Chapter 43: Capturing Pokemon!

"Dive Ball, go!", Lillie excitedly said, seeing the Shiny Buizel now in a weakened state. Just by tossing a few moves at it, Bulbasaur triumphed in battle. Bulbasaur didn't even need to use Grassy Terrain! It engulfed the Shiny Buizel in a bright red glow, bringing it inside the Dive Ball.

Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle. Ding!

Hearing the capture sound, Lillie widely smiled. She reached down and picked up the Dive Ball. This marked Lillie's sixth Pokemon, while the Shiny Galarian Slowpoke was Ricky's fifth Pokemon!

"Got you!", Serena's voice suddenly called out, drawing the duo's attention to her. Unlike Ricky and Lillie who were still near the giant pond, Serena was now knee-deep in wild grass. She was attracted by another similar shiny sparkle. With Squirtle beside her, she successfully trapped this Pokemon, making it unable to run away.

Just like how Ricky and Lillie decided on which ball to use, Serena also chose a special ball for this capture. It had a moon on it, and it was very slick. Once Serena tossed it at the weakened Pokemon before her, which was no more than a foot or two big, was brought into that red glow, getting sucked into the Moon Ball!

Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle. Ding!

Two successive captures happened back-to-back, bringing a smile to both Lillie and Serena. They also heard their respective Pokedex sound off.

"Buizel's information has been added to your Pokedex.", Lillie's Pokedex spoke.

"Nidoran Female has been added to your Pokedex.", Serena's Pokedex spoke.

"Good job you two. You were able to successfully battle a wild Pokemon respectfully, and captured them! And this is what I meant by staying in one area for a longer period of time. While this might not be counted as an Outbreak, once you start encountering more and more wild Pokemon as a chain, you'll increase your odds of finding rare Pokemon, and even shiny Pokemon!", Ricky spoke out to the two. It was clear he was happy for them. These two Pokemon could have run away, but they made it so running away wasn't an option!

"We all caught a new Pokemon huh? I think yours was unexpected, Ricky. I didn't think we'd come across a regional variant outside its home. Maybe we'll come across other regional forms?", Serena questioned.

"Seeing it happen on Route 22, it's a very good possibility we might come across 'em. I've checked in on other popular spots like the Safari Zone. There's a chance we could see regional forms of Pokemon like Tauros there. You have an interest in catching Tauros, right, Serena?", Ricky questioned. After all, Serena came from a family of racers. Folks that rode Pokemon and challenged others to races. They were called Pokemon Riders.

And catching Pokemon like Tauros were top of the line for them. They were fierce, and fast!

"I do. That way, mom will know I'm not slacking, hehe.", Serena replied, giggling. "After all, that was the one condition mom gave me to set out on this journey with you two. I can't slack on my own training. Mom wants me to enter those competitions in the future, and during our down time, I think I will! I'm sure we can all earn some pretty exciting rewards by doing them!", Serena exclaimed. It was clear she was excited to start partaking in those Pokemon Races in the coming future.

Well, Ricky wasn't opposed to Serena doing that. She's built up her own foundation. Plus those Pokemon Races were widely popular. They were known to give rare Pokemon Eggs, rare Items, and so on. It was a worthwhile investment. He also recalled that Serena's mother, Grace, also had several winning trophies. Their strength when it came to Pokemon Racing wasn't to be underestimated.

"That does sound pretty interesting. I don't think I'd get into riding a Pokemon as much as you would, Serena, but that does allow us to travel around cities really quickly. We can even fly on some, right?", Lillie questioned.

"We sure can. That's also another reason to focus on training your Pidgey. Pidgey isn't a good Pokemon to use against Brock, but after that, you can quickly evolve Pidgey. It evolves early on and evolves around the same time when starting Pokemon evolve. Pidgeot are quite big. You can easily use one to fly around!", Ricky happily responded.

"That sounds pretty tempting. Of the Pokemon we caught just now, I don't think any of them are suitable for riding. Perhaps surfing, yes. You sure lucked out with that Shiny Buizel, Lillie.", Serena replied, seeing the Dive Ball in Lillie's hand.

"Yeah. Floatzel is a great Pokemon to surf around with. I already checked out my Galarian Slowpoke, so why don't we check out yours next you two?", Ricky suggested. They all walked away with something this time. One new Pokemon each!

A Shiny Galarian Slowpoke for Ricky. A Shiny Buizel for Lillie, and a Shiny Nidoran Female for Serena! Ricky exchanged his details with the duo, while they turned to their respective Pokedex, still with their new balls in hand. Serena went first, and the Pokedex started to display Nidoran's information.

"Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokemon. Nidoran is quite mild, and doesn't like to seek out other Pokemon for battle. But do not let its small and cute appearance deceive you. The small horn on its head can excrete a powerful venom. It catches many Pokemon off-guard when threatened!", The Pokedex said.

Nidoran - Female

Shiny Variant

Nature: Serious

Gender: Female

Ability: Hustle

Known Moves: Growl, Poison Sting, Scratch, Counter, Poison Fang, Venom Drench, Water Pulse, Shock Wave, Hone Claws.

"Buizel, the Sea Weasel Pokemon. It likes to swim around in water while spinning its two tails like a screw. Whenever it dives deep into water, the flotation sac it has around its neck collapses. When it wants to play around or relax on top of the water to sunbathe, it expands its flotation sac out again, keeping Buizel afloat. While playful on the outside, Buizel can be fierce in battle.", The Pokedex explained.

Buizel

Shiny Variant

Nature: Hasty

Gender: Male

Ability: Water Veil

Known Moves: Icy Wind, Slash, Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip, Aqua Tail, Soak, Baton Pass.

"This should make the first Gym a cakewalk now!", Serena happily said, nodding her head with a firm nod, seeing the results of today's outing. Everyone was left satisfied. Their Pokemon Rosters were expanding quickly. Ricky wasn't super picky of what he should and shouldn't catch. Sure, a Trainer can only use up to six Pokemon per battle, but it's not like preventing Trainers from catching more and more Pokemon.

Before the trio realized it, most of Saturday had already passed. The sun was already well on its descent, looking to fall behind the mountains to the north. It was much more dangerous to be out in the wild during night time, where Pokemon turned more ferocious. They didn't want to lurk around here any longer. They wanted to head back to the Pokemon Center before the day was over. And tomorrow, the trio will set off on Route 2. After that, Viridian Forest. That was where their next stretch of the trio's adventure truly awaited them!

"Haha! I like that confidence of yours. You two should use that confidence to train up your new Pokemon. Lillie now has a full team of six, and while you might have a couple of successful battles under your belt now, we haven't had many opportunities to train our Pokemon. They need to be ready for more battles to come.", Ricky said, in a more serious voice.

"Yeah. Catching Pokemon is just one aspect of being a Pokemon Trainer. It is up to the Trainer to learn how to use them properly!", Lillie responded with a confident nod. "We can spend a couple days inside Viridian Forest. Considering we took this detour, I don't see a big reason to catch those starting Pokemon anymore. You can focus on catching the couple of Pokemon you want to catch, Ricky. Serena and I will focus on training!", Lillie responded, seeing a path forward for her.

"Yeah. We need to be ready for the first Gym. Even if we know what types Gym Leaders like to use, they're battle experts. They are Gym Leaders for a reason. I want to make it so our first Gym battle comes out victorious, so we need to shift our attention now to train our new Pokemon up.", Serena also said with a serious nod.

"That's a good attitude to have you two. You haven't been as exposed to Pokemon battles as I have. So let's proceed with what Lillie suggested. I'll focus on my targets, and you two can battle to your heart's content.", Ricky responded.

With a new plan of attack now ready for the trio, they nodded their heads at each other. Ricky felt a pang in his heart leaving this fishing spot behind. It netted them several Pokemon, but Lillie tossed them back into the water. She was focused on what she wanted to catch, and Ricky didn't blame her for it. Further down the line, he might catch a Gyarados for himself.

But catching a Gyarados right now would serve him little purpose. All that would do is just scare everyone else.

Thinking that, the trio bid farewell to Route 22 and started walking on-foot, back to the city. Ricky no longer had his car with him. He parked it back at the Oak Residence in Pallet Town. He wouldn't use it again until they fully made their way around the region, and started their back-tracking. That was the cool thing about Kanto, Trainers could go in an entire loop around each of the major cities, tip it off with a visit to Cinnabar Island, then come back to Viridian City.

They would be starting that first stretch once they set off onto Route 2 tomorrow. Viridian Forest awaits them! Will Ricky successfully capture the two Pokemon he has his eyes set on inside the forest, Pikachu and Scyther?

*****

[POKEMON ROSTERS]

Ricky: Shiny Alolan Ninetales, Shiny Rowlet, Shiny Froakie, Charmander, Shiny Galarian Slowpoke

Serena: Kantonian Vulpix, Shiny Litten, Chespin, Squirtle, Shiny Nidoran Female

Lillie: Alolan Vulpix, Shiny Popplip, Fennekin, Bulbasaur, Pidgey, Shiny Buizel