Alexis slowly opened his eyes. His head hurt ever so slightly and his chest felt heavy.
He looked down to find Sandile curled up in a ball and resting on top of him.
His head probably hurt from yesterday.
He pushed Sandile aside and looked at the clock. 11 pm. They'd overslept.
Alexis quickly jumped in the shower.
A couple of minutes later, as he exited the bathroom, he noticed the stack of money on his nightstand. A thousand dollars... Had taking this money been the right thing to do?
Oh, what the hell! Norman had only made this money by betting on him, so of course, he was entitled to some of it.
They would also be really useful since he was now penniless.
"If I'm doubting myself and worrying if I'm doing the right thing every step of the way... I won't be able to walk," Alexis said out loud to himself as he grabbed the money, put it in his backpack, and prepared to leave his room.
-(=0=)-
Route 4 brought within him a strange feeling. It had only been three weeks since he had almost died here.
Thankfully, there would be no sandstorm this time around.
Alexis looked down at Sandile as they walked together. He seemed happy to be back in his natural habitat, if only for a bit.
After walking for a while, Alexis spotted a woman with blonde hair and a huge red backpack sitting on the side of the road eating a sandwich. Probably resting after walking all morning.
"Hello," the woman raised her head to look at him and his Sandile.
"Hi," the woman answered back. "Wanna fight when you're done eating?" Alexis asked, getting straight to the point.
The woman chuckled, "sure, 1v1?" "Yes please, I still only have one pokemon."
"Is that so, how many badges do you have?" the woman asked, trying to make the situation less uncomfortable.
"I got my first one three days ago," Alexis responded.
"Alright, I'm ready. My name is Jill by the way," Jill rose and put some distance between her and Alexis.
She released a Petilil, "we're fighting Peti, get ready."
Both Sandile and Petilil took positions and got ready to follow their trainer's orders.
"Sandile, use Dig!" Sandile did as told, vanishing off the face of the earth. "Pili, use Growth," a green aura surrounded Petilil, increasing her special attack.
This could be bad, Alexis thought. Sandile came out of the ground and slammed into Petilil, knocking her down, "now Sandile, Fire Fang!" Sandile quickly jumped on his opponent and bit her with his scorching fangs.
Alexis cursed himself internally. Fire Fang was still not good enough to even be called Fire Fang.
"Pili, use Absorb!" Petilil successfully managed to knock Sandile off her, yet it was obvious she was on her last legs.
"Sandile, use Bite," Sandile lunged at Petilil, who was still in pain from his light burns, which made her flinch, rendering her completely open to Sandile's attack.
Sandile bit Petilil's entire head and started to shake the poor pokemon aggressively from side to side.
"Sandile stop!" Alexis ordered with a scream, making the Ground/Dark type stop immediately. "I think your pokemon is knocked out," he stated as he looked at the now unmoving Petilil, half of her body inside Sandile's maw.
Jill returned her pokemon and closed the distance between her and Alexis almost in a flash. "Here you go, mister," she said as she dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the ground. "Just so you know, your pokemon is way too violent," she stated, walking away at a fast pace afterward.
Alexis looked down at Sandile with an amused smile. He bent down and scratched the pokemon's head. "Let's channel that violence into learning Fire Fang, okay buddy?"
Sandile gave him a happy bark in response.
-(=0=)-
The Darumaka fell to the ground, unconscious. A Dig and Bite from Sandile had made short work of it.
"Man, your Sandile is crazy strong," the trainer who had challenged him said.
Alexis nodded. He couldn't have been prouder of Sandile. After two weeks of battling against trainers in Route 4, they remained undefeated. Sandile had also managed, after constantly training day in and day out, to master Fire Fang. Something that had been achieved by spamming the move over and over again until he finally got it right.
"Yup! How many badges do you have?" Alexis asked. He didn't really care, but this guy now owed him money so the last thing he could do was be polite.
