Chapter 22

"Imagine the rock is floating. Try your absolute hardest to picture it floating. Floating because of you."

Psyduck's face was redder than a tomato and beads of sweat were rolling down his cheeks. He was clutching his head so tightly that Leaf thought it might pop like a balloon. Despite his best efforts, the rock that lay inches ahead did not stir.

Leaf sighed. "Take a break."

Psyduck plopped onto the ground, wheezing. Leaf placed a treat by his side and surveyed the rest of her team. Fearow was slashing at a tree trunk with her beak. Wood chips were scattered at her feet. Vulpix and Ivysaur were launching flames and leaves at Haunter, who dodged their attacks. Dratini zigzagged between branches that Leaf had stuck into the ground.

Since her loss to Blue last week, Leaf had been training her Pokemon as if her life depended on it. In a sense, it did. She'd never become Champion if she didn't train, so she'd always taken it seriously. But now, Leaf took training to a new level. From sunrise to nearly midnight, Leaf and her team were out here on Route 15, running drills and battling other trainers whenever they passed by. Her meals, eaten on the side of the dirt path, were convenience store sandwiches. She couldn't remember the last time she showered. Most people didn't have the discipline for a routine like this, but Leaf had been on autopilot. Whatever discomfort her body was feeling, she didn't notice in the slightest.

Until now, that is. Watching Psyduck struggling for breath, after days of practicing his Confusion and showing little to no improvement, snapped Leaf back to reality. Her eyelids were heavy, her limbs ached from standing all day, her stomach grumbled. Some strands of greasy hair touched her cheek, making Leaf wince before tucking them behind her ear. What was the point? No matter how hard she tried, it wasn't enough. Every time she thought she was closer to Red and Blue, they'd slip away even further and leave Leaf panting just as hard as Psyduck was now. Championship was beginning to feel like a distant dream that she could hardly remember.

Leaf looked at her other Pokemon again. Although they worked diligently, she could see they were exhausted as well. Guilt washed over her. Training was more taxing for Pokemon than their trainers. It was Leaf's fault for being incompetent, but her team was the one being punished for it.

Leaf raised her voice. "Alright everyone, that's it for today. We're ending early."

Everyone looked confused, but also relieved, confirming to Leaf she made the right decision. She returned her Pokemon and briefly glanced at the setting sun before turning towards Fuchsia.

Mom looked like she'd seen a ghost, which she probably did.

"Leaf? What's happened to you? You look like you haven't slept in months."

"Hey, Mom."

"It's been a while since I've heard from you. I was a bit worried, but I figured you were busy. It seems I'm right. You've been too busy. I told you not to push yourself so hard!"

Leaf's head was pounding. "I'm sorry for not calling. I have been training a lot, but I promise not too intensely." Of course, this was a lie, but Leaf couldn't admit to Mom how crazy she'd been.

And of course, Mom didn't believe her. "Leaf, your health comes first no matter what. And it's not just bad for you to train 24/7. Your Pokemon need rest, too."

Leaf suddenly wanted to cry. Tears were building up in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away. If Mom saw her crying, she'd surely force her to come home. A microscopic part of Leaf did want to go home, to curl up in her own bed and not think about how she'll never catch up to Red and Blue.

"Y-Yeah, I know," was all Leaf could muster.

"Take the day off tomorrow," Mom replied, her tone now much gentler. "Get plenty of rest. I see you're in Fuchsia City now. I'm sure there are fun things to do."

Leaf nodded. The thought of sleeping in felt so damn good.

Mom smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen your team. I'd like to see if there are any updates." She turned away from the screen. "Alan! Come say hi to your daughter and her Pokemon."

She'd always called home in the morning, after Dad had already left for work. Leaf hadn't seen him since she started her journey; the sight of his awkward smile nearly pushed her over the edge.

"Hi, honey! I'm so happy to finally see you. The house hasn't been the same without you."

"Hi, Dad. I've missed you, too."

"I'm so proud of you. I mean, four badges? Some trainers can't even win one in the amount of time you've been traveling."

