It was a beautiful summer morning and Basil the chikorita was sitting on the ground sunning himself. Next to him was an empty bowl that had held some pokémon food and another one with water that was only mostly empty. There was also a girl, Basil's trainer, eating her own breakfast and appearing to enjoy the sun's rays such that Basil wondered if the petite girl might be part plant herself. Basil had only known Sarabeth for a day now, and he still had a lot to learn about humans. Still, from what he had seen, it seemed to him that his trainer was a good person, if not the best trainer.
Basil had been one of three options presented to Sarabeth by Professor Elm of New Bark Town to serve as her first pokémon. The cyndaquil and the totodile which had stood on either side of him when Sarabeth had made her decision had tried to show off how strong they were by flashing teeth and flames. Basil, by contrast, did not possess any single physical feature that he could have shown Sarabeth to demonstrate his value. He had still done his best by jostling and shoving the other young pokémon until the cyndaquil had been pushed over and the totodile had begun to cry after biting his own tongue. Sarabeth must have seen how strong Basil was, and how strong he was going to become, because she picked him to be her pokémon.
Sarabeth had given Basil him his name, and, after receiving some basic instructions and supplies from Professor Elm, she had taken him to her home to meet her parents and little brother. Then the new trainer and her partner had set off together on their journey after lunch and goodbyes with Sarabeth's family. The dark-haired girl had been quiet around the pokémon professor and with her family, but once it was just her and Basil, Sarabeth had opened up and talked excitedly with her new chikorita about all of the places that they were going to visit while traveling around the Johto region together. Basil had boldly led the way through Route 29 to Cherrygrove City and Sarabeth had followed close behind him.
It had been exciting for Basil to explore the wider world outside of New Bark Town and, from what Sarabeth had told him, the girl felt the same way. For Basil, that had meant new freedom to push forward while Sarabeth, by contrast, had taken time to linger and explore the sights and sounds that intrigued her. Together, they had balanced each other and they had reached Cherrygrove City just ahead of nightfall. As he fell asleep that night curled up with Sarabeth on a bed inside the town's pokémon center, Basil had decided that his first day with his new trainer would have been perfect, except for one problem.
Basil had yet to battle a single other pokémon, either wild or tamed.
That made Basil feel pensive this morning. He had spent the time eating his breakfast going over all of the opportunities for him to show off and get stronger that Sarabeth had missed. There had been the time not long after they started on Route 29 when Basil had charged a group of plump pidgey and sent the brown- and white-feathered pokémon flying, only for Sarabeth to call her chikorita back to her side and lightly reprimand him. A curious sentret had also provided a possibility for a battle, but when Basil had looked up at his trainer to see what she thought, Sarabeth had shaken her head and forced them to ignore the small pokémon trailing them.
Those had been only the two most obvious missed opportunities for a battle. Basil knew that there had been others, and would have been even more if Sarabeth had let him seek them out. It hadn't been that the girl had been in a hurry to get to Cherrygrove City, either. Sarabeth had walked behind Basil at a leisurely pace and hadn't been shy about stopping them to pick some ripe berries, climb atop a hill for a view of the countryside, or even just to rest for a little while. So, after thinking it over again and again, Basil thought that he knew what the problem was.
Sarabeth was scared.
Basil wasn't ready to call his trainer a coward, not without giving her an opportunity to prove herself. Basil had learned a lot about being scared during his time at Professor Elm's lab. After all, there were some big and frightening pokémon under the pokémon professor's care. Being scared was something you did, Basil knew, but being a coward was something that you just were. The former problem could be addressed, but the latter was much more serious.
It was easy for Basil to watch Sarabeth without betraying his thoughts. The two of them had only been partners for a day, so they didn't yet possess the kind of bond that existed between people and pokémon who had spent years together. Basil had to study the girl intently to try and glean any knowledge about her character while Sarabeth, for her part, mistook her chikorita's interest in her for simple friendliness.
