Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

The three months I’d agreed to with Oak were some of the slowest months of my life.

My days began each morning with exercise with Penny, learning to stretch so I didn’t hurt myself and running the length of Pallet Town and back to build stamina and increase my overall fitness level. After that I helped Oak’s other aids to take care of the Pokémon that called the ranch home until noon, feeding them breakfast, making sure they were comfortable, patrolling the ranch grounds and gathering up any that needed to be transferred to their trainers.

After lunch I attended lessons with Oak or Penny, or sometimes one of the lab aides, learning everything from history and geography, the different societies that made up the planet's regions and the people that lived in them, to how the government and economies worked. The complicated relationship between the Pokemon League and the regional civilian governments could have consumed the entire three months alone.

After dinner, my evenings were consumed with making my way through the monster pile of books I’d been given to read, or researching online. Though I chaffed to be on my way, I had to admit Oak had been right to make me wait. This was not the world I knew from countless Saturday mornings in front of the television.

The first and most important thing my teachers tried to instill in me was that Pokémon, no matter the species, domestic or wild, were extremely dangerous and should never, ever, be underestimated. Even the common species like Pidgy, Spearow, Rattata, Sentret and so on, that lived in and around human settlements, could easily kill the unprepared traveller with their moves.

Then there were the Pokemon like Poochyena, Luxio, Elecktrike and Houndour. Hunters that always travelled in packs led by an alpha, usually one of their final evolutions, and regularly targeted humans. These kinds of Pokemon were why the city militias and Pokemon Rangers existed, and why a trainer had to be constantly vigilant on route and off.

Worse even then the pack Pokemon were the Ghost- and Dark-types. While some were little more than pranksters, many were malevolent creatures that fed on human misery and human flesh. I’d slept with the light on more than once after reading stories of Bannette haunting people’s homes, Litwick siphoning the life from people or the one that had bothered me the most, a woman begging for help online after a Gengar stole her son, only for her to stop replying to messages after ignoring the advice of other posters and going after the Ghost Pokemon.

Unlike the fictional Pokémon world I knew, in reality people and Pokémon were at odds far more often than not and human civilization existed at the mercy of Pokémon, with large, manned walls around most cities to keep the wilds out.

It also surprised me to learn that, while the League actively encouraged as many people as possible to become Pokemon trainers and hone their skills in the Gym circuit, few obtained all eight badges, instead most only ever aimed for two or three before returning to their hometowns to join the local Militia or Rangers branch, or becoming a Gym trainer.

I was less surprised when I learned that raising Pokémon was not only extremely dangerous but also expensive. Between feeding, caring and training; raising Pokémon was a full-time job, and most people just don’t have the means to take on a full team - severely limiting their progress in the Gym circuit.

Pokémon also became more difficult to raise as they evolved, both growing larger and requiring more food, as well as becoming much more difficult to control, with it not unheard of for a new evolved ‘mon to turn on its trainer and devour them.

Travel between cities was also nothing like it is in the games. Most travel in Kanto was undertaken via a ferry network that linked all the major cities except Pewter, Cerulean and Lavender. Even Pallet was on the ferry routes. The land routes, while regularly patrolled by Rangers, were almost solely the providence of trainers, Pokémon hunters and the foolish. But all the books agreed. If you wanted to grow strong, you went by land.

Lastly, I learned how to properly care for my own Pokémon.

My Pokémon. I still can’t quite believe it. I have my own Pokémon.

Ace had grown in leaps and bounds since we’d met a month earlier and was nearly considered an adult by Pokémon standards. One of Oak’s aids, a charismatic guy named Barry, was a former Pokémon breeder and had graciously spent a day teaching me how to groom his soft fur and keep him healthy. He goes a little crazy now whenever he sees the brush come out.

When he wasn’t devouring any food he could get his greedy little paws on or begging for another brush down, he spent most of his time curled up in my lap while I read or eagerly listened when Oak gave a lesson. Oak assured me he was still too young to understand human speech, and that few non-Psychic Pokémon truly ever do, but I’m not convinced.

