Winds of journey

C

caligari

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A cold breeze rolled into New Bark town from the east, it brought with it the smell of the sea, the grasses of Kanto and the feeling of a new beginning. Today was the day, today Loïc would finally head out on his journey to make it to the very top of victory road. It will be a long road, that much is certain, for one would need eight badges and he had none. What he did have was a pokemon.

From his jacket he took out a small orb, his first pokeball holding his first pokemon, a Tentacool. It washed up on the shores of New Bark a while ago, shrivelled and dried up like it was, baking in the sun, he needed only a gentle tone and a bucket of water to convince this poisonous jellyfish to join him. Loïc would not win any popularity contests with a Tentacool, but it didn't matter, it needed him when its need was most dire, now he will need it and together they would leave their mark on Johto.

Together. The notion made him smirk and shake his head. No, that wasn't exactly true. Two more would join him on his journey. Or was it Loïc who was joining him? Hard to say. He gazed over his shoulder towards professor Elm's lab, solemn structure as it was and wondered how much longer it would take. Three pokemon were offered to him, perhaps the decision was just too difficult to make in such a short time. Or perhaps Elm was talking his ear off, each was a possibility. Still though, Loïc wondered what would the choice end up being?
 
Joey was happy to be finally rid of Prof. Elm's constant yapping. As soon as he was allowed to turn around, he essentially sped away as fast as his legs could take him. Thankfully he was wearing shorts. You see, shorts are absolutely, one hundred percent the epitome of human innovation in textile designs. They run down halfway down your thighs, allowing you full mechanical motion at the knees, and the loose fit at the hips allows for unencumbered movement as well as plenty of ventilation. Truly the work of a true Professor (or an evil genius) shorts are, and like Joey's Rattata, these shorts weren't just any kind of shorts: they were different from regular shorts, it's like they were in the top-percentage of shorts. Magnificent.

Back to the journey of our hero: as Joey departed from Prof. Elm's lab, he managed to spot Loïc in the distance. Now Loïc wasn't like Joey. His name was weird, and his Pokémon was a squid hardly able to adapt to life on land. Certainly Loïc wasn't, and would never be in the true top-percentage of Pokémon trainers, but every knight needs a squire, Joey figured (sorry for the transliteration, in truth Joey figured every Yokozuna needs a Tachimochi). Joey raised his hand in greeting as he approached his peer, Loïc was of a similar age, and New Bark Town was small enough that of course they knew each other. "Loooooic" he exclaimed boisterously, "hurry up, let's ditch that guy and get a head start with this trial thing."

Joey continued to walk past Loïc without so much as stopping as he said this, every second they lingered in this backwards town was another second he'd have to wait before fulfilling his ambition to become champion, or so he figured.
 
God, he's loud. Loïc thought to himself as Joey made his name echo through the town. Without a second notion he walked right past him and into route 29. Impatient as always it seemed. Then again, perhaps they simply shared the notion that this town out here in the sticks would drain them for all they're worth if they stayed.

As Joey confidently strode forward, Loïc hesitated, at the edge of town he paused and almost faltered. Once more it was clear that Joey had far more confidence, or perhaps arrogant ignorance, than Loïc did. A bold underline of how perhaps he was better suited for this journey and how different the two of them actually are. With a quick look back, Loïc banished that thought from his mind and with a heavy heart and even heavier footstep, continued on behind Joey.

As he caught up to Joey, he finally appreciated his position as all around him sentret scurried from tree to tree and occasionally stood up on their tails so their eyes could peer just over the low shrub to stare at the beginning duo. "I recommend we stop by Cherrygrove first for a bit for supplies. I have some with me, food mostly, but a few more potions and pokeballs could never hurt." He was just as eager as Joey to head straight for the Violet city gym, well... maybe not as eager, but he wouldn't do it without proper preparation and maybe some proper training first.

A pidgey landed on a treebranch nearby and began cuddling with one that was already there. Funnily enough, they were right above a set of hanging, sleeping pinecos. Seeing all these pokemon made it very clear to Loïc that while he already has one, he should keep an eye out for one that doesn't shrivel up like parchment out on land.
 
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Noon approached and both new trainers had been walking for the better part of the morning as they made their way to Cherrygrove City. Tiredness had begun to set and finally Joey slowed down to take a sip of water, a breath of fresh air and to take in the full scope of what this journey would be like. He took a seat on an exposed root of a large tree, and brought out a small cooler box. "Lunch?" He asked his Loïc as he began to retrieve some bread, cheese, berries and cold cuts from his cooler.

