Hey y'all! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out but life really looked at me and said "YOU" so I've been dealing with a lot this past month or so. I'll save it until the end though so y'all can enjoy the chapter. And with that, enjoy!
I was awoken by the common annoyance of the sun peeking through the blinds down onto my face. With a groan and a stretch that made my body sound like bubble wrap, I arose from my slumber and stared at the wall with blurry and unfocused eyes. Fuck. I didn't know that an intense battle like that would be so exhausting. With another stretch and rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I looked over at the nightstand and saw the Boulder Badge resting atop it. As the floodgates had opened, the rush of accomplishment and pride in my team flowed through me and banished any remaining sleep that was weighing me down.
We had done it! Brock's Boulder Badge was ours! The wave of nostalgia hit me as I remembered the first time achieving this accomplishment in my past life. My trusty Squirtle blasted through all of the obstacles in our way and made for an easy win over the gym leader.
I leaned back on the pillows of the bed as a frown found itself on my face when I thought about how different it was to experience the gym in real life. Unlike the games, gym battles weren't just slugfests until one side was still standing. There were tactics. Environmental conditions that would give you the edge or hinder you. I shuddered involuntarily as I remembered the battle between Polli and Shuckle and how close we had come to losing it. Had the Shuckle been able to set up the field and fully boost itself, that could have been the end of our run right there. And that's not to mention the win we scraped by when we had fought Brock.
Gauntlet challenges were not to be taken lightly and I still had two more to complete if I wanted to impress my Uncle.
Checking my phone quickly, I saw that while Kong was good for release, Nurse Joy wanted to keep Polli for another day to ensure that the poison had worked itself out of her system. That meant we had another day of hanging around until we were able to make headway into Viridian Forest for our quest for a Heracross.
Hopping out of bed and throwing a fresh set of travel clothes on, I made my way down to the front desk to pick up Kong. Being early in the day the lobby was pretty empty aside from a few other early risers that were in the cafeteria grabbing a quick bite before heading to their destinations. I approached the front desk and was greeted by the ever-present face of Nurse Joy.
"Hello, Cindy! Here to pick up Kong?", Nurse Joy asked as she beamed at me across the counter.
"Yes Ma'am! How is Polli doing? She was in pretty rough shape after yesterday and I'm pretty worried about her." It was true. Remembering the bloody and bruised body of Polli made me shiver unconsciously. While I was proud of her performance in the gauntlet, I couldn't help but feel guilty about the condition that she was placed under to win. We would have to train relentlessly to ensure that we never had to reach that state again.
Nurse Joy's smile softened as she tapped a few times on her monitor before replying, "Chansey will bring up Kong soon. Polli on the other hand will have to stay another night at the least. You may not be aware but she is nearing her evolution and that is a very important moment in a Pokemon's life. Statuses such as the poison that she received have a small chance of complicating an evolution in serious cases. There have been cases where a Pokemon will fail to have the required energy to fuel the complete evolution or will use too much and perish during the transformation. Thus we would like to keep her under observation until we can ensure that the poison has fully worked itself from her system. She had a very large amount of it coursing through her body so it will take time. However! This is just a precaution due to her upcoming evolution. As of now, she's resting soundly and a good portion of the poison has worked itself out of her system." At the end of her explanation, a Chansey appeared through one of the hallways behind the desk holding a Pokeball that felt oh so familiar. "And here is Kong's Pokeball as requested! He had mostly superficial injuries that we could patch up here. I would advise against intense training or battling for another day for both Kong and Polli whenever she is released."
I nodded gratefully and gingerly took Kong's Pokeball back into my possession. As soon as my hand touched it, I could feel the familiar warmth of having my companions flood back into my body as relief flooded through me. I hadn't realized that I was missing something until I was reunited with part of my team. Their presence brought me strength and comfort that was hard to put into words and I was incredibly grateful that they weren't irreversibly injured during our battle.
I placed Kong's Pokeball back into his spot and looked back up at Nurse Joy to thank her but the look on her face stopped me in my tracks as I could tell she still had something to say.
