The Journey Begins

Today Gary will start his journey finally after a long wait. He had already completed his morning routine of running and psychic training and was currently packing his Siph Co travelling bag.

The bag had separate compartments for different things, a big space for his camping equipment, one for his fresh clothes, other for the soiled ones, a separate compartment for the food ingredients for his pokemons and a pokeblock making machine, a place for his personal rations and a space for the TM Case and TMs, which he currently had none.

Having checked and rechecked if he had packed everything, he took out the X-transceiver that had been delivered the previous evening. This nifty device from Unova would help him quickly transfer his pokemons from the Oak Coral and also keep in contact on the road without requiring him to queue up in any Pokemon Center.

Gary had seen the Pikachu that would be going to Ash yesterday, it had a Shallow Gold potential which was very good. After noticing the little miscreant's attitude, he was sure that Ash would be in for quite a lot of trouble like it had happened in the anime. He had already decided his next course of journey, and was treading to leave early. He had already contacted Delia over the phone yesterday and had said his goodbyes.

Gary took up Metang's pokeball and clipped it to his belt. His first partner had finally reached Advanced Rank His stats had become something like this.

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Name :— Metang (shiny)

Type :— Steel / Psychic

Rank :— Advanced (Early)

Potential :— Deep Platinum

Hidden Ability:— Clear Body, Heavy Metal

Moveset :— Take Down(A), Metal Claw(A), Rock Tomb(P), Confusion(P), Hammer Arm(P), Agility(P), Zen Headbutt(P), Magnet Rise(P), Heavy Slam(P), Flash Cannon(A)

Innate Talent :— Psychic(A), Miracle Eye(N)

TM :— Light Screen(A), Ice Punch(P), Brick Break(P)

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Currently, Metang was working on Psyshock, that would provide him with an area wide psychic attack.

Gary trudged along the path to his Gramps' lab to collect his starter. He entered the lab to see Professor Oak arranging the documents of the new trainers, and three pokeballs that contained the Royal Starters were kept on a pedestal.

Seeing his grandson enter the lab, the Professor lifted his head from his nemesis paperwork and stared at him from sometime.

"There's a slight problem, Gary. The pokemon that was supposed to be your starter was stolen from the lab of Professor Elm." said Professor Oak in an extremely serious voice.

Gary was shocked to the earth and stood there unable to recollect himself. There were plans forming inside his mind if he should ask his grandfather for Ash's Pikachu. But the Professor's voice brought him back.

"But.... I have a surprise for you here. " After saying this, Professor Oak picked up a pokeball from the three on the pedestal, and extended it to Gary without saying anything about what was inside.

Gary took it with trembling hands and stared at it for quite sometime. He was unable to gather the courage to call out the pokemon that was inside.

"Go on, meet your starter."His grandfather prodded him.

Under the Professor's urging, Gary took a deep breath to calm his nerves and called put the pokemon inside the ball.

The pokemon materialised with a bright light. It took the shape of a blue frog with white frubbles aroung its neck and two big yellow eyes staring at him curiously.

Greninja were classic speedstar pokemons, that relied mostly on dodging hits, but their dual typing made them one of the best. Greninjas could be monsters if well trained, but will remain mediocre without proper training. Moreover, the dark typing of Greninja would give him an edge over Sabrina's psychic types.

Gary bent down in front of his official starter pokemon and said in a low voice, "I will not make a false promise of making you the best pokemon out there. But, I will give it my all to train you to further you down the road of perfection. So, what do you say, wanna join me on my journey?"

Froakie stared at Gary for a few moments, as if judging him. To Gary, those few moments seemed like hours. Finally, Froakie extended his webbed front feet to shake the hand that Gary had extended towards him. Gary mentally brought out the status of Froakie.

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Name :— Froakie

Type :— Water

Rank :— Novice (Mid)

Potential:— Pseudo Platinum

Hidden Ability :— Torrent, Protean

Moveset :— Pound(N), Water Pulse(N), Growl(N), Bubble(N), Quick Attack(N)

Innate Talent :— Ice Beam(N), Double Team(N)

TMs :— None

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The innate talent of Ice Beam and the high potential brought quite an amount of surprise to Gary. He knew that if trained well, this pokemon would strike and retreat like a Ghost without the foe even realising when it struck and how.

