Mira groaned as the morning light outside forced her to wake up from her rest. The previous day had been pretty exhausting, and she hadn't gotten too much sleep last night either after Cheryl caught her third team member.
She sat up slowly, and stretched out her arms in front of her. She didn't think she had felt this stiff in all her life.
Turning around to face the side of her bed, Mira plopped her feet onto the floor and shakily stood up. She was almost relieved that both her and Cheryl had chosen to bypass comfort and sleep in their usual clothes instead of pyjamas, because it meant that there was a lot less required of her in the mornings - all she had to do was fasten her hair into her favourite style, put her shoes on and pick up her backpack and she was ready to go.
Before she did all that, though, she chose it'd be better to wake Cheryl up first.
Mira gently placed one foot in front of the other as she walked to Cheryl's bedside.
"Hey, get up," Mira said loudly, "Mira wants to go already."
The forest-green haired teen's eyelids fluttered slightly, before they properly opened. "Oh my Arceus, I'm tired."
Mira nodded. "Mira is tired too! But Mira suggests that you should just get on with the day and get up already!"
Cheryl nodded, and forced herself to sit up. "I guess that philosophy is what helped you to get out of bed this morning?"
Mira wasn't entirely sure what Cheryl had replied because it was so early in the morning and Cheryl had said it extremely quietly, so she just shrugged. "Mira is going to tie up her hair. You can do whatever you need to."
"Well," Cheryl informed her, "I guess the first thing I should do is wake up little Turtwig here. When does it not sleep?"
The two girls forced themselves down the stairs, and as Mira healed up her Chimchar at the centre main lobby (for she had remembered that it was injured from the battle against Barry), she and Cheryl made a plan for what to do.
"Ok," Cheryl said, spreading out a map she had brought with her on the glass table. "At this point, we only have one direction accessible to us from this town, and that is Route 202. We can't go to where Route 219 leads yet, mainly because only people who have been given a special allowance by the famous Professor Oak are allowed there. From Route 202, we reach Jubilife City. If we want to continue beating gyms, its best for us to go right to Route 203, which leads to Oreburgh City and the first Gym Leader. However, if we want to read up on some Pokemon information, we should go left to the ferry that leads to Canalave City, where the Canalave Library resides. Or ultimately, we could go north to Route 204, which leads to Floaroma Town and the lowest-level contest hall to watch some sweet contests. What do you prefer, Mira?"
Mira thought over her answer carefully, before finally making a decision. "Mira thinks that Route 203 is the best way to go! Mira wants to challenge the Gym Leader before she gets distracted by anything!"
Cheryl shrugged. "Sounds reasonable."
Both were interrupted by a small yawn from Turtwig.
Just as Cheryl began to carefully stroke it within her lap, the Pokemon centre lady arrived back in the main lobby with a single Poke ball residing in her trolley.
"Your Chimchar is healed!" She called out to Mira, "feel free to pick its Poke ball up from here."
Mira looked up at the woman, then back at Cheryl. "Be right back."
As they left the Pokemon centre, it occurred to Cheryl that now would be the perfect opportunity to buy potions.
"There's a mart near here," she told Mira, "just over there to be specific."
Mira looked in the direction Cheryl had specified. "Mira agrees. If Mira is to go on an adventure, Mira will need potions!"
The two of them wandered over to the Poke Mart. From the outside, it was simply a white building with a flat, blue roof.
As the two of them entered, they saw what it contained.
The floor was tiled diagonally with alternating turquoise and sky-blue tiles. The walls were painted a simple white with a blue stripe crossing the top and bottom while an orange line ran around near the bottom blue stripe. To the right stood multiple shelves filled to the brim with potions, Poke balls, escape ropes, repels - just about anything a trainer needed to go on an adventure. Another potted plant similar to the two in the Pokemon centre was situated next to a dark blue tabletop. This tabletop was located in the back left corner of the room, and behind it stood a man with brown hair and an apron to match the tabletop.
Mira and Cheryl abruptly walked to the man behind the tabletop.
"Excuse me," Cheryl asked him, "but may I have ten potions?"
The man nodded. "Of course, young madam."
He found his way through the gap in the tabletop that was there to allow him to pass and selected ten purple spray bottles from a shelf. Then her returned and placed them in front of Cheryl.
"That'll be 2000 PokeYen, please."
Cheryl rummaged through her backpack until she found a small purse that matched her hair. She opened it, and brought out several coins, as well as a note that read "500".
"Thank you for your service," the man told Cheryl with a bright smile and putting the money in a cashier. "Next!"