"Come on out, Champ" he called out as he released his Rattata from its Poké Ball, and began feeding it breadcrumbs. Joey's actions, and the presence of food of course enticed some wild Pokémon closer to the party, particularly Pidgey who surely hoped to scavenge some of the food that was being passed about. Joey, noticing this, smirked. "Hey Loïc, wanna see something cool?" He asked, as he threw some crumbs away from his Rattata, triggering the wild Pidgey to cluster around the food. "Now Champ, Quick Attack!"

Joey's Rattata pounced quicker than most of the Pidgey could react, and it collided against the mass of Tiny Bird Pokémon, prompting any that were fortunate enough to avoid the collision to fly away, and revealing a single Pidgey that had taken the brunt of the attack and had been grounded by it. Upon getting line of sight of this particular Pokémon, Joey rushed to launch an empty Poké Ball at it, engulfing the wild Pokémon within the sphere for 1... 2... and 3!

"...and that's how it's done. You see, it helps to hurt the Pokémon before you attempt to capture it, otherwise you're just rolling the dice. Also, you can use food to bait or beckon them closer." Joey looked towards Loïc with a smug grin, "stick around kid, you may learn a thing or two."
 
The first half of the first day had passed and Joey decided it was time for a break and a snack. He had offered some food, but Loïc had brought his own and began snacking on an oran berry or two. As he ate he closed his eyes and felt the breeze on his face, it no longer carried the smell of salt or even the same scent it had in New Bark Town, instead making way for the smell of grass, trees and earth. How strange it was, being only a stones throw away from home, but feeling like it was the other side of the world.

As Loïc was lost in thought, Joey took advantage of the time and his breadcrumbs to catch a pidgey. An impressive feat, Loïc had to admit, even if he did feel as though Joey was talking down to him a bit by telling him how to catch pokemon. "You forget Joey," Loïc called out his tentacool from the pokeball into a small, nearby pond "I caught a pokemon before you did." Even if it was only a day or two, but Loïc would leave that detail out.

He walked over to tentacool and handed it an oran berry as well, which it heartily stuffed into his submerged mouth. Though as Loïc was doing this, he failed to notice three men walking down the path in the direction of New Bark and as they approached one of them knocked Loïc out of the way. "Move it, kid." he barked as he almost pushed the young adventurer into the water. Tentacool responded by extending one of its tentacles and stinging the guy in the leg which made him fall to one knee.

"What's this? A couple of tough guys?" The one in the middle stepped up and grabbed Loïc by the collar. The lot of them were hard to differentiate from one another, each wearing all black and even hiding part of their face beneath a black cap. With one on his knee, another grabbing Loïc, the last one walked up to Joey and towered over him. He took one look at the rattata and chuckled "Yeah, a real duo of champions. What do you say, champ, ya wanna take on the elite three?" He took out a pokeball and held it before Joey.
 
Joey froze. The black get up, the menacing aura, the numbers advantage. He wondered who these guys were, and what they could possibly be after coming after beginning trainers. He was afraid, but he was not going to let realize it; he needed to take a stand.

Smirking, he retorted "the Elite Three? Is that what your uniforms are all about? Is there some sort of animecon going on around here? What sort of shoujo manga are you three cosplaying as anyways?"

His smirk deepened. "Listen and you listen well, chump. Let go of my buddy Loïc there right now and you get to spare your Pokémon from the asswhooping my Rattata and I are about to unleash upon you,"

Whoa! Where did that come from? Joey was bluffing, surely, but he certainly hoped he could cover the bet should his bluff get called. "…otherwise bring your Pokémon on out, and start drafting the apology you'll be giving it after."
 
"That's it, kid! Good, good, you show show courage... let's beat that out of you shall we?" The one before Joey threw up his pokeball and with a sound click it opened to reveal a Zubat. The one holding Loïc let go of the young adventurer and smirked as he went to stand next to his partner and revealed his own pokemon; an ekans. The one stung by tentacool did nothing, however, and merely got to his feet and watched.

