"Bulbasaur use Vine Whip"
"Starmie use Rapid Spin"
Starmie come flying in spinning at high velocity towards Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur deftly catches it and hold it in mid air before slamming it down into one of the many floating platform in the gyms arena
Starmie health bar drops to zero and is automatically returned
"Yes! Bulbasaur you did it!" I shout running out and picking up the small grass type spinning around
"Bulba Bulba!" It shouts back in excitement before beginning to glow a bright blue and white, it as a bright flash and reveal it new form
"IVY!"
"You evolved, oh wow heavy" I say before toppling over
"Congratulations on the win and the power up, I present you with Cascade Badge" Misty say as she hand me the badge
"Thank you" I say taking it and placing it into my badge case
"Well then what are you plans now, the route opens up a little for you from here"
"I'm not sure, what would you suggest?" I ask
"Hm well Saffron entrance is currently closed due to a rock slide so closed to beginners. I would say head to the Underground Path and go to Vermillion as Rock Tunnel might be a little too much just yet. From now I would strongly suggest adding some new team members as well"
"Okay, well thank you and I will" I say happily nodding my head
I head my way out of the gym, I hand Ivysaur over to Nurse Joy at the counter of the gym and try Grandma on the video phone with no answer, I had manage to speak to her when I arrived in Cerulean and she had gotten both my letters so was up to date on my journey.
"Did you hear? There apparently a super strong fire type down in the underground path causing trouble"
I turn to listen in to the boys talking to the side of me
"Yeah but apparently there's a group of men down there trying to flush it out to capture"
"Yeah, its because of that auction site Ballbuy. Getting any kind of strongish Pokemon can net you some high profit on there"
Ballbuy I think to myself, I had never heard of it before. Maybe something to ask Ryan about the next time we speak
"Dustin!" comes a shout from the counter
I turn to see the local Nurse Joy holding Ivysaur's Pokeball
I walk up and greet her, I take the ball and thank her for healing her up, I hitch my bag up on my back before walking out of the centre. I give a big sigh and take a seat at the bench by the fountain
I really need to think about adding another member to my team
I scroll through my captures I have sent off to the research centre. There lots of early route Pokemon; Caterpie line, Weedle line, Pidgey, Spearow. I ponder over a level 14 Mankey I caught just before Mt Moon before disregarding due to its temperament
Maybe we'll see what else we can find. Best to head toward Vermillion for now
I stand up and walk down towards the exit of Cerulean City, the road is quiet there's a few rookie trainer along the way, I get offered a battle with one girl but I decline for now. I manage to catch myself a Jigglypuff and Growlithe. I think about adding the Growlithe to my team but from interacting with it, it not really very obedient so I choose not too. The underground path is manned by an older trainer, he scan my phone to see I have two badges and allows me access. He gives me a quick warning about the wandering fire type in the underground. I push open the door, I politely decline the offer of trading a Nidorino for a Nidorina before descending down into the underground. It quite dingy and poorly lit, a few of the lights on the side strobe and flickers. I see a few kid running up and down with item finders trying to find loose potions or Pokeballs to sell back to the mart for pocket change. I get about a half a mile down the path before there's a huge crash.
"MUKKKKK!"
I turn to see a huge Muk burst from up one of the floor vents, a flash of fire follows it out of the vent slamming into the roof of the path, I duct myself into a small side alley
I peak out to see the Muk firing off sludge bombs towards a small red fox
"Vul!" the fox fires off a strong fire attack dissipating the poison attack
"A Vulpix, is that the fire type everyone been talking about?"
"Ivysaur go!" I say throwing out Ivysaur
"Saur!"
"Ivysaur use Sleep Powder on that Muk"
Ivysaur bulb glow white and fire a cloud of green and yellow spores enveloping the sludge Pokemon. It shakes it self trying to stave of slumber but succumbs eventually falling to a deep sleep. I move past it trying not to get any of the sludge on me. I look towards the exhausted fire type who is patting heavily crouching low down but keeping its eye on me at all times
"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you promise" I say holding my hands up
It growls slightly before falling to its stomach
"Hey kid what did you do to my Muk!"
