Champion's Journey: The Kanto Khronicles

by jedimasterpest

It's a new day as new Trainers start their Adventure's. As for one, John Russi, takes his first steps as a adventurer as we follow his journey. This is my take on the events of the gen 1 games and i'm using a new method to write my fanfics.

4. Solid Foundation

Chapter 4: Solid Foundation

When last we left our Hero, John Russi the Ace Trainer, was challenged right away by a Lass who thought was copying her due to both having to catch a Nidoran. While John accepted the match, lost in the end.

After having a heart-to-heart with each Pokemon John heads off into the Viridian Forrest where on his first day there, engages in a three-way battle of the Oran berry.

Not only did John and Blaze win the Berry but they also gained a new Pokemon ally in the form of Monarch the Quiet Male Caterpie. Unbeknownst to John has earned him, his first unlikely fan in the form of a 4th wall-breaking Mew named Kate.

While getting lost on day 2 in the forest John had caught another new Pokemon, this time a Naive female Pichu he named Sparks.

While things seem to be looking up for John, on day 3 he has invoked the wrath of a Bug Type Ace Samurai by way of scaring off his own rare prize before he had a chance to catch the extremely rare Pokemon and thus challenged John to a unfriendly Pokemon battle and won.

With no choice, John walked away from the battle with a hard lesson learned, and most of his Pokemon badly injured, he heads off to the closest Pokemon Center with verbal directions from the angry Samurai. Only to have to spend one more night in the forest as it is only a day and a half away from the battle. As it is now the 6th day of John's Pokemon journey, avoiding any more wild Pokemon encounters, for now, to allow his injured Pokemon to rest is where we return to the adventure.

It is morning as John walks through the Viridian Forest as he makes sure to avoid any more wild Pokemon. By now all Pokemon have recovered from being fainted after a long rest but still not fully healed with Sparks being the worst of all of them. It only takes an hour for John to finally see the tree line that makes up the edge of the Viridian forest. Happy to finally be out of the forest John quickly runs towards the edge of the forest until he finally bursts through the tree line as he jumps up and yells for joy.

"Yes! I'm finally out of that stupid forest!" John gives out a cry of happiness but as he looks ahead of him to see the city that's a few hours away from him. Not wanting to waste any energy John starts to walk towards the city. However, as he gets closer does the city's skyline starts to look familiar to John until it clicks with him.

"Aw, man! That bug boy sent me back to Viridian City!" John yells out in frustration to no one. After taking a deep breath, he starts to make his way back into the city, reaching the Pokemon Center by mid-afternoon. After talking with the on-duty Nurse Joy and handing over all of his Pokemon John is told to wait while she examines his injured Pokemon and be back with the estimated time it will take to heal all of his Pokemon.

As John sits down in the Lobby he hears a few other trainers talking amongst themselves but John pays little attention to them and their rumor mill as he pulls out his Pokedex and starts to look up information about Pokemon that he has already caught. John only had to wait for ten minutes before Nurse Joy walks over to John.

"Well, John it looks like you'll be staying in the city tonight. A majority of you Pokemon have received several injuries as you said but for them to fully heal it will take about seven hours to bring them all up to full health." Nurse Joy says as she stands in front of John.

"Seven hours? That's the rest of the day," said John.

"I know and there seems to be signs that they recovered from at least one of their injuries. This could happen if they get a full day's rest but this process can be sped up with the aid of bandages." Nurse Joy says before she gives John a key card, tells him his room number, and insures him that while under her care that his Pokemon will be fed. She then hands John a small package.

"What's this?" John asks as he takes the box.

"That is a pack of bandages. There are ten in that pack. Hopefully, you won't need these but have them just in case and not just for your Pokemon but for yourself as well. However, keep in mind that I'm giving these to you for free for now and that you will have to buy more from stores from now on." said Nurse Joy.

"Thank you," John says as he puts away the pack of bandages away into his Backpack before Nurse Joy walks away and returns to her duties. With nothing else to do John goes and gets showered before heading off to the Pokemart and buying 14 more herbivore Pokechow for his Pokemon and spends the rest of the day lounging around the Pokemon center's lobby watching the latest news on the local events with in the trainer community as other trainers come and go as they exchange information to each other.

John just phases out the topics as it just sounds like the normal basic everyday tips of every lower-level Pokemon trainer but he thought he heard something going on in Mount Moon but the news program "P!" has a small article about how Lance changed up his trainer outfit by being inspired by another well known Dragon Ace trainer from the Galar region. John spends the rest of the afternoon watching Pokemon-related shows before heading to the cafe and using the hot water tap on the coffee maker to make his dinner with his cup of ramen. At least this time his dinner won't be undercooked and a little crunchy.

Once 9 pm rolled Jonh received his Pokemon back, fully healed and fed by Nurse Joy, John heads up to his assigned room and finds that it is a 2-bed boarding room and he is sharing with another male trainer who is already sleeping. John lets out a quiet sigh seeing as he won't be able to interact with his Pokemon for the night without waking his current roommate. The best that John could do was just tough it out. Take off his shoes and socks and slips into bed and try to get as much sleep as he can.

The next morning, John is up and showered before he hands his room key back to Nurse Joy without much fanfare between him and his one-time roommate. John walks over to the lobby area where he calls out for Sparks. Right away the Pichu's ears are upright as she fanatically looks around while her tiny black mouse nose is going 40 miles an hour as she sniffs the air. John notices right away that not only does Sparks seem to be on high alert but she is looking around for the Bug Samurai's Heracross, looking scared.

"Hey hey, Sparks. It's ok. He's not here. We are far away from them." John said as he kneels down to the Pichu. Sparks looks up at John with a worried look as she squeaks out a low and drawn-out "Chu."

"Easy girl. It's ok. You are safe. Nothing bad is going to happen to you." John said as he calmly and softly speaks to the Pichu as he held his hand out to her. Sparks sniffs at his hand but quickly calms down and pushes her forehead against the offered hand. John smiles as he slowly and gently strokes the Pichu's head, showing her that she is safe with him. As he pulls his hand away the Pichu suddenly leaps up into John's chest. This catches John off guard as the force of Sparks landing on his chest forces him back and lands on his rear. After the initial shock wears off he realizes that Sparks is clinging on to his blue Pikachu shirt tightly with her face buried into his chest, his shirt has a small but growing wet spot as Sparks cries into his chest. John however just gives the Pichu a comforting smile as he holds her close with one arm and gently pets the back of her head with the other.

"There there. It's ok. You are safe. You're ok." John softly says to her as he comforts her. He stays sitting on the ground with her as he comforts the Pichu until she calms down. John gets the feeling that for now on he and the rest of his Pokemon might need to give the Pichu emotional support as they train or else the mental damage of losing to that Heracross so badly might affect her ability to battle in a negative way. Right there John chooses to avoid having her involved in any Trainer battles until he knows she is ready.

John suddenly gets an idea to help Sparks train up as he heads to the practice field in the back of the building. While carrying the Pichu as she has calmed down by now and is now only looking around the area around them. John is in luck as no one is practicing in here so he and his Pokemon have the room all to themselves for now. He walks over to the green side of the field and sets Sparks down before he calls out Brisby and Holly.

"OK, girls. Before we do any training today I got an idea. How about a friendly race between you girls. This spot here will be the starting and finishing line. You three will race along the edge of the battlefield. How does that sound?" John asks as he looks at his Pokemon. Sparks looks excited as she gives out a "Pichu!" as she leans up on the balls of her hind paws. Holly gives out a happy squeak as runs up to John, giving his leg a little nuzzle before taking her place next to Sparks on the battlefield. Brisby was busy cleaning her face and whiskers in her own mousy matter but nods to John as she finishes before taking her place as well. Sandwiching Holly between herself and Sparks.

"Alright girls get ready." the Pokemon turn to face the direction that they'll be racing off to. "Get set." Sparks drops down to all fours as they all ready their legs to spring forth. "And go!" John yells out as he raises his hand and waves it down like a starting race flag.

As soon as John yelled out. Holly rockets off farther and faster than her teammates reaching the first corner of the battlefield before the others as Sparks and Brisby launch off at the same time but Brisby was able to outrun the Pichu taking the second position. Sparks looks on in shock still recovering from earlier in the lobby.

"Good job Holly! Keep it up! Give it a little more oomph Brisby!. Come on Sparks! You can do it! Believe it!" John yells out as he cheers on his Pokemon from the sidelines.

As Holly runs along the northern end of the battlefield Brisby is suddenly catching up to her as they reach the next corner. Brisby overtakes Holly as they round the corner as Holly barely loses her footing to a skid across the battlefield as the Ratta takes the lead and runs down the western end of the battlefield with Sparks having a hard time keeping up with the other two female Pokemon.

"Great job Brisby! Holly watch your footing! Come on Sparks put it into high gear" John cheers out from the other side of the battlefield. Not sure if his Pokemon can hear him from that far.

Holly quickly tries to pick up the pace as she rushes up to Brisby. The Rattata and the Nidoran are neck to neck as they race towards the next corner until they hear Sparks give out her own little battle cry as she suddenly finds the energy to rocket forward and overcomes the two Pokemon and rounds the corner before them.

"Alright, great job Sparks. Keep it up girls you're on the final stretch!" John cheers as he hops up and down.

All three Pokemon give it their all as they race down along the southern edge of the battlefield as they race back towards John. Brisby was able to quickly catch up to Sparks and pass her. Sparks not paying attention to how far back Holly is from closes her eyes as she tries to catch up to the Rattata but Brisby has run farther than her. As they round the last corner Holly is directly right behind the Pichu. Brisby comes to a sliding halt in front of her trainer Winning the race with Sparks coming in at second place and Holly closely following in, in third place.

"Alright, girls! You all did great!" John said as he gives them each a pet. Brisby looks proud of herself for winning while Holly nuzzles John's hand when she receives her pets. After a water break, John proceeds to give them an hour-long training season. Giving them more experience and inspiring them. With the daily training done, John once again leaves Viridian City.

John stops at the edge of the Viridian Forest, mentally preparing himself for what's to come. He remembers what the Bug Samurai had said the other day about how to get back to Viridian City and decides to reverse his instructions in order to hopefully finally reach Pewter City. After steeling his will and praying for not a repeat of the last time he heads into the forest. But as he barely enters right away he finds a lone Passho Berry.

As he walks through the forest it's about mid to late afternoon when he hears a squeak of distress and runs towards the sound to find a single Pichu being gang up on a group of Weedle and to John's shock, one of the Weedle is a more brighter, lighter shade of yellow than normal. The Pichu looks scared as the three Weedle glares at him. John is not sure what caused this encounter but this looks like an unfair fight.

"Hey, you bullies! 3 against one is not fair!" John yells out as he pulls out Monarch's Pokeball and calls him out. The male Caterpie appears right next to the shiny Weedle. However, the Shiny Weedle ignores the Caterpie and fires a Poison String attack at the wild Pichu. Its storm of flying venomous needles hits the Pichu and deals max damage to the poor wild tiny mouse Pokemon as he gets a cut in his right ear. The Weedle to North moves closer to the Pichu and sprays out a cone of Weedle silk as it uses String Shot on the Pichu just as he is pleated by the Shiny Weedle's attack. The southeastern Weedle also moves in and manages to cover the poor Pichu in more Weedle silk with his own String Shot. John seeing the attack the Shiny Weedle made, rushes up onto the Wild Pichu's left and takes out a potion, and sprays the Pichu with it, healing the Pokemon.