"Are you excited for today, Basil?" asked Sarabeth brightly. Basil thought for a moment that she was going to suggest some training, or even looking for a battle, and he wagged his stubby yellow tail excitedly. Unfortunately for him, Sarabeth only said, "I was thinking we could walk around the town today. I know it's not as big as Goldenrod City, but Cherrygrove City is still bigger than New Bark Town, and, besides, it's my first time coming here all by myself. I thought we could go check out some shops, or maybe go to the beach." Sarabeth noticed that the large green leaf protruding from Basil's head was drooping and she quickly shifted gears to ask, "What's the matter, Basil? You don't like the beach?"
Basil opened his little mouth and thought about trying to explain what he thought and what he wanted, but then he thought the better of it. With a huff, he turned his back on Sarabeth and looked instead around the picnicking area in the back of the pokémon center. It was a quiet pokémon center in a quiet part of town, so there weren't many options for what Basil had in mind. But he found another pokémon, a plump purple-furred rattata munching its breakfast noisily from a bowl of food while its trainer, a smiling boy with a backwards-facing baseball cap leaned back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head.
The smaller pokémon was so intent on its meal that it didn't register Basil's approach until the chikorita shoved it aside and started to scarf down its food so messily that more of it ended up on the ground than ended up in Basil's mouth. "Hey!" the boy yelled at the sound of his pokémon's aggrieved squeaking, and he stood up while Sarabeth hurried over.
"I'm so sorry!" Sarabeth said and tried to put her arms around Basil's neck to pull him away from the rattata's food bowl, but her pokémon resisted her and only with a great deal of struggling was she able to make him budge a few inches. "I don't know what got into him, I'm sorry!" repeated Sarabeth as she continued to try to move Basil.
The other trainer's expression grew softer at Sarabeth's apology, but he still put his hands on his hips and said, "You're a new trainer, aren't you? You really have to do a better job controlling your pokémon if you don't want to end up in trouble."
Sarabeth's head bobbled apologetically. "I will, I promise. Hey!" Sarabeth yelled as Basil broke free from her hold to slam into the boy's rattata, which had started sniffing around trying to get back to its breakfast. "Basil! Stop that! Do you want to go back in your poké ball?"
Basil looked back at Sarabeth and then sniffed sullenly. He lowered his head and tried to knock away the rattata again only to be restrained by Sarabeth again. "I'm so sorry," Sarabeth said again helplessly. "I really don't know what's wrong with him."
The boy scratched his head and said, "Wow, I've never seen a chikorita that feisty before, and I've seen a few new trainers go through here. Maybe he just needs to get some energy out?"
"Like, I should take him for a walk?"
"Maybe," the other trainer laughed, "but I was thinking more along the lines of a battle. What do you say, Rhodie?"
The rattata at the boy's side, Rhodie, squeaked eagerly and then darted forward to grab a mouthful of food off of the ground before Basil could stop him. The small four-legged pokémon then scampered off to a battlefield marked on the asphalt next to the picnic tables in faded white paint. Its trainer started to walk over to where his pokémon was gnawing at the piece of kibble held in its paws, but then he stopped to ask Sarabeth, "Well, are you interested?" The boy grinned as Basil strained against Sarabeth's arms while staring intently at Rhodie the rattata. "Your chikorita sure looks like he's up for it."
"I don't know," said Sarabeth softly, which earned another huff of annoyance from Basil. The dark-haired girl bit the inside of her cheek and said, "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Hey, it's up to you," the other trainer said with a shrug. He was crouching down to pick up his rattata when Basil pushed away from Sarabeth again and dashed over to the pokémon center's battlefield. The chikorita stood across from Rhodie and its trainer and, with a flick of his head, swung the leaf atop his head out of his eyes so that he could stare fiercely at the other pokémon.
Basil tried to keep his focus on the rattata and its trainer across the asphalt from him, but he couldn't help glancing behind him to see Sarabeth's reaction. The girl was standing now and swaying on her feet as she watched her pokémon. "Are you sure, Basil?" she asked so quietly that her pokémon had to strain to hear her. When Basil nodded forcefully, Sarabeth dragged her feet to stand behind him in a conscious imitation of Rhodie's trainer.
