Chapter 8

Trainer's Life

Chloe wasn't having the best of days. Not only had she been sucked into a Pokémon game against her will, and transformed into one of the strange critters, but now she also found herself under Mikey's command, battling wild Pokémon.

It wasn't at all what she had thought she would be doing this day, but she was willing to pitch in in order to help Mikey and Jun, and who knows who else, escape the game. Though this was not how she expected it to be.

It had started with her being called out of her Poké Ball, coming face to face with a bipedal bunny of some sort. Its fur was chocolate brown and covered its head, ears, and upper body, while a cream coloured, thick and very fluffy covered its lower half, with two large tufts on top of its ears.

It was incredibly cute in Chloe's eyes, which made it all the harder for her to try and fight it, but Mikey insisted, having said that she needed to get stronger, and training like this was the only way.

For the most, the bunny just jumped around a bit, even as Chloe scored a few Tackles on it, but when it retaliated, by rolling up its ears, then unfurling them quickly, she took a pretty mean Pound attack.

"Come on, Chloe! Tackle, again!" Mikey called out.

That was all he said. All she was to do. And she didn't have much choice, not if she wanted to help. So she did just that, scoring another hit on the bunny, sending it rolling along the ground for a few feet, coming to a stop with swirly eyes.

Then, it suddenly started shrinking fast, and in less than two seconds, she could not see it any more.

"What? What just happened?" she asked.

"I dunno." Mikey shrugged. "They just do that when you beat them in the game. They just… shrink away."

"Like this wasn't strange enough as it is." said Jun. "You okay, Chloe?"

"I think so. A bit sore, though. Those ears hit harder than I thought they could ever do."

"We can take a quick break if you want to." said Mikey.

"A short breather will be enough for me. But honestly, I just want to get back home."

"I hear you, but like Mikey said, you need to get stronger as well." said Jun. "And at least we have that Narnia effect, so no time will really pass for real. Still, that doesn't mean I don't want us to get out of here as soon as possible, but we can't afford to be reckless either."

"We'll be fine." said Mikey. "This is a game for kids. No one dies here. If you get hurt, we can just go to one of the Poké Centres, and you'll be right as rain in no time at all. It's just our pride that will take a beating if we lose a battle. And my wallet, come to think about it."

"If they have those spray potions that that Lillie used on me, then I can believe it. It was almost as good as the water from the well." said Jun, remembering when Lillie healed him when Nebby was in peril.

"I think they have some form of healing machine." Mikey mused. "Not sure how it works, but I'm sure Donnie and James would love to pick it apart. Too bad they ain't here."

"As far as we know." Jun remarked.

"Yeah… well… we… we will cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Please, don't mention bridges again." Jun winced. "I've had enough of them since the last one."

"Then let's keep going instead." said Chloe. "I think I'm okay to continue."

Suddenly, a low pitched chittering was heard, and a Pokémon emerged from the grass nearby, the same grub-like one that Kukui had caught a while earlier, a Grubbin. And it seemed angry.

"We got company!" Chloe cried out.

"Whoa! A whatchacallit… a Grubbin!" said Mikey as he jumped to his feet. "Go, Chloe! Show it what you're made of!"

"Um… okay…" Chloe eyed the large mandibles on the Grubbin, worried that they might do a lot of damage. And Mikey noticed that.

"Don't worry! Those things did next to nothing to Kukui's dog!" he called out. "You can take it! Now, Tackle!"

With great reluctance, Chloe did as told, for it was the only way they'd get home again. She threw herself at the Grubbin, hitting it square in the face, and while it reeled back, it also countered with a Vise Grip attack, clamping down on Chloe with the mandibles, which caused her to cry out in pain.

"Chloe!" Jun and Mikey cried out.

But the former butterfly pushed through the pain and pulled free, quickly delivering another tackle, sending the Grubbin rolling along the ground, before coming to a stop, and quickly shrinking and disappearing, just like the bunny Pokémon before.

"Good riddance." Chloe spat.

"You okay?! I got a potion here!" Mikey said urgently.

"It hurt a lot more than I thought it would, but… but I guess I'm fine, all things considered."

"Just what the heck happened?" Jun wondered. "We saw one of those before, and it barely ruffled the fur of that dog."

"Yeah, just like I said. That Pokémon… what did he call it, again? Oh, right, Rockruff." Mikey's eyes widened when he said the name out loud. "Wait… Rockruff… rock… ruff… rock… Oh, of course! It was a Rock-type! Had to be!"

"Rock… type?" Jun and Chloe asked, not having the slightest clue what any of that meant.

"Pokémon got types, you see. For example, Jun is a Fire-type, while Chloe is a Bug-type, and that Rockruff was a Rock-type." Mikey began. "Every Pokémon got at least one type, many got two, and all moves and attacks got one as well, and they work differently depending on the types."