"Monarch use String shot and stop that Weedle!" John orders out his Pokemon. The wild Pichu however decided to put itself behind John. To shield itself from the northern Weedle but this puts him between the Shiny Weedle and the eastern Weedle. He turns towards the eastern Weedle and let's out a Thunder Shock towards it. Dealing massive damage to it and charring it with its electric attack and paralyzing it. Monarch however puts himself between the Shiny Weedle and the Pichu and tries to cover the Weedle in his own silk but his String shot attack misses as the Shiny Weedle ducks under the attack. The Shiny Weedle however gets upset that its target is now being blocked by two different creatures and attacks Monarch with a Poison Sting attack. The Caterpie gives out a high-pitched grunt as he takes the hit and tanks about half the damage from the flying needles. The Northern Weedle moves a metter from its current spot placing him between John and Monarch as it lets out a cone of Weedle silk. Covering the Pichu, Monarch, and the Shiny Weedle in its String Shot attack. At this point, John pulls out Brisby's Pokeball and throws it right towards the eastern Weedle. The Rattata appearing right in front of him, blocking his view of the Pichu.

"Protect the Pichu, Brisby. Use Tackle! Monarch use Tackle on the Shiny Weedle as well!" John orders. The easten Weedle however overcomes its paralyzed state for now and fires a Poison Sting attack at Brisby just as she appears. Brisby however angles her body so she takes the least amount of damage that she can from the Poison-Type. The wild Pichu however turns towards the direction of the northern Weedle and tries to let out a Thunder Shock towards its attacker but misses and hits a tree 6 meters away from it. Leaving a small scorch mark. Monarch as fast as he can tackles into the Shiny Weedle, sending it flying back a couple of meters. The Shiny Weedle shakes its head as it recollects itself and crawls up to Monarch and lets out a cone of Weedle silk, catching Monarch, John, and the Pichu in its String shot attack.

"Gah!" John shouts out as he feels a little sluggish from the sticky threads. The northern Weedle moves in closer to the four and tries to fire a Poison Sting attack at the Pichu but its attack misses. Brisby however was able to shake off what little damage she received and tackles into the eastern Weedle, dealing massive damage as she knocks him back 2 meters. The Weedle at this point is not looking too good as it now has a scorched mark and a cracked exoskeleton. John pulls out a Pokeball and tosses it over towards the Weedle next to him, landing about right next to the Shiny Weedle and Holly materializes.

"Holly, use Scratch on the shiny Weedle. Monarch use Tackle on the Weedle next to us!, Brisby use Quick Attack on your Weedle!" John orders out. The Weedle near Brisby recovers from the strike it received from Brisby and tries to run around her and sprays out a cone of silk, catching John and the Pichu in its String Shot attack.

"Oh come on! Really?" John yells out as he finds himself covered in more sticky silk. The Pichu turns towards its silk-spraying attacker and its cheeks sparks and tries to fire off a thunder shock but its attack goes wild and up towards the sky as it tries to cover its eyes to keep silk from getting in them. Monarch turns towards the Weedle on his right and tries to tackle it but he slips on some silk and ends up tripping over himself instead. Before anyone can move Brisby suddenly rushes forward and slams into the Weedle that tried to sneak past by her with blinding speed. The Weedle is sent flying with another section of its exoskeleton cracking as it lands in a heap, fainted. The Shiny Weedle however sees its chance to attack Monarch and fires a series of venomous needles at the Caterpie, peppering him with its Poison Sting attack. The last remaining normal-looking Weedle takes its chance to attack the Pichu with another Poison Sting attack. The wild Pichu squeaks out in pain as the needles cut up its shoulder. Holly seeing the Shiny Weedle's back still turned to her, rears up on her hind legs as she raises her front paws. Holly however notices that the Shiny Weedle is a female and her Rivaly ability kicks in as she brings her paw down for a Scratch attack with more force than before, dealing a good amount of damage as she and Monarch have the Weedle flanked. John Seeing how much damage the Shiny Weedle has taken and how rare of a find this is, is not letting this opportunity escape him as he pulls out a Pokeball and tosses it toward the Shiny Weedle. The basic ball strikes the Weedle on the head as she is zapped into the Pokeball. The ball shakes three times and the capture light blinks yellow with each twitch until the ball clicks and the light turns green as John catches the Weedle. The Wild Pichu turns back toward the last remaining Weedle and fires off a Thunder Shock towards it. The Weedle lets out a pained screech as it too receives a scorched mark on its exoskeleton. Monarch straightens himself out after tripping on some sticky string and lunges at the last Weedle with a tackle attack. His body slams into the Weedle as its exoskeleton cracks from the impact. The Weedle is sent flying and lands in a heap as it too is finally knocked.

"Yeah! We did it!" John cheers out loud but all of a sudden Monarch starts spraying Caterpie silk onto himself. As more and more silk covers him, he starts to glow as the silk around him starts to take shape and harden. As the flow of silk ends, Monarch looks a lot more different as he is now encased in a green hardened cocoon. John ripes off all the silk on himself and pulls out his Pokedex and scans Monarch with it.

Metapod: The Cocoon Pokemon. The evolved form of Caterpi. Using its hard shell to protect its body, it prepares for its next evolution.

"Wow! Monarch evolved!" John cries out in happiness as Holly walks over to Monarch and nuzzles the Metapod as a sign to congratulate him on evolving. Brisby just walks over to John, sitting on her hunches, and watches on. The wild Pichu however winches as it touches one of its injuries as blood trickles from its arm and its right ear.

"Here let me help with that," John says as he kneels down to the Pichu. The Pichu however flinches away from John as it's still on the edge and fearful of the human.

"Hey, there's no need to be scared of me. See?" John says as he softly speaks to the Pichu and presents his hand out to the Pichu. The Pichu sniffs John's hand and can smell Sparks's scent on him and calms down, seeing that the human before it is not going to hurt him.

"See, now let's do something about those nasty cuts," John says as he reaches into his backpack and takes out two bandages. John begins to warp the bandages around the Pichu's injured body, making sure that the bandages will stay in place until they do their job of healing the Pichu. This takes John about an hour to do before he stands up.

"See? All better now." John says as he smiles at the wild Pokemon. The Pichu looks over the bandages, then looks up at John before it scampers off into the woods. It stops briefly to look back at John before disappearing from John's sight.

"I think we might have made a future friend. What do you think Brisby?" John asks the Rattata. Brisby just gives John a short barking chatter. John is not sure what exactly Brisby said but he can take a guess as he looks down at her.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see. We better find a good spot to camp" John says before he recalls both Monarch and Holly back into their Pokeballs but leaves Brisby out and picks her up and carries her. Brisby does not resist but she does look up at John with a confused look.

"I wanna spend some time with you while we look for tonight's campsite. I know I'm on the verge of us becoming friends. I can feel it. Then we got our butts kicked by that Samurai Bug Boy. I walked into that battle blindly. I didn't think he'd go that hard on us like that. I got overconfident again and that led to most of you guys getting injured and Sparks ended up getting the worst of it. I want us to be good friends and I have a feeling that loss pushed that goal back even further but right now I'm asking you to give Sparks all of your support and help her overcome her fears and problems. Be a friend to her first before being mine, okay?" John said as he looks down at Brisby. The Rattata however looks shocked at this, that this human who caught her after a surprise attack on their first day of knowing each is asking her of such a thing. To help another Pokemon that she knows while putting his own desires aside. Then again she had also witnessed him care and bandage up a random wild Pichu and not even bother to catch it. This human is becoming more complicated the more and more she gets to know but in a sort of a good. Brisby can see that her trainer has a good heart and has soul. She hopes out of his arms and sits on his shoulder which nearly catches him off guard as she gives John's cheek a little nuzzle.

"So you'll help Sparks?" John asks. Brisby nods and gives John a little smile. John's little talk has seemed to touch the little purple rat. John smiles back at Brisby and gives her a little pet as she gives a little coo from the affection. "Thank you, Brisby."

As 6 pm rolls around John finds the sight of his first campsite in the forest. Brisby jumps off his shoulder as John kneels and starts to collect his tent kit but before he can pull anything out Brisby jumps up and knocks off Holly's and Blaze's Pokeballs off his ball belt and rolls them in front of her human trainer.

"Huh? Do you want me to call out Holly and Blaze?" John asks. Brisby nods as she gives out a "Tata!".

"Alright, I guess you want to play while I set up camp," John says as he picks up the two Pokeballs and sends out the two Pokemon. As the Charmander and Nidoran appear, Brisby right away starts chattering at her two teammates. John smiles at the sight as he takes out his tent but quickly notices that as soon as Holly and Blaze nods at the Rattata. Brisby takes off into the forest by herself. Right away Blaze starts digging into the ground with his claws, making a hole in the ground as Holly scampers over to John and gives his leg a little nuzzle.

"Huh? What's going on?" John asks looking confused. Holly just sits on her hunches as she gives out a "Nido!" as she watches her trainer. At this point, John notices that Blaze has made a bowl shape that is about half as deep as the Charmander's height before he climbs out of it. John is snapped of his distracted thoughts as Holly nudges at his leg. As John looks down at the Poison-Type. She then points her muzzle at John's tent. John, getting the message to not worry about it and goes back to getting his tent out. As he pulls every piece out, Holly would grap and starts to organize each piece for John by familiar pieces, well at least familiar to her.

At this point, Brisby keeps coming and going from the campsite, bringing back sizable sticks every time she returns with Blaze picking them up and carefully sets them inside his little hole. John himself is sitting up his tent as he finds Holly being his little helper as she brings him whichever part he needs and helps him hold down corners of the tent until he can secure it down. Once the tent is set up John turns around and sees Brisby has returned for the night, cleaning her face and whiskers as she looks dirty from bringing the sticks back and Blaze using his tail to start his own campfire pit. The two Pokemon notices John watching them as all three of them come up to John and wait for his reaction.

"Did you all did this to help me set up camp?" John asks. All three Pokemon nodded.

"Wow, thank you! You all did really great!" John says as he pets each Pokemon, Brisby looking proud of herself as she gets petted first while Blaze and Holly nuzzles into John's hand when they get their praise as well. John sets up his camping kettle and goes off to get some fresh water. Holly follows him as she carries what John is currently considering the team water bowl. After fetching some clean fresh water the night goes by uneventfully as John feeds all of his Pokemon their portions of Pokechow, including John's new Shiny Weedle which he named her Dizzy.

Dizzy was a little weary of her new teammates but didn't seem to mind sharing water and food with them as it is by her account easy foraging. Brisby seems to have a talk with Blaze and Holly about something in their own little Pokespeach. Monarch however doesn't eat at all. John found out through his Pokedex that Metapods are Nullivores and thus they don't need to eat. While the campfire didn't last long it lasted long enough to boil John's water, finally giving him a decent camping meal. As the night rolls over. John starts recalling his Pokemon except for Sparks, however, Brisby and Holly refuse to return to their Pokeballs.

"What's wrong girls?" John asks. At this, both Holly and Brisby run over to the opening flap of John's tent and looks up at him.

"Do you wanna sleep with me and Sparks tonight?" John asks as he gently picks up the Pichu. Sparks doesn't mind this at all as she has found John's touch to be comforting in a way since that morning when he let her have a good cry on his chest. Holly starts jumping up and down as she squeaks out a "Nidoran! Nido Nido! Nidoran!"

"I'll take that as a yes," John says as he walks over to the tent. He sets the Pichu down before opening the tent. He climbs in with all 3 small Pokemon before closing up the tent and rolling out the sleeping bag. As he undresses for the night Holly is gently nuzzling Sparks. Doing her best to make the Pichu feel safe as Brisby comes over to start grooming her as well. The gentle treatment that Sparks is receiving from two of her teammates seems to be working as she eases down onto the tent floor. As John slips into the sleeping bag he picks up the Pichu and cuddles her into his arms. Sparks looks up at John who just smiles at her, feeling at ease Sparks just melts into his arms and lets out a yawn as both Brisby and Holly cuddle up against the sides of John's sleeping bag as he bids them all good night.