Gary called back Froakie into his pokeball and clipped the ball on his belt beside Metang's pokeball.

"So, did you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! My team got a future speedster. Thanks, Gramps. In a way, Froakie is a better choice for me than a Totodile."

"Glad, you realise that every pokemon has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is necessary to train them according to their strengths."

Then the aged man extended his hand to give the Pokedex to his grandson along with the customary five empty pokeballs.

"I am proud to present the Pokedex to you. I must emphasize on you that you must handle it with utmost care. This device, in wrong hands, could lead to disaster." The Professor said the last few words with extreme seriousness.

Gary somewhat understood his grandfather's concerns. A con man could utilise various League services that were exclusive to pokedex holders with it.

"I wish you a happy journey. I am extremely happy that you choose to travel on foot. I heard that you booked a Teleportation Service in Viridian on tomorrow's date?"

"Yes, Gramps."

"I think I know what you are aiming for. Your approach though different is commendable."

Gary was a bit embarrased at being praised by his grandfather on his endeavour.

"I know, you do not want to meet the other trainers sponsored by me, so you should set off. Oh, and be careful, there is a new Spearow flock led by a Fearow, that has nested in Route 1."

Gary who had already turned around and was on his way to the door, waved his hand to indicate that he had heard him.

After Gary had walked through Route 1 that led to Viridian City for three hours, he stopped when he reached a quiet and empty clearing beside a pond river stream.

He unclipped the pokeballs that summoned out his two partners.

Froakie and Metang materialised in front of him.

"Now, that we have set out on our journey, we will witness various sights and have exciting adventures. But, first and foremost, we must train to become strong, our opponents will be very strong, but we must not lose hope and our drive."

He took out the Pokedex to scan the pokemons.

Metang, the Iron Claw Pokémon. Metang is the evolved form of Beldum. Its highly developed intellect and strong magnetic force allow it to create powerful psychic energy. This Metang has the abilities Clear Body and Heavy Metal. This pokemon knows the moves Take Down(A), Metal Claw(A), Rock Tomb(P), Confusion(P), Hammer Arm(P), Agility(P), Zen Headbutt(P), Heavy Slam(P), Flash Cannon(A), Psychic(A), Miracle Eye(N), Light Screen(A), Ice Punch(P), Brick Break(P).

Froakie's Entry :—

Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokémon. From its chest and back, Froakie creates bubbles called Frubbles, which act as a cushion and soften the blow of an opponent's attack. This Froakie is a male and has the ability Torrent and Protean. This pokemon knows the moves Pound(N), Water Pulse(N), Growl(N), Bubble(N), Quick Attack(N), Ice Beam(N), Double Team(N).

Gary quickly made out two different training plans for his two pokemons.

For Froakie, he focused on training his speed and instructed him to run around the space and to constantly increase his speed slowly to bring up his base speed.

The next part involved training him to dodge rocks and use them as footing by putting him against Metang's Rock Tomb.

Finally, the move training, where Froakie practiced all of his moves to bring up their proficiency.

Metang's training consisted of using Psychic to redirect Froakie's long distance attacks, to learn Psyshock and finally move training to practice its known moves.

As his pokemon trained, Gary supervised them when they were unable to understand something.

Froakie took exactly an hour to bring down the basics of the move Agility under his repertoire.

Then Gary asked Metang telepathically to ask the nearby wild pokemon for battles against Froakie.

Gary had already started instilling battle sense within his starter where it could take decisions without command.

Under the lure of berries, a Raticate became Froakie's first opponent. The rat pokemon charged straight ahead with Quick Attack which Froakie swiftly dodged by jumping up and slammed a Water Pulse on its head. He landed behind the disoriented Raticate who turned and charged up a Hyper Fang.

But Froakie was already prepared as he launched a close range Bubble defeating Raticate.

Gary picked up the battered foe and hide it among the bush. Pokemons were inherently more resilient than humans. In an hour, it would be up and running without any signs of fatigue.

