Alright, managed to finally get this together just in time for the 1-year anniversary of the first upload! Which is frankly, much more time than I thought it would take me to finish this thing.
Chapter 11: Pokewalker
"So, what do you think?" I say, feeling a bit nervous as I sit in front of the Pokémon Center's video phone. On the screen Bianca hums thoughtfully as she stares down at her phone, reading through the list I've sent her.
"Why so many pecha berries?" She asks, staring quizzically at her phone.
"Convenient supply, mostly. The Fuchsia gym has the biggest pecha orchard in Kanto. Plus the girls like them, and from what I've been told Dart is going to go crazy for them once he's finally evolved. Apparently sugar fixation is a pretty universal thing for beedrill."
"And you're keeping a close eye on how much of it they eat, right?" Bianca asks, giving me a sharp look through her camera.
"I have been working out a very careful meal plan with the gym's nutritionist." I nod.
"I see. The reason I'm asking is you seem to have nearly three times as many pecha berries as you'd need for a trip this long and barely half as much as you'd need of everything else." Bianca frowns, looking back at my list.
"Damn," I wince, glancing down at my list, "I really thought I had enough. It's the longest road in Kanto, but the trip is supposed to be pretty straightforward. Since the cycling road runs alongside it it's probably the most well maintained route in the region."
"Never assume these things. You always have to make sure you have extra food in case of emergency. Roads can get destroyed, bridges can collapse, and if you do manage to get lost travel times could be extended by weeks. With storage technology being what it is these days there's really no excuse not to pack extra."
"Fair point." I nod, seeing what she's getting at. It's a lot harder to make accurate travel plans when living in a world where natural disasters have legs and will travel. "This would be so much simpler if I could just get the twins saddled up."
"You know there are permits for that if you're interested." Bianca notes, "I've heard doduo and dodrio are very common Pokémon for travelling. In smaller regions like Almia they're more common than cars or even bikes!"
"Oh I know." I chuckle. "They'd probably pass with flying colors, they're more than strong enough. But convincing them to let me ride on their back though… Yeah we aren't there yet."
"Ah." Bianca nods in understanding. "You have mentioned they're really prideful."
"Yup. Far too proud to let a shmuck like me sit on their back." I agree, "We're definitely gonna have to build some trust before they let me ride them."
The two of us share a laugh at that, before I decide to change the subject. "So, how are things going on your end? Everyone still training to take on Drayden?"
It's an innocent question on my part, but it becomes immediately clear that I've hit a sore spot. As soon as I mention the gym leader Bianca flinches. She recovers quickly, laughing the question off, "Oh, well you know how it goes. Hilda already beat Drayden a few days ago. And Cheren's right on her tail like always. And I'm… nowhere close to ready. Just like usual."
Yeah, I've hit a sore topic for her. "You know that there's no shame in taking things at your own pace, right?"
"Yeah, I know! That's what everyone keeps telling me." Bianca says with a weak chuckle that rapidly trails off into nothing, "But then… But then I watch my best friends run headfirst into trouble, and fight people who are really dangerous. They're stopping the bad guys, and being big heroes, and saving Unova. And I'm just the girl tagging along. The one who's too scared to fight back so she just plays at being a bodyguard or something because every time she sees Team Plasma all she can think of is the time Luna was stolen and she couldn't do anything to stop it."
"Hey." I cut in, staring seriously at Bianca, "That is nothing to be ashamed of. You have better reason than most people to be afraid of what those people are capable of. And you're still doing everything you can. That's impressive as hell Bianca. Anyone tells you differently, you send them to me."
"Thanks Ben, that's really nice of you. But… the problem is that I can't seem to stop telling myself that," Bianca says softly. "I mean, I've always been the weakest trainer amongst my friends. I'm not as smart as them, and I panic too much, and I rush into things without really thinking. It's been like that my whole life. But I was always okay with that because I had Hilda and Cheren there for me, and I could just improve at my own pace. But then we went on this journey and Team Plasma started ruining everything and now my own pace isn't good enough. Now every time I screw up I know I'm putting them in actual danger because they have to look after me. I'm just too useless as a trainer to do anything right!"