I turn to see an older man looking down in disgust at the sleeping poison type
"Hey good work though kid you got that Vulpix all tired out, I'll be taking things from hire, the bounty for it is super high on Ballbuy" He says with a malicious glint in his eye
I look to the worn out fire type, Ivysaur growls at the man.
"You're not taking it! Ivysaur use Stun Spore!"
Ivysaur summons a huge cloud of black spores, I quickly scoop up Vulpix into my arms and begin to print down the path
"Don't worry, I'll get you to a centre as quick as I can" I say looking down at Vulpix who squirms slightly before passing out
"Venomoth, Air Slash!"
The black clouds disperse and huge slices of white at hit at the floor behind myself and Ivysaur.
"Kid you better get back here!" The man shouts as he chases me down
I look forward and see the path divides out into three different ways up ahead. I grab my phone and scroll through my pc box, I hover over the Koffing I caught in Mt Moon, I quickly summon its ball and throw it
"Koffing Smokescreen!"
"Koffing!"
It blows a huge plume of smoke from all its pores masking my view, I quickly hit the recall button on Koffing. I head down one of the paths and duck into another side alley.
"Venomoth, disperse this damn smoke" I hear
I see the smoke quickly dissipate, I hear him muttering to himself before sprints down one of the paths quickly followed by his Venomoth, I wait a few minutes before breathing a sigh of relief
"Is everything okay?"
I look up to see a girl about my age looking down at me, she accompanied by a Wartortle, she looks vaguely familiar
"Hey your Dustin aren't you?" She questions
I stumble to my feet and brush myself down
"Uh yeah" I stammer out
"Mr Stanton mentioned you! I'm Louise, nice too meet you" She say with a smile
"War" Wartortle says holding out a hand to Ivysaur who takes it up with a vine
"Uh you too, sorry do you know the quickest way to the next centre!" I say
"Oh my! This one looks really beat up, here" She says setting down her bag and pulling out a bunch of potions and bandages
"You know you shouldn't let your Pokemon get into this state while battling" Shes says while spraying it and I bandage its legs
"Its not mine! I found it being chased by a guy with a Muk"
"Oh I see, well its really beat up bad, he must have been chasing it for a while then"
"There you must be feeling better" She says as Vulpix begins to pull itself up
"Not too fast Vulpix take it steady" I say picking up the small fire type
"There you are!"
We both turn to see the guy from before, followed by his Venomoth and Muk
"Lets not keep this going kid, just give me the Vulpix and I won't take your Ivysaur and her Wartortle!" He says with laugh
"Wartortle return" Louise say quickly grabbing another one of the balls on her belt
"Graveller come out!" She shouts as the huge rock type emerges
"If its a fight you want we will show you"
"Ivysaur you go too" I shout as Ivysaur darts out to side of Graveller
"Oh well if its a fight you want, you got no chance against me Bruce!"
"Venomoth Air Slash, Muk Sludge Bomb!"
"Ivysaur use Razor Leaf!"
"Graveller, Rock Blast"
Graveller spins in a ball on the ground firing rock off its back while Ivysaur summons a storm of Leafs, the attacks collide with the poison pellets and air slices causing a blast
"Dustin go, get that one to the next centre I can handle this" Louise says to me
"No, I'm not leaving you on your own to face this guy!"
"Ivysaur, Sleep powder!"
Ivysaur fire off another cloud of spores which envelope Muk but are quickly blown away by Venomoth
"Just give it up kids, you're way to weak!" He says with a laugh
As he finishes a hug stream of fire come from down the adjacent path, engulfing both of Bruce's Pokemon. There a white flash and emerges the stunning Ninetails
"Nine!" it lands between us and Bruce while his Pokemon lie motionless on the floor, the Ninetails growls loudly at the man who quickly returns his two knocked out Pokemon.