"Got my second one recently. Darumaka wrecked Burgh's pokemon," the man said, handing him over 20 bucks, "here you go."
"Wait. Why does every trainer I've won against keep giving me 20?" Alexis asked. Why not less? Why not more? It was always 20.
"Oh. It's one of the rules that trainers have to follow. If you challenge someone and they accept, the winner will always take 20 dollars from the loser. If it's a 2 Vs. 2 the amount doubles until it reaches 120 dollars for 6 Vs. 6, but people who are willing to get involved in those kinds of fights are really rare."
Well, that would make things easier to calculate.
"I'll be on my way now. May the Forces of Nature be with you."
"Huh, never heard that one before."
-(=0=)-
Alexis returned Sandile to his pokeball as he entered Castelia City.
Now that he thought about it. Eva's Altaria had been able to fly fast enough to cover in mere minutes what had taken Sandile and him two weeks walking.
It was kind of scary, in a way...
He quickly reached the pokemon center and reserved a room for three days.
After his first hot shower in two weeks, he grabbed his backpack and turned it upside down. The things inside fell on the bed in rapid succession.
He first grabbed Sandile's pokeball and released him. He quickly got in his usual spot at the foot of the bed and fell asleep. Alexis smiled. Sandile deserved some rest after the last two weeks. He would let him rest until tomorrow.
He grabbed the other two empty pokeballs, as well as his sleeping bag, and put them inside the backpack again. Now the only thing left on the bed was all his money and his wallet, the thousand dollars still neatly tied together by the currency strap.
Alexis set aside the stack by putting it on the night table and started counting. He had defeated 20 trainers in the past two weeks, meaning that he should have in his possession 400 dollars + 1000.
The newer Pokedex model went for around 4000$, so he was short 2600 dollars. Thanks to the rule that stipulated 20$ was the official amount for battles between trainers, that meant Alexis would have to battle...
130 trainers.
Dammit!
It was true he'd been lenient when it came to battling the past two weeks. Maybe he could push Sandile to battle more trainers in the future. Maybe he could catch another pokemon or two and then they could do 5 fights a day in total if he really pushed them, which would mean that it would take around 26 days to get the necessary amount for a Pokedex.
That wasn't that long, but that didn't take into account the cost of food he needed to buy to survive and that he would need a 130-winning streak, something nay impossible to achieve considering he was still a rookie.
Maybe Norman had been right. He really didn't know how to spend money wisely. 50 dollars on a stupid concert!? What the hell he'd been thinking?!
Alexis literally slapped himself before he started going down that hole. It was clearly unhealthy and stupid.
What's done cannot be undone. There was no point in thinking about it.
Alexis told Sandile he was going for a walk and that he'd be back in a while. He needed to book an appointment with a certain gym leader.
-(=0=)-
The Castelia City Gym was quite pretty from the inside, as the walls and ceiling were decorated with beautiful silk.
He walked up to the receptionist, a man with short, white hair wearing sunglasses. "Hello, I'm here to make an appointment to fight Burgh."
"Trainer ID please," Alexis handed him his card and looked around the gym as he waited for the man to type in his computer the information. "Alexis, one badge, one registered pokemon," Alexis nodded.
That was him.
"You can battle Mr. Burgh today in two hours," the man stated. "Uhh... You got any spots for tomorrow?" Alexis asked. He wanted Sandile to rest today.
"Sorry Mr. Alexis, but we're packed tomorrow," he sighed. "Alright, today. I'll be right back," Alexis said, then exited the building.
He was not going to wait around a day doing nothing.
Less than thirty minutes later, Alexis returned with Sandile in hand, or pokeball, to be more exact.
He picked a magazine and waited for the time to pass. Maybe he could take a nap?
-(=0=)-
Alexis was suddenly awakened by someone shaking him violently. He rubbed his eyes to get a better look at the man before him.
"Your fight is in five minutes," the receptionist from before told him. He got up and made his way to the arena at a quick pace.