The next morning John is woken up by a notification from his Pokedex. He picks it up as he tries to focus on the screen as his mind is still foggy from sleep. He sees that it has been one week since the start of his journey as 300 Poke has been deposited onto his sponsorship card from Professor Oak. As he gets up and gets dressed for the day, Brisby, Holly, and Sparks wake up as well from their trainer's movement. Throughout the night Sparks felt safe sleeping in John's arms as he cuddled up to the Pichu but as soon he gently laid her down to the side with Holly is when the Pichu was awoken from her rest. The three Pokemon exit out of John's tent as soon as the trainer opens the flap. He orders them to go ahead and play as he breaks down the tent. Right away the three begin to play wrestle, By the time John puts away his tent, Brisby has won their little game.

John returns Brisby and Sparks back into their balls and calls out Monarch and Dizzy and begins training them and Holly for experience and focus for an hour. Once training is done, John starts to head north for a few hours until he comes across a territory battle between 4 wild Pokemon. A Pichu, a Weedle, a Pidgey, and a Metapod. John however also got roped into the battle but defeated the two Bug-type Pokemon and the bird with Dizzy, Monarch, and Sparks. Not a very smooth battle though as one of Dizzy's Posion sting attacks went wide and hit Sparks instead. The wild Pichu seemed timid but ran away as soon as the Pidgey fainted but when John ordered Sparks to attack the Metapod, Sparks instead ran over to him and hide behind his leg. When the battle is done and over. John realizes the Sparks might be now scared of battling Pokemon bigger than herself. John recalls his two Bug-Type Pokemon back into their balls before he scoops up Sparks into his arms and continues on his way through the forest. Comforting Sparks and petting her until early evening when he stops to make camp for the night.

John tries to have Dizzy go look for firewood while he sets up his tent but the Weedle fails to find anything resulting in John taking an hour to find firewood and to build a campfire for the night. During dinner time Sparks was clearly mad at Dizzy for the friendly fire and stayed away from the Weedle while staying close to Holly and Brisby. Blaze even joined with the three female Pokemon. Giving Sparks a hug to show her that he can be relied on after hearing what happened to her and the Heracross. The night ends with John kicking dirt over the fire, putting it out before returning most of his Pokemon back into their balls with the exception of Sparks, Brisby, and Blaze as he lets the three Pokemon sleep with him in his tent for the night.

The next morning became a repeat of the morning before minus John earning more money, with Blaze Sparks and Holly play fighting while John put away the tent. Brisby once again won. John then spends an hour training Sparks, Monarch, and Dizzy, giving them experience and inspiration all the while improving on the Pichu's Combat skills as John notices it's her lowest skill set from the past two times she roughhouse with the other Pokemon.

Once training is done John has all of his Pokemon called back into their balls and continues on his way until mid-day as he comes across a female Pidgey that was challenging 2 Weedles and 2 Metapods for a battle. John decided to get into the battle as well, sending out Blaze, Dizzy, and Brisby to fight. John using his last Pokeball was able to catch the Pidgey but as soon as the light flashed green did the Pokeball teleported back to Professor Oak's lab to be stored away as John already has 6 Pokemon. The two Weedles were easy enough to take care of but the Metapods had enough time to keep bringing their defenses up high, making it for a drawn out boring fight. Once all wild Pokemon have fainted, Dizzy begins to spray herself in Weedle silk much like how Monarch did a couple of days ago as she starts to evolve. Once the light faded away and the silk hardened, Dizzy is now in a hardened green cocoon with black eyes and bulging features on the front to indicate the growth of new limbs such as insect-like legs underneath her current hardened shell. With this new form, John pulls out his Pokedex and scans her.

Kakuna: The Cocoon Pokemon. Able to move only slightly. When endangered, it may stick out its stinger and poison its enemy.

"Cool, this means you and Monarch are going to be my first fully evolved Pokemon then!" John says as he kneels down and smiles at Dizzy. The Kakuna just only gives out a muffled grunt in response, John just smiles and pats the Cocoon Pokemon before returning her to her ball along with the others.

By evening time John set up camp after finding a pond and retrieving fresh water from it and collecting firewood along the way. Once he has his camping kettle going he lets out Blaze, Brisby, Holly, and Sparks. Serving them their dinner before making his own with the boiling water from the kettle. Both Monarch and Dizzy don't need to eat for now as John looks up their information on the Pokedex. Once Dinner is over, John returns Blaze back into his ball and lets Brisby, Holly, and Sparks sleep with him for the night in his tent. As he lays in his sleeping bag, he has Brisby curled up against his left side, Holly on his right and Sparks snuggled up into his arms. As he gently pets the Pichu he looks down and softly speaks to her.

"I know you are scared of Pokemon bigger than you but I know you can be brave Sparks," said John. Sparks looks up at him as she tilts her head to the side as she squeaks out a "Pi?".

"I know you can fight that Metapod the other day. I know you would have been a big help against two other Metapods that we faced earlier today, but I didn't want to send you out cause I didn't think you were ready. I'll admit I got a bit frustrated myself and I may have kicked one of those Metapods." John says with a bit of a giggle. Sparks gets a crayon cartoon picture image of her Trainer kicking a Metapod and then hopping around on one foot after breaking a toe on the Metapod's hard cocoon. The mental image makes the Pichu giggles herself.

"But tomorrow I wanna try to help you get over your fear of larger Pokemon. Bit by bit. Now I'm not asking for you to fight against something that's bigger than me, but maybe. . . . . something that's at least 3 feet tall? Ok?" John asks the Pichu. Sparks looks a little unsure of herself but she gives him a nod nonetheless with a small smile

"Alright then, we are going to kick your fear in the rear" John chuckles as Sparks sweat drops at John's lame rhyming joke. John bids Sparks good night before he rests his head back and closes his eyes. Drifting off to sleep in a matter of minutes.

The next morning John and his Pokemon wake up. While John gets dressed Holly and Brisby nuzzle and grooms the Pichu, giving her some encouragement for whatever training John has planned for Sparks. Once they step outside the tent John recalls the Nidoran and the Rattata back into their balls and calls out for Monarch and Dizzy.

"Ok Sparks, I figure that I'll start you off with play fighting with your teammates. It would be a nice and friendly way for you to help face Pokemon that are bigger than you. How does that sound?" John asks. Sparks just turns and looks at the Metapod and Kakuna. Even if they are her teammates they are still a little scary to the Pichu as they are at least a foot taller than her with her being a foot tall. She gulps down the imaginative lump in her throat and turns back to John as she gives him a nod.

"Alright, then whenever you three are ready go ahead and go at it while I take care of the tent," John says before he turns his attention to the task of breaking down the campsite. As John takes down his tent, Sparks turns towards the two Bug-Type Pokemon and leaps up at them. However, by the time John finishes putting the tent away. Dizzy is the one that won having beaten both Monarch and Sparks at the same time. The poor Pichu just can't catch a break. John gives the trio a break before starting an hour-long training session with them. Inspiring them and having them gain a little experience.

With morning training done, John once again heads northward at least he hopes so by reverseing the directions that the Bug Samurai gave him days ago. About mid-day, with Blaze walking by his side, instead of coming across another wild Pokemon or two. John sees a break in the trees where the trees are starting to thin out and spread out further away from each other. John and Blaze quickly run ahead and break through the tree line. Finally leaving Viridian Forest. Ahead of them is the path of Route 2 and the skyline of a city about a couple of hours away. John studies the skyline of the city and a smile spreads across his face. It is not Viridian City again.

"Look, Blaze! It's Pewter City! Finally! Race you to the city, Blaze!" John says as he kicks off running. Blaze however quickly follows after him. After about a few minutes of running John is reduced to a walking speed. Sweaty and panting as his Charmander runs ahead of him clearling beating him in John's sudden foot race.

By the time they reach the City with the stone-gray rooftops, the sun is starting to set as John and Blaze walk through Pewter City. John however stops at a lamp post to see a City flyer. There's a local Pokemon tournament happening the next day with the grand prize being 10,000 Poke and something known as a Old Amber. John remembers hearing about this item as it is fossilized tree sap that contains the DNA of a prehistoric Pokemon.

"You see that Blaze? All that money and a fossil?! We are going to enter that tournament and win!" John cries out in excitement. Blaze pumps his little clawed fist in the air as he gives out a cute "Char!" battle cry. Within a half hour, John finds the Pokemon Center and heads in. After handing over his Pokemon for healing John asks about sign-ups for the Tournament.

"Oh, they are done here. I can help you get registered for the tournament if you like?" Nurse Joy says as she gives John a smile.

"Yes, please. I wanna compete." John says eagerly. Nurse Joy nods and asks for his trainer ID and Pokedex. After a couple of minutes on her desk computer, she hands John back his Items.

"All done. You are now registered for the Pewter City tournament and just in time too. The was only one spot left before you came in." said Nurse Joy.

"Cool thank you," John says as he nods before he heads over to video phones. First to call his mother to let her know that he made it to Pewter City and to call Professor Oak to check on his new Female Pidgey, Airazor.

Meanwhile in a house across the city as the evening begins. A young girl the same age as John is sitting at a desk in her bedroom with a book open to her. She is wearing a short-sleeved navy blue polo shirt and blue jeans with shoulder-length long blue hair. A pair of brand-new brown hiking boots sitting next to her desk. Behind her sitting on the floor is a 2-foot tall bear-like creature with long teal-colored fur draping his body like a dress with a cream-colored spot on its chest, cream-colored feet with 3 claws, arms that end with 5 small fingers, and big pointed ears on top of it's teal and cream colored head. Its big round eyes are closed as it dumps an entire family-size bag of potato chips into his mouth. This is the girl's starter Pokemon, a Munchlax.

The girl herself doesn't have her eyes focused on the book as her milky white eyes look straight forward, unfocused on anything as she runs her fingers across the pages which have no inked words printed on them. Instead are a series of small raised bumps that the girl can feel. The Pokemon posters pinned on the walls of her bedroom all have the images of the Pokemon raised so the girl can feel every detail of the Pokemon.

"Aya! Dinner is ready!" calls out the girl's mother from the kitchen. As the girl. Aya closes her braille book, another form behind the girl starts to move off her bed. A bipedal, jackal-like Pokemon, standing over 3 feet tall, red eyes, blue short fur running down his arms lower torso, and thighs. A black fur mask pattern on his face from nose to warping around to the back of his head with four, thick, dreadlock-like appendages hanging from. His upper torso covered in fluffy cream-colored fur and two short round iron spikes protruding on the back side of his fore paws with a third spike on his chest. The anthro canine-like Pokemon also is wearing a vest of sorts. Designed in a way that wouldn't cover his chest spike but kept on him with clip straps to keep the vest on. The vest itself is red and black with a large patch where everyone can see that says "Service Pokemon, DO NOT PET". The canine Pokemon, a Lucario. Stand next to Aya as she stands up. He lets out a bark to inform his favorite human where he is as he lets her grab onto his arm.

"Thank you, Leo," Aya said as the Lucario leads her out of her bedroom and through the one-story house, and into the kitchen. The Munchlax quickly follows to two to find his own food bowl filled with Pokechow and he quickly starts to eat the pile of food by shoving his face into his bowl as Aya's mother serves both her Daughter and Leo the Lucario at the dinner table.

"Are you ready for tomorrow Aya?" Aya's mother asks. "You have been training Rascal for a local tournament since you got your Trainer's license and Pokedex."

"I'm ready. I can do this. . . . . I think." Aya said as she pokes at her food.

"You can, You just gotta have confidence in yourself." her mother said as she places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm just more worried about your safety when you finally go out and travel."