I remain silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. I get the feeling Bianca has been keeping all this to herself for a while now. She seems like the type to keep things bottled up so she doesn't bother her friends. I'm far enough away from the situation that I'm safe to confide in but Hilda and Cheren are too close to this thing that's eating her up inside.
"You know, I think you aren't giving yourself nearly enough credit." I say after a while, thinking my words over carefully. "You've definitely come a long way since you started training. I haven't forgotten how easily you whooped me when you helped me with my training. And the things you taught me have helped me a ton since then. But even then none of that really matters because I think you're helping Hilda and Cheren more than you or they could possibly realize just by being there for them."
"Maybe." Bianca sighs, "But I don't know if I can keep being there for them for much longer. I'm dead weight right now. How much longer can I tell myself I'm being helpful to them if my dragging them down is going to get them hurt?"
I fall silent once more, unnerved by the implications of what she's saying.
"Yeah." Bianca says after a moment, smiling sadly. "I guess that's about what I expected. Thanks anyways Ben."
"Bianca, wait-"
I'm too late. She's already hung up.
The troubles my friends are going through back in Unova are weighing on my mind, but I force myself to push it aside as best as I can. There's nothing I can do from here in Kanto, and frankly speaking I'm not nearly strong enough to be any help even if I was to go back to Unova right now. Team Plasma is at the peak of their power right now, and I can't hope to match them. It's the whole reason I got out of that region when I could, and I still think that ultimately that was the right decision (even if I'm starting to worry that choice is proving a bad influence on Bianca).
I need to focus on my own adventure. Which right now means buying a crapload of extra food. Bianca also sends me a few other suggestions later, along with an apology for hanging up on me. I try to take it as a good sign, though no small part of me still worries about the girl.
I finally leave Fuchsia three days after winning my gym battle. Much like when Axel left I'm sent off by my fellow sponsorship trainers, along with quite a few trainers from the gym itself.
"I'm gonna miss you Ben!" Oichi cries tearfully, giving me a painfully tight hug, "You're the only one around here who laughs at my dumb jokes! Make sure you keep working hard with the girls! And come visit us!"
"Of course I'll visit," I chuckle, patting Oichi on the back, "Technically I live here now."
Eventually a few of the other gym trainers manage to pry Oichi off of me, and I'm approached by Sara and Harper. My talk with Harper is brief, the two of us simply wishing each other good luck in our endeavors. Sara on the other hand has a bit more to say.
"You, Keith, and Axel had better all watch out," She gives me a determined smile. "Once I've finished settling things here in Fuchsia I'm going to be right on your tail. Our battle during Koga's challenge never came to a proper conclusion, but next time I'll be ready for whatever tricks you pull out!"
"I'm looking forward to a good battle when that time comes." I nod grinning eagerly. "Whatever weird defenses you come up with by then, next time I'm going to bust right through them."
"Bold words!" She responds with a laugh. "You take care of yourself Ben."
Janine speaks next, though she keeps things brief, "Keep up the good work out there Ben. Be safe. And if you see Keith doing anything stupid out there make sure to sort him out for me."
"Thanks Janine," I say with a nod. Then, because I've become rather fond of messing with her about the subject, I start teasing, "Don't worry, I'll make sure your boyfriend comes back to you safely."
Janine turns very pink at that, "Asshole!" She groans, glaring at me, before adding very quietly, "…You'd better." She vanishes rather quickly after that.
When Koga approaches to speak with me after that he looks as if he is trying very hard to maintain his stoic demeanor. But even though his eyes look bright with laughter, his voice betrays absolutely nothing, "I wish you the best from here, Mr. Wilson. Keep your wits about you on your travels, there are entirely too many stories of promising trainers retiring early because they aren't ready for life on the road."