"I…I'm not sure what you plan to do for your future but I highly recommend either expanding your team or training if you plan to attempt another gauntlet challenge, Miss Cindy." Nurse Joy set a very firm glare towards me that froze me on the spot. I never knew that she could be so terrifying but with one glance all of my cells froze in fear. Once she knew that she held my attention she continued, "I don't mean this in a way to diminish your accomplishments, Miss Cindy. Truly it is impressive that you were able to claim your first badge through the gauntlet. Especially after only two weeks into the start of her journey with her Pokemon." At this, she softened her gaze as her face changed to look more worried about me than warning me. "But I've seen too many trainers attempt to reach for the sun and burn. Attempting a second gauntlet challenge will be a much larger wall to face for you, Miss Cindy. I highly recommend attempting to widen your available roster or getting Polli to her evolution. Prepare yourself for the challenges you attempt to face. You were lucky to get Polli in before too long but with poison, you need to address it quickly and efficiently. Purchase some antidotes from a Mart but do NOT let one of your Pokemon be poisoned for longer than a week with them before seeing a Center. I've seen my fair share of Trainers cripple their Pokemon with ignorance and arrogance. And for many, it cripples them as well once they realize what is done. Please if you ever find yourself in a situation where your team is outmatched, do not let your Pokemon remain injured for too long after a fight." At that, she regained a softer look on her face. I finally felt the ability to speak returned to me as I nodded firmly in her direction, "Absolutely Nurse Joy. Thank you for informing me of the time limits with poisons. I promise to be mindful of my team's conditions and factor in any factors to them."
She smiled a bit wider back at me and a thought popped back into my mind. "Actually in the matter of widening my roster…would you happen to know anything about where I could find higher chances of seeing a Heracross? I plan on being a Fighting type Specialist and would love to add another family to our team."
Nurse Joy looked thoughtful for a moment and typed a few times on her keyboard. "Well…in the recent reports from the Rangers station in the area…it seems like there haven't been many sightings in the central or eastern sides which are more patrolled spots of the forest. A little strange since they usually like to gather in the central portion of the forest. There are still a few noted around however so it might not be a fruitless search on your end. Hopefully, luck will prove to be on your side, Miss Cindy! I will not take your time any longer for now. Have a good day!" With her dismissal, Nurse Joy went back to her regular duties.
I made my way back out of the lobby area and into the cafeteria to get myself some food for the morning. After loading up a plate with some eggs and sausage, I snagged a bowl of protein-rich food for Kong and went to find myself a seat in the far corner of the room. Placing my plate on the table and the bowl of food onto the floor next to me, I released Kong and sat down.
Kong stretched his limbs before looking curiously around at the cafeteria and the other occupants in it. He stared a bit longer at one table where a trainer was eating with his Sandslash. I could see the appraising look appear across his face as he thought about how well he would fare in a battle with it and I quickly put an end to his eagerness to battle.
"Don't even think about it buddy. You're on rest and recovery period right now.", Kong looked at me in disbelief and flexed his arms above his head in a show of strength. "I know that you feel better and want to start training, but buddy if I'm being honest we won against Brock by a literal hair. You may have only gotten some superficial injuries but Polli got beat up. Before we even think about challenging another trainer I want to get some more training in for us. And I want a day for both of you to just breathe and relax. It's important to rest up and let our bodies repair themselves before we hit the grinders again. So whether you like it or not we're going to chill today."
At that Kong deflated and nodded showing that while unhappy, he could understand why I wouldn't let him go straight into combat again. He sat and began to munch his food while I finished off the rest that was on my plate. Leaning back I wondered what I would want to do for the day as we relaxed before making our way into the forest. I still had Rock Tomb to teach to Kong and the sooner that was done, the sooner he could get used to the energy moving around inside him. We wouldn't work on actually forming the move but it was still good for him to begin to feel comfortable with Rock energy. I also still needed to send Ashley a message that we had acquired our first badge. Come to think of it, we hadn't spoken since she had made her way into Ilex Forest so sending an update would be good to do before I distracted myself with finding a Heracross. I also should probably send a message to Marco about getting the Boulder badge as well. After a little bit of thought, the idea of having a traveling partner was getting more and more appealing in my eyes. We would have someone to train against as well as someone to have along for the company. Since I was planning to go on foot for the next few portions of my journey it would be good for any trouble that might come my way as well.
Noticing that Kong had finished his bowl, I reached down and grabbed his bowl along with my plate and brought them over to the deposit area. I thought about where to go to snap a picture with our new badge and suddenly an idea popped into my head. I quickly recalled Kong and made my way back out to Pewter City.
"Alright, Kong! Now angle towards me a bit!"
"Man! Mankey!"
"No! You're not going to sit on my head for this, you're heavy!
"MANKEY!"
"Don't give me that look! If you HAVE to then stand on my shoulders for it. Hurry up, the timer is almost up!"
