EVERYONE: Pokemon: The First Steps

[Lone_Garurumon]

And so I begin my first extended, purely self-driven story. This one was inspired by a series of prompts that inspired me into a story about the stages where you're just starting out as a Pokemon Trainer. So join me as we follow Kendall as he finds his way through the early days of his Pokemon journey.

Credit to mattydraws on twitter for the prompt list. I'll be combining some prompts as we go along, just for better flow. Updates are intended to be relatively short. I make no promises on update frequency or consistency, but I'll try. Always up for a bit of critique as well, so don't be afraid to drop some comments if you want.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Part 1: Adventurer Protagonist

The sound of my alarm clock brought me right out of my slumber. I shot out of bed and dashed into the bathroom, rushing through my normal shower. Afterward, I quickly got dressed and grabbed the backpack I’d prepared the night before, and ran down the stairs two at a time. I threw a couple pieces of bread into the toaster… And waited… Ugh this was taking forever!

“Excited to get going, are we?” My mum said as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Of course!” I replied. “The professor’s giving me my first Pokemon today, you really think I could sit still?” Mum’s gaze shifted down to my torso.

“Look, sweetie, I know you’re excited, but you could at least take the time to dress yourself properly. Your shirt’s on inside-out.” I glanced down at my chest and sure enough, plain black fabric stared back. I quickly removed my shirt, inverted it, and put it back on, revealing the Lycanroc pattern printed on the front. I’d loved those Pokemon ever since I saw a documentary on Pokemon in the Alola region, and I was gonna train one someday.

“Honestly, are you even going to be able to handle a Pokemon journey on your own?” Mum said, her expression turning to one of concern.

“Hey, mum, it’ll be fine.” I said, hugging her. “Plenty of people even younger than me do this. I’ll be fine. Besides, you know I won’t be alone.”

“I know, I just can’t help but worry.”

“I know mum.” We were jolted out of the moment by the pop as the toaster finished its work. I grabbed the toast and headed to the front door. “Bye mum I love you I’ll come back to show you the Pokemon I get before I leave bye!”

“Bye sweetie!” I closed the door and jogged off down the street towards the professor’s lab, shoving toast into my face as I went.

 

[Greninjaman]

Question: How far will this story ultimately go? Like, the first Gym?

 

[LightningTopaz]

Not a bad start so far! Which region is our hero adventuring through, out of curiosity?

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Question: How far will this story ultimately go? Like, the first Gym?

The plan is to see Kendall through his first gym battle, plus a little ways beyond.

Not a bad start so far! Whic region is our hero adventuring through, out of curiosity?

'Cause of the way the prompts play out in the list I'm basing it from, I felt it was best to set the story in an original region of my own design. Simply for the benefits of being able to set up towns and landmarks any way I need without needing to debate with myself over whether it's ok to just slap a castle in the middle of Viridian Forest. Of course we're not actually going to see most of it in this story, but I do have a general map and some more major landmarks in my head, so I might do more to explore the place in future. This does become clear in the next few parts which give location names and also the non-canon professor, but admittedly it could've been better to establish stuff like this in the actual opening to the story.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Part 2: A Companion for Your Travels

I arrived at the top of the hill where Professor Gum’s laboratory sat. I walked down the path next to the paddocks, looking at all the Pokemon inside the fences. A lot of people from all over the Krysta Region made the trek to Geode Town to start their journey, since Professor Gum’s research into Pokemon breeding meant that he always had plenty of young Pokemon to entrust to fledgling trainers, and he was more than happy to hold on to any extra Pokemon those trainers had that they couldn’t keep on them at the moment thanks to the league rules. At the moment I could see a Leafeon playing around with one of the Professor’s Sizzlipedes he’d been breeding recently, as well as a Masqeurain bringing some berries down from a nearby tree into the waiting hands of a Poliwrath. Before I knew it, I was standing before the large wooden door of the lab. I knocked on the door. The moments before the door opened were torturous, but eventually it happened.