Heeding Oak’s advice, I hadn’t used the PokeBall I’d purchased for him yet, instead spending as much time as possible with him by my side in order to encourage his evolution into Espeon. While Oak had seemed certain that “friendship” was not a real metric that could influence a Pokemon’s evolution, he did confirm that evolutions such as Espeon or Sylveon did have some yet undefined correlation with time spent outside their ball and in their trainer’s company.

Then came the training.

Unlike the games, where you simply select a move from a list, in reality it’s a whole process of teaching moves and commands to a Pokémon. While Pokémon innately know moves and how to use them, linking that action to human words was a lot like training a dog. A really smart dog. That can shoot laser beams or breath fire. Luckily for us, Oak had an entire training grounds behind the lab to take advantage of.

So far we’ve got Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip and Sand Attack down, and we’re working on Covet and Quick Attack. Ace really liked practising Covet.

Tail Whip, Growl and Sand Attack were interesting moves. Unlike in the games where they affected stats like speed, attack or accuracy, here they were more situational moves.

Sand Attack was obvious. Ace would kick sand in an opponents face, blinding them and effectively lowering their accuracy. But it could also be used to interrupt an opponent’s attack if used at the right moment.

Tail Whip was similar. In the games it lowered defence, but it was never clear how. In practice, the intention was more akin to tripping an opponent with your tail, leaving them open to an attack. Again, it was a move that had to be used at the right moment.

Growl was the move that was most like the games. Your Pokémon growled and it intimidated your opponent into being less keen on attacking you, thus lowering its attack stat. Like Sand Attack though, it could sometimes be used to interrupt an opponent’s moves.

After studying and training, Ace liked to watch television. Mostly cartoons with the odd televised battle thrown in, curling up in my lap while I brushed him or scratch him behind the ears, watching the animated characters cavort about the screen.

---

“Ace, Growl!"

"Get in close and use Pound, Cleo!"

Penny’s Clefairy dashed forward, trying to close the distance between them while Ace dropped his head down and stuck his tails up to make himself look bigger and let out a menacing growl.

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The growl spooked Clefairy, causing it to hesitate before it struck, weakening the blow.

"Again, Cleo!" Penny shouted, "Keep it up!"

"Tail Whip!" I called.

Clefairy’s arm rose up to smack Ace again, but he quickly twisted, whipping out his tail to trip Clefairy.

Clefairy stumbled but managed to keep its balance. It didn’t matter. We’d interrupted the attack.

"Ace, distance!"

"Don't let him escape, Cleo! Draining Kiss!"

Eventually, Ace and I would form a strong enough bond that we would be better able to understand each other, or at least Oak claimed. But for now, we needed to stick to simple commands. While Penny could command her Clefairy to chase or repeat a move, I had to use commands like ‘Distance’ to communicate what I wanted to the Eevee kit.

Ace dashed away from melee range, Clefairy right behind him.

"Don't let him get away, Cleo! Grab him!"

I was thankful Penny was only using a low-level Pokémon roughly the same strength as Ace. If her Clefairy knew any of its stronger moves like Moonblast, we would have been cooked.

Following Penny’s command, Clefairy lunged to grab Ace by the tail.

"Ace, Sand Attack!" I shouted.

Instantly, Ace spun on the spot, his paws throwing up dirt and grit in a wave before him and into Clefairy’s face at point blank range.

"Eeeeee," screeched Clefairy, desperately rubbing its eyes.

"Ace, Tackle!"

As a low level, normal-type, physical move, Tackle wasn’t anything to write home about, but unlike special attacks, there was no charge up - just four and a half kilos of angry little fluffball cannonballing into Clefairy’s stomach.

There was a moment of silence before anyone said anything.

"Cleo, return," Penny said at last, a red beam of light recalling the downed pink Pokémon to its Pokeball. "Well fought, Chloe."

"Thanks," I said, walking across the field and picking up Ace with a grin. "We've been training hard to get ready."

It had been a long three months but Penny and Oak had both admitted I was ready after battling me.

Oak had handedly wiped the floor with us, even using a low level Pokémon. But Penny was more our speed, having focused on research over battling.

"I wish you would reconsider," Oak said to me as I made my way off the battlefield. "Even just another month. I still have so much to teach you."