Cheryl picked up the bottles, placed them in her backpack and moved out of Mira's way. "I'll wait for you outside."
Mira nodded, and Cheryl wandered out of the automatic doors.
Mira stepped forward to the tabletop. "Mira will take ten potions as well, please!"
The man looked slightly confused for a moment. "Do you mean yourself or someone else?"
"Mira means herself!" Mira replied with a light expression on her face.
"Ok," the man informed her, "I just had to clarify. I'll go get those potions for you."
As he got the potions from the shelves, Mira took a moment to appreciate the aesthetic of the Poke Mart, before the man returned with ten potions. "That'll be 2000 PokeYen, please."
Mira took her own backpack off her back, and found a small, yellow drawstring bag within it. She loosened the top of it and found herself two notes that read "1000" on each of them.
"Thank you very much," the man told Mira. "Next!"
Mira tightened the strings on the drawstring bag, placed it and the potions inside her backpack and left the Mart with a smile on her face.
"So," Cheryl stated, "this is Route 202."
Mira nodded, rolling her eyes. "Isn't that obvious?"
Cheryl shrugged. "Couldn't think of anything better to say."
Mira laughed. "Mira would've been able to think of better!"
"Like what?"
Mira turned herself fully so that she was facing Cheryl on the grassy path. "You have healing items now, as well as Mira. That means Mira can battle you! You might feel a little more comfortable doing it this time!"
Cheryl paused and thought before answering. "I'm not sure if that'd be the best idea. I've got one more Pokemon than you, and I've had more experience, so it really wouldn't be fair-"
"But Mira really wants to try!"
Cheryl sighed deeply. "I guess I could if you really want me to... but I will be going all out."
Turtwig, which for once wasn't resting, nodded with agreement.
"Yay!" Mira called out, picking a Poke ball from her backpack. "Go, Abra!"
As Abra formed outside of the ball it was encased in, Cheryl found a moment to get a proper look at it.
The Pokemon was primarily yellow, with a cat-like face. It's arms were thin, and its hands ended with three fingers that extended out into claw-like features. Its two legs were average compared to Abra's small size, and its feet ended out on three toes with claw-like features similar to the hands. From its rear end sprouted a tail with a small brown stripe looping around it near the end. Its chest was also brown. It hovered above the path in a sitting position, as though it was sleeping.
Cheryl picked the Poke ball that she had most recently added to her team. "Go! Starly!"
The Starling Pokemon formed in front of her, and made the little chirping noise it always did.
"Starly," Cheryl called out, "use Wing Attack!"
Starly spread out its wings, and flew up. While it was airborne, a light energy of some sort formed around its wings to vastly increase their size.
It descended suddenly, bringing its enlarged wings closer to to itself to increase how aerodynamic it was.
Cheryl had a feeling she knew what would happen. It was very likely that the Abra would teleport. That'd probably mean she would have to exhaust it before she could deal the finishing blow.
"Abra, don't teleport away!" Mira cried out to it.
Cheryl paused, confused as to what her friend's tactic was going to be.
The Starly was getting closer and closer to the Abra, as it brought its wings a little further away from its body to get ready to attack with them.
But still, Mira didn't command any other move to stop it.
The Starly got even closer, its wings glowing brightly.
It was about to impact the Abra when Mira suddenly called out her command.
"Abra, use Bide!"
Cheryl suddenly panicked. "Starly, stop-"
But it was too late. The Starly had gotten too close to the Abra, and couldn't stop itself. Its glowing wings raked the Abra, causing the Abra to cry out suddenly, but it didn't collapse onto the floor. It maintained focus, as though it was storing up energy inside of itself.
"Abra," Mira shouted out, "release the Bide energy!"
Before the Starly had a chance to get any further away from Abra, it was blasted with a beam of bright energy that caused both Cheryl and Mira to look away with how bright it was.
When both looked back again, Starly was flat on the floor, knocked out by the sheer power of the bide.
"That," Cheryl told Mira with amazement as she recalled Starly into its Poke ball, "was an amazing tactic. Waiting until the last moment to use Bide on a strong attack so that the Pokemon can't stop itself, then hitting the Pokemon back with a move of twice the power? Just astonishing. Anyway, two Pokemon left to go... Go, Happiny!"
The small, pink Pokemon cried out with joy as it was released.
"Mira," Cheryl said to herself quietly, "I know your hidden tactic now. And I have one of my own."
"Abra, use Psychic!" Mira called out.