"Um, I'm JJ, by the way," the other trainer said with an awkward wave of his hand. "Sorry that I didn't introduce myself earlier."
"Sarabeth," Basil's trainer replied without looking up from her chikorita's severe expression. "Are you really sure you want to do this?" she asked her pokémon again. Basil's answer was turning his focus back to JJ's rattata and pawing the ground eagerly.
JJ said, "Well, okay, how about a nice easy battle since both our pokémon are pretty fresh?" He smiled at Sarabeth and added, "If you want to stop, just let me know and we can call it a draw, no questions asked."
The offer made Basil roll his eyes, but Sarabeth softly said, "Thank you. Then, let's begin?"
Basil didn't wait for Sarabeth to give him an order. Instead, he charged headlong at Rhodie, causing the purple rodent to squeak in surprise. The rattata was still quick, and it nimbly darted out of Basil's path with only a second to spare. Basil skidded to a stop and spun around to face his opponent again, his green leaf trailing behind his rotating body. Again, he paid no attention to Sarabeth before running at his opponent.
JJ was ready for this attack, and he gave his pokémon the command, "Rhodie! Dodge out of the way, then use your tail whip!"
The rattata feinted to one side and, when Basil tried to adjust his angle of attack, went the other way so that its larger opponent's charge completely failed. While Basil tried to reorient himself, Rhodie presented his backside to the chikorita and flicked his long tail so that it slapped Basil in the face. Sarabeth gasped, but the real damage done by the attack was making Basil angry and getting him to let his guard down.
Basil lunged at Rhodie, but his instinct was to retaliate where his opponent had last been seen. The quick rattata was no longer there, but was at Basil's side instead. As the larger pokémon spun around to face it again, Rhodie ducked its head and rammed into Basil's underbelly. With a sharp exhale of surprise and pain, Basil staggered but remained standing.
"Basil! Are you okay?" Sarabeth asked, and when Basil looked up at her, he saw the fear in her eyes. When nothing followed her worried question, the girl's pokémon huffed and looked back to Rhodie, radiating anger.
"Uh, if you want a piece of advice, Sarabeth," JJ called across the battlefield, "maybe you should try giving your pokémon a command?"
Sarabeth blinked her dark eyes in surprise at the other trainer's suggestion. "What? Oh. I mean, I don't know what to tell him to do."
While their pokémon continued to square off with one another, JJ patiently explained, "The role of a trainer is to see the whole battle, and to plan ahead so that your pokémon isn't just fighting on instinct. Especially for a new pokémon, otherwise it's not going to do better than a wild pokémon."
"But I don't know what to do!" protested Sarabeth. "I've never had a pokémon battle before! I haven't even watched one!"
JJ was about to say something to soothe his frazzled opponent, but stopped when his pokémon and Sarabeth's started fighting again. Basil had grown impatient for his trainer to take charge and so he had decided to continue battling his way. When Rhodie had turned to JJ for guidance, Basil hurriedly closed the distance between himself and the rattata and knocked the smaller pokémon down with a simple ramming attack.
In a panic, Rhodie started squeaking rapidly and flashed its sharp incisors and claws. It lashed out in a frenzy of biting and scratching that forced Basil back, until JJ was able to calm down his pokémon with a sharp bark of, "Rhodie! Relax!" The boy then looked to Sarabeth with a hint of red coloring his cheeks. "Sorry, I only got my rattata from my dad a few weeks ago, so we're still learning, too."
Basil had prepared himself for Rhodie to come at him, but when the rattata had instead stopped and listened to its trainer's commands, he had growled in frustration. With a contemptuous flick of the leaf on his head, Basil turned his back on his opponent and his trainer alike and started walking away from the battle with his head held high. The chikorita paused to see Sarabeth's reaction and, when he saw that the girl was simply watching him without coming after him, Basil huffed and then broke into a run. His four stubby legs carried him past the picnic area, around the corner of the pokémon center, and then out of sight.
