Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Route 1 stretched out before us.

A long, winding dirt road, roughly wider than the width of a single car, snaked off into the distance over a landscape humped with hills and dotted with forests. A river ran alongside, gurgling over hidden rocks.

It was like something out of a children’s picture book. Pastoral countryside meets semi-tamed wilderness. It was a beautiful day. A perfect day to start a Pokémon journey.

I hated it.

I was sweaty, my neck was already starting to burn, my pack was too heavy, and my new boots were giving me blisters. Ace was having a grand time though. Proudly marching beside me; he took his role as my protector very seriously, regularly growling at his own shadow or sometimes mine.

We frequently encountered wild Pokémon as we trudged along, but they tended to avoid us more often than not. Overhead a flock of Pidgy wheeled, chasing insects and calling to one another, while a Poliwag frolicked in the river, keeping pace with us for a time before diving and disappearing. Groups of Oddish would observe us as we walked by, spewing poisonous spores if we dared get too close.

I was sure I saw a Pikachu at one point, the yellow and brown mouse Pokémon scampering up a tree to hide in the thick leaves.

However, the Pokémon we encountered the most were Spearow, the little pink and brown birds squawking aggressively whenever they saw us, alerting other Pokémon to our presence, or swooping us when we passed under their trees and forcing us to battle.

The difference between wild and trained Pokémon rapidly became clear that first day. Rarely did their attacks employ any kind of strategy beyond all out assault and they were quick to flee once they started to lose. We gained plenty of experience though, and Ace’s skills were improving with all the extra practice.

As we walked, bored and slightly day dreaming, I opened my PokeDex to show the known local Pokemon species, filtered it by primary type and rarity, and considered options for my team.

* Flying-Type - Pidgy - Spearow - Hoothoot

* Normal-Type - Rattatta - Sentret

* Grass-Type - Oddish - Bellsprout

* Bug-Type - Caterpie - Weedle - Wurmple - Ledyba - Spinarak

* Fighting-Type - Mankey

* Poison-Type - Exans - Nidoran

* Ground-Type - Sandshrew - Diglett

* Water-Type - Magikarp - Poliwag - Maril

* Electric-Type - Pikachu - Pichu

Ace was destined to become an Espeon, the psychic type essential in protecting my mind. As an Eevee, he was fairly easy to care for, my League stipend easily covering his food and he only needed daily grooming to keep his fur clean and healthy. Once he evolved he’d need slightly more food, especially as a battler, but not enough to impact our finances.

Between what I had left of my starter funds and the two further months of the League’s stipend, I had plenty of money for one or maybe even two more Pokémon if they weren’t big eaters.

In the games, this is the point where I’d beeline it for Route 22 and a male Nidoran with the intention of having a Nidoking at either level 16 and relying on Thrash or level it to 22 and learn Horn Attack. In the real world, however, that meant tracking down and capturing an aggressive Poison-type, spending extensive time training it to evolve, tracking down a Moon stone and then feeding the behemoth that was Nidoking.

It was doable, but was it the right choice?

And all of that disregarded how evolution worked. Unlike the games, many Pokémon simply never evolved, no matter how much they battled. According to Oak, Pokémon weren’t like humans or animals. Their biology simply shouldn’t function, yet there they were, ignoring the laws of the universe.

The answer was Infinite Energy.

Pokémon weren’t born so much as they were created. A condensing of Infinite Energy by two or more parent Pokémon that formed into a protective shell, while inside, a new monster grew. Once it hatched, the baby Pokémon was as much energy as it was flesh and blood, and it was this energy that granted them both their insane regeneration and hyper-adaptability.

Over time, driven by the need to grow stronger that all Pokémon shared, the expenditure and recharging of Infinite Energy increased their capacity until their body reached a point where it simply couldn’t contain any more.

At that point, the Pokémon either plateaued or was forced to evolve into a form capable of storing ever greater amounts of energy.

But evolution came with risks of its own. Not all Pokémon were strong enough to survive the tremendous stress of transforming their entire body, and many Pokémon died during the process.

Evolution stones were especially dangerous as they forced a Pokémon to evolve whether it was ready or not, the extra energy from the stone rarely enough to see the evolution all the way through on its own.

The only known exception to this was Eevee, which could not only evolve into multiple forms, but so long as it was mature and healthy, rarely suffered any negative side effects from a stone evolution.