"So, what, it's like Rock Paper Scissors?" Chloe asked, trying to wrap her head around it.

"Sounds like it." said Jun.

"In a way, yeah. But still not. You don't auto win if you got the type strong against your opponent's type, but it will be easier. Don't worry about that, though, I know how it all works… mostly…"

"My confidence in you keeps dropping." Jun muttered.

"Okay, I'm a bit rusty at Pokémon, but this is a video game, and I'm great at them. I promise that I'll get the hang of all this shortly. Besides, I'm the one who's gonna make all the calls in battle, so I'm the one who needs to know how it works."

"That's how things go, I guess." said Chloe. "But I think I'm fine enough to move on, so we can keep going at any time."

"If you're sure, then let's make some progress." said Jun, and the trio resumed their trek towards Iki Town, with Chloe being returned to her Poké Ball for the trip.


Along the way, Mikey and Jun found some items lost among the tall grass, probably from other Trainers that had dropped them during their own adventures.

Against one rock, lay one potion bottle, a bit dusty but still full, and the expiration date had not yet passed.

And next to an exposed root, was a lone Poké Ball, that had seemingly been there for quite some time, give all the dirt and grim on it. It was unoccupied, and otherwise in good condition, save for some scratches. Mikey had no clue if it still actually worked, but he wasn't going to pass up free stuff. If you got stuff in a game, it was usually good news, and he hoped that was the case now as well.

After giving the items a quick clean, he stashed them in his backpack, together with his other potions and balls, and continued onwards.

He had gotten about half way to Iki Town, when he was stopped by a girl roughly the same age as his current form, meaning around ten years old. She had tan skin, dark eyes, long black hair with a red flower on the side, a white top, and green short skirt.

A local girl, no doubt.

"Hey! When the eyes of Pokémon Trainers meet, you know what's going to happen, right?" she asked Mikey.

"Um… we give each other our numbers?" he answered sheepishly.

"No, silly!" she giggled. "A Pokémon battle!" she said, holding out her own Poké Ball.

"That was my second guess." said Mikey, and Jun rolled his eyes before preparing to fight.

"Okay, let's do this!" Mikey said once he gathered himself. He took Chloe's ball and tossed it into the air, releasing her at the same time as the girl sent out her own Pokémon.

"Go, Buneary!" she called out, as a familiar bunny Pokémon appeared in front of Chloe.

"Another bunny? Okay… I guess I know how to deal with that." said Chloe.

"Buneary, use Pound!" the girl ordered.

"Chloe, Tackle!" Mikey called out.

The two Pokémon met in the middle, their attacks colliding and pushing them both back. This Buneary was stronger than the one Chloe fought earlier, so this wasn't going to be as easy.

Mikey noticed that too, and quickly pulled out his Pokédex and looked up Chloe's statistics, looking at the moves she knew.

"Um… try String Shot!"

"String-what?!" she called back, but before she could get any clarification, the foe went for her again.

Chloe was about to scream in a half panic right before the attack hit her, but instead she gasped as she unleashed a spray of thin silk threads from her stubby mouth. The strings wrapped around the Buneary, causing it to miss its attack as it got all tangled up in them.

"Oh, so that's what he meant." said Chloe.

'Didn't know she could do that.' Jun thought as he watched. 'Then again, I didn't know that I could breathe fire either.'

"Quick, Chloe! Tackle it before it can get loose!" Mikey called out.

"Okay!" she said and used all her might to strike the Buneary again, finally knocking it out.

"Oh no! Buneary!" the girl called out and hurried to her Pokémon's side. "You did good. Take a well deserved rest, okay." she said softly before returning Buneary to its ball.

Walking back to Mikey, she gave him a small amount of money.

"That was a good battle." she said.

"Thanks. It was closer than I thought it would be." Mikey said as he pocketed the money.

"We're taking money from her?" Chloe asked Jun, almost appalled by the thought.

"The way of the land." Jun shrugged, only to notice that the girl was looking at them both.

"Oh! Your Pokémon look so happy that they've won!" she said.
Jun and Chloe looked at each other, then back at the girl.

"More like relieved." Jun said, even though the girl couldn't understand them. She just smiled and turned back to Mikey.

"The more you battle other Trainers, the more powerful your Pokémon will become!"

"I know that much, but thanks for the tip." Mikey said.


After gathering up Chloe in her Poké Ball again, the group continued their trek once again.

It didn't take long before they were spotted again, however, this time by a young boy, no more than five or six years old. Like the girl before him, he sported dark hair and tan skin, while wearing a white tee and blue shorts, and he wasted no time in throwing his own Poké Ball at Mikey'

"Go for it, Caterpie! Show me the power of Bug-type Pokémon!"