"I'll be careful, Master Koga." I nod deeply in respect.
"See that you do. I stand by what I said before. You have what it takes to go far. Always remember what it is that drives you. And trust in your companions."
And with those words to guide me, I put Fuchsia City behind me.
Leaving Fuchsia feels like a huge moment, all things considered. Technically I've travelled a long ways since meeting Ogrim, but most of the ground I've actually covered has been by plane. Other than my flight to Kanto all the walking I've done so far has been nearby either Icirrus or Fuchsia, with the understanding on my part that I'd be returning to the same location once the day was done.
In that aspect this feels a lot like the true beginning of my Pokémon Journey. The journey of a thousand miles and all that.
My path is going to be a long one, likely the longest leg of my journey, in fact. No matter which order you decide to take on Kanto's gyms, Fuchsia will always be the most out of the way of the lot. Well, except for taking on Blaine's gym, but he's apparently gotten so good at hiding the damn thing that nobody can even find it anymore. It's proving enough of a problem for the Kanto League that Janine at one point warned me not to even mention the subject around her father under any circumstances.
Thankfully my current goal isn't to hunt down Blaine. Instead I'm going for a gym much more suited to my current team: Erika. Mostly this is for Dart's sake. After he had to miss my battle with Janine I need to make sure that my next big battle is one he can take point on. And Erika's grass types are going to be a perfect fit. There's little doubt in my mind that he'll be ready by the time I've reached Celadon City.
It's in that spirit that I let Dart out of his ball the first time a trainer on the road asks me if I want to stop for a quick battle.
"You're planning on battling me with a kakuna?" The trainer asks in disbelief.
"Koh! Ka-koh!" Dart shouts in challenge.
"Nah, just going to let him watch," I explain, picking Dart up off the ground despite his grunting that he's ready to fight. "He's just about ready to evolve, so I figure seeing a few battles might make for good motivation. Until then, he's just not ready."
"Koh!" Dart yells in protest.
Then he starts glowing in my arms.
"Shit!" I exclaim in surprise, setting him down on the ground in a hurry and covering my eyes. The trainer standing across from me does the same. Once again I hear a whole lot of horrifying noises hidden behind the veil of light exploding forth, this time involving a whole lot of tearing and popping. And when the light finally dims Dart stands tall, now roughly the size of my torso and buzzing both figuratively and literally with excitement.
"Holy crap Dart, you finally did it!" I cheer, as Dart admires his new form.
"Whoa, congratulations!" The trainer standing across from me says with a grin. "You really weren't kidding about him needing some motivation, huh?"
"Guess he was tired of getting benched!" I say with a laugh, looking to Dart. "So, I take it you want to take your new body for a spin?"
"Beeeeeeeeeee!" Dart buzzes in anticipation.
The battle that follows isn't a total stomp, but it does remind me of another bit of common sense that had been rather eclipsed by years of time spent watching the anime. Turns out just because your Pokémon evolves for the sake of winning a battle, that doesn't mean winning is guaranteed. Sometimes when a Pokémon evolves they have to deal with things like suddenly having four new limbs that weren't there before. Or the newly developed ability to fly. And that adjustment can cause some problems if the Pokémon doesn't get used to everything in time.
Long story short Dart got his but whooped by a marill. He put up a decent fight, but his first attempt at flying in battle was a little disrupted by the fact that he was having to do it while waterlogged. The opponent was a good sport about it, even offering to forgo the prize money, but I refused. Letting Dart battle so soon after evolving was my own mistake, and his marill still had to work for the win.
"Don't worry about it man. Considering everything you were trying to adjust to all at once you did a great job." I encourage, sitting with Dart after the fight as I run my hair dryer over his wings, "You'll be ready next time. We'll make sure of it."
Dart remains surprisingly still as I look after him. But he hums determinedly in response. Clearly I have nothing to worry about.
