some spice, right?" he laughed. "But I think I got a good name for it. Well, it's more of a prediction on his character, but I'd like you to try it out." He added. He took a pause. I awaited his response. I knew it was going to Machop, knowing my dad.
"Adonis, the Machop." he said. "The god of beauty, and represents the charm of all vanity stricken youths." he finished. I quickly said my thanks, telling him to say hi to Mom and Isidora, and promptly ended the call.
"Adonis…" I tried saying it without bursting out laughing.
The name was a complete opposite of my new Pokémon. Adonis the Machop looked confused, Mars was smiling, thinking it was the final act to solidify our new team member into the party.
I was laughing thinking I was going to be calling my Machop Adonis.
Alrighty then! Hope you guys had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and I'm really really really sorry that I missed last week's update. It was a busy week and all, with it being Thanksgiving, my sister's birthday, relatives, etc. But now, if you don't see this story updated by Sunday night as per usual, just check my page to see what's going on. I really had fun writing this chapter, and I hope to see comments and reviews! Major thanks to RuningWitSizorz, japaneserockergirl, and J-ster for being awesome and leaving r/c, and one last thanks to my friend Leo for helping me proofread!