"I'll be fine Mom. After all, I'll have Leo and Rascal with me." Aya said as the Lucario next to her barks in agreement. The Munchlax, Rascal doesn't react as he continues to shove Pokechow down its mouth.

"I hope so, but do me a favor. Try to at least make a friend that you can travel with? Even if you are not interested in doing the Pokemon League challenge." said Aya's mother.

"Well it would be nice to travel with another trainer but not because I need help with being a Pokemon trainer. I wanna prove to the world that I can be a Pokemon trainer even if I can't see and I don't need Gym badges or some champion title to prove it!" Aya declares as she looks in the general direction of where she heard her mother's voice come from. Despite being blind. Her milky white eyes show a flame of determination to them.

"That's good to hear and all Aya, but maybe you should finish your plate before your food gets too cold," says Aya's mother as she smiles at her daughter. Prompting Aya to quickly go back to eating her meal.

As night falls, back at the Pokemon Center John has already fed his Pokemon and cooked another cup of ramen for himself and is now settling in for the night, having Holly, Brisby, and Sparks out of their balls. All three Pokemon curled up against John. Creating a safe space for the Pichu as John gently pets her.

"So far you are doing good Sparks. If you can face off against 2-foot-tall Pokemon then you are on your way to facing your fears" said John. He gets no response from the Pichu as she seems to be contented.

"Well, we'll see what will happen tomorrow when the tournament happens," John says before he slowly starts to drift off to sleep.

The next morning in the city center a large crowd has gathered for the local event. There are stalls from local businesses, selling food, drink, and merchandise of various items from mugs to shirts and hoodies. There's even a man selling Pewter City souvenir rocks, which looks like just normal rocks but the man agrues his wares to those who question him with the "Well you see with an untrained expert eye." argument. Music from local bands are playing for the big event as a staged battlefield as big as the ones seen in the Pokemon Centers.

Aya is one of the first participants to show up. She can smell festival-like food from the vendors as they cook corn dogs, Pizza, Yakisoba, and other fair-like foods for those who come to watch the tournament as she is holding onto Leo's arm with one hand as her other hand holds onto a mobility cane. Sweeping the cane's tip slightly above the ground from side to side to avoid any obstructions that could otherwise trip her. As she and her Lucario walk through the streets trying to avoid bumping into the growing crowd, her cane ends up smacking the ankle of Flash, John's rival.

"Hey! Watch what you are." Flash begins to yell out but he stops mid-sentence once he notices Aya's milky white eyes and the Lucario next to her, giving Flash a death glare.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to smack you. It's just. . . It's just." Aya begins to say but her words get lost in thought as she starts to worry that the boy before her is about to verbally explodes on her.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's ok. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. I thought you were some random loser but hey, it's ok. Names Flash." Flash says, announcing himself with a tone that says I'm gonna be a future athletic celebrity.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aya. I'm sorry if this sounds weird but, can. . . Can I feel your face? It's how I can tell how you look." Aya said as she blushes from embarrassment, feeling quite awkward and is wishing that Leo would just pick her up and disappear into the local crowd.

"Sure. If that's the best way for you to see how great I look." Flash says full of confidence. With that Aya lets go of the Lucario and reaches up and gently runs her fingers along Flash's face. Taking the feel of his facial features. To her, Flash is kinda cute as Aya can feel her heart start to beat faster as she tries her best to not blush in front of this boy.

"S-so um. . . . What brings you to Pewter City?" Aya asks as her hand retreats away from Flash's face and grasps Leo's arm once again.

"I'm a Pokemon Trainer. I came to win my first Gym Badge. Got it yesterday but now since there's a tournament going on I decided to sign up for it and test my skills." Flash says as he was about to bring out his badge case but stops himself, almost forgetting that the girl in front of him is blind.

"Oh? Well, I'm a Trainer too. I don't really care for competing in the league but I'm signed up for the tournament too." Aya says sounding a little worried. Hearing this Flash looks worried himself as he glances at the Lucario. He maybe good but Leo looks like he is a higher level than his Starter Pokemon.

"Wait are you competing with your Lucario?" Flash says. Aya however notices he sounds worried about going up against Leo.

"Oh no. You don't have to worry about Leo here. He's not allowed to battle in legal league battles. He only fights when I'm in danger." says Aya as the Lucario looks proud of himself. "I have my Munchlax signed up as my competing Pokemon. Speaking of which you better go get your Pokemon sign up before the tournament starts"

"I was going to wait until the last minute to do that but that would be a good idea. Catch you later Aya, and don't expect me to hold back on ya." Flash says as he starts to walk away.

"Please don't. I want to win by my own merit, not by handicaps." Aya calls out to Flash. Once the Athlete disappears into the crowd Leo starts to poke Aya with a teasing chuckle. Aya living with the Lucario since he was a Riolu knows that he is teasing her and calling her out for crushing on the boy as he picks up her feelings towards Flash in her Aura.

"Knock it off, Leo!" Aya says as she blushes. She then gives his arm a slight tug before they go off to look for some water to drink before the tournament starts.

John is by the battlefield as he registers Blaze for the Tournament as one of the rules is that all participants are only allowed to use one Pokemon for the entire tournament. Nearby is a Youngster trainer and a Pincknicker trainer listening to a man in fishing gear bragging about how he has the Pokemon that will win him the tournament easily. All three trainers are also competing in the Pewter City Tournament. All of a sudden John hears a familiar voice from behind him.

"Oh no, I should have known that you be here when I smelt Dork in the air," Flash calls out as he walks up to John from behind. John quickly whirls around to see his rival glaring at him.

"Flash?! What are you doing here?" John asks.

"I'm competing in this tournament after I earn my Boulder Badge. Have you earned your badge yet John?" Flash says as he leans forward and glares at John.

"Well I just got in yester-" John was about to say but was interrupted with a "HA!" from his rival.

"I knew it. You are such a dork if you only got here yesterday and you left the old man's lab before me! What did you get lost in the forest or something?" Flash mocks John.

"Shut up Flash. I'm here now and I'm competing in this tournament too!" John yells out. Earning him a look from the other trainers. Flash just laughs at John.

"Don't think you'll win this time. You may have won our little match back home but this time me and Hydro are going to win and I hope that we get paired up sooner then later. Now step aside. I gotta requister Hydro." Flash says as he walks past John, brushing his shoulder against John's in a mean-spirited kind of way. John just glares at Flash before he walks away to wait for the tournament.

A few minutes go by before the local bands end their performance as the head of the tournament walks up onto the staged battlefield. The middle-aged man dressed formally despite that it is an outdoor event.

"Greetings everyone to the annual springtime Pewter City Pokemon tournament and I am proud to say that we have another full roaster this year and joining us as our special guest referee is Pewter City's very own Gym leader, Brock!" The man says before stepping away to allow the Gym leader to step forward. A younger man with a more tan skin, dark brown spiky short hair, and eyes that appear to be close walks up to the mic.

"It is great to be here and it looks like we have ourselves a solid set of trainers competing in today's tournament. The winner will not only win a large cash prize of 10,000 Poke but they will also win a Old Amber. Second place winner will receive 5,000 Poke. Each trainer is only allowed the use of one Pokemon and are only allowed to heal their Pokemon between each round. Our participants will be placed against each other in the first round at random in single elimination before moving on to the semi-finals and so on. Now I want a good clean tournament. and may the best trainer win." Brock says before he steps away as the screen behind him turns on to show the tournament bracket as the names of all the trainers flash over in each spot of the first-round matches. The names suddenly stop placing each trainer in the matches they will be in. The first match is the Picknicker vs a middle-aged portly hiker man, the second match sees the fisherman vs the youngster, match number 3 pits John against Aya, and the fourth match is Flash versus the very same Lass that John lost to back in Viridian City.

During the first match, the battle seemed a little one-sided at first but the Picknicker and her Cleffa were able to beat the Hiker and his Machop. Once the two trainers cleared off from the field did the Youngster and the Fisherman stepped up into their places.

"I've warned you earlier young man. I brought with me the Pokemon that will sweep this tournament easily now. Now behold the true beast of the sea!" the Fisherman bravely calls as he holds out his Pokeball out dramatically before throwing it out onto the field. Materializing out of the ball appears a red-scaled fish with a deadpan walleyed expression. Long white barbels and the bottom and top yellow fins having a crown-like shape as the Magikarp helplessly flops along the battlefield. There is dead silence across the town as everyone stares at the Water-type before everyone, including John, Aya, and Flash all fall over anime style as the fisherman stands ignorantly confidently.

Regardless of the man's claim, the match was a landslide as the fish Pokemon was no match for the Youngster's Bellsprout. With the embarrassment out of the way, it was now John's and Aya's match as they both take to the battlefield. John on the green side and Aya on the red as she is led to her side by Leo. Aya looks nervous, despite being blind she can still feel multiple eyes on her. This is the first time she is fighting in a Pokemon battle in front of a bunch of people.

"Oh come on! She's blind! She shouldn't be allowed to be a trainer let alone compete in this tournament!" the Lass yells out from the sideline heckling Aya as the poor blind girl starts to tremble. Leo starts making soft noises to her, nuzzling her to calm down hoping that the mean girl's words didn't put down Aya too hard.

"Hey you, shut up! She deserves to be up here too! She's a Pokemon trainer like anyone of us!" John yells out from his side of the battlefield. The Lass even earns a glare from Flash. Seeing the instently of Flash's glare the mean girl shrinks back and shuts up as she realizes that her outburst was the wrong move and may have effective her chance to win.

"Thank you. Thank you for standing up to me." Aya says meekly towards John. She starts to feel better as she gets the feeling that the trainer before her sees her as an equal.

"Hey, no problem. I met that girl before and she is a real jerk face. Now I want you and your Pokemon to come at me with everything you got." John says with a smile.

"Ok I will but you better do the same for me," Aya says as she smiles as well. This is going to be an enjoyable battle. Aya sends out Rascal onto the field while John calls out for Blaze. While still holding onto Leo's arm Aya points forward with her cane as she gives out her command to have the Munchlax use Tackle.

"Meet that Munchlax in the middle and wait for my next order," John calls out. Blaze starts moving before the Munchlax can. Moving faster and further than what Rascal can.

"Careful Rascal. They are up to something." Aya warns the Munchlax. John watches his Charmander race across the field making about 41 meters in under a minute as John decides to test Blaze's new attack in this fight.

"Wait for it to get into range and fire of an Ember attack!" John calls out. Aya's eyes widen as she hears John's orders as the two Pokemon get closer to each other with Rascal putting himself in range. At this point, she can't tell how close Rascal is to John's Charmander.

"Try and dodge it, Rascal!" Aya calls out to her Munchlax.

"Now Blaze! Use Ember!" John calls out. Blaze rears his head back before rocking forward as he lets out a cute but mighty "Char!" as sparks of flames peppers the Munchlax as Rascalis is only 3 meters away from Blaze. Somehow despite the power Blaze put into the attack Rascal only took a fraction of the attack. Rascal shakes off the small licks of flames before walking up to Blaze and curls up into a ball.

"Now that you a cute little ball use Tackle!" Aya calls out. John however is too distracted to give out a command as he examines Aya's Munchlax. He can determine the reason why Blaze's Ember attack left so much of a scratch was due to him having the Thick Fat ability. Rascal is also the same level as Blaze as well as having a Naughty nature. As Blaze backs away from the ball of Munchlax, Rascal takes the opportunity to attack the retreating Charmander with a struggle attack. Dealing a good amount of damage to Blaze. Blaze moves back about 5 meters away. Rascal tries to follow the Charmander.

"Go on Rascal! Tackle him!" Aya Cheers out. John however notices the big disadvantage that the Munchlax is now in.