“Kendall, glad you could make it, mate.” Professor Gum said, smiling at me. He was a nice guy, remarkably well-built for a scientist, with some speckles of grey starting in his hair. He also had this weirdly calming vibe about him.

“Well yeah.” I said. “You didn’t think I’d miss this, did you?” I said. He laughed as he motioned for me to come inside.

“No, no I don’t suppose that was ever likely from you.” He led me down the hall from the living area into the main lab space, where he gestured to a single Poke Ball resting on the table in the centre of the room. “Time to meet your partner.”

This was it. 16 years of my life had all led up to this moment. I slowly reached my hand towards the ball. What would it be? Would I be getting one of the Sizzlipede he’d been breeding? Maybe something different, left over from a previous endeavour. A bright light blinded me momentarily as I opened the ball, my new partner materialising to meet me. I rubbed the spots from my eyes. Sitting on the table next to the opened ball was a small brown and black crocodile. It closed its eyes and yawned, squeaking as it did so. A Sandile.

“D’awwwww.” I said, reaching down to scratch its chin. “It’s so cute!”

“This is Irwin.” Professor Gum said. “He’s one of the baby Sandile I was studying last year. He was real sickly for a while. Took a lot of extra TLC to get him healthy like the others, but he pulled through and now he’s ready to head out on a journey with someone.” I could see him smiling as he recalled the history Irwin had. He started rummaging around in a drawer as I turned back to Irwin.

“It’s nice to meet you, Irwin. I hope we turn out to be real good friends.” He squeaked and nuzzled his snout into my hand.

“And here you go.” Professor Gum said as he held out a set of objects to take. “A Pokedex, full of information about any Pokemon you’re likely to meet out there, as well as a set of five Poke Balls to get you started.” I pocketed the ‘Dex and balls, thanked the professor, and got ready to leave. Before I could pick up Irwin however, Professor Gum reached out to stroke his head one last time. “You’re gonna do great, mate.” He said, a small smile appearing on his face. “Kendall’s a great kid, and the two of you are gonna go on the adventure of a lifetime.” He quickly glanced up at me, as though he’d only just remembered I was there. “Sorry, I get a little sentimental over these sometimes.” He glanced around awkwardly for a few moments. “So… Uhh, you’re all set up for your journey? Camping gear, plenty of food?” He asked.

“Yeah, made sure I was all set up last night so I’d be ready to go right away.” I smiled.

“You are keen, aren’t you, mate?” He grinned, patting me on the back. “Well I won’t keep you then, go have an adventure.” I picked up Irwin from the table, smiled at the professor, and left the lab, my heart pounding with excitement. The professor was right, after all. It was time to go on the adventure of a lifetime with my new partner.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Part 3: Both Characters Together in the Woods


After a short visit back home to introduce Irwin to mum, who had found him absolutely precious, we headed north from town towards the vast woodland of Tourmaline Forest, the largest forested area in Krysta. The route there was fairly short and uneventful, and soon we were walking through the woods proper. I looked around in awe at all the Pokemon of the forest, sitting in the sunlight that poked through the canopy or hiding away in the darker areas, as Irwin plodded a few meters behind me. I watched the Treecko running about the branches, leaping from tree to tree and staring back down at me. I watched the Mothim flying about and dipping down to sip nectar from the forest’s famous giant pink flowers. And I watched the Sewaddle darting between the bushes dotting the forest floor, trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. I’d been in the forest before for school trips, but it was an entirely different experience to be here as a Pokemon Trainer, out on the first steps of my journey. Every single Pokemon here was a potential new friend, a new teammate on my journey. Of course, I couldn’t just go and catch every Pokemon I saw; That’d be way too many to train. Although, I’d have to catch at least three eventually if I wanted to challenge any gyms, it was just a matter of finding the right ones. Admittedly I had no way of knowing what the ‘right ones’ would be like, but I’d heard stories about trainers just ‘clicking’ with some of the Pokemon they’d meet. I assumed I’d just… Know when I saw it. And heck, maybe I could even meet that legendary forest spirit that was supposed to live in here somewhere. Wouldn’t that be an incredible teammate? A sudden pain shot up the back of my ankle. I flailed and turned around to try and see what had hit me. Looking down I saw Irwin clinging to the hem of my pants, as my back hit something solid behind me. I looked behind me and saw the trunk of a large tree. I must’ve been about to walk into it while my mind was occupied with thoughts of my future Pokemon friends. Irwin let go of my pants and squeaked at me, his face covered in what I’d assumed was concern. Admittedly I wasn’t the best at reading the emotions of the crocodile after just a few hours. I knelt down and scratched his neck a little.