Cheryl took a moment to marvel at the TMs this Abra knew, before bringing herself back to the battle. "Happiny, dodge it and Thunder Wave!"
The Abra raised its arms and gathered energy, creating a small ball of Psychic energy between its hands, before pushing the ball away from itself towards the Happiny.
The Happiny spun out of range of the attack, before turning back to the Abra. It began to generate electricity between its stubby hands, before firing off several weak jolts at the Abra.
Before Abra had a chance to react or teleport away, it got struck by the jolt.
Cheryl was surprised at herself that she managed to pull the move off, but she shook it off for the moment so she could maintain focus on the battle.
Mira stepped back a moment, not expecting the Happiny to have used such a move. She knew enough to recognise that the Happiny's Thunder Wave had successfully paralysed her Abra, and that meant it was going to have to work very hard if it wanted to even try and use a move.
Cheryl smiled faintly, and commanded the best attacking move she had. "Happiny, use Water Pulse!"
Happiny began to collect moisture from the air in a ball in front of it, before firing off the water ball in a strange, pulsating wave that blasted the Abra at high speed.
The Abra cried out, before collapsing to floor, unable to battle.
Mira gasped in amazement at Cheryl as she returned Abra to its Poke ball. "You're very good, you know!"
Cheryl shrugged. "You are, too."
Mira smiled back at her. "Go Chimchar!"
The monkey-like Fire-type growled in excitement as it was released from its Poke ball.
Mira didn't hesitate to use a move. "Chimchar, use Scratch!"
"Happiny," Cheryl cried out, "start off with a dodge!"
The Chimchar ran towards the Happiny as fast as its legs allowed, before it attempted to slash the pink Pokemon with a set of claws.
Happiny attempted to escape, but Chimchar's claws caught its large tuft of hair sprouting from its head.
Chimchar's claws held the Happiny in place, as though it was pinned to the Chimchar's hand. It cried out for help, but Cheryl knew the rules - if the opponent only sends out one Pokemon, you must do the same.
"Chimchar!" Mira cried out, "use your other hand to continue scratching!"
"Happiny," Cheryl called out as a response, "try to Water Pulse it!"
Chimchar began raking its claws all over Happiny, left, right and centre, not giving it a chance to even try and use a move. All Happiny could do was sit there in panic as it slowly, but surely, lost its ability to battle.
When Chimchar finally let go of the Happiny, it fell onto the floor.
"Happiny, return!" Cheryl called out, letting it relax back in its own Poke ball. "Right... it's time! Go Turtwig!"
The Grass-type, that had been munching grass behind Cheryl as she battled, poked its head around her legs, before bounding over and standing in front of its trainer.
Cheryl bit her lip. She knew that Fire-types had an advantage against Grass-types.
"Turtwig," Cheryl cried, "use Tackle!"
Turtwig tucked its head in slightly, before starting up a charge on the Chimchar.
"Chimchar," Mira called out, "use Scratch to try and stop the charge!"
As the Turtwig drew nearer, Chimchar began to prepare its claws for an attack. To both side's surprise, miniature flames also began to bloom around Chimchar's fingers. They were tiny, though, and so probably wouldn't affect this attack.
Turtwig drew nearer and near, until-
Chimchar tried to stop the Tackle impact with its claws, but the sheer power caused Turtwig to send Chimchar flying.
As Chimchar sat up from where it had landed, before it successfully brought itself back onto its feet, albeit extremely shakily.
"Ok, Turtwig!" Cheryl commanded, "finish off the battle with another Tackle!"
As the Turtwig readied itself up again, Mira suddenly flashed a smile.
She had just realised something.
Cheryl tensed up slightly. She had a feeling she knew why this Chimchar was battling so furiously this whole time.
It wanted to learn its new move, and had been trying to use it for a while now. It also explained the miniature flames from just before.
"Chimchar, charge up an Ember!"
As the Turtwig drew nearer yet again, Chimchar began powering up a weak flame within its hands. The flame became bigger and bigger.
"Now release it!"
Chimchar cried out with determination as it fired off the flame to Turtwig.
"Turtwig, dodge-" Cheryl tried to say, but the Chimchar was way too fast.
The fire exploded onto Turtwig.
It cried out in panic and pain, before slowly crumpling onto the ground in exhaustion.
"Turtwig is unable to battle," an unknown voice said from inside the trees by where Cheryl had been battling, not even giving a chance for Cheryl to speak. "Chimchar's side wins."