All of that meant that while Nidoking wasn’t off the table, it was probably not going to be feasible right now.

Another option was a bird. Starting small, they would be easy to feed and train, and once fully evolved granted the ability to ride, greatly reducing travel time and expense in exchange for increased feeding and care costs. A flying-type would also add options to our team when it came to battles. There was a reason that so many people went out of their way to capture a flying Pokémon.

Route 1 was full of Pidgey and Spearow, the odd Pidgetto about as well. They would also be much safer to capture than the venomous Nidoran. Pidgey would be easier to capture, and easier to train, but Pidgey were notoriously weak until their final evolution, while Spearow managed to keep up with Pidgetto and surpassed Pidgeot once they became Fearow.

I could also wait till nightfall and try to capture a Hoothoot. While both Hoothoot and its evolution Noctowl were Normal/Flying types, their access to Psychic abilities would add a powerful toolkit to our team and double for mind coverage. Unfortunately, nocturnal Pokemon were difficult to use during the day.

Regardless, capturing a Route 1 bird just didn’t sit right with me. It was so cliche. Everyone did it. It was the same reason I wasn’t seriously considering Rattata or Sentret.

Despite my encounter with the feral, everything I’d learned since agreed that Rattata were quite docile once captured and easily trained. Much like Pidgey though, their power quickly plateaued and they struggled hard to keep pace with stronger species.The same went for Sentret. As a child I had adored the rotund little rodent and its sleek evolution Furret. And while it offered great speed, its power simply plateaued too early.

The places I had to traverse would be far more dangerous than any Route. I couldn’t afford to carry weak Pokémon, no matter how cute they were.

Thankfully, Pokémon weren’t limited to specific Routes or dungeons like in the games, and the Pokémon I could potentially find between here and Viridian City included Oddish and Bellsprout, Poliwag and Maril, Pikachu and its baby-stage Pichu, Ekans, Nidoran, Ledyba, Spinarak, Caterpie and Weedle, as well as a handful of others that I disregarded as too rare to waste time tracking down, like Shinx or Electrike.

Bug-types were immediately out. While they grew rapidly, with a few exceptions such as Heracross or Scizzor, they just wouldn’t be strong enough to protect me.

Pikachu, despite its fame back home as the franchise mascot, was a relatively weak Pokémon until it evolved, and even then Raichu struggled to compete with other electric types like Luxray, Electrowire or Ampharos.

Ekans were common enough. Anywhere you found bird Pokémon, you found Exans. A solid Poison-type, its ability to pin down and poison an opponent could be lethal. Unfortunately, it had one major downside - feeding. Once an Ekans ate, it would need to sleep off the meal for several days. It also preferred live prey.

Still, if I couldn’t have a Nidoran, it wasn’t a terrible choice.

Or, it wouldn’t have been, if Oddish wasn’t an option. Common in any long grass and docile enough that they were easily caught and trained, while still packing enough stun, poison and sleep spores to be deadly. As a plant, they also lived mostly on water and nutrients absorbed through the ground, so feeding costs were minimal. As a utility type, they really couldn’t be beat. Plus they’d be invaluable against the Pewter and Cerulean gyms.

The only problem was, I couldn’t seem to catch one.

"Ace, Quick Attack!"

Ace dashed at the Oddish, strands of white Normal-type energy blurring around him, and smashed into the Oddish.

Wounded, the Oddish spewed forth a cloud of orange spores from the top of its leaf covered head that drifted down, surrounding the Eevee.

"Distance!" I called. "Get away from the spores!"

Ace tried to listen, turning away from the Oddish to escape but it was already too late. Ace’s muscles locked up as the paralytic spores did their job and, his legs unable to move, he face-planted instead.

Seizing the opportunity, the wild Oddish wound back its leg and launched a kick into Ace’s stomach.

"Oh, come on!" I shouted. "Oddish can’t even use Pound!"

Ignoring me, the purple plant monster continued kicking the shit out of my paralyzed Pokémon.

"Ace, return!" I said, holding out his black and gold Luxury Ball.

A red beam of light shot out from the ball and struck the Eevee, converting his matter to energy and sucking him into the ball.

Another aspect of a Pokémon’s makeup being part Infinite Energy meant that they could also be forced to revert back to that state and placed into stasis within a capsule.

