Chapter 41: Detour, Route 22!

With Ricky's video call with Cynthia now over, he had nothing else keeping him from going out to have some fun. He too put his stuff away inside their room back on the second floor of the Pokemon Center. By the time they were ready to depart, it was now 3:30PM in the afternoon. They were going to use the remainder of the day to shop and explore Viridian City. Previously during their stay here in Viridian City, they weren't official Pokemon Trainers yet, but now, they were!

That means their priorities have shifted in knowing what they needed to buy. They had to focus on buying Pokeballs, Potions, Status Heals, and so on. There were many Pokemon out there, and it would be bad if they came across an unfortunate situation that they couldn't get out of!

After stocking up on their essential items, the trio found themselves shopping around some accessory shops. Ricky didn't need to personally buy anything quite just yet that may turn the tide of battle in his favor, such as a Focus Sash, or an Expert Belt. There are certain items that Pokemon can hold to boost one's power in the middle of battle, or prevent a certain knock-out. A lot of official battles don't allow these items to generate an even battleground, but if it's battling other Pokemon Trainers or wild Pokemon, anything goes.

After spending an hour or so, the two girls finally picked out what type of Trainer Belt they wanted to use. Serena decided on a cute black bracelet. It fit snugly around her right wrist. The bracelet had six small indents on them, which allowed her to fit a miniature Pokeball inside. Pokeballs naturally shrink to a very small size once it captures a Pokeball. a Trainer just needed to tap the middle button on it, which normally opened it up. It was a nifty function, allowing easy and lightweight carrying of Pokeballs. It allowed shops to create an array of accessories that Pokemon Trainers could use.

As for Lillie, she went with something more classic. She was far more used to carrying around a small bag with her. She asked the clerks to customize her carrying bag into an Item Pouch, so she didn't have to carry around two separate bags. The clerks happily obliged. Money wasn't an issue for them. Lillie had a powerful backing, and Ricky was already successful to where he could buy cars on his own. And on top of that, she used that carrying bag to customize her strap. Six small indents could now be seen on it.

A trainer could hold up to six Pokemon to use in battle. No more than that! Once a Trainer catches more than six Pokemon, they enter the digitized box space.

Coming out of the shop, the trio felt satisfied with their purchases.

"You two all set?", Ricky said, wanting to make sure Serena and Lillie weren't missing out on anything. "After all, once we depart tomorrow, we won't be stopping until we reach Pewter City. We've stocked up on some essentials too, so I think we should be fine to last us a few days. Item Pouches sure are handy.", Ricky said to the two.

"I think we're set. I haven't gone camping in a good while. I'm looking forward to camping out inside Viridian Forest tomorrow! There is a route before that though, right? Route 2 isn't that big either, if I recall. There's also another Route to the west of here. There are a couple of rare Pokemon we could capture, so why don't we take a small detour?", Serena suggested.

"Hmm, you're talking about the Route Trainers can walk around, which eventually leads to Indigo Academy, and eventually, The Pokemon League. Route 22 is certainly an option we can visit. It's off to our left. Indigo Academy is way too far out for a day's visit on foot, you'd need to rent a bus ride for that.", Ricky answered with a nod. Exploring Route 22 didn't sound half-bad to him!

"Route 22...", Lillie said, taking out her Pokedex. There was another cool thing about what the Pokedex did. It wasn't just a Pokemon Index that kept track of a Pokemon Trainer's World. It was essentially a giant encyclopedia! One could easily look up habitats, descriptions of items, berries, and so on. That also meant it could display the world map, giving a brief description of where they were. The Pokedex was as handy a tool as an Item Pouch was. If not, even more handy!

And just like navigating the Pokedex which displayed data of Pokemon which was sorted by Regions, the map also was sorted by its Regions. Lillie quickly navigated the page to Route 22, and the Pokedex began to display its information.

"Route 22, located in the western half of the Kanto Region. It is situated beyond Viridian City, and it connects the city to the Pokemon League Reception Gate. Common Pokemon sightings: Nidoran Female, Nidoran Male, Mankey, Goldeen, Poliwag, Doduo, Psyduck. Rare Pokemon sightings: Buizel and Ponyta. Tread carefully, as powerful trainers are often spotted deeper within Route 22 as they make their way to register at the Pokemon League. Until a certain point, beginner Trainers can test their luck to encounter a rare Pokemon.", The Pokedex explained.

"Wow.", Ricky mused, listening to the Pokedex's explanation. "I didn't think there would be that many opportunities to find some Pokemon to the west. Maybe it has improved?", Ricky wondered. After all, it's not like Ricky was brought into the Pokemon World where it was just Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. There were an entire nine generations of Pokemon that could be encountered. He initially did have his doubts about how Pokemon would behave in other regions, but just seeing this explanation alone confirmed his doubts. Pokemon from other generations are appearing in the wilds now! Ricky's expectations of what Pokemon he could find is only going to grow from here!

"That's quite a lot of Pokemon we can find. I think we should take Serena's suggestion and take a detour. We aren't in a rush to head to Pewter City, are we?", Lillie questioned. Ricky shook his head.

"Nah, we aren't. I was hoping we could arrive in Pewter City before the end of the week is over, but it's not like we are in a hurry or anything. We have all the time in the world now to enjoy being Pokemon Trainers. It looks like you two are showing interest in exploring Route 22, and I'm on board with that. I want to try catching a Mankey, and potentially a Nidoran. I haven't picked on which gender yet. Both are equally strong.", Ricky answered.

"Hmm, you decide which Nidoran you want to catch. I'll catch the other one!", Serena happily responded.

"If that's going to be the case, I think I'll try to do some fishing and hook up a Buizel. Shiny Buizel is very cute, I want to get a gold one!", Lillie also said, showing where her interest lay.

"You are right about that. Shiny Buizel is a pretty neat looking Pokemon. It sounds like we have a new plan. Trying to capture a shiny Pokemon does take a lot of time and luck, so let's go get some grub and rest up at the Pokemon Center. Tomorrow, we can inquire about where we can get some fishing rods from Nurse Joy. I'm sure there's all kinds of lures we can use to increase our chances of finding rare and shiny Pokemon.", Ricky answered.

"That sounds good to me. Let's go fishing tomorrow then! We can hold off on going to Viridian Forest until Saturday.", Serena responded with a nod.

"I am fine with that too. Let's go eat.", Lillie also said with a nod.

With a new plan now ahead for the trio, they ended their shopping for the day. It was late Friday afternoon, and the sun was already beginning its descent. They were able to locate a nice-looking restaurant, and enjoyed a good meal out, stuffing their faces silly. Considering this might be their last restaurant meal for a few days, they wanted to enjoy it. The trio also made sure not to stay out and about in Viridian City too late either, as Team Rocket was a dominant force here. Their leader, Giovanni, ran the Pokemon Gym here, so they wanted to keep that risk to a minimum.

They quickly retreated back to the Pokemon Center for the evening. Lillie allowed Pidgey to grow closer to her other four Pokemon, and before they realized it, the trio passed out in each other's arms on the one bed. The next morning dawned, making it Saturday morning. It was time to get some fishing rods and hopefully add some more Pokemon to their Pokemon Rosters!