Once Dart is looking properly presentable I decide the rest of the team should get to see his new and improved form. I move a short way from the road, enough so that I won't be inconveniencing anyone if things get a bit rowdy. The others appear in a flash of light, and it's only as they're materializing that I realize I probably should have grabbed a blanket or something so I could pull back a curtain and surprise them properly. Kinda takes away from the moment, but I suppose I'll just have to remember it for next time.
"Alright Ogrim, ladies, we haven't been on the road for long, but we already have some big developments for the team!" I announce, gesturing grandly to Dart. "Ta-dah! Dart has finally become a beedrill!"
Ogrim takes a moment to process, looking between me and Dart in confusion. "Go golett?" He asks, staring blankly at Dart.
"Bee!" Dart exclaims proudly.
Ogrim continues to stare, and for a moment I think that things just aren't getting through. But then I see him start vibrating. Literally vibrating with excitement, until he can't contain himself anymore and runs forward, throwing his arms up excitedly. "GOLETT! GO GO GOLETT LET GO GOLETT!"
"BEEEEEEEE! DREE BEE DREEE LEEE!" Dart cries out with energy to match, bobbing around in the air.
"GO! GO! GOLETT!" Ogrim does his signature arm pump, cheering happily.
Dart raises his head proudly, then jolts, a thought occurring to him. He looks at Ogrim pumping his arms in the air, then looks down at his own arms. Then, almost tentatively, he pumps his new arms in the air. "Bee. Bee. Beedrill?" He buzzes uncertainly.
"Golett!" Ogrim cries in encouragement, "Go! Go! Golett!"
"Bee! Bee! Beedrill!"
"GO! GO! GOLETT!"
"BEE! BEE! BEEDRILL!"
The two start bouncing around in a circle together, both pumping their arms as they continue to chant louder and louder. And that's the point where I have to turn aside and recollect myself before I start laughing and rain all over their parade. As I do so I happen to make contact with Lacy, who is giving me an absolutely miserable expression.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll get this out of their system soon enough." I say, struggling to be heard over the wildly enthusiastic cheering.
"Kweh," Lacy replies, not at all reassured.
"Wark wark." Cleo says calmly. She's watching the proceedings still, completely straight-faced, though I can't help but detect a faint glimmer of amusement in her eyes. When she sees me staring though she immediately rolls her eyes and stalks away, causing a startled squawk from Lacy as she's pulled along.
Cleo's like a teenager too preoccupied with their image to risk openly liking something. She doesn't want to admit that these two goofballs are growing on her. It's probably the same with Lacy too, come to think of it. I feel like if she really was as upset by the little display as she acted she'd probably just go over and tell them what she thinks.
Yeah, it might be optimistic of me, but I think this is a good sign for the team. No open brawling over dumb shit… Quite the high bar I'm setting for myself here. But it's a good sign that any bad blood over the twins' rather chaotic capture is already behind us.
"Alright, since we're all out and feeling so energetic, let's all do a bit of training and then grab an early lunch!" I announce, looking around at my team, "Ogrim, you're with me. Girls, I'd like you both to work with Dart. Now that he's evolved there's a few moves I'd like him to learn that you've already mastered."
"Kweeeeeeeh?" Lacy complains loudly. Cleo remains silent, but from the look in her eye I can tell she's not a fan of the idea either.
"What's the matter? Not up for teaching?" I give the girls a challenging look. "I thought you were pretty confident about your skills, but if you're not feeling ready that's fine."
Lacy changes her tune very quickly after that, immediately turning to Dart and all but demanding he follow. Cleo looks torn between frustration at me for using such basic tactics and at Lacy for falling for them so completely.
"Just think of it as good practice, alright?" I say in an attempt to appease her, "Dart's a quick study, I'm sure it won't be hard to teach him. Just help him figure out the basics of pursuit and fury attack, and…" I stop and think about it for a moment. Honestly, I'm pretty sure most of the early moves these two can learn are similar… "I dunno, if you have the time for it see what else you can help him figure out. Once he can start to keep up with you we can take it as a sign he's ready for actual battling, even if just as practice."