I’d been disappointed at first to learn that Pokémon weren’t entirely conscious while in their Pokeballs, but the stasis effect effectively freezing an injured Pokémon until it could be healed was a nice trade off. Weirdly, they were still aware of time passing and still grew hungry while in the state. Penny had described it as a kind of dream-like state.

The Oddish mocked me with a waddling dance, before skipping back off into the long grass.

Disappointed and frustrated with our lack of success, I trudged back to the road and set down my pack to dig out a Potion bottle and a Paralyze heal. Releasing Ace, I gave him a quick spritz of both and patted his head.

"You did your best, bud," I praised him. "We’ll win the next one."

Ace chirped happily, seemingly unbothered by his defeat at the feet of a walking vegetable. Shrugging my pack back on, we continued on our way.

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Maybe a Poliwag instead? Or a maril?

We’d been walking (I walked, Ace rode on my shoulder) for almost five hours when I was surprised to see the tops of houses come into view. It was much too soon to have reached Viridian City. Despite it being such a short route in-game, the actual trip took anywhere between two and three days depending on how much one stopped to train.

Or chase Oddish.

Oh man, please don’t tell me I got turned around and we’re back at Pallet.

To my relief we hadn’t returned to Pallet Town, but had instead reached a small farming village built of sturdy stone blocks and slate red roofs, surrounded by fenced fields of Tauros and Miltank. I’d been vaguely aware that there were farms outside the boundaries of Pallet Town but I hadn’t realized they’d be on Route 1, though now that I thought about it, I suppose that the farms were likely the reason the Route existed.

‘Green Meadows’, a sign post read as I entered the village.

"Good morning, miss," a flannel wearing guy barely a few years older than me called in a country drawl, tipping back his wide brimmed hat as I made my way into the small town square. A few other locals glanced our way as they went about their business. "You up from Pallet Town?"

"Uh, hi," I said. He was sitting up on a stack of hay bales and I had to crane my neck to look up at him. "I came from Pallet. But I’m on my way to Viridian."

"You got a Pokémon with you there," he said, inclining his head towards Ace riding on my shoulder.

"I do," I said, perhaps a bit more curtly than I’d intended.

I had no idea where this conversation was going and frankly, I was getting a little annoyed. I’d been walking since sunrise and I was tired and hungry.

"He a battler?" he asked.

"He is," I confirmed. "You challenging us?"

"Naw, my Growlithe’s a herder, not a battler," he said, dropping down from the hay bales with an off. Walking up to me he leaned in and peered at my face. “Shiet, you’re one tough looking somabich.”

“Excuse me?” I said, shocked. The long sleeves and pants I wore against the sun covered most of my tattoos, with only a few small ones showing on my neck. Were piercings really that uncommon in this world? I know I’d seen women with their ears pierced working at the lab and about Pallet Town.

"Name’s Johnny. Got a small problem,” he said, ignoring me. “I reckon you just might be able to help me out, iffin you’re interested."

Huh. Was this yokel offering me a quest? Like, a real life side quest?

Holy shit! It is a side quest! My first ever side quest!

"Alright,” I said. “You’re on.”

—

Her full name was Delila, but she’d insisted I call her Deli after Johnny had introduced us. Apparently she’d asked him to fetch the local Rangers when they passed through town later today and had been quite put out when she saw me coming her way. Even more so when she learned I was only a beginner trainer.

After Johnny convinced her I wasn’t some roving bandit come to rob her, Deli had explained that one of her Mareep had been born with a rare genetic mutation that gave it black wool. She was quick to clarify that this didn’t change the Mareep’s type or hamper its electricity generation but, for some reason, the rest of the herd had ostracised the lamb - and not in a particularly gentle manner.

As a Pokémon rather than a regular sheep, the black Mareep had survived just fine on its own, but the isolation had made it aggressive and it would regularly attack any one, human or Pokémon, that tried to approach. Now it was nearing adulthood, and it was beginning to pose a real danger to the rest of Deli’s flock. She’d sent her Growlithe to weaken it so she could capture it, but it had bested the puppy Pokemon easily.

In hindsight, accepting was stupid. Risking my only Pokémon to fight some pissed off electric sheep wasn’t something I’d normally be keen for. And for any other Pokémon, I’d probably have told her to call the Rangers.