Mira would've probably celebrated how she had just won a battle against three Pokemon with only two, and Cheryl would've probably sighed and mentioned how she wasn't a great battler, but both had turned in the direction of whoever had just spoken in confusion.
A boy who must've only been a year or two older than Mira emerged from the trees. His hair was a shade of bright red, and was just long enough to be held in a small ponytail. The front part of his hair had a yellow stripe running down the middle. He wore a red T-shirt with a black fire pattern surrounding the lower half of it. He wore simple denim shorts. His shoes were predominantly black, but had a small red ring around the top. Atop his shoulder rested a crimson bag strap that led to a backpack of a similar colour.
"I just observed your battle," he told them, "and I found it astonishing. The way the Pokemon moved around the battlefield with strategy, the way they attacked their foes with sheer willpower and passion... it was truly something to be amazed by."
Both girls blinked in surprise, before responding.
"Well, thanks?" Cheryl replied.
"Thanks!" Mira told him.
The boy smiled in return. "I should probably introduce myself. My name is Buck. I've been trying to find my way to Floaroma Town, but I got lost. I was about to call it a day and go back to Jubilife City's Pokemon centre to relax and have some food, but then I saw your battle and couldn't help watching."
"Well... I never knew I had any talent with battling," Cheryl replied, "and I don't enjoy it as much as someone like Mira over there, but if you say so. As for Floaroma Town... I can direct you there. Do you want me to simply tell you directions or do you want to travel with us?"
Buck shrugged. "I'm not the best with memory. I guess I can travel with you guys for a bit, as long as I don't disturb your plans."
Mira, who had called Chimchar back and wandered over to them, sighed. "Mira was going to go to Oreburgh City to take on the Gym Leader, but that's a completely different way."
Buck thought this information over. "That does seem to be an awkward case... I could compromise with you - we all go to Oreburgh, then Floaroma. I'm not in too much of a rush, but I want to make sure I'm in Floaroma in roughly the next week, so if the trip to Oreburgh is short enough then I'm all up for the deal."
Cheryl and Mira looked at each other and both nodded.
"Seems reasonable," Cheryl told Buck. "From where we are to Oreburgh, going by if we follow the paths, will take a couple of days. From Oreburgh to Floaroma will take about three days. You should be fine!"
Buck grinned. "Thanks a lot!"
Cheryl smiled at him. "Oh, and in case you didn't catch them, my name is Cheryl, and this is Mira. And before we go anywhere, I need to use some potions on my Pokemon."
As Mira, Cheryl and Buck all walked down Route 203, they talked non-stop about the battle Mira had just won against Cheryl.
"That Bide combination was amazing, Mira!" Cheryl told her with a bright smile. "I never saw it coming, and that kind of surprise and unpredictability is what makes a battle fun!"
Mira shrugged. "You had a good tactic, too, you know! Who would've thought that you had a Thunder Wave up your sleeve? And Water Pulse?"
"Well," Cheryl explained, "I had Thunder Wave put on Happiny in case I ever wanted to catch a Pokemon, and my mum bought the TM for Water Pulse because it was the only TM in the shop that Happiny could utilise. You see, Happiny can't do much damage if it tries to physically attack a Pokemon due to how frail it is, but it can do a little more damage if it's using a move that can be fired from a distance. The only one of these moves that my mum could find that Happiny could learn was Water Pulse, so she just took it as it was better than nothing."
"Mira's mum was a Pokemon trainer long ago, and she had some TMs left over from her travels. She taught them to an Abra for Mira and helped Mira with the best technique for using them."
"I honestly think both of you had some amazing tactics," Buck interrupted. "I think if Mira didn't have the typing advantage in the final match, then you two would've ended that battle in a tie. How did both of you learn such good tactics?"
Cheryl sighed. "In Jubilife City resides the Pokemon Trainer's school. When I was younger I'd go there a few times a week to learn tactics in battling. I guess I just began to use the tactics I learned as I got older."
"Mira is similar!" Mira perked up, "Mira was taught tactics in a Pokemon Trainer's school too, but it was the one in the Kanto region. Mira's mum also helped!"
Buck smiled at the two of them. "So both of you got an education in battling? That's pretty cool."
After stocking up on potions, Cheryl and Mira had an all out battle! Despite the odds of two against three, Mira took the victory as her own. However, the moment the battle ended, a young boy named emerged from the trees asking if the girls could help him get to Floaroma Town within the week! With the group now temporarily being a trio, what will happen to them all next? The journey continues!
Hello dear reader! I don't have much to say this week, except I hope you don't mind the abundance of TMs... enjoy!