Cleo huffs at that, clearly unconvinced, but turns to Dart all the same, "Kweh." She jerks her head off to the side, and the girls stalk off. After a brief nervous glance towards Ogrim and I, Dart follows, still wobbling unsteadily in the air.
I watch for a moment to make sure the girls are teaching Dart how to use fury attack properly, then turn to Ogrim. "Alright little dude, I think the next thing I want to do is teach you some new ranged options. Right now all you have is mud slap and bulldoze, which means you're still helpless against any flying type that can keep their distance. I've got a couple ideas in mind, so let's explore our options and see which one would be a better fit for you right now…"
"Alright Ogrim, I think we should stop for now," I sigh, feeling discouraged.
We've been on the road for several days now, and in spite of all the time spent trying to get the little guy started on a new move, progress has been slow. Or rather, nonexistent. Not one of my attempts to teach Ogrim a ranged attack has borne fruit.
"Golett…" Ogrim says miserably, slumping over.
"It's alright buddy. You're trying your best." I pat him on the shoulder reassuringly, "I feel like it's probably my fault. I'm not explaining things properly. Pretty sure there's something I'm missing. I'll think things over and we can try again later. For now let's check on the others."
Ogrim still looks discouraged as he follows me, and I can't say I blame him. It's been a frustrating couple of days, spent trying all sorts of different moves and failing to see even the slightest hint of progress with any of them. Most of his attempts to use energy attacks fizzle out after a couple feet regardless of what we've tried. Which isn't super unexpected, since golett aren't meant to be special attackers, but the problem is we've had no luck with other options either. My next idea was to have Ogrim learn some good rock type attacks, but for some reason we're just not getting anywhere. Barely kicking up dust.
Well, no point in moping about it. We'll just have to keep trying. It took weeks for Ogrim to learn rollout, but now he's great at it. I just have to keep watching for that one little glimmer of progress so I can build on it from there.
Thankfully progress is pretty easy to find with the rest of my team. Can't be missed, really, the sound of them training carries pretty well, even over the noise Ogrim's been making trying to pull rocks out of the ground. When Dart's stingers clash with Cleo and Lacy's beaks it sounds like a full on swordfight. And those clashes happen a lot.
Dart's training started by simply copying the girls as best as he could, but it didn't take long for him to get bored of that. He's been working himself up for weeks, going crazy with boredom as he sat stuck in his cocoon and now that he's free he just won't stop. Practicing moves isn't enough for him, the moment he can use it he wants to make sure they're hitting as hard as possible. And that usually means trying whatever he can in an actual battle. Against trainers whenever I come across them, against wild Pokémon whenever they're willing, and against the twins any time else.
They're in the heat of a battle right now as Ogrim and I approach, circling each other furiously and striking at each other without relent. Stingers and beaks clash, ringing out loudly, and dust flies as the twins' precise footwork keeps pace with Dart's ever-improving aerial maneuvers.
I'm pleased to note that neither of them are using fury attack anymore. The move made up the bulk of their battles the first couple of days, but I've been making efforts to wean them off of it. The move can hit hard and fast when used at the right moment, but unless you've got your opponent pinned somehow it's way too imprecise. Good for teaching Dart how to use his stingers, but not the best in most other contexts.
Instead the girls are using peck, and showing off some impressive teamwork in the face of Dart's enthusiastic assault. The two have a clear system, with Lacy taking point while Cleo holds back and focuses on countering Dart's attacks. It's like watching a fencer, with Lacy acting as a rapier while Cleo fills the role of parrying dagger.
Dart's style of fighting is much more straightforward, a wild frenzy of twineedle attacks that so far are only just beginning to show the sort of precision I'd like him to reach. His strikes are powerful, and he's starting to get pretty good at fending Lacy off, though Cleo's counterattacks still foil him regularly.