Leaf forced a smile. "Crazy, right? I still can't believe it myself."

"I can! You were always meant for this. How's your team coming along?"

It was a struggle fitting all of Leaf's Pokemon into the screen at once, but they made it work. Fearow and Haunter looked over Leaf's shoulders. Ivysaur and Psyduck stood on her left and right, lifting their heads up. Vulpix sat on her lap and Dratini was stretched across the desk.

Mom and Dad were mystified. "You have a full team already? Is that a dragon Pokemon? Is that a ghost Pokemon?"

Haunter cackled and stuck out its tongue. Leaf's smile felt more genuine now. "I caught Haunter in Lavender Town and won Dratini at a casino in Celadon."

Mom's eyes widened and then narrowed in disapproval. "A casino? Leaf, you shouldn't be gambling! You're too young. It's too risky!"

Dad chuckled. "No reward without any risk. And it seems Leaf won the biggest reward."

"Don't encourage her, Alan!"

Leaf felt a wave of comfort as she watched her parents bicker. She'd been so obsessed with training that she didn't realize until now how much she missed them. She made a mental note to be better about calling home.

"What are you up to for the rest of the night?" Dad asked, snapping Leaf out of her thoughts.

Vulpix was beginning to doze off on Leaf's lap. She ran her fingers along the fox's back. "I'm going to go to bed early tonight. And I'm going to take the day off tomorrow."

Once a small village, Fuchsia was now the up-and-coming city of Kanto and thus dubbed the Bustling City. The dirt roads were being paved over and at every hour, Leaf could hear one of the many trees surrounding Fuchsia being cut down to make room for more houses, more offices, more commerce centers. It was a bit of a shame, Leaf thought. She liked how green the city was, despite its name. There were small gardens and ponds at every corner. The ocean wasn't far either. Leaf could smell the brine in the air. She also liked how the roofs of many houses were painted fuchsia.

At the northside of the city was a zoo and Leaf was finally able to attach names to some of the Pokemon at Team Rocket's hideout. The green mantis was Scyther, the brown insect was Pinsir, the orange one with the mushrooms was Paras. The pink and blue bird was nowhere to be found, but Leaf did see a Omanyte and Kabuto: prehistoric Pokemon who were recently revived from fossils. Omanyte looked like a blue cuttlefish with a yellow, helix-spiral shell on its back. Kabuto resembled a horseshoe crab. Leaf remembered learning their evolutions in school. While Omastar was basically a creepier version of Omanyte, with its spiked shell and fang-like beak, Kabutops and Kabuto looked nothing alike. Kabutops walked on two legs, and had a skeletal build and scythe-like hands. It was strange how evolution worked. Leaf decided she would ask Professor Oak about it later.

Just beyond the zoo was a large building with an orange roof. Written on the front in a rugged font was Safari Zone. The Safari Zone was Fuchsia City's most famous site. It was a preserve where trainers could capture rare Pokemon. What made the preserve special was that battling was prohibited. Trainers had to come up with other ways of facing the wild Pokemon.

Leaf had realized a while ago she was not as interested in collecting Pokemon as some other trainers were. But how could she come to Fuchsia City and not visit the Safari Zone? She stepped inside the building. Straight ahead were three women behind a long reception desk. Hanging above them was a sign listing the Safari Zone's rules along with prices. On each side of the desk was a door with leaves painted on them. The doors were guarded by men who checked for tickets.

"Hi," Leaf said when she approached the desk. "I'd like to do the three-hour exploration."

The reception lady on the right spoke first. "ID, please." When Leaf showed it, she nodded. "That'll be $500."

As Leaf bought her ticket, the other women gathered all the tools she needed: thirty Safari Balls, PokeBalls that had a camouflage pattern and were exclusively used in the Safari Zone, bait, a watch, a map, and a water bottle. They were all carefully tucked into a brown backpack. Leaf swapped her satchel for it.

