– Chapter 9 –
The Veteran Trainer
A hard boot in Roy’s side gave him a rude awakening the next morning. “Ow. What the…”
“Up,” Sakuji said. “We need to get moving while the Beedrill are still inactive.”
Roy rubbed the sand from his eyes, and the sudden smell of breakfast brought Roy’s ravenous hunger to his attention. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon, and that chase had left him parched and famished. A plate of scrambled eggs coupled with a bowl of nuts and fruit, along with a glass of fresh spring water. Despite his craving to scarf the meal down, the invisible weighty force of tiredness attempting to drag him to the floor and go back to sleep was almost as strong. Roy checked his phone through heavy eyelids while Sakuji made clattering noises putting the dishes away.
5:00am.
“Are you shitting me?” Roy mumbled. He sat up to eat, and his heart skipped a beat at the immediate notice of something missing. “Where’s Ponyta?” He’d fallen asleep beside her, but all that lay there now was her empty Poké Ball.
“Outside.”
Roy straightened his neck to peer out the window and found her grazing peacefully on the grass. Her color had returned, the puncture from her wound healed over. Putting breakfast on hold, Roy breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out into the foggy morning to check on her first.
“Hey, girl.” She trotted up to him and he knelt to pet her neck, the warmth of her blue flame licking his fingers as she nuzzled her forehead to his. “Looks like Sakuji’s medicine worked wonders. How you feeling?”
She gave an energetic neigh.
“You did fantastic yesterday. Sorry for putting you through all that. Don’t worry, we’ll be out of this pesthole soon.” Roy took out her Poké Ball and returned her before heading inside to scarf the breakfast Sakuji had prepared.
By the time Roy swallowed his last carnivore-sized bite, Sakuji waited by the door, drumming his fingers on folded arms. He’d decked himself out in a muddy brown army jacket and pants with a safari hat like the ones Roy’d seen on the other bug catcher Trainers, only Sakuji’s was military quality and had experienced more action than all the others combined. Over his shoulders, he’d strapped a hiking pack that must’ve been as heavy as Roy, but he carried it like it weighed less than a fanny pack. “Hurry up. We can’t dilly dally around if we want to reach the main road before the Beedrill wake.”
Roy left his dishes on the kitchen counter then packed what little he’d gotten out, and they were out the door five minutes later. He covered a deep yawn as he followed Sakuji through the gray morning, keeping close to avoid getting lost again. His legs were still sore from all the recent hiking, and Roy could hardly see a distorted thing in this soup. He tripped over a branch and fell face first through a web of String Shot left by some Caterpie or Weedle.
“Gah! You don’t have anything that knows Defog, do you?” Roy said, noticing the trio of Poké Balls on Sakuji’s belt.
“If this fog is too thick for you, give up being a Trainer. Now keep up or get left behind.”
Roy clawed at his face to peel the gooey webbing off his skin and wiped his hands on the muddy, damp grass that left his jeans wet before pushing himself to his feet and hustling in a temper to catch up. His father’s journal entries had mentioned Viridian Forest being a tough hike, but Roy hadn’t prepared for this shit. Sakuji checked back only occasionally as he cleared every hurdle the forest threw at them, leaping over gullies without a second thought, climbing steep slopes with ease, and even swinging across a chasm on a vine at one point. All feats Roy struggled to imitate, earning a chastising from Sakuji that these would be the least of obstacles he’d have to cross to make it as even a mediocre Trainer.
They passed a few small Beedrill hordes–none of them numbering over ten–but as Sakuji said, they hadn’t awakened yet, resting in the trees, quiet and motionless. Roy tiptoed past them to avoid rustling the grass as much as possible, keeping a hand on Squirtle’s ball should the need arise.
With a final hike up a steep hill that left Roy panting on his knees, they at last found themselves on the main path. While Roy swallowed half his water bottle down his dry throat and pressed two fingers over the rapid pulse in his neck, Sakuji remained on his feet, barely winded.
“I hope that’s not the strength you plan to bring to the Pewter Gym. Unless it’s your intention to get buried under the landslide that is Brock’s team.”
