Chapter 46: Decision

Sunday, March 10th. 9AM.

The previous stormy canvas that swept through the entire Viridian City became scattered once sunlight started piercing through the clouds. The clouds quickly faded away, bringing a cool and refreshing spring breeze.

After the trio woke up and ate a quick breakfast, they packed up their remaining items, quickly getting used to using their new accessories. They no longer had to worry about carrying around heavy bags. Aside from their Item Pouches which stored all of their essentials as they've previously called out, all Lillie had now was her small bag, which had her Trainer Belt now neatly sewn onto it. Likewise, Serena had her bracelet, which was hand-crafted to allow six small and shrunken ball slots to fit inside it. All she had to do was tap an occupied slot, and the ball would immediately expand out, landing in her hand. It was very intuitive. Ricky decided to just stick with the classic Trainer Belt.

If one had a close look, all of Lillie's slots were now filled in. She had six Pokemon! Likewise, Ricky and Serena now had five Pokemon each!

The trio tidied up the room, and entered the first floor again. There were even less Pokemon Trainers inside the Pokemon Center. That was a good thing! Pokemon Centers were there to assist Trainers to heal a Pokemon's injuries and point them to places of interest that one could head out to while they were on their Pokemon Journey. It would have been a bad thing if there was a sudden influx of Pokemon Trainers.

"Thanks again, Nurse Joy. Take care!", Ricky said, saying goodbye to Nurse Joy.

"Stay safe out there. Team Rocket's base is situated somewhere here in Viridian City and the cops haven't been able to find it yet. Trainers have clear destinations so they know to avoid shady areas, but there are a lot of shady shops with hiked up prices if you reach Celadon City.", Nurse Joy responded, warning the trio.

"Celadon City is still a ways out for us, but we'll take that warning to heart.", Ricky responded, thanking Nurse Joy. Ricky knew very well what Team Rocket was, Kanto's criminal organization. Kanto was very well organized and knew what, when, and who to target. There were definitely some shady areas inside Viridian City that they knew to not venture into. The Pokemon World wasn't a typical happy-go-lucky type like it often displayed in the anime. The games, on the other hand, showed a darker tone. Many regions had their respective underworlds, and Team Rocket was one of those not to be trifled with.

They might not be the craziest bunch of the organizations that existed out there, but what worried Ricky was that they were much, much, more organized. That in itself was scary.

If there was one thing though, Ricky likely wouldn't have to pay too much to Team Rocket on a grand scale. He wasn't going to seek them out or anything. He didn't attract a certain trio's constant desire to obtain a certain Pokemon. Jessie, James, and Meowth! Ricky didn't know when they would first show up out of the blue, but he did find wanted posters of them here and there, so it's likely they were already active somewhere. The question being, where? Were they presently lurking around Viridian City?

It was something to keep in the back of his mind. To what Ricky was referring to elsewise, that particular trio wasn't the reason why Ricky didn't have a need to seek out Team Rocket. In fact, they might seek him out instead! He has brokered deals with Team Rocket and other organizations that require funds to be liquidated. Aether Corporation was one of the largest corporations that handled many different business practices, and that was just one of his side-gigs he did while staying in Alola.

And now that Ricky was promoted to an Aether Foundation Admin by Lusamine, the chance of Ricky potentially encountering other admins will likely rise from this. He wouldn't be surprised if he started meeting up with individuals such as Archer, one of Team Rocket's Admins. But as Ricky mentioned, he wouldn't have to worry. Not unless Team Rocket ends up striking a deal somewhere that requires Ricky.

So Ricky could depart the Pokemon Center without too much worry. He did realize he wasn't alone in this adventure, though. Serena and Lillie were with him. He had to take that into consideration. Outside in the massive lot surrounding the Pokemon Center, Ricky looked at the two.

"Let's just keep to the main streets until we're on Route 2, alright you two? I wouldn't worry too much about Nurse Joy's warning. We are Pokemon Trainers, yes, but unless we take a wrong turn, nothing will happen to us. It's as she said, we typically know where to go next, so as long as we keep an attitude like that, we should be fine.", Ricky explained.

"Yeah. I get it that Team Rocket is quite notorious. It never hurts to check twice to see if an area is safe or not, but we just need to head out of the city.", Serena responded with a nod.

"Celadon City is that city which is known to be Kanto's biggest marketplace, right? I can see how that could be a hotspot for this kind of stuff. That should be a couple cities off. We don't have to hoard too much until that point. Then we'll be able to splurge and get lots of battle items. I'm sure we'll have a lot more Pokemon by then too!", Lillie happily said.

"Right? And I would like to remind you two that we really aren't on any form of schedule anymore whatsoever. So if something catches your eye, it could lead to an interesting finding. That's part of what going on a Pokemon Journey is about!", Ricky said.

"Got it. Let's go!", Serena said, causing the trio to begin their walking. They easily blended in the crowd of people going about the main streets of Viridian City. While it wasn't counted as a megacity like Tokyo was, it still gave Ricky similar vibes. Know what to do and where, and people would be fine. The irony here though is that the crime rate is higher than his previous life in Japan. Japan rarely saw any crime.

Ricky made sure not to venture off too deeply into the city, and it became rather uneventful for the trio. He didn't even encounter Jessie, James, or Meowth for that matter either. Considering they do exist thanks to those wanted posters, Ricky hoped their sights would remain on Ash, if it would play out like it will in the anime. They became quite obsessed with wanting to snag Ash's Pikachu.

Before they realized it, they were on their way to Route 2. The Rainbow that formed still streaked across the large blue sky, which excited them even further. That meant there was still a chance to encounter Ho-Oh.

In the meanwhile, Ricky went into his thoughts again. He would be passing up an opportunity in catching a Fighting-Type Pokemon. Pokemon Trainers could encounter these Pokemon, such cases in Route 22. Albeit more rare, Trainers could still catch Pokemon like Mankey this early in Route 2. Ricky double checked his Pokedex, and reviewed all the Pokemon available to him. Sure enough, Mankey was on the list. There were even rare Pokemon. Much rarer Pokemon, like Pikachu! Finding a Pikachu in Route 2 was like finding a needle in a haystack. Unless a Trainer was lucky enough to spot one, and continuously try to find them, it wouldn't work.

Ricky knew finding Pikachu in Viridian Forest was the way to go. There were plenty more inside there. So that made his thoughts remain on whether to catch a Fighting-Type Pokemon now. It wasn't like the first generation games anymore. The newest region, Paldea, came along and offered a breath of fresh air to Pokemon Trainers and students alike. It had very widely known Pokemon Schools that Pokemon Trainers all around the world could enroll at. The best part? It was open to all ages! That meant the trio could even study there later, should their Pokemon Journey wind up in the Paldea Region in the future.

But with the Paldea Region bringing in even more Pokemon, which increased the number of known Pokemon past one thousand, that also included new Pokemon Evolutions! And guess what? Mankey lucked out. Primeape is Mankey's typical final evolution, but the kicker is, Mankey learns a new move the Paldea Region introduces, Rage Fist! One would think this is a Fighting-Type Move, but it isn't. It's a Ghost-Type Move! Mankey wouldn't even be able to learn it until one evolves into a Primeape, and trains Primeape further.

Primeape would have to use Rage Fist twenty times in one go, knocking out Pokemon after Pokemon to evolve. And if it got it, Rage Fist would build its "Rage", becoming stronger. Ricky knew that was the easy part. The hard part was actually acquiring Rage Fist! It's not like Mankey can learn it before it evolves. It has to evolve into a Primeape first.

Ricky decided to make a move. He wanted to catch a Mankey!