Between the three of them Cleo and Lacy have definitely been winning most of the fights so far. The girls have proved a solid counter to Dart in nearly every way, being far more experienced as a fencer, far too fast on their feet to be tripped up by Dart's string shot, and able to use pursuit to great effect whenever Dart tries to break away for distance. The few times Dart has managed a win it's been through luck.
I can see Dart learning how to turn the tables though. The more he and the girls fight, the more comfortable he gets with his new body. The experience he's gathering is closing that gap between him and the girls faster and faster.
And going by the indignant look in the girl's eyes, they can see Dart closing in on them too. The girls are not a fan of Dart's rapid growth since evolving, especially since much of that growth has involved Dart learning moves that the twins already knew. He's almost literally muscling in on their territory.
And that drives the girls to start mixing things up, starting with a move I've been trying to get them started on in the past week. Lacy continues to fend off Dart's stinger on her own, but I can see Cleo taking a deep breath, getting ready to unleash the move in the rear. And then, as Dart pushes past Lacy and moves to strike at their main body, Cleo moves in to stop him.
"KWAAAAAAH!" Cleo's voice hits Dart like a tidal wave, sending him tumbling away before he manages to stabilize. Then, as Dart begins to move in again with an angry buzz, Lacy follows up with a sound wave of her own, even more powerful than her sister's. "KWAAAAAH!"
Echoed voice is a move that doesn't see a lot of use in competitive battling, since it's pretty weak as a general rule. In order to get the move to its full potential you need to use it repeatedly, letting the acoustics build gradually with each repetition. At full power it's one of the most powerful attacks out there, but the time it takes to reach full power is rarely if ever worth it.
I have to wonder how much the potential of the move has been tested when used by a Pokémon with more than one set of vocal chords though. Because doduo are capable of pushing out a lot more air than most Pokémon, being capable of breathing in through one head while the other breathes out. The skill seems to make them naturally suited towards most sound-based attacks.
"Still could use some practice with coordinating the breathing properly though…" I muse, as Cleo takes her turn to attack too soon and leaves both heads coughing for air. Dart rushes in, aiming to capitalize on the mistake, but I step in before he can finish his attack, "Alright, that's enough! Sorry girls, that's a win for Dart!"
Dart's momentary disappointment at getting stopped right before his big counterattack vanishes immediately upon my announcement, and he starts flying around in excited circles. "Beeeeeeeeee!"
The girls glare sharply at me, but I just shrug their irritation off, "No point getting mad at me, it was your mistake. Next time, just close in when you manage to knock the opponent off guard like that. This new move is going to be good for you guys, but your beaks and talons are still definitely your most dangerous tools in most situations."
Lacy glares at me indignantly, but Cleo seems to see my point. She's definitely the more level headed of the two for the most part, so she's usually better at absorbing my advice. And then discretely feeding it to Lacy later so she thinks it was their idea.
"Dart!" I call up to get the excitable bug's attention, "Good job on holding out, and for taking advantage of that opening the moment it opened up. But I want you to focus more on making your own openings rather than waiting for the enemy to screw up. You're focusing too much on your new tools and not enough on the ones you already trained in. You won't be able to rely on such straightforward attacks when the rest of the team has evolved to catch up with you."
That takes the wind out of Dart's sails in a hurry, causing him to slump in midair. I can't help but grimace at the sight, realizing that I've touched on a bit of a sore spot. "Sorry Dart. I wasn't trying to say you're weak or anything. I just don't want you to let your skills get rusty after all the work we've done. Just because you have wings now doesn't mean the other things we've practiced don't mean anything, you know?"
