Pokemon Quest
Start: Friday November 16
League Challenge begins: Sunday July 3rd (33 weeks total)

-Begin second week-

"Hey guy's ready to head out?" Adrian excitedly asked while entering his room.

Soon after, Adrian and his pokemon comfortably walked through the woods away from the academy.

"The next thirty-two weeks will pretty much be like that last one." Adrian began, "After my classes let out, we'll train , have dinner, and then return for the night. If we meet any trainers, we'll have a match. Only, we won't lose like we did to that bug trainer and her Beedrill. Tch. We had to run all the way to the Pewter city pokemon center. Let's avoid doing that in the future."

"Bell!"

"Pika!"

"Craa!"

"Great, now let's go get that badge!" Adrian encouraged his pokemon.

…..

Sunday morning, Adrian took a deep breath simultaneously staring down the Cerulean gym. Stepping forward, he recalled the other day.

"Listen guys, the only chances we'll get to go on adventures will come on weekends and breaks. To be ready for, we have to trainer really hard during the rest of the week." Adrian told his pokemon during dinner.

"Bellsprout."

"Pipika."

"Cra."

Each pokemon responded.

"Great, you understand." Adrian continued, "So, to start off our adventures as a team, I say we challenge a gym leader. Not Pewter city's Brock, though. We'll save him for last. His gym is too close to the academy, and often comes by to visit. If we challenge him, he might recognize us during one of his visits to the academy, and then I'll be expelled, and you guys will probably be taken from me. So no, we'll save him for last."

"Craaa." Spearow was the only pokemon to reply. The other two were too busy with their meals to concern themselves with Adrian's reasoning.

"You're enthusiasm is overwhelming..." Adrian remarked before continuing. "Any way, the first gym we should challenge is Misty. For one, Cerulean city isn't too far but more importantly, we have a complete type advantage over her water pokemon."

"Chuu." Pikachu agreed.

"We're going to have to be careful though. Gym battles aren't the same as trainer battles. All gyms follow two special rules. First, gym leaders have to fight with pokemon of their specialty. Second, gym leaders are free to decide the rules for their matches. But in truth, we can only prepare for type advantages."

"Bell" Bellsprout nodded in understanding.

"We already have the type advantage against Misty. Tentacruel, Lapras, and Dewgong are the probable pokemon she'll use. Her trump... must be a Gyarados. Now let's see, how to do this..."

Adrian grins, "Heha, thinking about this... guys, this is fun!"

"Hey, you're a trainer, right?" A voice called out, "Let's battle?""Go Bulbasaur!"
"Spearow!"
"Bulbasaur, razor leaf!" From Bulbasaur's back flew a barrage of leaves.
"Whirlwind and sand-attack!" The wind generated by Spearow easily blew back the on coming leaves, while the sand used the air current to blind the opposing pokemon. "Now, peck!" Spearow used the opening to rush Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, grab him with your vines." Vines emerged and entangled Spearow as an attack landed on Bulbasaur. "Slam!"
"Tch," Spearow was crashed into the ground. "Just fly around for now, Spearow! Hey, you're pretty good!"
"Thanks, although you're putting up a decent fight too."

The two trainers remained motionless staring each off.

'It's a stalemate... Very well then.' "Spearow, dive in and tackle." Spearow, who had been flying laps around Bulbasaur, dove and rapidly approached Bulbasaur.

"Sleep powder!"

"Too slow! Go Spearow!" The speed Spearow flew in had greatly been due to the laps around Bulbasaur. With the increased speed, Spearow easily flew by the sleep powder.

…..

"It was a good match, thank you." Adrian said.
"You got me. I didn't think you'd try a kamikaze. Say, where are you heading?"
"We're going to the Cerulean Gym."
"Misty eh, good luck."
"Thanks."
"Anyway, next time we fight, I'll beat you."

"That was match was great preparation for tomorrow. It gave me an idea on how to fight Gyarados. Spearow, you were spectacular."