Mankey leaped from the admittedly awkward-looking pose that he was in prior and settled upon my shoulders. He held on with one arm placed on my head and another raised in the air in victory. Behind us stood a monolith of rocks that leaned and stacked upon one another within the zen garden of the Pewter gym. With a beep coming from my phone and the tripod that I had set up the picture finally was accomplished with me beaming towards the camera proudly showing off the Boulder badge. After a few seconds of checking and making sure that the picture had come out the way that I wanted it to, I returned the badge to its case and typed out a quick message.
"Just got our first badge! It was pretty stressful going through the gauntlet but we made it! Moving on towards Viridian Forest next so I might not be able to send too many messages soon! I'll send another message whenever I make it to Viridian City! Safe travels!" After typing I sent it off to both Ashley and Marco and slid my phone back into my pocket.
"Whelp! That's all I had planned for today Kong. I guess we can head back to the room and get you started on Rock Tomb." Kong's eyes lit up with glee at the chance to learn another move and he pumped both his fists into the air. "After that, I suppose we could look towards getting stocked up on some items before we head out on our journey. Once we pick up Polli I think we'll be ready to head out. We can stick to the eastern side of the forest for an extra day to let her rest up a bit before making our way deeper." At that Kong gave a firm nod. While he may be willing to push himself past the brink to get stronger, he was very determined to make sure that Polli rested after hearing what she went through during the gauntlet matches.
As I made my way back towards the Pokemon Center, I made a pitstop at one of the PokeMarts nearby to resupply and add some antidotes into the mix. Viridian Forest was full of Bug and Poison type Pokemon and I wasn't about to let Nurse Joy's warning go to waste. Like most of the people in Pewter City, she had a will of stone and it showed through her serious demeanor when she warned me earlier today. While a bit scary it was heartwarming to know that she cared that much about Trainers and how they treated their Pokemon. I for sure wasn't going to allow my team to suffer through my own stupidity like that so I ended up buying a dozen Antidotes and brought them up to the counter.
The young woman who was manning the register took a single look at the items I had brought up and looked up towards me with an eyebrow raised, "Going into the forest are ya? Well, it's great to see that a youngster such as yourself is willing to go prepared. If you didn't know we currently have a few sales going on and one of them is a dozen Antidotes for 1,000 poke dollars. You'd be surprised at how few trainers realize how valuable they are in a pinch." She pointed over to a sign that had the current deals upon it and I noticed the one that she had been telling me about. I scanned it with a glance not looking to buy anything until I locked onto a singular line near the bottom.
"Elemental Punch Trio Bundle! Only 15,000 poke dollars for all three!"
Upon reading that line my heart froze and then began beating a mile a minute. Three TMs??? And all with coverage that my team was currently lacking?!
I held my hand up for the clerk to pause in her checking out process and nearly ripped a hole in my pocket with how fast I pulled my phone out of it.
Come on, come on! I knew that the timing for my stipend from the Gym was supposed to hit around this time! It may make me go broke but by flying to Pewter City, I still had the majority of my supplies for camping out in the wilderness. And there was nothing like a few rounds at the Battle Club that couldn't be fixed in the need of a few smaller purchases. My heart nearly stopped as I saw the exact amount that I would need for both the Antidotes and the three TMs laying within my accounts. It would be a very risky buy as I would need to take some odd jobs to produce the funding for some bets in the Club but ohhhhh would those TMs be worth it! It would answer so many of the problems that our current move pool was failing to answer.
I jabbed my finger toward the line and looked back up at the clerk, "I'll take the Elemental Punch Bundle as well please if you wouldn't mind grabbing them!"
The woman leaned back slightly, clearly surprised at my barely contained excitement before nodding and walking back to the case that held the TMs that they had available. Grabbing three she returned to the counter before a whopping sixteen grand appeared on the register. As I handed over my phone for the transaction, I wasn't sure whether to cry because my bank account was now empty, or to leap and holler in joy at such a good deal for my team that I had acquired.
I walked out of the PokeMart and practically sprinted back to my room in the PokeCenter. These TMs would be going straight to Kong as soon as the Move machine was ready to go. I sat in barely contained excitement and Kong looked at me confused until I finally explained to him what I had purchased for him.
"Remember when I was talking to you and Polli about trying to find some coverage moves for the two of you? Well, I just picked up a bunch of moves that you can learn and will be able to widen your repertoire enough to even surpass Polli with what she has now!" At that Kong's eyes widened and he gained a wide grin that told me all I needed to know about his thoughts about what I had purchased. Loading up the TMs, I proceeded to teach Kong both Rock Tomb and Ice Punch. While I wanted to teach him all four, I wanted him to focus on these two moves first before adding another into the mix. Rock Tomb would be our first move that added range into the mix for Kong so I knew we would have to begin working on his precision and the charge time to form the boulders for us to use them in a variety of ways. With Ice Punch, we would be adding an ace in the hole for Kong against our next gauntlet run. Plus with two new types of energy being developed in his body, I didn't want to add too much strain to his ability to develop the moves. Differentiating between two new and different energies would already be taxing enough. Raising that number to four and we would barely see any battle-worthy progress on any of them before we made it to Cinnabar Island. And that was something that we couldn't afford.