It didn't strike Basil that he had become a runaway pokémon until he had gone far enough that the distinctive red roof of the pokémon center was obscured by the trees and other buildings of Cherrygrove City's main street. As he had only taken off in a straight shot form the pokémon center, Basil could have turned around and found his way back to Sarabeth. Instead, he chose to press on, heading towards the rising sun and New Bark Town.
There were a few people and pokémon out and about on their way to work or running morning errands, but none of them paid any mind to Basil as long as he kept his head up and looked as though he knew where he was going. A chikorita was a rare enough pokémon to be an unusual sight, but the species' reputation as a first companion for new trainers meant that no one mistook Basil for a wild pokémon. The others walking around Basil merely took him to be running some errand for his trainer.
By the time that Basil had reached the outskirts of Cherrygrove City, his feet hurt from walking on the hard pavement. He stopped at the summit of a particularly draining hill and lowered himself to lie down and rest his aching limbs on the side of the road. Below he saw how far he had come and that filled the small pokémon with enough pride that he cut his rest short and shakily stood again. Basil contented himself with the thought that walking down the hill to where Route 29 began would at least be easier than the climb had been.
It wasn't long after Basil had passed the sign marking the limit of Cherrygrove City that he felt the need to rest again. The determined pokémon pushed himself for a few minutes longer, but that was only to find a good shady spot in which to rest. A sheltering tree, its branches laden with ripe berries, seemed to be the perfect spot for Basil to regain his strength. Lying down had hurt at the top of the hill where he had last stopped, but it was more painful now that he had pushed himself so much further. Wincing in pain, Basil forced his weary body to bend and then took deep panting breaths to try and calm his beating heart.
Basil had rested under this tree before, yesterday while traveling with Sarabeth. Back then, he had wanted to keep pushing on to Cherrygrove City. Having given up on being allowed to battle any wild pokémon, Basil had only wanted to reach the destination that seemed to be one of the only things that he had in common with his trainer. But Sarabeth had insisted that they stop with a quiet forcefulness that had surprised Basil enough to make him obey at once. The girl had kept him from eating the berries which had fallen from the tree, too, and instead insisted on climbing into the branches of the tree in order to gather fresh fruit to share with her pokémon.
They had stayed under the tree for longer than Basil would have liked, but he had refrained from complaining. Not only the berries, but Sarabeth's own happiness had helped to convince him. Now, Basil wasn't sure that he was going to see her again. He grumbled sullenly to himself, but the uneasy feeling didn't go away, even as the sun rose higher in the sky.
At some point, Basil fell asleep and he awoke with a start when he sensed movement around him. A spearow had come out of its nest in a nearby tree and was gobbling up the berries on the ground beneath the tree. When it saw Basil, the spearow let out a started squawk and started flapping its stubby wings to get into the air. Basil snapped at the pokémon, confident that it would turn tail and run.
But as Basil stumbled getting to his feet, the spearow recognized the larger pokémon's weakness and the fear in its sharp eyes turned into malice. With a harsh caw, the flying pokémon folded in its wings and dived at Basil so that its sharp beak drew a thin scratch along the chikorita's side. Grimacing with pain, Basil finally stood up, but he was hardly on his feet when the spearow struck him again. This time the wild pokémon attacked with its sharp talons, drawing new lines of pain in Basil's yellow flank.
Basil gathered his strength to try a charging attack, but the wild spearow easily flew overhead and out of reach. Then, as Basil frustratedly circled the ground below, his tormentor dived at him again and left another series of light wounds with its talons.
The spearow flew another loop over Basil's head and came in for an attack with its beak when a purple blur tackled the attacking pokémon and knocked it to the ground. "Basil!" a familiar voice cried and the chikorita looked up to see Sarabeth and JJ running toward him, with Rhodie the rattata positioning itself between Basil and the wild spearow.
Sarabeth fumbled with her bag and managed to pull out Basil's red and white poké ball. She aimed it at her pokémon and fired a thin beam of red light at her injured chikorita. Her aim was unsteady and Basil still had enough strength to roll his body out of the way of his trainer's recall. "Basil, please!" Sarabeth urged. "I don't want you to get hurt!"