Loïc collected himself and went to stand next to Joey. "this journey is off to a rollocking good start." He sized his opponents up, two against two, the numbers were even, but the experience... they'll have to work together closely to overcome this first challenge "Trial by fire it is then, Tentacool use supersonic on Ekans!" A high pitched sound pierced the air as it flew from tentacool to the ekans hitting it square in the face. The poisonous snake woobled back and forth as it tried to overcome its confusion.

"Zubat, suck that Rattata dry, leech life!" The man in black barked his orders and the bat obeyed, it revealed its fangs and flew in towards Joey's rattata at a dazzling speed.
 
Zubat rushed at Rattata at an astounding speed, and had the advantage of being airborne. Another aspect of the battle, which was not lost upon Joey was that all Pokémon involved were venomous, except for Champ, but Champ was a top percentage Rattata for a reason, and if there was only one aspect it was exceptional in, it was its strength. "Champ, swiftly!" was the only thing Joey could command as the Zubat rushed his Pokémon. Champ, with a sudden side-step and a sprint avoided the attack and rushed the dazed Ekans, sinking its teeth deep into its natural predator. Meanwhile, the flying-type Pokémon was struggling to gather itself up after hitting the ground to go airborn once more.

"Loïc, get it now!" Joey screamed pointing towards the Bat Pokémon as his own Pokémon struggled to avoid the Ekans's incoming coil while staying grappled on to it.
 
"Right!" Loïc responded to Joey's commands before shouting his own "Tentacool, use poison sting on zubat!" Tentacool lifted his tentacles out of the water and from its tips shot out a barrage of poisonous barbs glistening bright purple in the sunlight. It was a direct hit on the blind bat, but it didn't seem like it did much of anything to it. Dammit! Loïc thought Poison moves on a poisonous pokemon is like throwing water in the sea to stop the tide. If only he knew constrict! Elm had promised that tentacool would know it quickly, but that promise had yet to come to pass.

while Loïc was too busy with useless thoughts and complaints, the ekans shook of the rattata Champ and bared its fangs. "Ekans, use wrap!" the order sounded and it seemed as though the snake complied only to miscalculate its distance from the ground hurting itself as it lunged towards the Champ. Apparently, the supersonic had some effect.

The zubat meanwhile had gotten airborne again, shrugging off both the crash and the poison sting. "Zubat, leech life again, on the tentacool this time." Emboldened by the rage it felt for the earlier attack, the zubat flew even faster at tentacool; too fast. Unable to dodge it sunk its teeth into the jellyfish right around its red orb and was determined to regain its health at the cost of tentacool's.
 
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The Ekans recoiled after hitting itself in its confusion, but seemed to regain its composure shortly thereafter, hissing at Joey's Mouse Pokémon and baring its fangs. Meanwhile, the Zubat that had latched on to Loïc's Tentacool seemed to be draining the Water-type's health to replenish its own. 'We need to force 2-on-1 exchanges to gain a slight advantage', Joey knew, but Tentacool was essentially confined to its small pond, and Rattata… could Rattata swim? Could Zubat?

The train of thought lit up a light bulb in Joey's head. 'Of course!'

"Champ, Quick Attack the Zubat!" he screamed prompting his Rattata's little legs to rev up and speed towards the pond where the Bat and Jellyfish Pokémon struggled. "Drag it underwater!"

Rattata did as bid, leaping a distance of almost five feet from the pond's shore to land on top of the other two Pokémon, bringing all three to splash and become submerged, now, with Ekans on dry land, they'd have a true numbers advantage, Joey hoped as his hand instinctively went to his belt where Champ's Poké Ball was. He might need to save his little buddy shortly, after all.
 
Loïc really wasn't ready for this first battle, he stood watching helplessly as the zubat began sucking on the tentacool. Poison sting was ineffective and supersonic wouldn't break the jellyfish free. Then he noticed something, as the zubat was sucking on the pokemon, he began to react negatively to its effects, shaking and recoiling with every drop. What was going on? Loïc thought seeing as leech life should aid the attacking pokemon, not hinder it. Of course! The liquid ooze ability Elm told him about!

Before he could so much as finish his thought, Joey had ordered his rattata to drag the zubat under. Loïc could just muster "No, wait!" but the it had already been done, with both pokemon splashing in the water. "Tentacool get Rattata out of the water, but keep the zubat under!" With one tentacle it wrapped around the Champ and placed him on dry land, while with his other he pressed the bat under with minimal effort. It would appear that echolocation doesn't work under water and the poor zubat didn't know which way was up.