“Sorry if I worried you buddy, I just got a little distracted is all.” I said in what I hoped was a soothing voice. It apparently worked, since he immediately brightened up and gave a loud, high-pitched squeak. I was assuming this emotion was happy. As quickly as the emotion came, it vanished as his head snapped over to a nearby bush, staring intently. For a moment I wasn’t sure what had gotten his attention, and then I saw. A small, flickering light inside the bush. I didn’t even have enough time to internalise the features of the Pokemon it was lighting up before a dark shape leapt from the bush and slammed into my chest.

 

[Unforgettable_Flygon]

OK: So, this seems to be a standard Pokemon journey story, based off short writing prompts. While the chapters aren't in-depth that's fine; as I'm assuming them to be just short writing exercises anyway.

You did a good job introducing the main character and his starter. It's pretty standard Pokemon trainer fic fare. I see that Chapter 3 ends on a cliffhanger, good way to keep the audience engaged! Overall I'm hopeful for this story's future.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Part 4: Creature You Gotta Battle & Forest Doggo

The force of the impact knocked me clean onto my back. I vaguely registered a grey, skull-like face staring at me before I pushed the Pokemon off to the side. A black and brown streak collided with it as Irwin knocked it away, giving me room to get back up to my feet. I gave myself a quick once-over. A little dirty, but not hurt. A cry from Irwin and my attention snapped back to the Pokemon in front of me. I finally had a clear view to take in my assailant. It was a small back dog-like Pokemon with a red muzzle. The skull that I’d assumed was a face was actually more like an armour plate on its forehead. I could see some more bone-like ridges along its back too, like ribs. It was a Houndour. It lifted its head and barked, a wide burst of fire fanning from its mouth. Well, every trainer had to command their Pokemon in battle at some point, it looked like this’d be our first time of it.

“Alright Irwin, Bite it!” I called out. Irwin made what sounded like a roar in response and charged forward. Houndour howled to the sky and charged forward itself to meet Irwin. I racked my brain trying to remember moves that Irwin might be able to know. I was pretty sure Bite was one, and even if it wasn’t, it was a simple enough instruction that Irwin was able to follow, hence the fact that he was currently rolling on the ground, Houndour’s leg clamped in his mouth, rolling along with him. As I tried to think of other commands I could give, I remembered Professor Gum’s words when he’d given me my equipment back at his lab.

“A Pokedex, full of information about any Pokemon you’re likely to meet out there…” His voice echoed in my head. Any Pokemon I was likely to meet… Surely that would include Irwin, right? Speaking of, on the battlefield, Houndour was nipping at Irwin’s side any chance it could get, eventually landing a clean bite. Irwin yelped in pain, releasing Houndour from his grip. Houndour clambered to its feet, bouncing back and forth. It then opened its mouth and launched a flurry of small, bright orange pellets, striking Irwin. An Ember attack? I hastily dug through my backpack and pulled out my Pokedex. I opened it up and quickly searched the word “sand”. There it was, second result, Sandile. I opened the entry and spotted exactly what I was looking for: A list of common moves displayed by Irwin’s species.