Meanwhile, JJ was shouting orders to his rattata, "That spearow might be able to fly, but you're still faster than it, I bet! Watch out for that beak and those talons, Rhodie, and be ready to counterattack!"
Sure enough, the wild spearow dived at Rhodie only for the nimble pokémon to sidestep the attack so that the bird pokémon's claws only scraped uselessly against the ground below. "Now's your chance!" shouted JJ, and his rattata hit the momentarily confused spearow with a full-bodied tackle. The spearow squawked in annoyance and clumsily flapped its short wings until it could find a perch in the tree branches overhead.
"Come on, Basil, let's get you to the pokémon center," said Sarabeth as she ran to her injured pokémon. Basil shied away from his trainer's touch, but he was too tired to stop the girl's arms from wrapping around his aching body. The only sound that he made was a low rumble of displeasure before his eyes grew as heavy as his limbs and he fainted.
When Basil awoke, he was lying on a bed in a room which gleaned with sterility. There were a few bandages wrapped around his body and his head swam when he lifted it, but Basil forced his way through the discomfort to look around the room. The first thing he found was Sarabeth, smiling at him though her eyes were red and moist. "Basil, you're okay," she said. Even when Basil grunted and pointedly looked away from his trainer, her smile stayed on her face.
JJ was sitting on an identical and equally uncomfortable chair next to her with his rattata dozing on his lap. Since Sarabeth didn't give any sign of saying anything further, the boy cleared his throat and said awkwardly, "You're back at the Cherrygrove City Pokémon Center. Sarabeth carried you all the way here. She said that she didn't want to put you in your poké ball so that she could keep watching and making sure that you were okay." JJ shrugged and added, "You've got a pretty dedicated trainer. I think maybe you two should give each other a second chance, but hey, what do I know?"
With that, JJ cradled his rattata in the crook of his arm, rose to his feet, and left the room. Sarabeth and Basil sat quietly together, neither trainer nor pokémon saying anything for a while. Instead, they both looked out the window and watched the young tree planted outside sway in the wind.
Sarabeth broke the silence eventually, saying softly, "I like having you as my pokémon, Basil. That hasn't changed since yesterday. You're strong and confident, and you want to try things that I'm, well, afraid of." Basil was watching his trainer intently now, but the girl's own eyes remained downcast as she fiddled with her hands in her lap. "I've never been a pokémon trainer before, so I don't know what I'm really supposed to be doing. I had this idea in my head, and some of it's come true but there's been so much more than just what I expected and hoped for." Since Basil's only response was to look at her curiously, Sarabeth let out a long breath and says simply, "I don't like battling."
His trainer's confession made Basil roll his eyes, but instead of being offended, Sarabeth giggled. "I know, I know," she said, "you probably figured that out ages ago, but it's true. I thought that it would be fun traveling around with a pokémon to have as my friend. I thought I could just enjoy the summer and travel without ever needing to battle, and I think I still could."
Basil started to turn over in his bed to look away from his trainer, but Sarabeth hastened to explain, "I mean, I could do that, but it wouldn't be fair to you. Right?" When she saw that she had her chikorita's attention, Sarabeth asked, "You like to battle, don't you, Basil? I should have known when I saw you rough up the other pokémon Professor Elm was offering me. But I wanted to try and make you the pokémon that I thought I wanted, instead of trying to get to know the real you." Sarabeth clenched her small hands into fists clenching at the denim of her jean skirt. "So, how about this, Basil? I'll try to battle with you, and you don't run away like that again, okay?"
Sarabeth held her breath while she waited for Basil's answer. Slowly, the chikorita lowered his head and then stretched the leaf on his head out. Cautiously, Sarabeth grabbed it and the green appendage wrapped itself around her hand in a rough approximation of a handshake. "Well, I guess that settles it," Sarabeth said with a smile. "We're partners, Basil. No matter what!"