Still catching his breath, Roy didn’t bother with a retort. He unstuck his sweaty self from the ground and forced himself up, wobbling to stay on his numb legs as the weight of his pack attempted to pull him back down the hill.
They pressed on, and the fog cleared as early rays of dawn seeped through the branches. The buzz of rising Beedrill entered Roy’s ear, sending a jolt of anxiety through him, but they were far outside the range of concern. The path smoothed out and widened to a more intentional manmade route, and when Roy’s breath returned enough to speak, he voiced the question that had been on his mind.
“You know your way around these woods. What brings you to live in a place like this?” New Trainers passed through the main road all the time without incident, but Viridian Forest wasn’t exactly a tourist hotspot to stop and smell the roses, let alone make a home in the deeper areas. One of Kanto’s meanest and most territorial Pokémon, Beedrill attacked anything that so much as breathed within a kilometer of their colony.
“I grew up in a small village located in the jungle you people now call the Safari Zone. I’m more at ease in environments like this.”
“Isn’t that a wildlife preservation? I didn’t know anyone lived there.”
“Not anymore. Not legally at least. But this was before they established the Safari Zone and Sekichiku was a much smaller village.” Before the Safari Zone? Roy had assumed Sakuji was in his forties, but his healthy muscular physique likely disguised his true age. “I got drafted into the war when I was thirty.”
When he was thirty!? Mother of Mew, this man was older than he looked. Seventy-one, to be exact (assuming he was drafted the year war broke out). “The Kantonian Civil War?”
“No, the Diamond and Pearl Clan wars.”
Roy rolled his eyes. Sakuji was nearly as sarcastic as he was. The man was old, not ancient.
“Anyway, the villages from that area were all casualties of the war, so I didn’t have much of a home to return to. And it wasn’t long after, they made it into the Safari Zone to protect the Kangaskhan, Farfetch’d, and other endangered Pokémon. I tried melding in with the more modernized Sekichiku–which, by that point, had been renamed Fuchsia thanks to Unovan influence. But once you’ve seen war, the mundanities of ordinary life are hardly satisfying. The Beedrill here are the closest thing I get to any real excitement anymore. The jungle has always been my home, whether it was the old Sekichiku or where I was stationed in the war.”
Roy followed in silence, head hung low in thought. He supposed he should’ve felt empathy for Sakuji’s story, but hearing of the war only brought up memories of…
“My father fought in the Kantonian Civil War. Did you know–”
“I didn’t exactly have ‘war buddies’, and don’t much remember anyone from those days anyway.”
Roy expected such. Still, he couldn’t help holding on to the hope that someone might tell him stories of his father.
“Doesn’t it get lonely in these woods by yourself?”
“You’re not the only fool who wanders off the path. Someone has to be here to help the lost idiots.”
Roy’s thoughts drifted back to yesterday. If this man had lived here so long, then maybe… “When I was running from the Beedrill hoard, before I came to your place, they chased me off a cliff. I fell at least thirty meters, but before I hit the river, something slowed my fall, almost to a stop. It felt warm, and a pink glow surrounded my body. Like a Psychic move, only… stronger.”
“Hmm. Only Pokémon that can use Psychic moves in these woods are Butterfree and the occasional Venonat or Venomoth, but none of them are strong enough to lift a human. Couldn’t tell you what happened.”
Roy pondered over the next half hour what could’ve saved him. Sakuji had mentioned a strange Pokémon passing through the woods that had agitated the Beedrill and made them more aggressive. Could that have had something to do with it?
“So…” Sakuji said. “The Kantonian Civil War, huh? I thought it was called the Johtonian Revolution.”
Roy had near forgotten it was alternatively named that. He shrugged. “We were taught Civil War. I Guess it depends who you ask.”
More light seeped through as the trees thinned and finally a ray of sun stabbed Roy’s eyes, not from above, but straight ahead. Roy raised a hand to shield his face as he looked up to find the light at the end of the mossy, bug infested tunnel. Struck by a bolt of energy, Roy sprinted past Sakuji and out of the forest, emerging into open fields like a bird freed of its cage. He arched his back, arms wide, stretching beneath the clear sky to bathe in the sun’s warmth as it evaporated his exhaustion. He took in a deep breath of fresh, clean air, free of dust and spores. “Whew! Finally out!”