"Craa"

"Everyone, let's get a good night's sleep and then face Misty after breakfast."

…..

Adrian, trying to remain as calm as possible, entered the Cerulean gym announcing his intent, "Misty, I challenge you!"

"You aren't going to introduce yourself first?"
"… Sorry, I got carried away. Misty, my name is Adrian! My pokemon and I have traveled all this way just to challenge you. Will you accept?"
"This is your first gym challenge isn't it?"
"You can tell?" Adrian asked disheartened by his obviousness.
"It would be hard not to. No matter, if you're a good trainer then you'll be fine. By official league rules, I must accept your challenge. Come with me."

"We will have a two on two match using this pool as our arena. Anywhere above and within the pool is inbounds. The two platforms can also be used. A match will end when a pokemon either faints or is knock out of bounds. Ready, go!"
"As the challenger, I should reveal my pokemon first. Come on out, Spearow!"
"A bird eh. Well then, go Horsea!"
'A Horsea? I wasn't expecting this...' Adrian thought, "No matter," He declared, "Spearow, make a tornado!"
"Stop him Horsea, bubble beam." From Horsea's snout a beam of bubbles was shot at Spearow.
"Evade left, and furry swipes!" Dodging the attack, Spearow then dove towards Horsea.
"Smokescreen!"
"Up, blow it away!" '

Gone…' Adrian thought as the smoke cleared. "Careful Spearow, they're trying to catch us of guard!"
"Too late, water gun!"
"Spearow!" Adrian shouted while silently lamenting, 'Tch, that attack got his feathers…'

Spearow, no longer able to fly properly, attempted to land on a platform.
"Once more Horsea, water gun!" A torrent of water emerged from Horsea's snout and easily pushed Spearow out of the ring.

"The first match is mine." Misty declared.
"Nice try Spearow, come on out Pikachu!" Adrian called switching his pokemon while thinking, 'I was hoping to save this for Gyarados, but...'

"Pikachu, Thundershock!"
"The pool!" Misty cried out in horror as Pikachu's attack electrocuted the water.
"I concede defeat here, now try…"
'Here it comes.' Adrian fully anticipated
"Starmie!"
"What…" For the moment, Adrian froze. His disbelief clearly presented itself on his face.

"Let me guess, you were expecting a gyarados? This is a gym battle, we use every surprise we can to win!" Misty scolded Adrian for his shallow thinking.
"Well then," Misty continued, "Starmie, rapid spin!" The starfish began spinning and homed onto pikachu.
"Pikachu, double team!" Upon giving the order, Adrian had a sudden insight, 'Stupid, if Spearow did that, he could still be fighting.'
"No matter, attack them one by one!" Starmie continued attacking each image in turn.
"Agility!" Instantly, Pikachu disappeared and reappeared behind Starmie. "Thundershock!"
"Light screen!" Pikachu's electrical attack was easily blocked by Starmie.
"Quick attack!" Pikachu charged
"A strait line, really?" Misty questioned Adrian's tactics. "Starmie, water gun!"
"Duck, thundershock the water gun!" Pikachu's electrical attack immediately followed the water back to Starmie electrocuting the pokemon.
"Starmie, return! Tell me, using water gun to conduct Pikachu's electrical attacks, did you plan that?"
"No, I came up with that at the last minute. But, I got lucky. It wouldn't have worked on pure water..." Adrian admitted.
"Well, as promised to all trainers who defeat me, here is the Cascade badge… Remember, don't assume a gym leader will use a certain pokemon. We take advantage of that."

"Sorry Bellsprout, you didn't get to fight today." Adrian apologized, "You'll get a turn next time, I promise. Spearow, Pikachu, great job and… thank you. Thank you for trusting me and listening to my strategies during battle. Now, how about some lunch?"

"Guy's there is a beach north of Cerulean city." Adrian said to his pokemon after lunch. "We should go, it'll be a great opportunity to practice on sand."