“Alright Irwin, think you can use Dig?” I asked. Hopefully something trickier would help us gain control of the battle. Irwin made a little rumble in his throat, and began pawing at the ground with his front legs. He awkwardly pushed clumps of dirt and grass around, forming what could generously be described as a small hole. Before he could really do anything with it though, Houndour launched another Ember attack, causing Irwin to whine and try to shield his face from the oncoming pellets. Ok, looks like Dig’s not going to work then. I guess burrowing through the ground quickly enough takes practice? Or something? I looked back down at my Pokedex, trying to find something else to command. Ugh, how was this list even sorted? Complexity? It’s not alphabetical, that much is for sure.

“Uhhhh, how about Sand Tomb?” I asked. At this, Irwin gave a high-pitched squeak and leapt into action. Guess this one was a good call then. Irwin swatted down at the dirt he’d dug up earlier, scattering it into the air. He then pivoted on one foot to turn 360 degrees, kicking the dirt into motion. The dirt spun around in the air, forming into something of a mini-tornado as it moved towards Houndour. Houndour braced as it found itself caught in the vortex, buffeted by the swirling dirt.

“Alright, now follow up with another Bite!” I called as the vortex faded. Irwin charged forward, bit down on Houndour’s leg, and pushed it away, throwing Houndour off balance and onto the ground. We were doing it… We were winning our first battle! Before I could call a finishing blow, my eyes locked with a pair of shining orbs behind the trees. Their owner stepped out into the light, revealing itself as a larger version of Houndour, but with long, curved horns upon its head. A Houndoom. A trio of Houndour trailing behind it. It let out a short, large burst of flame from either side of its muzzle, framing its face in a menacing glow as it glared at me. The situation was obvious. This was one of its pups, and Irwin and I had just been biting it and battering it with dirt.

“Irwin… Irwin back off buddy.” I said softly. Houndour was the one to resolve the issue, though. Getting up from the ground, it plodded over to the Houndoom, barked, and released a wide fanning flame from its mouth. It looked like Houndoom’s features softened a bit at this, as it lowered its head down to Houndour and blew a small, flickering flame in front of Houndour’s face. It then nudged Houndour behind it, where it joined its siblings, the quartet yapping at each other. Houndoom looked back towards me one last time, before leading its pups back into the woods. I wasn’t 100% certain exactly what conversation had just taken place, but Houndoom had at least seen fit not to char-broil us. I walked over to Irwin and knelt down to check on him.

“How ya feeling pal?” I asked. Irwin squeaked and gave that same happy-like expression from before. “That’s good.” He squeaked again. “Yeah, you were totally winning.” Of course I didn’t actually understand what he was trying to say, but complimenting his performance still felt like the right thing to do. “Probably a good idea to take a bit of a rest anyway, yeah?” I said, sitting down with my back against a tree. I fished a trail bar out of my backpack as Irwin laid down next to me. Not bad for the first few hours of a journey, huh?

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Part 5: Weapon Salesperson, Shop Owner, & Weary Traveller