Mareep wasn’t even the best electric type around. Not by a long shot. In its first stage, it was roughly on par with Pikachu and easily overpowered by the likes of Shinx or Electrike. But unless I wanted to travel to Sinnoh or Hoenn, both of those were rare enough in Kanto I could spend weeks searching and find no trace.

Mareep wasn't my goal though. I had my eye on its third and final stage, Ampharos. A pure Electric-type with Dragon-type qualities, Ampharos was a powerful special attacker that would give any wild Pokémon second thoughts before tangling with us. But more importantly, Ampharos was capable of Mega Evolution.

The downside was that the Mareep line wasn't known for the fighting spirit a battler needed. Even after it became Ampharos. Too long as livestock had simply dulled their taste for battle and wild Mareep were rare due to their skittish nature. But here was a Mareep that had refound that fighting spirit. All I had to do was beat it and capture it.

Following Deli, we quickly made our way through the village and out to her farm. Unlike John who apparently managed an entire ranch of various livestock Pokémon, Deli’s farm was a modest affair dedicated to her small flock of Mareep, a coop of Pidgey and a single Miltank.

Very cottagecore.

Deli’s flock turned out to be quite tame and eagerly flocked about us when we entered their paddock. Livestock, or farm Pokémon, were somewhere in between wild Pokémon and what was commonly referred to as domestic Pokémon like you would find in a home or working in a store. Rarely were they kept in Pokeballs, and their desire for battle was very deliberately bred out of them over generations. But you still had to keep your guard up around them.

An aging Growlithe wearing a spiked collar wandered over to us and gave Ace a good sniffing.

"Buster is a good Growlithe," Deli said to me, bending down to scratch the black and orange dog Pokémon behind the ears. "He keeps the flock safe, but he's not as fast as he used to be. He just wasn’t able to dodge enough Thunder Shock."

I nodded and offered my hand to Buster to sniff, like I had learned to do for dogs back home. The aging Growlithe seemed to approve of me, giving the back of my hand a lick, so I took my turn scratching his head.

That spiked collar offers some interesting possibilities if it’s battle legal.

"I was thinking Buster and your Eevee could team up against Sooty," Deli suggested.

Sooty? Yeah, I'm changing that.

I straightened and shook my head.

"Ace hasn't practiced fighting as part of a team yet," I said. "I don't want to risk any friendly fire."

"Are you sure? Sooty’s awfully strong," Johnny warned.

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for," I said.

At the bottom of the paddock, where the fence line bordered the woods beyond, Sooty waited. Like all other members of its species, the Mareeps face, feet and any other skin showing beneath its wool was a dark blue while its horns and tail were stripped black and yellow like a bee, an orange orb at the tip of its tail.

Unlike other Mareep who had a creamy, sometimes yellowish wool, Sooty’s was as black as its namesake. Personally, I thought he was super cute. Like a little storm cloud.

"Listen up, Sooty," I called out to the Pokémon, pointing a classic red and white Pokeball at it. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Sooty’s answer came in the form of a Thunder Shock hurled directly at my feet.

"Hard way it is then. Ace, Growl!"

Ace leapt from my shoulder to the ground, dropped into his favourite head down, ass up pose and let loose a Growl that surprised even me with its ferocity. For a moment, Sooty looked like it was considering bolting before it found its spine and used a Growl of its own.

Ace started. He wasn't used to other Pokémon standing up to him like that yet.

"Don't let it unnerve you, Ace! Hit it with a Tackle!"

Ace yipped his understanding and charged towards the black wooled Mareep. Sooty wasn't going to just let him land a blow though. Beneath its wool, sparks began to flash, growing in intensity every second.

"It's using Charge! Watch out!"

Ace broke off his attack at the last moment, dodging right of the Mareep and narrowly avoiding a powered up Thunder Shock.

"Tackle now!"

Ace threw himself into Sooty’s side, landing a perfect Tackle. Sooty screamed and I swear I heard ribs break from across the field.

At this point, most untrained Pokémon would try to break off and escape rather than risk further damage. After all, a broken leg in the wild can mean the difference between escaping a predator or becoming lunch. Sooty was not a wild Pokémon though. He was a feral.