The ball released a familiar worm, and Mikey answered by sending out Chloe, who had no issues taking down her mirror match.

"I lost with my Bug-type Pokémon! You're really bugging me, you know?" the kid said as he handed some money to Mikey.

By this point, Jun frowned as he walked up to Mikey to speak his mind, but he was interrupted when another young boy, possibly just four years old, dressed in a white hat, white shorts, and a dark blue, sleeveless top, hurried up to Mikey with a Poké Ball in hand.

"Hey! Please battle me!"

"Sure thing, kiddo!" Mikey responded, letting Chloe take her place once again.

This time, she faced a bipedal rat slightly larger than her, with dark gray fur on most of its body, save for its dark cream belly, while having small tufts on its ears, the tip of its curled end of the tail, and on its face, mimicking whiskers.

"That's a new one." said Mikey as he studied his opponent, which gave the boy the chance to attack first.

"Go, Rattata! Tackle!

"Oh boy! String Shot, Chloe!"

She tried, but she wasn't fast enough to outspeed the rat, instead getting struck head on before she could pull of her own move. But once she did, she managed to catch the Rattata in her silk strings, slowing it down significantly, evening the scales.

"Good! Now, Tackle!" Mikey yelled.

"Rattata! Tackle, too!" the boy yelled, and the two Pokémon met head on again, and again.

Both were on their last rope when the final blow was landed, and Chloe stood victorious as Rattata fell, her strings having slowed down her foe enough for her to hit it first.

Tears forming in his eyes, the boy dropped to his knees after he recalled his Pokémon.

"If you're strong, please go away!" he almost wept.

Mikey winced as he realised that he had just done something that more or less was the equivalent to beating up a kid. But before he could do anything, the boy dried his tears, stood back up, and walked over to hand over his winnings, which wasn't a lot.

"Um…"

"Great Trainers can sense promise in other Trainers!" the boy said. "Did you pick up on anything?"

"Uh… not sure. Maybe?"

Seemingly accepting that as a yes, the boy grinned and ran off, back to Iki Town.

"Well, that was weird…"

"That's an understatement." said Jun. "And I was going to tell you this after the last kid, but never got the chance, but this just feels wrong. I mean, battling Hau and that girl, that was sort of okay, they were about the same age as you are now, but these two… they were just preschoolers!"

"I agree." said Chloe. "While I will help in anyway I can, taking money from children is not okay with me."

"Hey, I hear you, and I'm with you on it all. It felt wrong for me too." said Mikey. "I mean, I've always wanted to be the hero, but right now I feel more like a bully. But, in my defence, it was they who challenged us, and gave us their money when we won. We never forced them to it."

"I guess you're right about that… and they aren't really real, either, but still…" said Jun. "By the way, why are you letting Chloe do all the battling? I'm a fighter to begin with, so why not let me do the heavy lifting?"

"Ah, now that I got a good answer for." Mikey said with a smile, and took out his Pokédex. "Look here. You're already level 7, while Chloe was only level 3 when we found her, but now she's reached level 6 after all those battles."

"So I have actually gotten stronger then?" Chloe asked.

"Yup. I've checked every time you've levelled up, and I've seen your stats go up as well."

"Okay, so that's good and all, but that still doesn't explain why I haven't been contributing." said Jun.

"Well, you see, dude, I want you both to be the same levels. Otherwise, if I used only you, you'd be a lot stronger, sure, but what if you got knocked out in a battle? Then we'd have to make do with whoever else we got, and if they ain't as well trained, they're gonna go down quickly too."

"That… actually makes a lot of sense." Jun said. He had to admit, Mikey was being a lot more strategic than the cat would ever have given him credit for.

"It's the whole weakest link of the chain-thing. Even if I'm strong, that doesn't help the others that ain't when they have to fend for themselves."

"Right on, dude! So if we find someone that's lower level than the rest of our team, then we have to train them and get them on the same level so that they can help us get out of this mess."

"A mess that you got us all in, I remind you. But you're right, this will be a team effort, whether I like it or not. I'm just not used to this… what should we call it… tag-team style, or whatever."

"Don't worry, Jun. We'll get through it. And we're almost to Iki Town now, so we've got a festival to go to!"

"Wait! A festival!?" Chloe exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me about that?! What else haven't you told me!?"

"I really must get better at summaries…" Mikey sighed.

And another tree Trainers fall before Mikey and his team, resulting in Chloe catching up to Jun's Level.
This chapter got a whole bit longer than I thought because of all the battles, and the extra information needed in general, so in the future, I will not include the vast majority of random Trainers or wild battles, though I might refer to them happening off screen.

See you next time.