A few days after our encounter with Houndour, Irwin and I found ourselves arriving at the first real stop on the journey. Nephrite Town, a common pit-stop between Geode Town and Tourmaline City, which waited at the rough centre of the forest. At the structural level, this place was structured a lot like Geode Town. A few groups of houses all centred around and funnelling towards a small business district. Even the spacing was pretty similar, with the terrain causing unbuildable locations that forced irregular spacings between the buildings. But where Geode Town was built on hilly terrain, its unusable slopes and rocky patches making construction difficult, Nephrite Town had to compete with the surrounding woodland. Trees both old and young blocked construction for various reasons, from housing Pokemon that nobody wanted to disturb, like the Hoothoot I could see napping in a hollow nearby, to just being too troublesome to remove thanks to roots being set too deep. The result being a town effectively built into the forest. Streets filled with trees, bushes, and flowers everywhere. Even the canopy was still reasonably thick in many places. It was only around mid-afternoon, but street-lamps were already starting to light up as sunlight was blocked from reaching the ground. It was incredible how two places not even that far from each other could feel completely different despite being structurally so similar. And the smell. In the forest proper it was one thing, you expected wilderness to be filled with the smells of plants and flowers. But even the town was still filled with Tourmaline Forest’s signature giant pink flowers, wafting their sweet sticky scent through the air, backed up by the plentiful smaller flowers. It was incredible, I had no idea a town could smell like this. A pain up my leg and a squeak from Irwin once more jolted me out of my gawking before I could walk into a woman and her Solosis coming the other way around a corner.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I was not watching where I was going.” I apologised as we walked around each other. She smiled at me and said something in a sign language I didn’t understand. I’m sure I must’ve looked confused, because Solosis floated over in front of me. Its fluid covering began to softly glow as my mind filled with feelings of relief. It was still vague, but I got the impression they were saying it’s fine. “Alright then,” I said, “Still, sorry for that.” She smiled and waved back to me as they continued down their path. I sighed and looked down at Irwin. “I really gotta stop spacing out like that, huh?” He let out a low-pitched squeak in response.

***​

I made my way into the centre of town, making sure to stop in place if I needed to marvel at anything else about the town. Fortunately not frequent, once you got over the initial shock, it wasn’t too bad. I could see the red roof of the Pokemon Centre sticking up from the surrounding buildings. A special shade of red unique to the organisation, that only official Pokemon Centre buildings were allowed to use, for easy identification in case of an emergency. I decided to head the other way for now though. It wasn’t that late, I had plenty of time to check out some shops before heading in for the night. I wandered down the street, peeking in the window of a store every now and then. I’d picked Irwin up to carry around with me after the first minute or so, since he’d started up gawking himself and his small size meant he was good at getting caught underfoot if he wasn’t watching where he was going. So there he was, hanging there with my arms wrapped around his chest, his front legs sticking out the top. I looked down at him and smiled, watching his head turn and look around all over the place. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but this was his first time outside of Geode Town, too. Heck, given how sickly he apparently was for a while, this could’ve even been his first time away from the lab. I guess he was just more enthralled by the clustered buildings and bustling people than the forest wilderness.

“Ah, hello my friend!” A voice called out. I stopped and looked around, mostly on reflex. “Yes! You! Hello, hello, come closer!” I finally identified the speaker, a man stepping out from behind his kiosk to walk the short distance towards me. “Ah, yes. A fine, discerning young Pokemon trainer like yourself will surely be interested in what I have to offer!” I could have just left of course, a salesman like him must have been used to it, but I had to admit that I was intrigued despite myself. I could let him show me what he was selling and then just move on.

“I might be.” I shrugged, following him over to his kiosk. Once I got closer though, it became blatantly obvious what he was trying to sell me. I watched the fish swimming around in the tank on top. Bright red, with a gaping mouth and yellow crown-like fins on its top and bottom. Irwin watched too, his mouth snapping open and shut as his gaze followed it around. This was one behaviour I had learned the meaning of in the past few days. He was hungry and wanted to eat it. I held his mouth shut with two of my fingers. “Hey, I’ll get you something later, ok?”

“Ah, I can see by your gaze that you recognise it.” He said, gesturing to the fish. “Yes, this is Magikarp, precursor to the most powerful Pokemon in the world!” He exaggerated of course, but Gyarados was a powerful Pokemon if you put the time in to raise a Magikarp. “And this fine specimen can be yours for a mere 500 dollars!” I honestly considered it for a moment. Magikarp held a lot of potential, and a Gyarados would be a powerful teammate. But as I stared into those eyes, I felt… Absolutely nothing. There was no connection. No electric feeling that this could be one of my partners through thick and thin.

“Sorry, not interested.” I said shrugging.

