We decided to take things slowly, travelling at our own pace. I wanted to train 3 times a day, once in the morning after we woke up, once in the afternoon before lunch, and once in the evening, before dinner. We would often go off the paths too, to train within the trees or a bigger clearing. Mari agreed, saying that speed is not of importance, but rather, the growth of our Pokemons. We trained separately for most parts, because well, we were supposed to be rivals. But also, training separately lets me focus more on the basics for Lexy. Instead of long morning runs now, I made Lexy do short sprints, along with some agility footwork. He did crash into trees quite a fair bit, especially during 'sprint to that tree and back' exercises. But he seemed to be happy crashing into trees.
We did manage to figure out a way for him to hunt. It was completely by accident though. Lexy had continued his habit of climbing trees and attempting to fly. I opt to let him continue as it doesn't seem to harm him, instead helping him harden his head. On the down side, I had to deal with a disgruntled Mareep shocking him and sometimes all of us when he accidentally land on him. One afternoon, a few days into travelling Route 101, I was setting up the fire to cook lunch (Ramen again) when I heard a muffled shriek from behind me. Turns out, Lexy had wanted to 'fly' and land on me but missed (again). Instead, he crash landed on an unsuspecting Taillow. His weight combined with the fall from such heights was enough to kill the small bird, its body splayed at an awkward angle beneath Lexy.
Lexy looked pretty stunned, but I was thoroughly amused. He stared at me, unsure of what to do.
'Gee I don't know mate, maybe eat it?' I said sarcastically.
At the word eat, Lexy perked up and enthusiastically tore into the bird. Only the come up spluttering and spitting feathers out of his mouth. Glaring at my chuckle, he clawed off the feathers before taking another bite. He then darted into the forest and a few crashes later, he came back dragging bodies of two other taillows and one zigzagoon. He gave me one Taillow before eating the other one. My heart warmed at the gesture.
'Actually Lexy, why did you follow me out of the cave? Yknow all those weeks ago?' I asked Lexy as I was defeathering the bird.
'Trainer saved me. Trainer good. I protect Trainer.' Lexy replied, nonchalantly biting into his meal.
Mari came into the clearing then, noticing the smile on my face immediately. I explained to her about Lexy's success at hunting and Jupiter roared with laughter. Lexy only rolled his eyes and pointedly ignored him. At last, progress. They had been bickering for the past few days. It was driving Mari and I crazy, not to mention the many shocks we've gotten.
'Hey actually do you think we can reach Oldale Town tonight? Like we can come back to Route 101 and train during the day but I kind of want to sleep in a real bed.' Mari suggested over her bowl of ramen with Taillow meat.
I agreed; eager to eat something that is not ramen. Hence, we travelled fast after lunch. Lexy was excited at the faster pace, though Jupiter complained as his wool kept getting snagged, especially when we were travelling out to the main path.
We made good pace, reaching the Pokemon Center at Oldale Town in the evening. Oldale town was a quiet one, disturbed only by the constant stream of new trainers from Littleroot Town. As it does not have a gym, many trainers choose to bypass it completely sometimes. The streets were pretty empty when Mari and I arrived. We probably scared the pants off 3 different old couples on our way to the Pokemon Center. Lexy was now at my shoulders, his beautiful scales patterned his face into a fierce scowl. At the Pokemon Center, I explained to Lexy that he was going to get a checkup and minor healing at the Pokemon Center, but he had to stay in his Pokeball. He reluctantly returned to the Pokeball at the counter and I handed it over to Nurse Joy, along with my Trainer ID card.
'Just got your trainer's license?' She inquired.
At our nods, she proceeded to detail the Pokemon Center services. Most of which I already know. They offer free healing services for our Pokemon. Room and board were also free for a week. At bigger cities with gyms, trainers have to show them proof of appointment at gyms. The appointment let them stay in Pokemon Center for free until a week after appointment date. Otherwise, passing trainers are entitled to one week of free room before having to fork out money to stay at nearby inns or hotels, just like small town Pokemon Centers without gyms. There was also free breakfast and dinner for those staying at the Pokemon Center along with free laundry services. After making sure we know the breakfast and dinner times (7-10 am and pm), she took our Pokemons and told us that we will be notified via Pokedex when they are done. She then gave us our room keys and ID card and basically shooed us to our rooms.
After a shower, Mari and I were waiting for our laundry and our Pokemons in the Pokemon Center lobby (where they have free wifi!). As we were discussing our plans for the next few days, and a boy with shaggy blond hair burst through the front doors.
'Hah! Went through Route 101 in one day. Piece of cake! Who's the best trainer in townnn,' Axel crowed. His sidekick, Tony, just rolled his eyes and went to Nurse Joy.
Mari and I exchanged a look and rolled our eyes. It honestly didn't occur to us that we will even run into those obnoxious boys. Nurse Joy let out a long suffering sigh that was visible to everyone as she entered the reception area. She was only halfway through her speech she gave to us and probably every new trainer when it became obvious that Axel was not listening at all (while Tony was hanging on to every word). Spotting us, he marched over.
'Oh freak he saw us,' I nudged Mari.
'Maybe if we pretend to stare into each other's eyes he will ignore us,' Mari suggested.
'Ya or maybe –'
'Hah I know you two. You're from Class 304 right. How long you took to get from Littleroot to Oldale?' I was rudely interrupted by an insufferable voice.