Dart still seems upset, but nods along with my advice. I think a part of him was hoping he could leave behind all the tricks I taught him once he evolved. That maybe once he became a beedrill he wouldn't need them. But the tricks are something he'll have to get used to if he wants to remain a serious contender. If Dart wants to stay on the team he needs to get used to battling like this now. His power as a beedrill is above most of what I'll be dealing with so early in the League, but if we rely on that now we're going to crash hard once we have to deal with bigger and tougher Pokémon.
And I want Dart to be able to keep up as much as possible. Not just because he's my friend now and I want him by my side, but because I can tell that Dart absolutely lives for battling. This matters to him, probably even more than it does to me. So if that means we have to push him to a battle style he's not as fond of, then… I think I can accept that. For now at least. If it really makes him miserable I'll try something else but I honestly think he'll come around to this stuff once he gets to fight in a proper gym battle and sees that my ideas can get results.
"Alright guys, let's get moving then," I declare, heading back towards the road, "we've still got a couple more days to go at this rate. I'm thinking it's time we pick up the pace a little." Assuming my legs can handle it, that is. I did plenty of jogging back in Fuchsia to try to get myself… at least somewhat in shape before setting out, but it's quickly becoming clear that a month of hard work is not enough to make up for how much time I spent… well, doing the exact opposite of that back home. Too much junk food, not nearly enough exercise. The past few days of solid walking on the road are the most exercise I've had in a while.
I gaze off into the distance at the cycling road, beginning to feel regret at choosing not to rent a bike for this leg of the trip. I thought I could use the time taking the foot path running parallel to the road to get some extra training in, and that part's working out well. It also helped me save on money, since all the supplies I bought for this trip were enough to burn through most of my monthly budget from Koga. But I still can't help but mourn the time I'm losing. With a bicycle I could have made it to Celadon already.
Maybe I'll rent a bike tomorrow. There's a whole chain of bike rental places revolving around Kanto's famous Cycling Road, and I think they've got a location in Terracotta Town, which I'll be reaching tonight. I can pick a bike up there in the morning, switch from the foot path to the cycling road, and then I'll be able to save on ferry costs, since the bridge across the strait has rules against foot traffic. It's one of those bridges that raises in the middle so ships can pass through, and they raise it very frequently. Kinda the big downside to building a bridge directly over the strait leading to one of your region's biggest ports.
But the questionable decision making of Kanto's infrastructure team aside, the bridge will be a much cheaper option for me than getting ferry tickets. And I think walking for most of the route instead of renting a bike early has put me far enough ahead that I should be able to make it through the month without having to dig too deeply into my dwindling savings.
Though, I could just drop my bike off on the other side of the strait in Gringey City, continue on foot to Celadon City from there, and save even more money…
"Ugh! I can't wait until I have more badges so I can start earning some real money from battling!" I groan, "Budgeting takes all the fun out of being on a Pokémon journey!"
"Golett," Ogrim says sympathetically. He doesn't know the first thing about money, having even less experience with humans than the twins, but he knows sad when he sees it and is eager to be there for me.
…Even when he can barely keep up with me. I look back at my starter and wince at how hard he's working to waddle alongside me. "Oh, I'm sorry Golett, I should have let you go back in your ball!"
"Golett! Let golett!" Ogrim protests, gesturing to Dart and the twins.
"Just because they're out doesn't mean you have to force yourself to be, buddy. They've got an unfair advantage on you anyways. Dart has wings, and the twins have way longer legs!" I reassure the little guy, "I know you have trouble keeping up without rolling, and if you had to roll with us all day you'd make yourself sick."
"Go… golett," Ogrim says, sounding conflicted.
"Kweh," Cleo responds firmly, cutting into our conversation, "Wark wark kweh."
"Goooo… let," Ogrim finally gives in, slumping over. He then turns to me and gestures to his Poké ball, "Let go golett."
"You got it bud," I say, calling him back to his ball and continuing on my way. After a moment or two I look over to my unexpected helper, "Thanks for convincing him Cleo."