“You drive a hard bargain my friend.” He said, leaning in. “For you, I’ll make a very special offer. Only 400 dollars!”

“Nope.” I said as I started walking away.

“350!” He shouted after me. I kept walking. I looked down to Irwin in my arms.

“What do you say we go get that something to eat, yeah?” He gave his high-pitched squeak of most likely affirmation.

***​

Not too long after, the pair of us arrived at the Pokemon centre, the taste of a delicious sandwich still lingering in my mouth. A tone chimed out as the doors automatically slid open, getting the attention of the nurse at the counter.

“Good afternoon. How can we help today?” She said with a smile and a wave. I walked up to the counter.

“Hi, I’d like to get a room to stay in?”

“Of course!” She beamed, producing a sheet of paper from beneath the counter. “We’ll just need a couple details for our records and you’ll be good to go.” And so I handed over the usual basic details as she asked for them: full name, phone number, emergency contact, how long I was planning to stay. “And there we go, all set.” She handed me a key from beneath the counter. “Room 1, just through the door, there.” She said, gesturing to the door on the left side of the lobby.

“Before I head in, can you take a look at Irwin here?” I said, lifting him up onto the counter. “We’ve had a few battles on the road and I just wanna make sure he’s holding up ok.” I handed over his Poke Ball too.

“Of course.” She said. She took the ball and pointed it at Irwin. He was bathed in a red light as he was pulled back inside. “Just take a seat, this shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.” She walked through the door behind her and into the treatment room. I walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. I glanced around at the room for a few moments before feeling my eyelids get heavy as my head started to droop. I jolted back up. Wow, I had no idea I was that tired. I guess walking from one town to another tends to take it out of you. I looked up at the wall and zeroed in on a poster about telling the heath of plant Pokemon by the condition of their leaves. I read it all the way through a few times, trying to keep my brain occupied to stave off the drowsiness. I’m not sure I really retained any of the information though.

“Kendall?” The nurse said as she appeared next to the chair. “I’m happy to report that Irwin’s in perfect health.” She said, handing me back the ball.

“That’s great, thanks.”

“Maybe you should get some rest, too.” She said with a smile. “You look a little tired.”

“Yeah.” I said, getting up from the chair. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” I walked over to the door, waved good night, and headed into the staying rooms for trainers. I headed straight to the first door, went in, put my backpack down on the floor and let Irwin out of his ball. “Do whatever you want in here, buddy.” I said. “I’m headin’ to bed.” I plonked straight down on the bottom bunk, got under the covers and closed my eyes. A few moments later, I felt a cold, scaly body crawl under the covers next to me. I smiled, snuggled up with him, and fell asleep not long after.

 

[Unforgettable_Flygon]

First off, I can see your prose is improving, and the chapters are getting more detailed. Good job!

I also wondered how you were even going to incorporate the weapons salesperson part of the prompt, since as far as I could tell weapons don't exactly exist in the Pokeverse... but you managed to put a spin on it by using the Margikarp salesman, and the protagonist's refusal to acknowledge him.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

First off, I can see your prose is improving, and the chapters are getting more detailed. Good job!

I also wondered how you were even going to incorporate the weapons salesperson part of the prompt, since as far as I could tell weapons don't exactly exist in the Pokeverse... but you managed to put a spin on it by using the Margikarp salesman, and the protagonist's refusal to acknowledge him.

Yeah, the big medieval fantasy theme of the prompt list means that in a lot of cases the prompts are more like vibes than literal instructions. This certainly isn't going to be the last time I massage the meanings of things a bit to fit in with the world, tone, and direction

 

[Unforgettable_Flygon]

Yeah, the big medieval fantasy theme of the prompt list means that in a lot of cases the prompts are more like vibes than literal instructions. This certainly isn't going to be the last time I massage the meanings of things a bit to fit in with the world, tone, and direction

Ah, I see. Still, you did well.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Part 6: Knight Who’s Looking For A Better Sword

I opened my eyes, stretched, and sat up in the bed. Wow, after nights of sleeping in a bag on the ground, having an actual bed for the night feels incredible. I got out of bed and peeked under the covers to see Irwin still dozing away. No real need to wake him just yet. I still had to get cleaned up after sleeping in the same clothes I walked through the woods in for most of yesterday. I grabbed my various self-cleaning gear and a change of clothes from my backpack, a simple t-shirt and pair of shorts, picked up one of the complimentary towels from the room and headed off to the showers.