Roy plopped down on the grass and rubbed his blistering feet. About five kilometers away, Pewter City lay at the base of the hill sloping down from where Roy sat, the site of his first Gym battle.
Sakuji came out of the forest next to stand beside him. “So you plan to attempt the Gym Challenge?”
“Yes. This will be my first step toward earning the chance to take on the Elite Four.”
“Are you prepared to face Brock?”
“I’ve looked into most of the Gym Leaders of Kanto. They don’t use the same team every battle, but each specializes in a type. Brock’s a master of Rock Pokémon.”
“Don’t get cocky just because you have a Squirtle with you. Gym Leaders wouldn’t be Gym Leaders if they weren’t prepared for type disadvantage. And they’re known to keep surprises up their sleeves.”
“You think I’ll lose?”
“I think Brock will crush your novice ass like a pebble between his fingers.”
Roy considered his team and experience, taking the warning to heart rather than as an insult. He’d watched some Gym battles on television and the internet, but it was easy to underestimate as a spectator. True skill could only be understood face to face. Too many Trainers stepped up to the challenge certain beyond a doubt they were better than the Gym Leader because they’d watched all their matches, seen all their tricks, and knew what to expect. Only for them to get crushed in a humiliating defeat. Do you like your words medium rare or well done?
“Then again,” Sakuji added, “I’ve heard rumors of the infamous Shiny Ponyta of Viridian, said to have spat in the faces of even professional Trainers. Fluke or not, the fact you somehow caught it must mean something. And you seem to have some grit and guts to you.” He turned to face Roy. “You have three Pokémon on you?”
“That’s right.”
“So do I. Show me what you’ve got.”
“You mean a battle?”
“Three individual matches. Best two out of three. No wager. If you’re up for it.”
Roy nodded, and the two took their places ten meters apart atop the hill. What should he start with? Sakuji had lived in the jungle his whole life, so Roy should expect Grass and Bug Pokémon, making Ponyta his ace here. No, he should save her for later. Weedle was his weakest, but also the only Pokémon Sakuji didn’t know he had. Perhaps that was his best choice to test the waters until he got a better idea of the veteran’s battle style.
“Go! Weedle!” Roy threw his first ball and the Bug Pokémon emerged, landing on the grassy hill.
“Very well. My choice then…” With a casual underhand toss, Sakuji released the fully evolved version of Roy’s Pokémon.
The Beedrill hovered above, wings droning loud, its three deadly stingers aimed at Roy’s humble little larvae. Shit. So Sakuji didn’t just fight off Beedrill; he trained one. The first Pokémon and already Sakuji was a bigger threat than any of the amateur bug catchers Roy faced yesterday.
“You have the opening move, Roy.”
Best strategy was to get it down on the ground. “Weedle! String Shot!” Weedle spewed a sticky line of webbing from his mouth, but the Beedrill swerved to avoid it effortlessly. “Keep at it!” Weedle continued to fire String Shots, but the Beedrill moved too fast.
“Furry Attack.” At Sakuji’s command, the Beedrill dove to stab with its stinger arms.
“Look out!” But Weedle was too slow, and the attack sent the poor caterpillar tumbling back. Roy gasped at first until he noticed the blunted stingers of Sakuji’s Beedrill. “Quick, Weedle! Poison Sting!”
As the Beedrill came in for another Furry Attack, Weedle pushed with his tail end and launched forward to meet the attack with his own, straightening his body in the air, the stinger on his head aimed forward. But Beedrill’s blew through and sent Weedle crashing to the ground, groaning in pain.
Roy called out for his Pokémon and ran to scoop the tiny creature in his arms as Sakuji recalled his Beedrill. What a pathetic loss of the first round. “You all right, Weedle?”
“Weedle,” he responded in a timid voice.
“Great work out there. You gave it your all.”
“Wee…dle.” The caterpillar closed his eyes and a white light shone from his body, consuming his entire form. Weedle grew in Roy’s arms, skin hardening into a conical shape. When the light died down, Roy held a Kakuna in his arms, a yellow cocoon with slanted black eyes on its dome shaped head.
“He… evolved?”