"So you're the actual fire type that's been causing all the issues down here huh?" He says questioning
It bark up at him as he scuttles away
"I'll be back for you, you'll see!"
The Ninetails then turns its attention to Louise and I, it growls showing it teeth
"It wants Vulpix back I guess?" She says
I look down at the injured Pokemon in my arms, I gently place it on the floor and move back away. The Ninetails moves up and sniffs a few times at Vulpix before pulling away in disgust, it growls at the small injured Pokemon before sprinting off down one of the paths
"Oh, is it because it smells like humans now, I've read that before with wild Pokemon that they can't go back into the wild if they're touched by humans" Louise says
I walk up to Vulpix who coos out sadly
"Hey Vulpix, would you like to come with me?" I say
It looks up at me and hesitates slightly at my touch
"I promise to look after you, here" I say pulling an Oran berry from my pocket and holding it out
It sniffs at it before taking and eating it in one bite, it lets me stroke at its back now and seems much more comfortable
"So what do you say?" I say holding out a Pokeball to it
It taps it nose against the ball and in three shakes the capture is confirmed.
"Nice, my second Pokemon!"
"Congrats" Louise say with a smile as she returns her Graveller
"Thanks, uh so which way are you heading?" I question placing the newly caught Vulpixs ball to my belt
"I heading towards Celadon, there a contest there in a few days time. What about you?"
"I'm heading toward Vermillion City, I want to challenge Lt Surge"
"Oh okay, you'll have to add some more team members then, as of now all gym challenges will be 3 V3 battles"
"Really? Oh I didn't know that, well I'll look out for some Pokemon with type advantages"
The pair of us walk down the path talking about our early experiences. Louise talks about getting stares at her first contest for using a Geodude in the appeals but she decided she wants to try and show of all kind of Pokemon appeal in contests rather than just conventional ones. We carry on a bit further before there is a fork in the path, one leading to Celadon and one to Vermillion
"Well this is it for now, good luck with your battle against Surge" She says with a smile
"Thank you and good luck in the contest, I'll make sure to catch it on my phone and cheer you one"
She smiles and gives me a thumbs up before sprinting off down the path
She seems really self assured, like nothing holding her back, maybe I just need to be a little more confident in my decisions. When I get to Vermillion I'll go out and capture some ground types to take him down and get that badge
I clench my fist and nod before sprinting off down the path to Vermillion
"Oh Dusty! How are you doing? Are you eating enough? Do you need me to send you any money?" the older lady on the screen says rapidly without taking even so much as a breath
"I'm fine Grandma I promise" I say with a nervous laugh
"And you've made it all the way to Vermillion already, oh I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks Grandma, oh and look" I say holding up Vulpix to the screen
"Oh who is that beautiful angel!" She screeches causing the Farfetch'd in the background to squawk in surprised
"Sorry Far!" She says sadly as the Farfetch'd scold her point its leek at her
"I caught this one down in the underground path, I'm going to head out and look for some ground types to take on Surge with though, means I have the best chance of winning"
"Oh look at my little Pokemon expert, I'll keep everyone updated. I'll keep you letter for everyone to read too"
"Okay, I'll keep writing them too, Ill send another once I've beat Surge with my next plan of action"
"Okay sweetheart, well you get some rest and we will speak soon"
"Okay grandma, pass my love on to everyone"
She smiles and the phone call clicks over
I sigh and lean back in my seat twirling the key to my room for the night on my index finger
"I'm glad I caught you today Vul, I was starting to think that maybe I wasn't cut out for this but today given me a real confidence boost. I can't wait to take on Surge now, we'll beat him down super easy!"
Location: Vermillion City Pokecentre
Current Party:
Ivysaur (Lv22) Female
Attacks
Sleep Powder
Razor Leaf
Vine Whip
Stun Spore
Vulpix (Lv17) Female
Attack
Fire Spin
Ember
Quick Attack
Confuse Ray