The battlefield was filled with colored paint. Different sections of the walls each of a different color, with Burgh's paintings hanging from them.
"Welcome challenger!" Burgh shouted from the other side of the battlefield.
"My bug Pokémon are scurrying with excitement to battle you. Let's get straight to it!" Burgh then struck a pose.
Alexis had to be honest, It was a pretty amusing sight to behold.
"This Castelia Gym match between challenger Alexis and Gym Leader Burgh will now begin. It will be a two-on-two battle. The match will end when all of one side's Pokemon are unable to continue. Substitutions are strictly forbidden!" the referee declared, "let the battle begin!"
With a white flash, both Sandile and a Venipede stood on the battlefield.
"Sandile, use Bite!" Sandile quickly moved forward, his fangs turning black with Dark energy. "Venipede, use Rollout!" the pokemon did as told, contracting on itself, and rolling towards Sandile in the form of a ball.
Both attacks clashed, Venipede's Rollout managed to overpower Sandile's Bite as it threw him aside, though this did not come without suffering some damage in the process.
Venipede just kept rolling ahead before making a quick turn, aiming once again to hit Sandile. "Sandile, use Dig," Sandile quickly dug underground and got out of sight, successfully dodging Venipede's attack.
Rollout was a dangerous move. Yes, Sandile was naturally resistant to it as a Ground type against a Rock type move, but as Venipede started going faster and faster, the attack would only become more powerful.
Meaning they had to put a stop to it now.
"Sandile, Fire Fang!" Alexis screamed so Sandile could hear him.
This strategy was the same one they had used to win at the prior gym, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Sandile emerged from the ground in a flash, his fangs imbued with powerful flames. He clamped down on Venipede, who, having become smaller in the process of turning itself into a sphere, almost fit entirely within Sandile's maw.
The attack had successfully immobilized the rolling Bug/Poison type completely.
Sandile's opponent was now dazed and incapable of moving, but still conscious. The next move would put a stop to that. "Sandile, now Bite," Venipede could not do anything but take the attack. Dark energy flooded its body while fangs dug into its skin, drawing blood that poured from Sandile's mouth.
And lastly, for good measure. "Now throw it away," the Ground type did as commanded. He turned his neck quickly and opened his mouth, letting Venipede fly and crash against one of the walls of the gym with a resounding thud.
"Venipede is unable to battle. Sandile wins!"
"Hey dear, ever heard the word restrain?" Burgh said with a smile as he returned Venipede. "Well, no matter, my next pokemon shall not be squashed so easily!"
He threw his second pokemon to the arena, a Swadloon.
Alexis looked at Sandile, a weak crimson could be seen in his eyes.
A sign that Moxie had taken effect. He smiled, it was time to go wild. "Alright Sandile, do your worst! Use Rage!"
Sandile sprinted forward at an impressive speed like a mad Houndoom, his tongue out and everything.
"Swadloon, use Struggle Bug!" a series of green bubbles were released from the Leaf-Wrapped pokemon. Sandile stumbled back slightly as he was hit.
This had been a mistake however, as Sandile soon was running once again towards Swadloon even faster than before, his attack power increasing once again by both Moxie and Rage.
Sandile slammed into the smaller pokemon, knocking it back and damaging it quite heavily.
Swadloon wasn't giving up though. "Swadloon, Razor Leaf!" it was too late, as Sandile was already right beside the Bug/Grass type ready to hit it once again.
The attacks collided, Rage overpowered Razor Leaf and sent Swadloon flying back, leading to Sandile getting yet another attack boost and becoming even more aggressive. If that was even possible.
"It's over. One more hit and Swadloon is out," Alexis thought as he looked at Burgh. His next move would be his last.
Sandile let out a powerful roar and once again charged toward his opponent without a care in the world. His eyes were now clearly shining red and saliva was dripping madly from his jaws.
"Use Protect!" Burgh screamed. Swadloon did so as quickly as it could, setting up a barrier of a greenish-blue color to protect itself from the mad Sandile charging at him.