“Pokémon evolve in many ways, experience being the most common,” Sakuji said. “Often times more is gained from loss than victory. The Weedle and Caterpie lines are both known for growing quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if it evolved into Beedrill before you reach the Pewter Pokémon Center. Though I would advise against battling with it as a Kakuna. Unless your strategy is to stall. Nothing is more boring than a Harden battle.”
Roy returned Kakuna, standing to resume the battle. “Your Beedrill’s stingers are blunted.”
“Most Beedrill Trainers do that. I suggest you do the same when your Kakuna evolves, as they are quite dangerous, even without the venom. Any Pokémon Center will do it, and don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt them. Nothing can be done about the rear stinger, but you can have their venom diluted so it’s not as potent. That’s the most important thing if you want to avoid killing your opponent’s Pokémon. It won’t neutralize it completely, but you don’t want it to. Poison-type moves can still be useful in battle. And don’t worry about Beedrill’s aggressive behavior. Since you raised it from a Weedle, it’ll stay docile after evolving. Now, let’s continue.”
Roy nodded, then readied his next Poké Ball. “Go! Ponyta!” She emerged with a rigorous bray, displaying no signs of her previous injury.
Sakuji threw out his own Poké Ball and released a purple ball of fur with red bug eyes bigger than its own feet. Its tiny hands were too small to be used for anything, and a pair of antenna stuck out of its furry head. It cried out in a high, echoing voice. “Veno! Nat!” It punctuated each half of its name as though it were two words instead of one.
Venonat. Another Bug-Poison type. But Roy had the advantage this time. Both in type and in strength. “Flame Charge!”
Ponyta dashed at the Venonat, blue flames surrounding her body so she looked like a comet streaking across the hill.
“Leech Seed.”
Venonat spat a seed from its mouth. It hit the ground at Ponyta’s feet, bursting apart in a tangle of vines that ensnared Ponyta’s legs, causing her to trip and plow into the grass, the heat of her Flame Charge going out. The vines continued to grow and spread, tangling Ponyta like a net. They tightened around her and sparked. Ponyta cried out as the vines sapped her of strength. The Venonat shouted out its name with renewed power, its body glowing green as it absorbed all the energy Leech Seed drained from Ponyta, steeling her stamina for itself.
“Burn it away, Ponyta!” The foal spat an Ember, burning up the vines holding her. She flared her mane and tail and broke free, rising to her feet and braying in disgraced anger.
“Signal Beam.” Venonat fired a sparkling ray of twisting green and yellow light.
“Ember!” Ponyta’s fiery bullet collided with Venonat’s Signal Beam in a violent explosion. “Now Take Down!” Ponyta charged headfirst through the smoke, catching Venonat by surprise on the other side and ramming her head into its furry body.
“Nat!” it cried as it tumbled backward. It tried to stand, but Ponyta had already rushed forward to tackle it again, following with an Ember in the face.
“Get up! Then Confusion!”
The Venonat rolled to its feet and held out its stubby hands. “Veno! Nat!” Its hands glowed a pinkish purple and that same humming energy surrounded Ponyta, bringing the Pokémon to her knees. She whimpered in pain, shaking her dizzy head and looking around, trying to find her opponent through blurry vision.
“Straight ahead, Ponyta! Fire Spin!” Ponyta raised her head and shot a blue flame that exploded at the Venonat’s feet, carrying the ball of fur up high in a cyclone of cool flames. The burning twister disappeared and Venonat plummeted. Before it impacted with the surface, Ponyta galloped forward in a final Flame Charge and leapt into the air, crashing her flaming body into the Venonat and sending it piling into the earth. Ponyta stuck the landing, braying in proud triumph.
The Venonat rose to its feet but wobbled and danced around like a dizzy drunk, seeing starts. “Ve…no…nat.” It fell forward and didn’t get back up.
Roy punched the air. “Yes!” Ponyta brayed again, sharing in the victory.
“Well done,” Sakuji said as he called back his Venonat. “The score is one to one.” Roy recalled Ponyta, and they each prepared their final Pokémon, throwing them out in unison.
Squirtle landed in front of Roy, and from Sakuji’s Poké Ball came another Bug Pokémon. It stood on short but thick legs. In contrast, its three-clawed arms stretched long and thin from a brown oval-shaped beetle body. It bore multiple teeth in a horizontal mouth and threatened a pair of thorned pincers atop its head.
