6 are filled

"Thunder Fang." 

Shinx lunged with speed and force, striking the downed Beedrill and knocking it out cold. Cyndaquil's Tackle finally found its mark, striking the other, still-disoriented bug hard enough to send it spiraling back into the underbrush.

Both Pokémon fainted.

"Nice teamwork."

They continued deeper into the forest. It didn't take long before a new challenger appeared—a Bellsprout, its bell-like head swaying eerily. Shinx didn't even bother for the direction and just attacked the Pokemon who had launched a Vine Whip. She used Take Down and made the Pokemon faint with just that attack. 

But Take Down also did cost Shinx and in return Ayan sprayed heal potion on Shinx. It not only made her health back to full points but also upped the friendship. Before it was 70, now it was 80. 

"You're on fire today, buddy," Ayan said, crouching to ruffle Shinx's fur. It crackled slightly from the static buildup. Then came the trainers.

"Hey, you!" A boy in a bug-catcher uniform emerged from the thickets, swinging a net casually over his shoulder. "Bet you can't beat my squad!"

"Try me."

The trainer threw out a Butterfree.

"Let's go, Charmander!"

The orange lizard emerged, tail flame blazing. Butterfree started the fight with a Sleep Powder, but Ayan was faster.

"Charmander - Ember." 

The attack cut through the powder cloud, hitting Butterfree with a burst of heat and force. It faltered but retaliated with a Confusion, making Charmander stumble briefly. But the Pokémon was only level 3 and was no match for Charmander. 

The attack cut through the powder cloud, hitting Butterfree with a burst of heat and force. It faltered but retaliated with a Confusion, making Charmander stumble briefly.

"Don't stop— Dragon Rush!"

A swirl of purple-blue energy exploded from Charmander's body as he lunged forward in incredible speed, catching Butterfree mid-flight and sending it tumbling. The trainer stared, slack-jawed, and handed Ayan money and Poke cubes as Ayan had wanted. He also gave him some berries. Ayan had been collecting berries left and right in this whole forest. 

Berries were one of things that existed in his world too, but in his world these berries were not only used by Pokémon but also by humans. Unlike the Pokémon who just consume them as a whole, humans consume it in a very limited quantity for nutrition purposes. 

It was also one of the reasons why humans were able to cover vast distances just by walking. It was because of these berries mixed with normal food in appropriate quantities that one would be able to survive in the wild much longer and it was much cheaper. Basically a cheaper and much better MREs for people. 

And cultivating these berry trees were also quite a lucrative business and many people had gotten rich by just having acres of land and planting these berries. USA was a major example as it had planted these trees in it's vast land and had gotten rich over time. Of course, this was just one of the reasons why the American Alliance was so powerful. 

Another hour passed.

The battles came in waves—a Pikachu that nearly electrocuted Pidgey before she slammed it with Quick Attack; a Caterpie that was hardly a challenge; a second Bug Catcher who threw out a Kakuna and Metapod like that would slow him down.

All the while, Ayan's team rotated, getting battle experience.

Cyndaquil had begun leaving smoldering footprints as his flames burned hotter. Shinx could paralyze without even trying. Charmander's fire seemed more confident—more controlled. Gyarados was quite sad that he couldn't participate, but he was already so high in level, Ayan didn't want to use Gyarados and just brought him out to feed him and admire the monster that he had just gotten himself. 

As he walked along the route, sunlight filtered through an open gap in the canopy, casting a golden spotlight on the soft moss-covered ground. It was quiet. No rustling. No buzzing. Just the gentle hum of the wind. And in that circle of light… stood a Bulbasaur.

Holy flying fuck. 

The Kanto starter, out in the open. Probably the rarest thing he'd seen in this forest. 

"This one," he whispered, "I'm not letting go."

Without much thought he threw the Poke ball and without missing a beat, he caught the Pokémon. 

Pokémon - Bulbasaur 

Gender - Male 

Ability - Overgrow (Overgrow increases the power of Grass-type moves by 50% (1.5×) when the ability-bearer's HP falls below a third of its maximum)

Moves - Growl, tackle, Growth, Vine Whip, Leech seed, Toxic 

Level - 9

Friendship - 70 

His 6 Pokémon roster was full now. After catching this Pokémon, he knew that it was getting late and it was time to go back home as his time of walking was almost over according to his mother. So he was back on time. 

"How was the walk? You feel refreshed?" His mother couldn't help but asking seeing the twinkling beads of sweat on her son's forehead. It was July, and even though Shillong was much colder as compared to the rest of the Alliance, it wasn't cold enough. 

"Yeah, but I need a bath." Ayan said. 

"Go.." Ayan's mother said. Ayan quickly went to the bathroom and started the shower. He thought of the days that had gone and how he was slowly building an army, or at least that was his ambitions. 

From what he had seen in the Forest, it might take a long time to finish his forest journey and he might, out of boredom, have to go to Johto to heal his Pokémon. He was thankful that he always had access to a Pokémon Center or else his Pokémon would be exhausted. He might just go to a route nearby for recreational purposes and see if there were any good Pokémon in the Johto region. 

Other than that everything was experience points. And also money. Meanwhile, while he was bathing, Neil and Elicia had met up near the Alliance Quarter. Yes, they were here for providing the new Pokémon's evidence.