After the pokemon gave their consent, they four began walking towards the beach.
"Thief! Anyone, stop him please!" A voice cried out
"Spearow, find the thief and stop him!" Adrian quickly reacted.

Spearow quickly flew off. "Arhhh!" was hear soon after.

Adrian rushed towards the sound but only saw Spearow holding a package of sorts.
"He got away… But, you got the package back. Good job Spearow."
"Huff, thank… you… puff, so much…" the voice from earlier panted.
"No problem, what is this?" Adrian asked returning the package to what appeared to be a researcher.
"Parts to my... new project I'm working on..." The researcher gasped, "This device will allow... humans and pokemon direct communication with... each other. It's still a long way from being completed though."

"That's wicked." Adrian gaped, his eyes shinning in amazement.

Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Bill, I'm a pokemon researcher and the original creator of the pokemon transport system."
"Talking to pokemon… something like that... That would be so cool." Adrian mumbled to himself lost in his world.

"Sorry," Adrian apologized returning to his senses, "I'm Adrian, a pokemon trainer."
"A trainer, ehh. What brings you up here to route 25?"
"The beach."
"Training for combat on a sandy terrain?"
"Yeah, how'd you guess?"
"A lot of trainers come up either to train on the beach or see me."
"Because you're a researcher?" Adrian asked puzzled.
"There's that, but mainly to see my collection of rare pokemon. Want to take a look?"
"Not particularly, sorry. Although, if you don't mind, would I be able to tag around for the day? I could assist with anything you need."
"You know, I don't get too many people offering to help. Sure, you can help with my research, but weren't you going to train?"
"We can train at the beach some other time. But, I can learn more about pokemon from you."
"Great, then let's go."
"Awesome, I have some questions though. First, how do trainers learn their pokemon's gender? Second..."

…..

As I am leaving Bill's cottage, "Thank you Bill. I had an amazing time today, I really learned a lot."

"You're welcome and don't forget!"
"Don't worry, I promise! I will deliver the fossils you found to Professor Oak."

Adrian mused the day's events during his trip to the academy, 'Such an eventful day. A gym battle and learning from Bill, this easily tops anything from academy. Best of all, I now know that Bellsprout is female while Pikachu and Spearow are male.'

Chuckling, Adrian recalled the dumbfound expression Bill made after revealing he didn't know the genders of his pokemon.

"You know, we really got a lot done today." Adrian suddenly spoke to his pokemon, "We observed wild pokemon, learned some survival skills, interacted with some of Bill's pokemon, practiced pokemon tracking skills, and even dug for fossils. I was even allowed to keep the one I found. Shame we have to get back to the academy tonight. Although, we might be getting back a bit late, around two A.M. But, this is worth it, and think, next weekend we get to visit Professor Oak.. I just wish we knew more about that burgler."

Finished speaking, Adrian recalled the his day with Bill.
"Hey Bill, is this your new project?"
"Correct, this will allow humans and pokemon better interaction. The part you got back goes here, it's contains a comparison of the cries and gestures different pokemon make."
"Are you searching for differences in what they say?"
"The opposite actually, pokemon can freely speak with each other. Because of this, I've theorized that they must use similar patterns of speech and communication. Therefore, by finding similarities in their gestures, tones of their cries, length of their cries, and other areas of expression, I can demonstrate that they are saying similar messages. Realizing pokemon are saying something different when they speak to us is critical to deciphering what they are attempting to convey."
"I fail to see the value in stealing this. How could this be used for anything other than research?"
"I can't think of any reasons. His sole motivation could have been profit. We don't even know what he looks like."
"Spearow saw him, although that doesn't help much at the moment."
"I'll just have to wait and see if he tries again…"
"Maybe Professor Oak will know something..."

The second installment, the spacing came out a little weird, but it doesn't really affect the reading. Here we get to see areas Adrian still needs to grow in as well as his love of pokemon. Next time, let's see how his special training effects his school work.

Mizu-kun