"There are four areas in the Safari Zone," the lady on the right explained. "Feel free to explore all of them. Each one has a station––they're marked on the map with a star––where you can rest. Go to the nearest one when your time is up. If you don't do that, one of our rangers will go fetch you and you may be charged extra. Battling the Pokemon is prohibited, unless in cases of pure self-defense. We prefer that you run away or hide if you can. The Pokemon are rarely aggressive."

Leaf wasn't concerned. She trusted her Pokemon would protect her if need be. She headed towards the door on the right and showed her ticket to the guard. He opened the door and Leaf stepped out onto a grassy hill. Further ahead was a lake. Surrounding the area were countless trees.

The door shut behind Leaf. She checked the map. She was currently in the Center Area, the hub of the Safari Zone. Area 1 was east of here, Area 2, north, and Area 3, west.

Leaf put the map away. She wasn't in any rush. She could explore this Center Area first and gradually make her way through the others.

Leaf walked down the hill, towards the east. She spotted some Nidoran and Rattata sunbathing by the lake. A Psyduck bobbed out of the water, staring at Leaf thoughtlessly. Leaf paid little attention to them. To her, there wasn't a point in capturing Pokemon she could easily find anywhere else or already had.

A flash of pink caught Leaf's eye. Lying on a large, flat stone was a pink hippo-like Pokemon with a tan muzzle, curled ears, and a long tail. Slowpoke was what the Pokedex identified it as. It looked to be napping. This should be easy enough.

Leaf tossed a Safari Ball at its side. It sucked the Slowpoke in and began to shake. After the second one, Leaf expected to hear a click. It never came. The Slowpoke popped right out. Now awake, it blinked stupidly in her direction before diving into the lake.

Leaf blinked. The Slowpoke was sleeping. How did it escape? Whatever. Shit happened. She followed a wooden sign pointing towards Area 1.

The dense trees reminded Leaf of Viridian Forest, except more sunlight was able to penetrate through the leaves. How long ago was Viridian Forest? A month? So much had happened since then that Leaf felt like she'd been on the road for at least a year.

Leaf heard a rustle nearby. She turned and saw a fuzzy purple ball waddle out of a bush. It had large, red compound eyes, a pink mouth with two teeth sticking out, white antennae, and stubby forepaws and feet. The Pokedex called this Pokemon Venonat.

Before Leaf could react, the Venonat squeaked and leaped back into the bush. Leaf stepped towards it, stopping when she noticed a purple powder. She didn't know exactly what it was, but it reminded her of Ivysaur's Sleep Powder. Best stay away.

She roamed through the rest of Area 1, climbing up hills and jumping over ledges. She passed by a pond, almost capturing a round, blue tadpole with a black spiral on its white belly. It was called Poliwag. It escaped from the Safari Ball, shooting water from its pink lips before diving underwater. In Area 2, which had a similar layout to Area 1, Leaf placed some bait by a tree, attracting Paras' evolution, Parasect. Parasect looked like an orange crab with a giant red mushroom for a shell. As it nibbled on the bait, Leaf threw a Safari Ball at it. To her chagrin, the Parasect escaped, finished the rest of the bait, and scurried off. By the time Leaf reached Area 3, she'd lost nearly all hope of leaving the Safari Zone with new Pokemon.

Area 3 had some trees, but it was more of a plain, which Leaf appreciated. She'd been starting to feel suffocated in the thick forest. There were some Pokemon––Nidoran, Rattata, Pidgey, and Psyduck––relaxing by a watering hole. In the distance, Leaf spotted a herd of kangaroo-like Pokemon. It took her a moment to remember where she'd seen them before. She shoved Giovanni's face out of her head. As frustrating as this day was becoming, this was supposed to be a break from everything.

Something fast moved in the corner of Leaf's eye. Turning towards it, she saw yet another strange Pokemon. It was a brown two-headed bird. Their long, black necks connected the heads to a round body and ostrich-like legs. The Pokedex barely registered it as Doduo before it took off again, swift as lightning. Leaf's gaze tried to follow it, but soon landed on a herd of ten grazing brown bulls.