The next opponent was a fairly strong Pidgeotto at peak Novice Rank. So, Gary took it upon itself to command Froakie.

The Pidgeotto sent out Gust Attack that Gary countered with Water Pulse.

The avian pokemon then kept its distance and tried to defeat Froakie with Air Slashes keeping a distance.

Gary frustrated it by telling Froakie to aim Ice Beams and Bubbles at its wings. One of the Bubbles hit its wings and disbalanced it and Froakie finished the battle with another Agility enhanced Water Pulse.

The battles attracted a Fearow which was easily taken care of by Metang with a psychic which rendered it immobile and a well aimed Flash Cannon that finished off the confrontation.

As he recalled Metang into its pokeball, he came across another trainer who was walking, cautiously. His attitude showed that he was new on the road.

"Hello, I am John. Are you a new trainer, can we have a battle?"

"Yeah, sure, the standard one on one, right?" replied Gary crisply.

"No problem."

Gary took out his Pokedex to register the battle in the League records. His opponent, John, stared the device enviously. "Man, you are so lucky to be sponsored by the Oak Laboratories!"

'Lucky, my ass, I had to work so hard to get the sponsorship!' Gary mused inwardly. Thank God, he could hide his surname from the opponent in these battles. Otherwise, that kid might have taken to be the son of luck.

All battles that occured between trainers involving monetary bets had to be registered with the League and battles with bets of above 2000 pokedollars had to be supervised by League referees that were common in the pokemon centres. For a trainer to rank up, he had to boast of a certain number of wins in these battles along with Gym Battles.

As soon as the battle had registered from both their IDs, they released their pokemon in a clearing suitable for a battle. His opponent was using a female Nidoran which was, according to him, his starter. The kid must have got his starter from the Viridian Gym.

Gary analysed the Nidoran with his cheat.

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Name :— Nidoran (female)

Type :— Poison

Rank :— Novice (Peak)

Potential :— Shallow Silver

Hidden Ability :— Poison Point

Moveset :— Growl(N), Poison Sting(N), Double Kick(N), Scratch(N), Focus Energy(N)

Innate Talent :— Ancient Power (locked)

TMs :— Sludge Bomb(N)

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Gary was confident that Froakie's speed would be enough to dodge the physical moves, he only had to be careful about that Sludge Bomb.

Gary quietly released Froakie.

"Froakie, this is our first official battle. Stay alert."

"Man, you even have a foreign Royal Starter."

Gary was unwilling to listen to his nonsense. "Let's begin the battle."

"Nidoran, use Growl quickly."

The poison type released a low growl that made Froakie flinch and drop its attack strength by a notch.

Gary's face as if set in stone, had no expression that could make the opponent know his inner thoughts.

"Froakie, use Bubble and start running using Agility."

The Bubbles hit the heavy pokemon that was unable to dodge and released a low cry.

"Damn, Nidoran, run and hit it with Double Kick."

"Keep using Agility to dodge."

Nidoran released a Double Kick Attack that missed Froakie completely.

"Turn around and use Sludge Bomb."

"Froakie, quick use Double Team to confuse and approach it."

The Sludge Bombs released by the Nidoran cancelled out the fake copies of Froakie, while the original remain unharmed.

"Now, Froakie, finish it off with a full-powered Ice Beam."

"No!! Nidoran, dodge quickly!"

But the heavy pokemon was unable to dodge on time as the Ice Beam hit her head on, encasing her in a cocoon of ice.

Froakie returned to Gary who knelt down and patted his head, "Good job, I am proud of you. Now, take rest."

Froakie released a happy cry of "Froo...." as Gary called it back.

Gary quickly checked his earnings which was 200 pokedollars, which added up to 20200 pokedollars in his account. He congratulated his opponent on a good match who seemed not at all upset at his loss. He was a little surprised at John's maturity, he was half expecting him to throw a tantrum after losing.

Gary took his leave from John and resumed his journey towards the Viridian City. After all, his aim was to enter the city before the sunrays took a dip beyond the horizon.