***​

After the shower, I headed back to the room and found a lump shifting around under the covers. I threw back the covers to reveal the little brown and black body. His head suddenly snapped up to look at me with a short squeak, his mouth hanging open. I smiled down at him, and after a few seconds he gave his high-pitched, happy-like squeak and started to bounce up and down on his hind legs. I reached down and shook him by the back a bit. In response he squealed and twisted himself around to gently close his mouth over my hand. I shook him a bit more, gently rolling him over onto his side so I could reach and shake his tummy. We continued this way for a time, play-roughhousing on the bed until we’d decided we’d had enough.

“Come on pal, what do you say we head out into the lobby for a bit?” I said, picking him up to cradle in my arms. I headed out into the lobby and sat down in one of the chairs, placing him in my lap. Now that I was in town, not exhausted from the day before, and more able to just sit down without worrying about getting a decent distance from the day, I felt like it was time to properly address a problem that had become painfully apparent over the past couple days since I’d set out. I had absolutely no idea how you were supposed to train a Pokemon. I wanted to help Irwin improve, but I really wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to do that. Nobody had ever really told me how you were supposed to do it. The classes on Pokemon in school focused more on physiology and habitat and stuff, and even Professor Gum only made sure I was ready for the traveling side of the journey. He hadn’t asked if I knew how to train Irwin or anything. I knew that battling was supposed to be a good way to give him some practical skills, and we’d had a few of those on the trek here, but surely that couldn’t be all it was? Surely there had to be some other aspect to training a Pokemon beyond throwing them into battles over and over. I let my eyes wander around the room. Maybe something would spark some inspiration. I saw that poster about leaf health from yesterday (not terribly useful given Irwin had no leaves), the clock (no help there), and some magazines on the table (maybe there was a trainer magazine that could give some tips?). I then looked up at the TV in the corner of the room. The sound was muted, but the closed captions were on so people could still read what was being said. It was currently playing a sports show, talking about the teams of an upcoming baccer match. The show cut to a voiceover of the team practicing, running drills for things like ball control or just plain speed for crossing the field. Could that kind of thing work for battle training as well? It made sense. Practice makes perfect, right? Keep trying for whatever you’re trying to accomplish and eventually you’ll get it right. I stood up, placed Irwin on the ground, and motioned for him to follow me.

“Excuse me.” I said to the nurse as I walked over to the counter. “We can use the battlefield out the back, right?”

“Of course.” She smiled back. “Please use it as much as you’d like.”

“Uh-huh. And what about damages?” I asked gingerly.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We have people who come by and resurface the field if it gets too bad.” I thanked her for the advice and headed out around the back of the building to the battlefield. It wasn’t anything particularly special. Just some lines painted on the dirt to mark out a rectangle with a Poke Ball in the centre.

“Alright Irwin.” I said, standing before the little crocodile on the field. “You couldn’t use Dig to attack back in the forest because you can’t dig a hole fast enough. So we’re gonna run some drills to help you figure it out.” Irwin gave a little roar and stood tall. I pulled out my phone and opened the stop-watch. “You’ll start digging a hole, and I’ll time you. We’ll see how much you can dig in a minute. If you keep practicing then you’ll pick up the trick sooner or later, right?” He gave his high-pitched squeak. “Ok, ready… Go!”