It took a few minutes to get both TMs taught but once they were I directed Kong to start working on feeling and finding his Ice energy. I wanted more progress on that for our next gauntlet so might as well get to work on it now. All that remained on my mind at the moment was getting Polli tomorrow morning and getting to Viridian Forest within a reasonable amount of time. Honestly, it would be better to camp on the outskirts of the forest for the first night to give Polli the chance to rest up a bit. Plus I wanted to be fresh whenever we started making our way deeper into the forest. I'd give myself a week and a half to capture a Heracross. That would give me enough time to train up Kong and Polli a bit and hopefully get Polli evolved before looking at getting the Earth Badge. Plus I still had to meet up with Marco at some point and have a battle with him.d I won't lie, the thought of facing him was more than a little exciting. It was what would determine whether or not I wanted to travel with him as well. I wanted someone who I knew would not only push themselves to grow stronger but be able to push me and my team as well.
My phone buzzed, shaking me out of my thoughts as a notification popped up on the screen from Ashley. I opened it and was greeted by an array of photos of lush greenery and even a few old and worn-down shrines. In the end, there was a photo of Ashley with a Weedle sitting atop her shoulder followed by a message.
"Congratulations! I can't believe that you took on the gauntlet for your first gym badge!! That's crazy that you were able to do it with just Polli and Kong! Hopefully, your journey through Viridian Forest will be as good as mine through Ilex! The shrines were cool to see and I even met this little guy at one of them!! Even though I have a team of a Generalist, I do like Bug types! I'm currently on my way into Azalea Town so hopefully by the time you get to Viridian I'll be on my second badge! Anyways, be careful while you're traveling through! We had a tough time finding our way at one point so make sure to be aware of where you're heading towards! Stay safe and let me know the minute that you make it to Viridian!
PS I'll be making a small pitstop in Vermillion next month or so so if you want a rematch and you're in the area give me a holler!"
I couldn't help but smile at the message from Ashley. She seemed to be enjoying herself and her travels around Johto. I made a note in my calendar to make my way to Vermillion sometime in the next few months. Even if we didn't end up meeting, I really wanted to be in central Kanto around that time so it all matched up pretty well.
I ended up trying to map out my route for the rest of the day and researching some about Viridian Forest and what challenges I could face while I was there. It was a really good decision to pick up some Antidotes because a lot of the forums were on the topic of dealing with Poison types and their attacks. Useful information for sure, but nothing that I hadn't studied for the most part. Kong spent time working on his Ice Energy and managed to get a small layer of frost over one of his hands before we ended up crashing for the night. Some pretty decent progress overall and I showed him through a snack of some berries that I had stored away in my pack. We crashed out early, eager to pick up Polli tomorrow and start heading our way south to the outskirts of the forest.
Picking up Polli was a lot less intense interaction with Nurse Joy than it had been the day before. Once I had shown her the Antidotes that I had purchased in my bag she had nodded in satisfaction and wished me well on my search for a Heracross. I placed Polli upon my belt and made my way south towards the vast array of trees that I could see off in the distance.
Along the way, there were a few trainers that passed by with offerings of a battle but I politely declined since I was on a time crunch and didn't want to tire out Kong with him being my only battle-ready team member at the moment. One could never be too careful when they were camping out in the wilds so I was going to take a one on one-off approach to spending my time in the forest. One day Kong would be the main battler while Polli would focus on training and then helping keep our campsite secured. Then the next day they would switch and allow the other some rest for the following day. Hopefully following this method we wouldn't burn out and have to cut our search early.
We were getting close to the edge of the forest when a familiar face appeared unexpectedly on the horizon. The sun was beginning to set casting rays of orange that peaked through the trees in a way that made them appear as if they glowed. I was on the edge of the path taking a rest with both Kong and Polli out as we enjoyed the view that nature was giving us when I heard someone calling my name off in the direction that we were heading. Looking over I noticed a figure moving towards me with their arm raised in a greeting. As they got closer I recognized the wind tossed blonde hair as Marco the closer they came and waved lazily back towards him.