Only for the Ground/Dark type to crash through said barrier as if it was glass, slamming onto Swadloon and sending it flying from the impact, almost colliding with Burgh.
Fortunately, it didn't, instead hitting the wall behind the man with a hollow sound.
"Swadloon is unable to battle! Sandile wins. Therefore, the winner is challenger Alexis!" the referee announced with a shout.
Sandile did not care about pesky things like referees and official gym battles.
His rage-filled mind only cared about one thing and that was eating.
Alexis was already pulling Sandile's pokeball, returning him before he could do any harm. Burgh did the same with his pokemon.
"That's my boy. Now get some rest, you've earned it," Alexis said to the pokeball before shrinking it and putting it in his right pocket.
Both challenger and the one challenged walked toward each other, meeting in the middle of the arena.
"That is quite the Sandile young man. I haven't been swept like that in a while!" "Thanks, sir," Alexis responded, scratching the back of his head.
"Here, take this Insect Badge," Alexis grabbed it with extreme care. It was shaped like a green heart divided into three parts or the wings and body of an insect. He grabbed the badge case from his left pocket and gently placed the badge inside, then closed it and put it in his pocket once again.
"I have to go now. This fight just inspired me to draw a piece of art unlike any before it this year!" Burgh said as he shook Alelix's hand.
Alexis soon left the Gym, returning to the Pokemon Center. He left Sandile with Nurse Joy so he could be healed during the night and be picked up early in the morning.
He entered his room and sat on the bed, promising himself that tomorrow, he would let Sandile eat as many wild pokemon as he wanted as congratulations.
He started dozing off soon after, forgetting to even undress before falling asleep.
-(=0=)-
Alexis woke up the next morning feeling great. He got both Sandile and his pokeball back and ate breakfast with him.
Seeing as Sandile was looking full of energy, he decided to make his way to Route 4 so his pokemon could receive his gift.
The rest of the morning flew by, as Alexis followed Sandile around as he terrorized the local pokemon population and battled a trainer leaving Castelia City with his first badge, which resulted in a surrounding victory for them.
As they made their way back to Castelia for launch, Alexis determined that it was maybe time for Sandile to learn a new move.
-(=0=)-
Internet cafes, also known as cybercafes. A nostalgic place for many people born a bit earlier than Alexis.
He personally had never visited one.
It was true that cybercafes had become relatively rare in the past twenty years, with only one or two in big cities so tourists could use computers when traveling if they so wished.
But Alexis now needed to use the internet, and since he didn't have a Pokedex, a laptop, or even a phone, this place was the only way he could access the net.
Another option would have been a library but they did not allow you to bring something to drink, and Alexis had had a craving for coffee today
Alexis ordered said coffee and sat down in front of a computer. He then searched for the number one site for information about Pokemon: Pokemondb, short for Pokemon Database. Once inside, he clicked on the Pokedex section and typed Sandile on the search bar.
Sandile, the Desert Croc Pokémon.
Type: Ground/Dark
Abilities: Intimidate. Moxie.
(Although uncommon, some Sandile have been shown to possess the ability Anger Point)
It conceals itself in the sand and chomps down on the legs of any prey that unwarily walks over it. Its favorite food is Trapinch.
Well, that was interesting. Too bad Trapinch were so rare in Unova. They were reported to live only deep in Route 4, inside the desert resort.
Maybe he could buy some Trapinch meat once Sandile evolved into Krookorok as a gift...
Alexis scrolled down to the list of moves Sandile could learn. A couple of them caught his attention.
Fire Fang already countered three of Sandile's natural weaknesses: Ice, Grass, and Bug, thus leaving Fighting, Water, and Fairy.
Thunder Fang would help against Water types, but since Sandile was part Ground, learning it would take way too long and Alexis didn't want to spend that much time on a single move at this stage of their adventure/career.
Alexis was shocked to learn that Sandile could learn Sludge Bomb, a Poison type move that would be extremely effective against Fairy types and Grass types.