"And one more month turns into one more month and before I know it, a year has passed," I said. We'd had this argument a dozen times in the past week. "Children set off on their journeys every day. I think I can look after myself better than a child."

"The Youngster Initiative was deemed a catastrophic failure and banned by every city in the Indigo League," Oak countered. "And that was before my time even."

"An 89% casualty rate," Penny added.

"And like I said, I'm not a child," I repeated.

"Very well," Oak relented. "If I can’t talk you around, then I guess it’s time."

Queenie exited the house and made her way towards us, a small gift wrapped box floating in the air above her.

Oak thanked the Espeon and took the box from her, then turned back to me.

"Starting your Pokémon journey is an important milestone in anyone’s life," Oak said. "For you, Chloe, I believe it will be even more important."

He handed me the box.

"Oak, man, you really didn’t have to get me anything," I said, embarrassed.

When he didn’t withdraw it, I took the box and opened it. Inside was a black and gold ball.

"I haven’t kept much from my days as Blue," Oak explained. "But I held on to this. I’d always hoped to give it to Eilo someday."

"Oh, Gary," Penny whispered, covering her mouth.

"I can’t accept this," I said, pushing the box back into Oak’s hands.

Oak shook his head and pushed the box back towards me.

"It’s time I accept that Eilo is gone," he said. "Please, Chloe."

I sighed and tried to look anywhere except in his eyes.

"Fine!" I said. "Thank you.”

"Excellent!" Oak clapped his hands together, dispelling the dour mood.

He reached into the box and plucked out the ball from where it nestled in a bed of soft foam.

"This is the PokeBall that gramps gave my starter to me in," he explained. "I hope it will serve you and Ace as well as it did Blacky and I."

"Hold up, I thought Queenie was your starter," I said.

Oak shook his head and gazed at the Espeon curled up at his feet.

I will freely admit I am not the best at reading other people, but even I could tell there was a deep connection between the pair.

"Queenie was a gift from a dear friend," Oak said.

He cleared his throat and managed to look slightly embarrassed.

“We have one more surprise,” he said. “Open your ID app.”

Curious, I took my PokeDex from my pocket and selected the app that would display my official Indigo Pokemon League identification.

I'd felt like the biggest idiot, after almost a month of owning one, I'd learned that Pokedexes were effectively this world's smartphones. Not only did they scan and analyse Pokémon, they also made calls, sent text messages and emails, had a camera built in, could access the PokeNet, and they had access to a library of useful and not so useful applications.

Oak's aide Penny had literally handed me one to watch a video back in Pallet Town and I hadn't realised what it was, mistaking it for a smartphone.

Meanwhile, I'd left mine at the bottom of my pack ready for when I'd set out, not expecting to need it till I had more Pokémon to manage, no idea it was so useful.

"Wait a minute," I said, reading through the info listed. "Field Researcher?"

"Thank Penny," Oak said. "It was her idea."

"The Professor and I were talking," Penny explained. "The places you intend to visit, the people you want to meet with. They’re not going to just let any old trainer in. But a field researcher of the esteemed Professor Oak?"

"It’s not entirely without strings, of course," Oak added. "You will need to submit regular reports back about your journey, your Pokémon and yourself, and I can’t offer you any extra funds unfortunately."

"Didn’t I already have to do that as part of my agreement with the League?" I asked.

Oak just winked at me.

"So what do you say?" he asked.

From my time spent studying, I knew Penny was right, Oak’s name would open more doors than I could alone.

"Okay," I said, sticking my hand out. "You’ve got a deal."

"Excellent!" Oak said. He grabbed my hand and shook it, grinning at me.

Once he let go of my hand, I took the ball from the box and knelt down beside Ace.

"Ace," I started. He cocked his head and locked eyes with me. "Where I am going, the people I am seeking, it’s going to be dangerous. Like, really dangerous. We might not ever come back here. Do you understand?"

Ace chirruped and placed his front left paw on my leg.

"I want to give you this chance to back out," I said to Ace. "You can stay here and have a happy life with the Professor and your mum."

Standing, Ace pressed his face against the black and gold ball Luxury ball. There was a flash of red light and he vanished inside with a click.

"Congratulations, Chloe," Oak said. "You’ve captured your first Pokémon."