“A Pinsir,” Roy said. “All right, Squirtle, here’s a tough opponent, but I know you can take it.”
“Squirtle!”
“Rapid Spin!”
Squirtle withdrew into his shell and shot across the grass like a spinning top, aiming for the Pinsir’s gut.
“Vice Grip.”
The Pinsir bent forward and grabbed Squirtle in its pincers, stopping him in his tracks at the last second. It was fast! The Pinsir raised Squirtle up and squeezed.
Tighter.
Tighter.
Shit. At this rate, it might crack Squirtle’s shell.
“Water gun!”
Squirtle poked his head out and sprayed water in the Pinsir’s face, making it flinch back and releasing Squirtle.
“Skull Bash!”
Squirtle landed and tucked his head, charging to ram into the opponent.
“Seismic Toss!” At Sakuji’s command, the Pinsir grabbed Squirtle and, with a spin, threw him down at the earth.
“Quick! Water Gun at the ground!” Squirtle sprayed down and the blast pushed him out of Pinsir’s hold and sent him rocketing into the sky. “Now Rapid Spin!” The turtle withdrew inside his shell and spun at Pinsir, the attack aided by the force of gravity.
“Brick Break, Pinsir!”
Swinging its arm in a karate chop, Pinsir swatted Squirtle out of the air, down into the dirt, plowing a long trench through the grass. Squirtle emerged from his shell, but struggled to keep balance, the power of the Brick Break penetrating to hit Squirtle despite the hard shell.
“Seismic Toss again. Then Submission.”
Pinsir charged forward.
“Water Gun!”
Squirtle tried to focus his attention, but Pinsir had already grabbed hold of him. Pinsir swung the turtle overhead, slamming him into the ground with a force that almost made Roy cry out. The Pinsir followed by jumping and falling to slam its own body on Squirtle, holding him down.
“Squirtle!” Roy cried, but his partner responded with a timid cry, trying to move but helpless to do so under Pinsir’s hold. “All right, that’s enough!”
Sakuji nodded, and Pinsir released Squirtle. Roy ran out to check him. “Hey. Squirtle.” The Pokémon opened his eyes and gave a weak smile, along with a thumbs up. Roy returned the smile. “Good job, friend. Get some rest.” He returned Squirtle to his ball, then sat back with a sigh as Sakuji also recalled Pinsir.
“Well done.”
“I lost.”
“A good Trainer knows when to stop. I’ve seen too many hotshots think they can push their Pokémon past their limits and end up in the emergency room. Or worse. You fought well. Perhaps you do have the potential to take on Brock. Your Squirtle and Ponyta are both strong, if reckless. The same goes for their Trainer. Always be wary charging the opponent. You’ll find that especially true with Brock. Don’t worry about Weedle; it was a bad matchup. Once it evolves, it’ll be capable of much more. I’d recommend carrying Kakuna around outside of its ball to help speed up the evolution process.”
Roy nodded and stood, but kept his head down.
“Oh, don’t be so mopey. I was testing you. I didn’t expect you to win. You’re still a novice, but like I said, you have potential. But potential means nothing if you don’t capitalize on it. Throw out all those main character delusions you modern day youngsters are jerking yourselves to and maybe you’ll make it to three Gym badges without pissing yourself.”
“Gee, thanks…
“Actually… yes. Thank you. For… all you’ve done for us. Really.”
“Yeah, well, I guess pity plays a part in luck. Just don’t be such a distorted fool next time.”
Roy chuckled, then turned down the path, looking at Pewter City, then at Sakuji and the dark forest behind him. “You’ll be heading back then?”
Sakuji had been drafted into war. He’d seen the worst of this world and even moved into Beedrill infested woods seeking that long-lost thrill. Yet he eyed the civilization below like a child might eye a shady stranger offering a ride.
“I… don’t mingle well with ordinary society.”
“Right. Well, take care.”
“Don’t go kicking anymore Beedrill nests.”
With a last smile, Roy turned down the path, descending the hill toward Pewter City and his first Gym challenge.
To be continued...