***​

A few hours later, I surveyed the progress as Irwin took a break. The holes from the end of the training session were deeper than the ones from the start, but not by much. In my head I knew that of course there was no way Irwin was going to get it after just a few hours, but it was still a little disheartening despite that. He was still nowhere close to being able to use this as a move in battle.

“Hey.” A voice said from behind me. I stood up and turned around to see a boy around my age, maybe a bit older. He wore a jacket, jeans, and a bandanna patterned after a Hawlucha’s head wrapped around his short hair.

“Oh, hey.” I said, giving a little wave. “I didn’t realise anyone else was here.”

“Nah, it’s ok, I just got here. I’m Daniel.” He said, extending a hand.

“Kendall.” I said, shaking it. Daniel looked around at the dug-up battlefield.

“What happened here?” He asked.

“This was trying to teach Irwin over there how to use Dig in battle.” I said, gesturing over to Irwin splayed out on the ground not far away. “Progress is… Slow.”

“Dig, huh?” Daniel said, rummaging through his pockets. “Leroy knows how to do that. Maybe he can help?”

“Yeah?” I said, perking up a bit at the news. “Did you teach him?”

“Not really.” He said, producing a Great Ball from his jacket. “He kinda came with the skill.” He opened the ball, the light that spewed out forming into the shape of a rotund little land-shark with stubby limbs.

“Gaaw.” The Gible squawked.

“Hey Leroy.” Daniel said, squatting down next to him. “You reckon you can show that Sandile how you dig through the ground?” Leroy squawked again and waved his stubby little arms. “Alright, he’ll lend a hand.”

“Really? That’s great!” I said. “Hey Irwin, you good to go just a little bit longer?” I called over to him. Irwin jumped up onto his feet and gave his high-pitched squeak. He plodded over to us. “Alright Irwin. You just watch Leroy and see how he digs through the ground, ok?” Leroy angled his face down, opened his mouth and scooped up some dirt. He quickly snapped his mouth shut, opened up and dived into the divot he’d created. He continued chomping up large bites of dirt and shot off, only the fin on his back peeking out of the ground. He crossed to the other side of the battlefield and dove deeper, his fin vanishing completely under the ground. A few moments later, he shot up out of the ground and into the air. He waved his arms a little before dropping to the ground, landing cleanly on his feet. I watched the demonstration in awe. He made it seem so easy when we were struggling so much. I looked over to Irwin who was staring at the hole Leroy had left at the starting point, making a low rumbling noise. He turned to the patch of dirt in front of him, opened his mouth, and tried to scoop up the dirt in his mouth. Unfortunately, the shape of his mouth meant that he only made a narrow scoop out of the ground, and he very quickly spat out the dirt, shaking his head. I stepped over to him and knelt down.

“Hey, you all good buddy?” I asked. He looked up at me and squeaked. Seemed he was fine, just disgusted. I turned to Daniel. “I feel like this style doesn’t really fit Irwin.” I said. Daniel grinned back.

“Yeah, doesn’t really look like it.” He chuckled.

“Thanks for trying, though. It was pretty cool of you.” I said, putting on a smile.

“Hey, you seem kinda… Bummed out at the moment.” Daniel said. “You had lunch?”

“Nah, been here all morning.”

“You wanna grab something, take your mind off it?” He offered. “I heard some people talking about a nice place on the edge of town.” Why not. We’d been going for a while anyway, and this was probably as good a way to wind down as any.

“Yeah, ok. Sounds fun.” I said. Irwin gave a short wail, having gone back to lying splayed out on the ground. I chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna make you walk.” I said, returning him to his ball as Daniel did the same with Leroy. I stashed Irwin’s ball in my pocket and turned to Daniel. “Does this… Even really work?” I asked. “The whole running drills to learn moves thing, that is. I kinda just came up with it on the fly this morning.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” He said. “I’ve taught my Pokemon stuff like this before. You just gotta keep trying, stuff takes time.”

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. Just gotta keep going.” I said, brightening up a bit. “Alright. Let’s go eat.”