"Dammit," the zubat owner hissed through his teeth "Come back zubat!" Through his pokeball and a red beam of light, the zubat escaped a watery grave and returned to its owner. Now it was two against one. "Now's the time." Loïc proclaimed "Tentacool use poison sting!"
"Ekans use leer followed by wrap!" The man's orders came out faster and with more power. In an instant it leered at tentacool making it hesitate and fire off its poison darts too fast, easily avoidable by the ekans. Before either tentacool nor Loïc could react, the snake had wrapped itself around the tentacool with such force it looked more like a water balloon about to pop than a jellyfish. The entire situation forced Loïc to recall his only pokemon leaving only the poisonous snake and the tiny rat to square off.

"Sorry, Joey, I did the best I could..." Loïc apologised, but he couldn't risk losing his only pokemon, not now, not mere hours after his journey just started.
 
Joey's Rattata and the grunt's Ekans squared off before each other, a showdown between predator and prey, surely Champ could use his speed to come out on top of this match-up? Joey tsked; he hadn't expected Loïc's Tentacool to be so hurt by the Snake Pokémon's attack, it was now down to a singles showdown, mano-a-mano.

"Ekans, now!" the grunt commanded as Joey was lost in thought. The Snake Pokémon's head rose from its coil and began to swirl in a strange pattern and it began to rattle its tail. The sound was almost hypnotic even to Joey, and Champ's muscles seemed to tighten and lock up. "Good! Now use your Poison Sting!" the grunt commanded in a triumphant scream.

"Champ, dodge!" commanded Joey, but his Rattata appeared to be frozen in place from fear. The Ekans opened its mouth to shoot a gout of purple, iridescent needles that pierced and cut his immobile Pokémon.

"Heh. The jig is up, kid" the grunt sneered as his Pokémon coiled upon itself, sharing in its trainer's sadistic glee. Meanwhile, Joey's Rattata seemed as determined as ever to continue fighting, his muscles tensed further, his hairs bristled and stiffened, and he lowered himself to a pouncing position. Furthermore, a slight breeze appeared to emanate from him, though he was obviously struggling to move or remain standing. "Ekans; finish it."

The Snake Pokémon pounced. Jaw unhinged, it looked poised to swallow the Mouse Pokémon whole as it launched itself airborne at its opponent. Joey flinched, his finger jerked awkwardly as he tried to retrieve Champ's Poké Ball, so as to recall him, and the ball fell on the grass. Champ moved. Managing somehow to overcome his Paralysis, Joey's Rattata took a half-step forward, and leaped up, smacking the Ekans right smack in its throat, right below its unhinged jaw. The Poison-type Pokémon landed hard at the base of a tree, jaw dislocated and unconscious.

Joey could hardly hide his awe at the move, and he quickly remembered a match from last year's quarterfinals at the Indigo Plateau. Bruno's Machamp had taken a similar stance as his Rattata had during the fight. The Machamp's muscles tensed, its visage focused, and a strong breeze had seemed to emanate from it, strong enough to divert its opponent's Razor Leafs as they approached it. 'Focus Energy'Joey recalled. That's what the announcer had claimed the move was.

It took Joey only a second or so to recollect himself and recall Champ to his Poké Ball. "Game-Set-Match." He noted unable to hide a sneer.
 
They won, Loïc couldn't believe it, they actually won their first match. Despite this, Loïc felt... discouraged and disappointed, he tried his hardest only to waste time thinking and sitting by idly as Joey did all the heavy lifting. He even had two pokemon, if Loïc wasn't here, the match would've been over much sooner. He clenched his fists and in that moment realised that the road for one was not the same as the road for another, but he would not let Joey stay ahead of him forever.

"Ekans return!" The snake was recalled to its pokeball and now both opponents were left furious and without pokemon. "You little twerps, don't think you've wo-"
"Enough!" The one who had been staying out of the fight finally spoke. "You've had your fun and we've wasted enough time. Don't forget; we're on a schedule, now let's go." He turned and walked down the path from which Loïc and Joey came.
Hesitant, the other two followed with the ekans owner spitting on the ground before turning away from the two young trainers.

"What was their problem?" Loïc asked, not really expecting an answer. He looked down at his pokeball and the tentacool inside, then gazed back up at the Champ standing tall and proud as any victor would. "You're impressive, Joey, you and your rattata. With skills like these... The elite four better watch their backs."
 
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