"Keep your distance and whittle down that Munchlax's health with your Ember attack!" John orders out loud. Blaze moves a little closer and lets out another tiny roar at the Munchlax, Licks of flames fly out of Blaze's maw and nails the Munchlax but thanks to his curled-up position, Rascal takes no damage from Blaze's Fire-Type attack as he moves another 3 feet towards the Charmander.

"Yeah, you can do it, Rascal!" Aya cheers out.

"Shot this isn't working. Change of plans Blaze. Get up close and use Scratch!" John orders out. Blaze rushes toward Aya's Munclax with his arms outstretched from his side as he scratches Rascal dealing only a little damage. Right at this moment does Rascal leaps up and slams into Blaze., his power and bulky body dealing massive damage to the Charmander, sending out 6 feet away. Only to land in a heap, fainted.

"Match! The Winner is green trainer!" Brock announces as he raises his hand towards Aya. Both Aya and John are in shock but both quickly come out of the shock as Aya hugs Leo. The Lucario hugs Aya back.

"We did it! We did it!" Aya happily cheers. Leo cheers back with his own growls and backs. Rascal uncurls himself and slowly rushes back towards and hugs her leg. John recalls Blaze back into his ball before he walks across the battlefield towards Aya. Leo notices this and gives Aya an alarm bark towards the direction that John is coming from to inform her of someone approaching her from that direction.

"That was a good match." John holds out his hand. Leo seeing and understanding the human gesture helps allows him to shake Aya's hand as he senses no ill-intentions in John's Aura.

"Thank you. That was a good match. And thank you again for earlier." Aya says as they briefly shake hands. "I'm Aya Williams."

"Nice to meet you. My name is John Russi. Maybe we can battle again and be friends?" John asks as he smiles.

"Sure, I would love to be your friend," said Aya, Leo smiles as well seeing that his lifelong human friend has finally made a friend as the crowd claps and cheers at the scene. Soon the two trainers leave the battlefield to make room for Flash and his match against the mean Lass. Despite being a slightly more experienced trainer than her, Flash loses to the Lass and her Oddish.

The first semi-final match was a quick back-and-forth between the Youngster and the Picknicker but the Picknicker and her Cleffa pulled through and won. Earning them a spot for the finals. Now it's Aya's turn as she and Leo take the red side as the Lass steps up to the green side with her nose up turned towards Aya. Acting like battling against a blind girl was below her.

"Go Aya go! You can beat this mean girl!" John cheers from the sidelines. Despite losing, John choose to stay and watch the rest of the tournament and to cheer on his new friend. Flash however left already, seeing no point in staying, and heads off to the Pokemon Center to get his Pokemon healed. Aya sends out Rascal onto the field as the Lass gracefully throws out her Pokeball to call out her Oddish.

"Go Rascal! Use Tackle!" Aya calls out.

"This will be too easy. Go my darling Oddish, get in close and use Sweet scent on that little fat Pokemon" the Lass orders. The two Pokemon start to slowly head towards each other however Aya clearly takes offense to what the Lass called Rascal.

"Hey, he's not fat! He's fluffy and huggable!" Aya yells out. The Lass's only response is to stick her tongue out at Aya. Due to the insulting words Rascal picks up the pace a little and starts moving further than the Oddish can per eleven seconds. As the two Pokemon meet each other in the middle of the battlefield the Oddish stops to a halt within 3 feet away from the Munchlax. It starts to shake its leaves as it releases a sweet-smelling scent through the air around it in a 2-meter radius. Rascal takes in the scent of the Oddish and feels very lax and comes to a full stop. Rather than moving to attack the Oddish, Rascal just stands there in a stupor as he is distracted by the Oddish smell.

"Come on Rascal! You can do it! Tackle" Aya calls out.

"Now dazzle that Munchlax with your Absorb!" The Lass orders as she spins on one foot.

The Oddish shakes its head leaves as green energy launches out and towards the Munchlax but hits the ground in front of Rascal. Rascal however comically steps up to the Oddish and takes a long sniff at its leaves. The Oddish looks weirded out from this.

"You got this Rascal! Use tackle!" Aya orders unaware of Rascal's actions. Seeing that he hasn't made a pain sound assumes that he is dodging the Oddish's attack.

"Use Absorb again but don't miss this time!" The Lass calls out.

The Oddish shakes its leaves again but due to Rascal sniffing at them ends up firing the attack sky word, leaving the Oddish in shock and disoriented of how badly its attack missed so badly. Rascal is still sniffing at the Oddish leaves as he is still stuck in his stupor over the sweet-smelling scent. Aya is still cheering for the Munchlax while the Lass at this point is yelling at the Oddish to attack again. The Oddish itself is still in disbelief over its failure from its last attack that it doesn't hear its trainer's orders.

"Go on Rascal hit that Oddish, I know you can do it!" Aya calls out.

"Oddish snap out of it and land a Absorb!" The Lass yells out.

The Oddish glares at Rascal as it rustles its head leaves and blasts Rascal with a blast of green energy. Dealing a good amount of damage to him as the energy is absorbed back into the Grass-Type's body despite not needing it to heal. Rascal yips in pain however is still sniffing at the Oddish's leaves.

"Come on Rascal! Don't let that Oddish win!" Aya cheers out.

"Now we are talking. Hit that fatty again with Absorb!" the Lass calls out.

The Oddish is now clearly annoyed with Rascals's consent sniffing blast him again with its Absorb attack. Not Dealing as much damage as the Munchlax cries out but enough to deal a good amount of damage to him. Rascal however notices the fat comment made by the Lass and snaps out of his allured stupor. He brings his arms forward and swings them back as he lunches off his feet and tackles the Oddish with his bulky belly. Dealing aton of Damage to the Oddish while knocking it back by 6 feet as it cries out.

"Yeah! That's it Rascal! Use Tackle again!" Aya cheers out! However, she grabs on to Leo, feeling like she has got too excited in front of the crowd over her Pokemon landing one hit.

"Don't let that fat Pokemon win! Use Absorb!" the Lass calls out.

The Oddish gets up to its feet, dazed as it fires off its absorb attack towards Rascal but due to recovering from the tackle, its attack goes wide and misses the Munchlax. Rascal, who does not like having his bulk being made fun of as his size is his pride, rushes the Oddish as fast as he can, tackling it and sending it back another 6 feet where it crumbles to a heap and faints. Brocks raise a hand towards Aya as he announces her as the winner of the match. Aya's eyes widen as before she hugs Leo.

"We did it! We did it!" Aya cries out as she cheers. Leo happily barks out as he hugs his trainer. Rascal runs over to his trainer, Hugging Aya's leg with a happy "Munch!" as Aya takes out a Potion and uses it to heal the Munchlax. The crowd cheers out over Aya's win. The two of the loudest from the crowd were John and Aya's mother. As the Lass leaves the raised battlefield the Picknicker takes her place on the green side. Ready to face off against Aya in the final round.

"Wow, you're really strong Miss Aya." the Picknicker says to Aya, trying to be polite.

"Thank you. I've been training for an event like this since I got my Pokedex and Trainer's License." Aya says with a smile.

"Then let the best Trainer win!" the Picknicker says as she calls out her Cleffa as Brock gives the signal to start the match. "Go Cleffa race in towards her Munchlax!"

"Alright, Rascal. Go and meet them in the middle!" calls out Aya. The two Pokemon both slowly move toward each with the Cleffa reacting faster than Rascal can. Just as the two Pokemon get within about 8 meters between each other as they walk and hop towards each did the Picnicker decides to move on to her next plan of attack.

"Just a little closer Cleffa and use Charm!" the Picknicker calls out.

"Try to resist it and get in close Rascal!" Aya calls out. The Cleffa hopes a few more feet towards Rascal before it twirls on its feet and gives a cute wink at him. Catching the Munchlax off guard as his attack power drops but he keeps moving towards the Fairy-type.

"Good job Cleffa now just a little more closer and use Sing." said the Picknicker.

"Oh no! Rascal try not to listen to that Cleffa's song!" Aya cries out, trying to warn Rascal. The Cleffa hopes closer to Rascal and starts to sing a lullaby. Rascal however lets Aya's warning go over his head and listens to the full lullaby as his eyes start to grow heavy and his head starts nodding forward. Before long the Munchlax has fallen asleep in the middle of battle and falls back into his rear. As soon as his butt touches the cold battlefield tiles he quickly snaps awake.

"Quick Cleffa, use Pound!" The Picknicker calls out

"Use Defense Curl!" Aya calls out. The Cleffa quickly raises her arm back before swinging forward and slapping Rascal in the face. The is a loud but dull sound of a slap as Rascal's cheek jiggles like a bowl of jelly as his high-defense fat cushions most of the damage. With that Rascal tucks in his arms as he rolls up into the ball.

"Use Sing again!" the Picknicker calls out.

"Don't listen and use Tackle!" orders Aya. The Cleffa starts singing again but its song ends up being muffled to the ears of Rascal with them pressed up against his belly but the song does make him a little woozy and briefly tired. However, this doesn't stop the Munchlax from throwing his weight around and slams into the Cleffa. Knocking it back 6 feet, dealing a lot of damage. As the Cleffa gets up it is not looking so good.

"Oh no, Quick Cleffa use Charm!" The Picknicker cries out.

"That's it, Rascal. Now uncurl and use Tackle again!" Aya orders out as she points with her cane, once again starting to feel confident in her abilities. With this, the Cleffa gets all big sad anime-eyed as it cutely chants out something to Rascal. Rascal was able to hear the charming pleas of the Cleffa and his attack power drops. Despite the pleas however Rascal uncurls himself and marches up to the Cleffa before launching himself forward and slamming into the Cleffa, sending her flying back as she rolls a few feet away before it stops in a heap, swirly eyed as it faints.

"Green trainer is unable to battle! The winner of this year's Peter City's Spring Tournament is Aya Williams!." Brock announces as he waves a hand towards Aya.

"We did it? We did it!?" Aya cheers as she hugs Leo. Leo's tail is wagging 12 miles per hour as he howls in excitement for his favorite human. Rascal however is doing a little victory dance, thinking all the attention is on him. During the award ceremony, Aya looks embarrassed as she has to take a photo with the Gym Leader for the local paper before they award her with the chunk of amber and her cash prize as the coward cheers. Many locals congratulate her on winning her first tournament battle which embarrasses the poor girl even more. John waits until the crowd around Aya thins out a bit before he walks over to her.

"You did great up there! How long have you been a trainer for?" John asks.

"Oh um, not that long. I just got my trainer license and Pokedex just a few days ago." Aya says as she keeps blushing.

"Me too. I gotta say, if you get into the Indigo Plateau Conference, you might give me a run for my money." John says as he rubs the back of his head.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Aya says as Rascal flops against her leg, almost making her fall over onto her side but Leo was able to help Aya keep herself upright as he gives the Munchlax as a disapproving growl.

"How come?" John asks, sounding confused as to why Aya doesn't want to do the gym challenges and take on the Elite Four.

"I don't want fame or glory. I just want to prove myself as a Pokemon Trainer, one tournament at a time. I don't really need a title or gym badges for something like that. I'm sorry but that kinda sounds stupid." Aya says as she shies away a bit.

"Well, I think you are a great Pokemon Trainer. Even for a beginner like me. Why do you need to prove your. . . . .Oooooooooh." John starts to ask but quickly realizes the reason.

"Yeah. . . . . . That's why. Some people think I can't be a Pokemon Trainer at all because of that" Said Aya.

"But who would be so judgmental about that?" John asks but regrets his question as soon as he notices, Aya's milky white eyes start to tear up and Leo starts nuzzling her in comfort.

"People like my dad. He said if I try to become a Pokemon Trainer, that I would make the family look bad." Aya says as she sniffs and wipes her eyes.