Feral was the name given to a Pokémon that displayed abnormal levels of aggression, usually resulting in Rangers being called in to hunt the Pokémon down and euthanize it. Sooty lived up to the title. Baring its wide, flat teeth, the Mareep used Growl again, causing Ace to freeze for an instant. But an instant was all it needed as it dropped its head and charged at the Eevee with a Tackle of its own.

"Distance!" I shouted, but it was too late.

Sooty’s hard head slammed into Ace with a makeshift Headbutt, knocking him to the ground with a pained shriek.

I cursed and reached for Ace's Luxury Ball to return him, but the brave little Eevee pushed himself back to his feet and faced Sooty once more. He was shaky, but Ace was still in this fight.

"Growl then Quick Attack!"

Ace dropped into his Growl pose once more and growled with all his might. Sooty’s eyes went wide, the sheep Pokémon seriously second guessing its choice to not flee when it had the chance.

With his opponent frozen with indecision, Ace burst into motion, streams of white Normal-type energy coming off his body like steam. The little Eevee flashed across the field faster than I could follow and slammed into Sooty, returning the Headbutt.

With a strangled cry, the Mareep collapsed, unconscious, Ace following suit a moment later.

Returning Ace, I placed his ball back on my belt and grabbed the empty red and white Pokeball I had purchased back in Pallet Town. I thumbed the button on the front and threw the ball in an arc that sailed through the air before hitting the knocked out Mareep with a thunk. There was a flash of red light and the ball fell to the grass, twitching. Once, twice. Click.

I walked over to the ball and picked it up. Elation filled me, making me giddy and a little light headed.

I captured a Pokémon!

"That was amazing!" called Deli, her and Johnny making their way across the paddock towards me. "Your Eevee is so strong!"

Though I knew Sooty had only been a low level Mareep, I still preened at the compliment.

"What are you going to do with her?" asked Deli as she reached me.

Her? Well that answered one question.

"I'm planning to make her part of my team," I said.

"You're going to try to break in a feral?" John gasped, his eyes going wide. Beside him, Deli covered her mouth in surprise.

"I don't think she was really a feral," I replied. "I think she was hurt at being abandoned and she lashed out."

Checking both my Pokémon were secure on my belt, I started walking back to the village and the tiny Pokémon clinic there, not caring if they followed.

"I hadn’t considered that," Deli said at last, following me after all. "For someone so scary looking, you’ve got a big heart, Miss Chloe. Maybe I should have tried to help her more after the flock kicked her out."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Johnny told her. "You've got an entire farm to take care of."

Silently though, I thought Deli had failed as a Pokémon rancher. Outcast or not, a black Mareep would surely have fetched a good price just for the rarity.

To not see that?

Well, at least she was pretty.

—

After a brief visit to the tiny clinic that served the village’s Pokémon population, we were back on the road, Green Meadows rapidly disappearing behind us. At my side, Ace happily pranced along, celebrating his victory over Mareep.

The regenerative abilities of a Pokémon never ceased to amaze me. An hour under an Infinite Energy machine while I had that lunch Johnny owed me, followed by a lunch of his own, and the little Eevee was back to fighting fit.

I’d also healed our newest team member, though I had no intention of letting her out any time soon. First I had to reach Viridian City and properly research taming a feral Pokémon.

Then there was my main goal for reaching Viridian City.

Oak had explained the laws to me shortly after I’d declared my intention to become a Pokémon trainer, but it all basically boiled down to owning Pokémon being illegal if you didn’t have a trainer licence. Which I currently didn’t despite the two PokeBalls at my side.

Luckily, there was a loop hole.

Any new trainers from a town without a Gym were able to apply for a six week exemption starting from the time they received their first Pokémon, allowing them time so that they could travel to the closest Pokémon Gym and register with the League. Thankfully, Ace had been Oak’s Pokemon while we trained at the lab, only becoming mine once I captured him in his Luxury ball.

The rest of our time on Route 1 was pretty uneventful, I’m sorry to say. We continued to be harassed by Spearow and the odd Pidgey, while I continued to fail in my attempts to capture an Oddish.

That first night on the road we spent in a barn after we helped an old woman milk her Miltank while her husband was away buying supplies in Pallet Town, an experience I’m not eager to repeat if I don’t have to.

The second night we stayed at a Ranger rest stop for a small fee. Chatting with the single Ranger stationed there had been interesting, but exhausted after two days of walking and battling, we retired early.

The third night of our journey we spent in Viridian City.