'Wouldn't you like to know,' muttered Mari.
'Bitch. I bet my Stormbringer can beat the both of you without a sweat, even after Route 101.' Axel boasted.
'Yeah? You're on,' I challenged.
'Two on one?' Mari asked. I also did not miss her twitch of amusement at the nickname. 'Sure, I'm in.'
'No I didn't say that.' Axel's face paled immediately and backtracked. 'I'll battle you first. Then your Mareep. $50.'
Apparently Jupiter was well known in school. At that moment, my Pokedex buzzed. An alert was sent, telling me to collect Lexy. I looked at Axel. 'Just in time. You're on. $10.'
I collected Lexy and we went down to one of the Pokemon Center's training battlefield, with Mari promising she'll come down after she collected Jupiter. Apparently we had gathered quite a bit of attention in the lobby and there was a sizable crowd at the battlefield. I saw a few familiar faces in the crowd, kids from my school starting out on their journeys too. None that I was close to though. I let out Lexy, who seemed puzzled by the loud crowd. Axel's look of shock was one I would remember for a long, long time. He pointed at Lexy, seemingly unable to form words. The crowd jeered and call out for his Pokemon. Not able to back down from the challenge now, he called out Stormbringer. I almost laughed out loud. Stormbringer will definitely suit its evolution but right now, it was comical to think the tiny blue bird with its cotton like wing wrapped around itself as Stormbringer. At the appearance of the Swablu, Lexy snapped to attention and let out a growl, evidence of his hatred of anything fluffy at that point (He fought with Jupiter again. Funny story, ask me later). The small bird let out a squeak, peering through the clouds at Lexy. No wonder he didn't want to fight Jupiter first, with the bird's weakness to electricity. But I guess he didn't know my starter eat birds as snacks.
Axel shouted a command I couldn't hear pass the excited murmur of the crowd. So he was going to go first. Gee, what a gentleman. The Swablu ran towards Lexy. Curious about what it was going to do, I asked Lexy to wait till the last moment, before stepping aside (like what Jupiter did to him in his first battle) and grabbing the Swablu's wings. He wasn't very good at waiting, and was hopping on foot to foot, but he at least stayed at the spot. It was probably a mistake to let Swablu come to us. It was excruciatingly slow. We probably could've bitten it a few times by the time it reached Lexy. As it is, Lexy moved as the Swablu rear its head back, it lunged its head forward, beaks out, only to find that its target was gone, along with a fluffy chunk of its wings. It shrieked in panic, which wasted the only time it had to escape. Lexy pounced with another Bite. It barely managed to shield its body with its wings, which of course resulted in another chunk of fluff being torn off. Spitting out the cotton from his mouth, Lexy looked enraged to be missing his prey. I debated about what to do next. I was hesitant to use Twister as Lexy still couldn't summon it on command. More like a 50% chance. But chasing it with Bite seemed fruitless – Lexy would only manage to get more fluff in his mouth. I'm sure if the Swablu can fly or use aerial attacks, this will severely impact the flight of the bird. But the Swablu only seemed to know Peck and it hasn't flew, not even to escape Lexy's Bite. In the end, I decide that I wasn't going to chance the Swablu knowing Sing.
'Twister,' I ordered.
Luckily, Lexy managed to summon a Twister, which hit the Swablu point blank. It hit the floor with a muffled thud and it stayed there, unmoving.
'Stormbringer!' Axel's voice came out an octave higher than normal. Cradling his bird, he glared at me. 'You should control that lizard of yours. He's too dangerous.'
Looking up from where I was restraining Lexy from going after the fallen bird, I raised my eyebrow. 'Really? What do I look like I'm doing?'
I was half tempted to let Lexy have a go at the Swablu but before I could decide on whether to act, he carried Stormbringer and stormed out of the training room, Stormbringer in his arms. I sighed, before reprimanding Lexy, resolving to give a longer lecture at night about not eating every single Pokemon he defeated. I hope Axel remembers to transfer me the money. $50 was not a lot but it will allow me to buy some supplies for the road. And also some food that is not ramen.
'Hey good job! I'm glad you defeated that egoistical bitch.' Mari came over to me from the sidelines. 'I wish I could've battled too though.'
'I'll battle you. $50 too.' A voice came from behind us. We turned to see Tony holding a minimized Pokeball in his right fist. 'I have two Pokemons, but let's make it a one on one. My Taillow won't last against your Mareep.'
Mari agreed to the battle. I joined the crowd at the side, which had thinned considerably after my battle with Axel. Tony let out a green reptilian Pokemon with large yellow eyes, a red underbelly and a large, forest green tail. Looked like Tony took the 'traditional' way – getting a starter from the lab. Their match was way more exciting than Axel and mine. Or at least it lasted longer. The Treecko turn out to be extremely agile, dodging Jupiter's electric attacks with relative ease. It managed to get in a few pounds and quick attacks before getting trapped in one of Jupiter's Cotton Spore. With the green reptile slowed, Jupiter managed to hit it twice in succession, knocking it out.
'Good match,' Tony told Mari, after making sure his Treecko did not suffer any major injury. I raised my eyebrows. He certainly took it much better than Axel did. I silently wondered why was he travelling with Axel, until I caught the faint blush in Mari's cheeks.
'Yes' Mari squeaked.
Huh. Since when did Mari had a crush on Tony.