"Kweh," Cleo responds dismissively, seemingly apathetic about the whole thing. The odd look Lacy is giving her sister makes it all too clear that this is odd behavior for her though. The girls are independent enough that showing any sort of attachment to somebody outside their own duo is probably pretty odd. Ogrim's charisma is just too high for them to resist!
This is all making me feel better about the travel time though. It's murder on the feet, yeah, but I'm getting more out of it than just training time. Clearly all the time the team is taking to get to know each other better is working in our favor as well. The connections the team forms here are going to be critical going forward. The closer we can get the better off we'll be. The Power of Friendship is a very real thing in this world, after all.
Thinking about it that way, I almost feel bad about taking a bike tomorrow. Almost.
Terracotta town proves to be a nice stop, though my opinion may be influenced by it being my first night spent in a proper bed in days. It's a very pretty town though, with its main features being a contest hall and a waterfront market… neither of which I take more than a brief glance at. Yeah, I basically grab my bike early in the morning, ride around town long enough to stop and say 'ooh, that's pretty', and immediately head for the bridge before traffic can pick up. From what I've heard the bridge raises every fifteen minutes or so on busy days, and I don't feel like taking a risk on that kind of nonsense. If I don't drop my bike off in Gringey City before the rental place closes I'll have to pay for an extra day.
The haste proves mostly unnecessary, since I arrive with several hours to spare, but I still waste no time moving on. Compared to Terracotta Town Gringey City is really not much to look at. The whole city is very clearly focused on its industrial sector, though I will say it's far cleaner than I would have expected. I heard it used to be infested with grimer, but apparently they did some consulting with a company from Alola to get the pollution cleaned up. The result, besides things generally looking unusually tidy for such a huge mass of factories, seems to be a focus on installing local parks. Unfortunately the addition of some scattered trees aren't enough to cover up the absolute forest of smokestacks looming overhead. I'm all too happy to put the place behind me.
And once that mess of a barely healed environmental disaster is behind me… that's it. I'm officially on the home stretch. The weather stays nice, the road's in good condition, and travel goes so smoothly it honestly feels weird. I think between years of watching the anime and hearing Bianca's warning about things going wrong on the road I was expecting this leg of my adventure to have more… adventure.
Instead I walk down a well maintained dirt road and see Celadon city looming up over the horizon without any sort of fanfare involved. Just a whole lot of relief that I can take a break from walking for the next few days.
That, and anticipation of going into that gym and kicking Erika's ass.
Yeah, mostly just a transitional chapter, which is honestly I think why I had so much trouble with it. Most chapters I don't really go in with a full outline, just a list of objectives to complete. In this case the biggest objectives were the talk with Bianca, and Dart evolving and training as a beedrill on the road to Celadon. Both of which were things that needed to happen at the beginning of the chapter... and somehow I didn't realize the problem with front loading most of the relevant parts of the chapter until it was too late. Suddenly I have half a chapter to fill with a bunch of necessary busywork that I really struggled to keep interesting without a proper emotional through-line. End result: probably the simplest chapter of the fic taking 3 months to finish, and boy was I stunned when I realized exactly how much time had passed between updates. Rest assured I will be doing my best to make sure it doesn't happen again.
But speaking of time flying, holy shit, it's been a year already! And in that time I have, despite only being 11 chapters in, somehow amassed over 1000 followers! A landmark my other big fic right now still isn't close to reaching despite having been uploading for over 3 years now. The Pokemon fandom really hits differently, lol. And so I have to say a huge thanks to all of you for your support so far! It means a ton to me that Throne of Mud has had such a warm reception in its first year.
As always, if you're looking for other Pokemon fics I recommend checking out the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord, where more than a few writers have put tons of hard work into their own Pokemon fics of their own. There's some really good stuff there, along with a bunch of excellent fics from other fandoms as well! There's also lots of people there always ready to give writing advice to anyone interested in creating fics of their own, along with a podcast for more of the same!
discord .gg/9XG3U7a
Happy holidays everyone, and here's to another great year!