"I'm. . . . . sorry. It sounds like your Dad is a mean person." John says as he tries to reach out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder only for Leo to smack it away with his own paw.

"It's. . . . . Okay and you're right. He was mean. He acted like he didn't want a daughter like me but he lives back in Unova." said Aya.

"I see. Say maybe we should go to the Pokemon Center. I bet your Munchlax needs some healing." John says trying to change the topic.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It did sound like he took a lot of hits today." Aya says as she kneels down and pets Rascal. At this point, Aya's mother walks up to the two young trainers.

"Sorry, Aya. I would have been closer but the crowd was huge and was tough to get through. Oh, who is this? Oh, my Aya did you found yourself a boyfriend?" Aya's mother says as she drags out the word "boyfriend" with a teasing smirk.

"Wait what?!" John yells out in shock as Aya's face turns bright red.

"What? No, mom! He's just a friend!" Aya cries out.

"And yet he's also a boy and thus, a boy, friend." Aya's mother points out.

"Mom, stop saying it like that. Your embarrassing me." Aya cries out as she hides behind Leo. The Lucario doesn't mind but he is also chuckling at his trainer's expense as Rascal is by now on his back laughing.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop. Hi, I'm Aya's mother. Gwen." Aya's mom, said as she held her hand out to John while introducing herself.

"Nice to meet you. I'm John Russi." John says as he shakes her hand.

"Thank you for cheering on for Aya and encouraging her to battle. It's nice to see her make friends." Gwen says.

"Hey Mom, can you take us to the Pokemon Center, please? Both of our Pokemon need to be healed up." Aya asks as she steps back around Leo.

"Sure. The car is this way," says Gwen. John follows the small family after being invited to hatch a ride with them. What would have taken a half hour for John to get back to the Pokemon Center the car drive took only a mere five minutes. After handing over Blaze and Rascal. John, Aya, and Leo go to sit in the lounge area to wait for their Pokemon to heal.

"So why do you want to be a Pokemon Trainer?" Aya asks just after they sit down in the comfy chairs.

"Because I love Pokemon and I want to be a great adventure like the characters in my favorite comics and books like "Dragon Wars: Shadows of an Empire", "David Jones and the Jade Celebi", and "The Unexpected Heroes". That's why I become a Trainer and why I want to challenge the Pokemon Leagues of the world," John says with pride.

"Oh, I think I have "The Unexpected Heroes" on Audiobook. Isn't that the one about the group of Pichus on a quest to destroy an evil ring?" Aya asks.

"No that sounds like "The King of Jewelry". The book I read was about a misplaced doofus Grimsnarl Barbadian, an angry Charmeleon Archer out for revenge, A Houndoom Bard looking for his mother, a banished Murkrow Ninja, and a Talonflame Eldritch Knight and how they explore a world of wonder like no other and become heroes that no one expected." says John. Before John can say any more, Aya holds up a hand to keep him quiet as she catches the talk of nearby trainers.

"There's more reports of the Machoke coming from Mount Moon." one trainer says to a group of four. One of them being the Hiker from the Tournament.

"Yeah, I heard too. So is this thing

real? And it's taking other people's Pokemon and goods?" another asks.

"Yeah, I was at the Pokemon Center at the base of the Mountain before I came here last week after my hike up there. That's when I started hearing the rumors. I think those rumors are true as the air on the mountain didn't seem right. It's like it felt foul or something." said the Hiker.

"Do you hear that John?" Aya asks her new friend.

"No, I was too busy thinking about how I would be able to meet Lance," John says as Aya and Leo nearly falls over anime style.

"John it sounds like there's a Pokemon causing trouble on Mount Moon. Don't most trainers normally have to hike through Mount Moon to get from here to Cerulean City?" Aya asks before she relays what she just heard from the other trainers.

"Yeah, I'll need to go through Mount Moon after I earn the Boulder Badge here. If this Machoke rumor is real then this could be a problem. Not just for me but for other trainers as well. I'm gonna go find out more." John says as he gets up and walks over to the group of trainers. "Hey guys, what can you tell me about this rumored Machoke?"

"Well, This Machoke is said to be roaming the Mountain side of Mount Moon and randomly attacks trainers near the Mountain and takes their Pokemon or whatever items that are on them." the Hiker says as he turns towards John.

"Yeah, and I heard one trainer had the Machoke break into the Mount Moon Pokemon Center. The rumors about this thing has even spread out to Viridian City since a week and a half ago" Another trainer says. At this, John is mentally kicking himself for not paying attention to the trainer rumor mill close enough.

"But that's not even the scary part. Some say that this Machoke reeks of death and looks unnatural with an unusual aura of energy that comes off of it while battling it and not only does it appears to heal any damage that it takes but they also say that it is unbeatable." Hiker says with a grim nod.

"Are these rumors true?" John asks.

"I'm not sure but with how there are more and more trainers reporting this. It might be." says the Hiker.

"This is starting to sound like a ghost tale. Are there no reports of this Pokemon having a weakness or anything?" John asked, starting to sound a little spoke.

"Nope, just trainers saying it starts to glow that weird energy whenever it takes hits. Maybe if you have Pokemon with Psychic-type attacks?" a third trainer points out.

"I don't think so. I don't think this is a normal Fighting-Type Pokemon." Says the Hiker.

"Oh, Well thank you for the info," John says as he is now a little spook as he goes back to sit with Aya.

"The more I hear about this. The more scary it sounds," says Aya.

"Yeah, I agree but I won't let that stop me from crossing Mount Moon. Heck, I'll even do my best to stop that thing if I can." John says as he pumps his fist with determination.

"Are you crazy?" Aya asks in shock.

"Maybe but then again. What kind of an adventurer would I be if I didn't try to stop a monster?" John says with confidence. Nurse Joy however walks over to the two.

"Oh, Mr. Russi. I just remembered. One of my relatives from Viridian City messaged me earlier saying that you are traveling around with something that you are lacking. I went ahead and got you something. It's sitting in your room right now." Nurse Joy with a smile.

"Really? Thank you, Nurse Joy. Say Aya I'll be right back." John says as he thanks the Nurse in charge of the Pewter City Pokemon Center.

"You have a room here? Can I come with you? Me and Leo have never been in a Pokemon Center boarding room yet." Aya says as she meekly fumbles with the handle of her cane.

"Sure! It might give you a sense of what a traveling trainer has to work with." John says. As he stands up with Aya he is about to grab Aya's hand to lead her up to his room but Leo slaps his hand away and growls at him. Aya gets the feeling why Leo is growling at him.

"Were you about to grab my arm?" Aya asks.

"Yeah, I was going to guide you to my room," John says

"No! You don't grab onto me! I grab on to you!" Aya says as she reaches out and grabs John by the arm. "Now you lead!. . . . . Sorry, I was channeling Leo's anger there for a moment"

"It's ok. I'm sorry too. I should have just asked." John says feeling embarrassed. They start to head up to the stairs with John carefully walking with Aya as Leo watches them closely.

Inside John's room, which is a single trainer room like the first one he got in Viridian City. The Mew suddenly teleports in. Holding a Pokeball with a greenish-blue top with a red diamond design in the middle with three yellow stripes in the red diamond. She looks to you dear reader as she looks past the 4th wall.

"Shh. Be vewy vewy quiet. Kate's being sneaky sneak." The Mew says to you. Kate begins to look around the room. Her first sight is the wastebasket next to the Desk.

"Nah, too Video Gamey," Kate says to herself. Before she floats to the top of the desk.

"Nope, not here. That would be too easy." Kate shakes her head before she flies over to the bed and looks under it.

"Nope, not here. Too hard and the Monsters will think it's for them. Silly Monsters." Kate says with a giggle before she floats above the bed and sees the paper package that Nurse Joy left for John on the bed.

"Perfect! The Great and Powerful John-face will find this round gift thing and he'll know that Kate is his biggest fan like the last gift I give John-face!" Kate cheers as she places the Lure Ball on top of the package. Her ears twitch as she hears the beep of a key card and the door unlocking. At that Kate quickly teleports away before the door opens as John and Aya walk in.

"Huh, it looks like Nurse Joy has left me two things. There's a Lure Ball on my bed" John says as he enters and pockets the ball. "So what do you think?" he asks Aya as she and Leo enters the room. Leo starts to look over the room as he leads Aya with her guiding him to where she wants to go as she feels around the room.

"So this is what a trainer's boarding room is like," Aya says as she runs her hand across the desk table. By now John has opened the paper package to discover a pair of Poke ball theme PJ's. Something that John didn't think he needed for his journey none the less expects the gift and puts it away in his backpack.

"Yeah, I hear they have rooms that can board up to 4 trainers. So they are not going to be all the same," said John.

"Huh, kinda sounds like a sleepover with trainers," said Aya as she taps her cane against the bed.

"Yeah, it kinda does. But I never had a sleepover." John says as he scratches the back of his head.

"Me too, I never got to have any friends over for one. Well, my only friend has been Leo here." Aya timidly says as the Lucario hugs her, wagging his tail.

"Well, I'm your friend now! Maybe we get to hang out together or even train together after today." John says with a smile. After letting Aya and Leo explore the room to their delight the two trainers return to the main lobby area, just in time to pick up their fully healed Pokemon. As John clips Blaze's ball back onto his belt. A familiar voice calls out to him.

"Hey, John! Hold it right there!" Flash says as he marches past the other trainers and walks up to the two. "We may not have faced up in the tournament but we are still having a rematch today. Right here! Right now! Full teams, League rules!"

"I was wondering when we get to have another match. I wager 200 Poke if I lose," says John hoping that his Rival would bite and take the wager.

"Yeah right. I'm not going to waste making a wager against you. This will be a No Wager Battle. Only because I seen you battle during that tournament match and I don't want to make you dirt poor. This is for bragging rights until our next match." Flash says with a smirk. At this time aya is blushing from hearing Flash's voice as she starts to fondle with her cane.

"H-hi Flash. It's nice to see you again," says Aya while John fails to notice how she is acting towards his rival.

"Oh hi, Aya. Wanna witness me battling this guy?!" Flash says with a confident smirk.

"Hey, what do you mean "this guy"?! I'm your dang rival Flash!" John yells in annoyance.

"W-wait, do you two know each other?" Aya asks.

"Yes," John says a little annoyed.

"Yeah, we know each other" Flash says at the same time as John.

"Oh! Well, that's interesting. Well if that's the case I would love to see you two battle and relax John. I'm sure Flash is just joking." Aya says as she naively waves off Flash's earlier comment towards John.

"Yeah, John! It's just a joke bro, now are we going to battle or what?" Flash says as he sticks his chest out.

"Yeah! Let's get to the practice field and have our battle!" says John. The trio walks to the back training area. As soon as others notice that a battle is taking place, Trainers clear away from the battlefield to make room for the two battling trainers with John taking the green side and Flash taking the red side. Both trainers call out their first Pokemon to the battlefield. John sending out Sparks and Flash sending out his own Rattata.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me! You caught that just because of Hydro!" Flash complains to John.

"No, I didn't! I just found her in the Viridian Forest! Go Sparks get in close enough to that Rattata and use Charm!" John commands out loud.

"Go Nibbles! Race in and take that Pichu down fast!" Flash says as he points towards John and Sparks. Nibbles moves faster than the Pichu sprinting towards her and closing the distance faster than what Sparks can move. Sparks seeing that her opponent is the same size as her gathers her courage and sprints towards the Ratttata. Despite the Rattata moving faster than her. Sparks comes to a sliding halt as the Rattata reaches about 6 meters away from her before the Pichu stands up on her hind legs. Fore paws behind her back,

with one ear drooped down as she winks at Nibbles. However, her charm attack doesn't work as the Rattata blinked during her wink.