Leaf crouched down behind a large boulder and peeked over it. The bulls had a dark mane around their necks, three gray bumps running down their foreheads, three tails, and sharp, curved horns. Tauros was the name of these bulls.

At first, Leaf considered leaving the Tauros alone. The Pokedex warned Leaf that they were short-tempered and violent. But she was decently far from them and had this boulder shielding her. Worst case scenario, she'd send out Ivysaur to protect her. Leaf stood, aimed a Safari Ball at the nearest Tauros, and threw as hard as she could.

The Tauros groaned in surprise as the Safari Ball smacked its behind. A few of its friends looked up curiously as the ball shook. Leaf lowered herself so that only her head was above the boulder and crossed her fingers.

The Safari Ball burst open after the second shake. The Tauros turned, blinking in confusion. As soon as its triangular eyes met Leaf's, she knew she'd made a huge mistake.

The Tauros reared and bellowed. Immediately, the other Tauros glanced at Leaf, their eyes full of rage. Leaf got up, turned, and ran.

The sound of all the Tauros stampeding after her was like an earthquake, drowning out her rapidly beating heart. Leaf didn't dare look back and see how close they were, but she knew it wouldn't be long before they caught up and speared her with their horns. Her hand fumbled for Fearow's PokeBall. She could think about where to go once she was safely in the air.

There was a flash of white. Leaf halted and raised a leg to throw over Fearow. Just as quick as her relief came, it disappeared, replaced by a sheer horror Leaf had never experienced before.

Psyduck quacked in fright when he saw the angry Tauros, only seconds away from stomping over them. Leaf would never forget what happened next.

Psyduck's eyes glowed blue. The Tauros abruptly stopped in their tracks as the Confusion took over their bodies. Psyduck instantly reddened from strain. Leaf was just about to send out Fearow when the Tauros, rage returning into their eyes, began to break through the Confusion. Psyduck cried out and suddenly, his entire body lit up. He grew to almost Leaf's height, four spikes extending out of his head, tail elongating. When the light disappeared, Psyduck was now more toned, had webbed hands and feet, and a sharper beak. He was also aqua and had a red gem in the center of his forehead. His red eyes flashed with intelligence.

A rainbow of colors shone in used-to-be-Psyduck's eyes. The Tauros bellowed as all of them were lifted off the ground and thrown several feet away. Used-to-be-Psyduck's eyes returned to normal, though he was still tense, prepared to attack again. The Tauros made no comeback. They clumsily got up and ran in the opposite direction. Used-to-be-Psyduck nodded with satisfaction and turned to Leaf.

Leaf was stunned. She stared blankly at the blue duck in front of her for what felt like a very long time. Once she regained her senses, she hastily fished out the Pokedex.

Golduck. The forelegs are webbed, helping to make it an adept swimmer. It can be seen swimming elegantly in lakes.

The move Golduck just used was called Psychic. It was essentially a more powerful version of Confusion. Leaf glanced at Golduck, then at his entry, then back at him, and began to laugh.

"You truly are special," Leaf said in between giggles. "I guess you finally mastered Confusion."

Golduck quacked and raised his head up proudly. He looked so impressive. Had Leaf been told moments ago what Psyduck would evolve into, she wouldn't have believed it.

Leaf checked her watch. Her time was almost up. She would have to start heading towards a station. Guess I'll be walking out of here with a new Pokemon after all, Leaf thought with a smile. And it was the best Pokemon she could've asked for.

Sooo Psyduck finally evolved! I know Golduck doesn't naturally learn Psychic, but that doesn't really make sense to me since Psyduck naturally learns Confusion. Also never understood why Golduck was never part psychic-type.

A nice thing about this chapter was getting to show a lot more Pokemon. Leaf hasn't been focused on catching 'em all, so this was one way for me to introduce some new 'mons.

The "throw rock" option was removed from the Safari Zone because, if you think about it, it's messed up that would be allowed in the first place. Especially considering some of the Pokemon are like endangered animals.

Thanks for reading!