Sadly, Sludge Bomb was a special attack, meaning that it would be wasted on a bulky physical attacker like Sandile would end up becoming once he reached his final evolution in Krookodile.
Aerial Ace would have been a great addition to Sandile's arsenal. A physical Flying type move that would be strong against Grass, Bug, and Fighting types, but his hopes were once again dashed from him, as Aerial Ace was a move only Krookodile -the final stage of the Sandile line- could learn.
He ultimately decided on Assurance, a Dark type move in between Bite and Crunch when it came to base power, meaning that Sandile should have an easier time learning it.
He clicked on a link of a Poochyena performing the move, and saw the pokemon call forth its Dark energy and spread it through its whole body, then run towards a dummy and deliver a powerful body slam saturated with Dark energy.
"Excuse me, could I release my pokemon real quick to show him a video? He's a small boy, I promise he won't cause trouble,'' Alexis asked one of the employees. The young-looking guy glanced around and after a bit more begging, he finally allowed him to do so, not before asking that he'd please do it fast.
Alexis nodded and got to it. He released Sandile and held him in his arms as he played the video again so that Sandile could have a visual demonstration of the new move he would be learning.
He seemed pretty excited at the prospect of doing so.
After that, he finished his coffee, turned the computer off, and made his way to Route 4 to begin training.
After all, there is no time like the present.
-(=0=)-
The next morning ended up being very similar to the previous ones, they ate breakfast and trained Assurance on Route 4 by battling wild pokemon and won against two trainers that Alexis had rightly assumed to be newbies. To finish, he let Sandile have his fill of wild pokemon for launch.
Without even noticing, afternoon came, so trainer and pokemon made their way back to Nimbasa City for what Alexis assumed would be their last time.
He ate lunch and instead of going back to training, Alexis put on his backpack, and brought Sandile to the Nimbasa City National Park so he could have the rest of the day to relax like Alexis had promised him two days ago.
He played with Sandile for a bit before letting him inspect the park by himself while he sat on a nearby bench.
"AAHHHHHHHH!" like always, peace could never last.
Alexis shot up and started looking around for Sandile, spotting him growling at another pokemon who seemed to belong to a woman in her twenties with green hair.
He quickly came up to her and her pokemon, "I'm sorry, he just gets excited to meet new pokemon," Alexis lied, trying to defuse the situation as he picked up Sandile.
"Excited to eat them you mean!? I saw that feral beast swallow a Minccino whole yesterday!" the green-haired woman screamed, overly articulating and moving her right arm around like crazy, then pointing at Sandile.
Oh, so that was what this was about.
"Look, I'm sorry you had to see that, but it's not like my Sandile did anything wrong or illegal. Not all pokemon can just stare at the sun like your Roselia here to get their necessary nutrients and energy," Alexis said. He wasn't about to let anyone talk about his companion like that and get away without a verbal beating.
"How dare you!? C'mon Rose, we're leaving!" the strange woman and her pokemon walked away swiftly.
Alexis looked at Sandile as he scratched him on the head, "try not to eat any more cute pokemon when people are looking, okay buddy?" he said in a jokey tone that made Sandile laugh.
Some folk just couldn't live and let live, could they?
He got back to the bench he'd been sitting on before while Sandie spotted a wild Pidove and started chasing after it. He sat down and reached out with his arm to grab his backpack, only for his hand to meet air and continue falling until it touched the wood the bench was made off.
His neck swung to the right so quickly it was surprising that it hadn't dislocated.
His backpack was not there, but he was sure he'd left it right there.
A chill ran down his spine.
His wallet was in there.
His badges were in there.
His money was in there.
Everything was in there except for Sandile's pokeball.
"No. No. No. No. NO!"
Alexis looked behind the bench. Nothing.
Under the bench. Nothing.
He got up and looked around. The backpack was yellow so one should be able to see it pretty easily from afar, yet still nothing.
"..."
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"