"Uh oh, quick Sparks! Use Thunder Shock!" John calls out.

"Yeah! Get that yellow pest Nibbles! Use Quick Attack1" Flash calls out. Nibbles closes the gap between him and the Pichu and slams into Sparks, dealing massive damage to her. Sparks cries out in pain before moving about 3 meters away from the Rattata towards the northeast corner of the battlefield. Her cheeks spark with electricity before she lets out a loud "Chu!" as she fires off her Thunder Shock, a powerful bolt of electricity arces across the gap between the two Pokemon and nails Nibbles with a critical hit, shocking the senses out of the Rattata. As the attack ends Nipples is seen charred and blackened in an anime comical way before he falls to his side, fainted.

"Rattata is unable to battle! Pichu is the winner!" A trainer acting as a ref for the battle calls out.

"Alright, Sparks! You're doing great!" John calls out. Sparks turns to him, waving her paw at him with a smile, and squeaks out a happy "Pichu! Pichu!". Flash returns Nibbles back into his Poke Balls and calls out his next Pokemon a Pidgey.

"Alright Tornado! Get in there and blind that Pichu with Sand Attack!" Flash orders out. Seeing her next opponent, Sparks moves faster than the bird Pokemon, moving about 3 meters back to where she was before. Tornado jumps up 3 feet with a flap of his wings and flies towards Sparks as fast as he can. John however has noticed how much damage Sparks has taken as he points her ball to her.

"Sparks return!" John says as he recalls the Pichu out of the battlefield and switches her out with Holly.

"Keep going Tornado! Same play, different target!" Flash calls out as the Pidgey continues to fly towards John's side of the field, moving faster than the Nidoran. Holly, upon seeing her flying opponent charges forward towards him.

"That's it Holly get close to him and use Growl!" John cheers out to Holly.

"Keep your distance until that Nidoran is blind!" Flash calls out. Tornado and Holly both sprint towards each other in the air and on land respectfully. Tornado gets about 2 meters away from Holly before flapping his wings at the ground. Blasting Holly in the eyes with sand and dust and blinding her. Holly however rushes underneath the Pidgey, her ears twitching as she can hear the Tornado's flapping wings lets out a growl. Making him flinch in the air and lowering his attack before she rubs the sand out of her eyes with one of her forepaws.

"Now jump up and use Scratch!" John calls out.

"Dive down and use Tackle!" Flash yells out. Tornado dives down towards Holly to tackle her from behind but she dodges to the side and turns towards the Pidgey as his attack misses and he lands on the ground before her. Holly raises her paw and brings it down on the Pidgey, scratching him and doing a good amount of damage to him.

"Yeah let's go, Holly! Use Growl again!" John cheers out loud.

"Hit her Tornado! Use Tackle!" Flash yells out. Tornado glares at Holly before he lunges forward. Tackling her, dealing a good amount of damage while pushing her back 6 feet. Holly gets back up and rushes back to the Tiny Bird Pokemon, she opens her mouth to growl at him but instead, she lets out a tiny cute squeak. Everyone who is watching, including Aya, starts laughing as the Nidoran blushes with embarrassment.

"Ignore them, Holly! Show that Pidgey whose the boss with Scratch!" orders John

"Blind her with Sand Attack!" Flash yells out. Tornado flaps his wings and sends another blast of sand into Holly's eyes blinding her. Holly tries to swipe her claws at the Pidgey only to swipe through air, Unable to hit her target. Holly then shakes her head and rubs the sand out of her eyes.

"Shoot! Try Growl again!" John calls out.

"Ha, use tackle!" orders Flash. Once again Tornado lunges towards Holly and tackles her. Dealing a good amount of damage and pushing Holly back once again. Holly moves to the Pidgey's right and let's out a growl. Tornado flinches as his attack is lowered once again.

"Yeah get on its flank and use Scratch!" John calls out.

"Blind her again Tornado!" Flash yells out. Before Holly can move to the Pidgey's side, Tornado flaps his wings and sends a blast of sand into Holly's eyes as she moves into position. She raises one of her forepaws and swipes with her claws. Despite being blind she lands her attack and hits the Pidgey, dealing some damage to him before she shakes the sand out of her eyes.

"That's it, Holly! Now use Growl again!" John calls out.

"No more fooling around Tornado! Use Tackle!" Flash yells out. Tornado lets out a chirp as he lunges at Holly, tackling her and sends her flying out 2 meters. Holly lands in a heap fainted as the Pidgey's attack dealt a lot of damage to her.

"Nidoran is unable to battle! The Pidgey is the winner!" the Ref Trainer calls out. John grunts as he recalls Holly back into her ball, and sends out Brisby.

"Go Brisby. Use Focus Energy and charge that Pidgey!" John orders out.

"Blind the Rattata with Sand Attack!" yells out Flash. Brisby focuses on her power before moving faster than Tornado. She moves towards him as she sprints forward. Likewise, the Pidgey jumps up into the air by 3 feet and starts to fly towards the female Rattata.

"Get close to that Pidgey and use Tail Whip!" John calls out.

"Keep going Tornado!" Flash yells out. Brisby reaches the Pidgey first and she wags her tail at him. Tornado is caught off guard and his defense lowers. Tornado flaps his wings and sends a blast of sand into Brisbhy's face, blinding her.

"Jump up and Tackle that Pidgey Brisby!" orders John.

"Divebomb that rat with your own Tackle!" Flash calls out. Brisby and Tornado both lunge at each other. However, Brisby falls short of her attack as Tornado slams into her. Knocking her back by 6 feet before he lands on the ground. Brisby gets up and shakes the sand out of her eyes.

"Tackle again Brisby!" John calls out.

"Blind her again Tornado!" Yells Flash. Brisby glares at Tornado before she rushes the Pidgey and tackles him with a critical hit, dealing massive damage to the Pidgey as he flies back by 2 meters and lands in a heap, fainted.

"Pidgey is unable to battle! The Winner is Rattata!"

"That's it, Brisby! Great Job!" John cheers out loud as Aya claps for her friend. Feeling unsure if she should yell out without drawing attention to herself. Flash recalls Tornado back into his ball and sends out Hydro.

"Go Hydro! Get in there and weaken that Rattata and remember your training! Be tough! Be rough! Kick butt until you win!" Flash yells out as he inspires his Squirtle with a reminder of his Brutal Training. Brisby noticing the Squirtle on the field now begins to sprint towards him. Moving faster than Hydro as the Squirtle sprints towards her as well.

"Get in close enough to use Tail Whip, Brisby!" John calls out as he watches his Rattata friend race towards her opponent.

"Let's go Hydro, let's go!" Flash cheers out with rhythmic claps in the style of a football cheer. Brisby reaches the Squirtle first on the western side of the battlefield's center potion. As she comes to a screeching halt on all four paws, she wags her tail at the Tiny Turtle Pokemon. Hydro is taken off guard by this and his defense lowers but he too also wags his own tail at Brisby. The female Rattata is taken back from the status attack as her own defense lowers as well.

"Use Tail Whip again!" John calls out.

"Knock her back with Tackle!" Flash orders out. Brisby once again wags her tail at Hydro, but Hydro tucks his head into his shell during the Rattata's attack, avoiding the effects of the Tail Whip attack. Hydro then proceeds to try to tackle the Rattata with his head still inside of his shell but his attack misses and he gets pushed back into place by Brisby's tail as she chatters a laugh at him. Hydro's head pops back out and glares at Brisby.

"Come on Brisby! You can do it! Use Tail Whip again!" John calls out.

"Keep your eye on the prize Hydro and use Tackle!" yells out Flash. Brisby once again wags her tail at Hydro who once again avoids the attack by ducking his head into his shell. However, his trainer's advice falls on deaf ears as once again Hydro tries to tackle Brisby but he gets redirected back to his spot by Brisby's tail.

"I know you can do it, Brisby! Give him another Tail Whip!" John calls out

"That's it time for a different approach! Use Bubble!" Flash orders out loud as he is starting to get frustrated. Right at the moment Hydro sticks his head back out as Brisby finally takes her chance and wags her tail. Hydro sweatdrops at his own folly as his defense lowers. Hydro, glares at Brisby for making him feel like a fool as he suddenly opens his mouth and lets out a burst of bubbles around his surrounding area. Brisby had no time to dodge this time as she was blasted by the bubbles, dealing massive damage to her in a critical hit before she collapsed on her belly looking swirly-eyed as she faints.

"Rattata is unable to battle! The winner is Squirtle!" the trainer ref calls out. John returns Brisby back into her ball and holds it up to his face.

"You did well Bribsy. You deserve a good rest." John says to his Rattata friend in her Poke Balls before he clips it back to his belt as he pulls out Monarch's Pokeball and calls out the Metapod.

"Alright, Monarch! Hold your ground and let that Squirtle come to you!" John orders out confidently as Flash starts laughing at the sight of the cocoon Pokemon.

"Are you kidding me?! That thing probably can't even move! Get that bug and use Tackle!" Flash yells out. Hydro laughs along with his trainer as he sprints across the battlefield, moving 6 meters per 11 seconds as he does so. Monarch however does not move from where he was materialized.

"Now Monarch. Once it

gets in range use String Shot!" John calls out once he sees a 5-meter gap between his Metapod and the sprinting Squirtle.

"Tackle it out of the battlefield!" Flash calls out. Hydro, moving faster than Monarch runs towards him at full speed to tackle the Bug-Type but he launches off his feet too soon and face plants right in front of the Metapod. As Monarch is about to spray out a cone of his own silk, the Squirtle face plant made him skid up to Monarch just enough to tip the Metapod back, having his own attack to not only miss but to force its aim straight up and covering the Metapod in his own sticky silk.

"Come on Monarch! I know you can do it! You're the best Metapod in the entire world! All you have to do is believe in yourself and you can easily land your String Shot! Believe it! John cheers out from his side of the battlefield, throwing a thumbs up at Monarch to inspire him like he has done during his Inspiration training seasons.

"You got this Hydro! Tackle him!" Flash yells out. Hydro picks himself up and tries to tackle Monarch again but the Metapod dodges away from the attack after he feels inspired by John. Monarch once again sprays out a cone of silk towards the Squirtle. Wrapping him in the sticky threads and swings Hydro back to his spot. Hydro lets out an annoyed grunt as the sticky thread is making his movements feel sluggish.

"Yeah! That's it, Monarch! Use String Shot again!" John cheers out! Pumping a fist into the air above his head.

"Damn it! Alright, Hydro use Bubble this time!" Flash yells out as the two Pokemon are battling up close to John. Hydro glares at the Metapod as he takes in a deep breath of air before firing a burst of bubbles around himself. Monarch flinches and grunts from the pain of having the bubbles blast him in the face, dealing massive damage to the Metapod. Monarch right away retaliates by spraying another cone of silk onto the Squirtle. Covering Hydro in more sticky threads.

"Hang in there Monarch! Use String Shot again!" John orders out,

"Looks like tackle is not working so hit it with Bubble again Hydro," calls out Flash. Hydro smirks at Monarch as he seems to find a way around the Metapod's Defenses as he lets out another burst of bubbles. Blasting the Metapod with the Water-Type attack and dealing massive damage but Monarch is barely holding on. Monarch now shaking from the amount of damage that he has taken, sprays out more silk onto the Squirtle. Hydro is now covered in three layers of Metapod silk and is starting to look annoyed.

"Alright, Monarch that's enough, return!" John calls out as he returns the Metapod back into his ball, and appearing in his place in front of the Squirtle in a dazzling shower of sparkles is Dizzy. "Go Dizzy, use String Shot, and move away from the edge of the field!"