"Hey, Marco! Done visiting your family in Viridian?" I asked once he stopped a few feet away from us. I noticed atop his head a Spinarak was looking down at me curiously. "I see that you've added to your roster a bit since we last met. Glad to see that you've taken some initiative in that regard. I'd hate to leave you in the dust once I catch my Heracross." I joked teasingly. Polli swayed in greeting as Kong glanced warily, having never met him before.
"Hey, Cindy! Yeah, it was a pretty good visit! And I caught this little dude a couple of days ago when I started heading through the forest! He's pretty chill and wanted to see all the different forests in the world so he decided to tag along with me. And congratulations! I just saw your text a little bit ago and I was going to respond as soon as I got to Pewter City but then I saw you resting and decided to say hello instead." He tapped on one of his other Pokeballs and said, "You won't believe how strong Basil has gotten. I'm pretty sure we'll be back in Viridian before you." I gave him a confused look at the name that I didn't recognize and he flushed slightly before scratching his cheek, "Oh right! Bulbasaur wanted a name so we ended up deciding on Basil. It took a bit to find one that she liked though. Almost took a Vine Whip to the face when I said Bulby." I laughed at that and he grinned back, any hint of embarrassment quickly vanishing.
We sat and chatted for a while and I regaled in our tale of taking on Brock's gauntlet. Marco's eyes grew wide when I got to the part of Kong winning through pure determination and will and he just shook his head. "Damn…you are all pretty tough to make it through a gauntlet on your first-ever badge attempt. I've known some people that spend weeks trying to get through a gauntlet challenge with how tough they are. Are you planning on doing it again in Viridian?", Marco asked.
I nodded, "Yeah my Uncle challenged me to take on the gauntlet challenges for my first three badges. He's offering me a Pokemon if I can get my first three badges that way and do a couple of side jobs for him. But it was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.", I paused and looked deeper into the forest, "It's why I want to try and find a Heracross so badly before making it to Viridian. While I know that Polli and Kong could win it themselves, I don't want them to come out of it as banged up as our first run. Another teammate that can fight well will only up our chances at making another victory in Viridian."
Marco nodded thoughtfully and looked to be thinking before speaking again. "Well if you're looking for a Heracross, definitely don't stick to the main paths through the forest. That's what I took and I didn't see any markings or signs of them being anywhere. I'd say your best bet would be to head into the central portion and look around there. But if you head into the western parts be very careful. That's where the Beedrill swarms have been acting up recently and no one wants to be on the opposite side of that." I cringed and nodded in agreement. Being on the opposite side of a Beedrill swarm was akin to signing your death certificate for a rookie trainer. They attacked relentlessly and unless you had the firepower to deter them, they didn't let up.
"Thanks for the warning and tip Marco, I appreciate it. We honestly should be heading out soon though. We've got about another hour before we get to where I wanted to set up camp and I wanted to get it done before it gets too dark." I gave him a wave as I rose to my feet and started readjusting my pack over my shoulders. "And don't think I haven't forgotten about our battle in Viridian. I'll have my answer to your question then. Good luck with taking on Brock! If he uses an Onix make sure to make sure he's down. That trick almost got us." We waved goodbye to each other and separated ways.
After another twenty minutes or so of walking, I decided to cut it early for the night as I had found a pretty nice clearing. With the trees and brush starting to get thicker, as I moved into the outer edges of Viridian Forest, I couldn't pass up a perfectly good campsite so late into the day. I set up my tent and sleeping bag as well as pulled some flint and backup matches out of my pack. Kong returned from a short venture arms full of kindling that we could use to get a fire going to keep it warm from the chilly night air. After a small dinner for the three of us, we clambered into my tent and prepared for the start of our expedition into the deeper portions of the forest.
There was a Heracross out there somewhere. And I was going to find it.
As mentioned before that took a LOT longer than I expected it to. To sum it all up without going into heavy detail, we had 4 different types of car problems including a total, my laptop took an absolute shit on itself, I got sick, the kiddo got sick, our internet went into the shitter because the good one decided to stop service out in the boonies and a small bit of depression! So needless to say it's been a hell of a ride this past month and I either had no time to write or didn't have the motivation.
Also! Please excuse any smaller grammar mistakes as I had to write this chapter on my phone and I'm really not used to writing so much using it. Hopefully I'll get more comfortable with it soon so that way I can keep improving the quality of my writing until I can acquire a laptop once again.
The last little thing before I sign off is stay hydrated! This summer has been brutal (especially in the southern US) and was what caused me to get as sick as I did. I didn't prep well enough before having to be out in the heat and it bit me on the ass.
As always, feel free to review and leave a comment!