"Wait what?! You caught a Shiny Kakuna?! How and when did you find a Shiny Pokemon?!" Flash yells out in shock at the sight of the green Kakuna.

"W-wait John has a Shiny Pokemon?" says Aya as both she and Leo look stunned. The trainers around John start ohing and awing at the sight of such a valuable Pokemon by only looks.

"Never mind! Go Squirtle use Bubble!" Flash orders out as he tries to get his head back into the battle. Dizzy, now moving faster than the Squirtle sprays him in a cone of Kakuna Silk. Covering him with more sticky threading before she hops away and passes Hydro but as soon as she does so. Hydro takes the opportunity to attack her with a fountain struggle attack as he sprays a burst of water at her. Nailing her in the back and dealing a lot amount of damage to the Kakuna. Hydro however follows up on Dizzy and blasts her with a burst of bubbles. Hitting her in the back and on her left flank, dealing even more damage. John notices that Dizzy is not doing too good after receiving two powerful attacks and decides that his stagey is not going to come to light but decides to move to the next stage of his plan early as he recalls Dizzy back into her ball and calls Sparks back out. The Pichu appearing about three meters away from Hydro.

"Go Sparks! Finish this off with Thundershock!" John cheers out as he throws a punch in the direction of Hydro.

"Oh no. . . . . . Hydro try to dodge and use Tackle on that mouse!" Flash calls out as his face turns pale as he feels he is about to lose the match. Sparks cheeks start to spark before she lets out of blast of electricity towards Hydro. Her super effective attack hits the Water-Type and deals a lot of damage to him however seeing that the Squirtle is not yet knocked out she quickly moves about 9 feet away from her spot towards the north end of the battlefield, Hydro quickly follows Sparks and slowly catches up to her. As he tries to tackle her he trips on one of the loose threads of silk on his body and he comes to a halt in front of the Pichu and his attack misses.

"That's it Sparks! Keep your distance and use ThunderShock!" John calls out.

"Don't let that Pichu get away and use Tackle!" Flash calls out. Sparks quickly scampers away from Hydro and quickly turns around to face him and lets out another Thundershock, but the bolt of electricity glazes his shell and her attack misses. Hydro however quickly gets back on his feet and rushes the poor Pichu and tackles her. Sparks rolls back a few feet away before she comes to a stop and faints.

"Pichu is unable to battle! Squirtle is the winner!" the Trainer Ref calls out.

"Ha, so much for type advantage huh?!" Flash laughs out loud. John is starting to look worried as he recalls Sparks back into her ball. John is in deep thought as he thinks to himself. Blaze is his last battle-ready Pokemon but he would have the type disadvantage against Hydro. While he can try to recover his original plan with his two Bug-Type Pokemon however both Monarch and Dizzy are pretty much one hit from being KOed themselves. John glares at the battlefield seeing that he has no choice but to risk the chance as he tosses Dizzy's ball 4 meters out towards the Squirtle as she reappears in no less than 6 feet away from the Water-Type.

"Go Dizzy! Use String Shot then move away as far as you can!" John orders out.

"Don't let that green bug get away and use Bubble!" Flash yells out. Dizzy quickly sprays out a cone of Kakuna silk but her attack falls short and misses. Right away Dizzy starts hopping away about 5 meters towards the southern end of the battlefield as fast as she can. Hydro follows after the Kakuna but the silk that's covering him is making it hard for him to move.

"Alright, Dizzy! Just a little farther way but get him in range of another string shot!" John calls out.

"Come on Hydro! Get her!" Flash yells out. Dizzy hopes away for another 3 meters before she turns back towards Hydro as he struggles to catch up with the Cocoon Pokemon. Once Hydro has closed the gap between the two down to three feet does Dizzy sprays out another cone of Kakuna silk. This time wrapping him even more to the point that the Squirtle finds it even more harder to move. Not wanting her opponent to make a quick blow against her, Dizzy quickly moves 3 more meters away from Hydro before turning to face him as she started to pick up her Trainer's plan as Hydro tries his best to catch up to the green Kakuna.

"That's it Dizzy! Use another String Shot once he gets in range!" Cheers out John.

"Double time it Hydro!" Flash yells out. Dizzy once again waits until Hydro is about a meter away from her before she lets out another 6-foot cone of silk however she sprays out her attack too soon and her attack misses. Once again not wanting to stay in one place for Hydro to land a final blow Dizzy hops towards the west end of the battlefield for about 5 meters. However Dizzy is surprised when Hydro suddenly sprints up next to her on her right but rather than attacking, Hydro pants to regain energy from using it to move so fast and far with having so many layers of sticky silk wrapped around him.

"String Shot then get away!" John cries out.

"Don't let that bug getaway! Use Bubble!" Flash orders out. Dizzy quickly sprays out a cone towards Hydro, this time completely covering him in her sticky silk and cocooning him in. A few of the strings of silk even attaching to the floor of the battlefield. Dizzy quickly hops back, Hydro however tries to attack her with a Fountian Struggle Attack as the Bug-Type did not disengage from him. Hydro's attack however misses as he can only wiggle his body around as the Kakuna moves about 5 feet away from him. Hydro wiggles more to try to move towards Dizzy but due to his cocoon state, he finds himself stuck in place.

"Alright! Now Dizzy! Use Poison Sting!" John calls out.

"No! You trick me!" Flash yells out. Due to this being a League rule match Flash is unable to rush out and free his Pokemon from its stuck State. Dizzy Sprays out a barrage of venomous needles towards Hydro. Her attack strikes true as the Squirtle grunts out in pain, taking a lot of damage. Hydro tries to wiggle free but he is still stuck within his silk prison.

"That's it Dizzy! One more time for Sparks! Poison Sting!" John calls out.

"Come on Hydro! Break free!" Flash yells out. Dizzy once again sprays out a barrage of venomous needles and nails the Squirtle. Dealing a good amount of damage as Hydro is not looking so good. Hydro once again tries to wiggle out of his cocoon but fails to break free. However Dizzy disappears in a beam of light as John recalls her. He then throws out Blaze's Pokeball and the Charmander appears 4 meters away from the Squirtle. Hydro glares at Blaze as he remembers the scar that the Charmander gave him.

"Let's end this Blaze! Use Ember!" John orders out. Flash however looks deep in thought before he remembers something that he learned from sports channels that he watches.

"Alright Hydro. It's time to take a breather" Flash calmly says. As Hydro takes a deep breath to calm down

and let the silk fall off himself, Blaze takes in a deep breath before he lets out a mighty but cute "Char!" as he breathes out small balls of flames towards him. The Ember attack strikes true and hits Hydro, burning away all the Kakuna and Metapod silk. While his typing protects him from some of the power that Blaze out putted, Hydro nonetheless falls onto his back, and faints. Flash yells out in frustration as he recalls Hydro back into his Pokeball with a raised hand as a sign that Hydro was his last Pokemon.

"Squirtle is unable to battle! The Winner of this match goes to the Green Trainer!" the trainer declares as he raises his hand towards John. John jumps up and cheers as Blaze rushes over to him, jumping up into his arms as they celebrate their first Trainer victory since leaving home.

"Don't get use to it, John! When we meet again I'm going to win!" Flash says before he marches out of the training area. Aya tugs on Leo's harness, with a quick scan of her Aura, Leo can tell that his trainer wants her to go over to John.

"That was a great battle, John. It looked like it was really touch and go there near the end." Aya says as she smiles in John's general direction as her Lucario leads her up to him.

"Yeah, I was starting to get worried too," John says as he rubs the back of his head. As trainers start to gather around John to ask to trade for his Shiny Kakuna, John and Aya quick duck out of the training area and back out to the main hobby where John hands over all of his Pokemon to be fully healed. During the hour-long wait the two new friends begin to chat about the battle and how John found Dizzy of course John hams up the encounter as Aya laughs at the Ace Trainer's over-exaggerated tale. Starting to feel more comfortable as friends.

"Say John, you and Flash know each very well right?" Aya asks as she fidgets with the handle of her cane.

"Yeah, we'll basically rivals," says John.

"So there's a chance that the two of you will meet each other again, right?" Aya says as she looks away blushing.

"Yeah, we are both going after the champion title so we have to battle each other throughout our journey. Why are you asking?" John says looking confused. Leo however smirks at Aya and the girl knows that the Lucario is giving her a teasingly smile.

"Oh for no reason. J-just wondering" Aya says as she brushes off John's question. Aya does have a bit of a look on her face as she thinks for a while before nodding her head in agreement with her own thoughts and decisions. "OK, John. I thought about it and I have decided. I wanna travel with you, that is if you let me."

"You wanna travel with me? Why?" John asks as this seems to come out of nowhere.

"Well, you're the first friend I have ever made since me and my mom moved here. You are nice, kind, and supportive and you can be such a great trainer when you really put your mind and soul into it when you want to. You're the kind of trainer that I would like to train with." Aya says at first but then whispers under her breath, "Also I might get the chance to meet up with Flash again."

"Wait what?" John asks as he doesn't hear the last part that Aya says.

"Oh, nothing. So. . . Will you have me as a traveling partner?" Aya asks meekly.

"You know what, Sure! It would be nice to travel with another trainer and one that is a good friend!" John says with a smile. At this moment Gwen walks over to the two.

"Ok Aya let's go home," says Gwen.

"Um Mom, can John come over and spend the night?" Aya asks.

"Sure! He's your first friend outside of Pokemon. He can spend the night before he leaves." said Gwen.

"Well, Mom. I have decided to travel with him. You always say that I should make a friend to travel with for my Pokemon Journey and he's the kind of trainer that I respect." Aya says as she looks confident.

"That's good news to hear. In fact, if you are going to travel together why not stay with us while you are in Pewter City." Gwen says happily.

"Really? Thank you." John says as he stands up and bows towards her.

"Well, a friend of Aya's is a friend of mine. Just no make-out seasons at night." Gwen says with a smirk. Both John and Aya blush heavily as Aya's mom teases them.

"Mooooom!" Aya whines out in embressament.

"Oh, I'm just teasing you two," Gwen says with a chuckle. John collects his Pokemon after they are healed and returns the keycard back to Nurse Joy before leaving with the Williams. Once in their home, the group enjoys a nice dinner made by Gwen as Aya feeds both her Pokemon and John's. As the night rolls on the two friends set up for the night in Aya's room with John laying out his sleeping beg off to the side so that he won't be in the way if Aya needs to get up for anything. On the outskirts of Pewter City. A familiar Pichu peaks out of some bushes as he seems to be following a scent. Now that John has gotten himself a new friend and traveling companion who knows what misadventures and hijinx they will get into as the journey continues.

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Scene Playlist:

A underdog race - Mario 64 Slider
Another trainer? - Undertale Home
Pewter City Tournament - Dragon Ball Mezase Tenka-Ichi
The Munch vs The Weed - Pokemon Journeys Let's Go, Fight Back!
Final Round - Mario Party Party 2 This Way That
Rumored Trouble - Phoenix Wrigth Ace Attorney Logic and Trick
The Pink Kate - The Pink Panther
Rivally rematched - Pokemon Anime Burning Battlefeild

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Hopefuly I didn't posted this so soon since the last time I have uploaded a chapter since I already had this chapter writen long before I have uploaded chapter 3. As for chapter 5, I have no estimated time on when that will be uploaded as I have yet to start writing it but now since I have chapters 3 and 4 uploaded I will start writing chapter 5. I'll try to keep the filler scenes to a mimmium and briefly glance over minor events that will happen. Also I have made a cover art for the current book. It was a quick thing that I drew up. I would have commission art for a cover art but I am putting money aside for other things.

On the subject of characters, while John is own by me. Aya is own by my good friend blindwolf87 and has given me promission to use her.

I would also like to thank both him and Lycris for their continued consulting for my little project here.