Chapter 5 - The Road to Cherrygrove

After some time, we got up and resumed training. I put particular emphasis on their speed and dodging abilities as I trained alongside Chrys and Chaos. I knew I couldn’t just rely on them to help me, I had to be able to help them. I refuse to be deadweight on this team.

To that end, I practiced swinging with the stun baton. As well as rolling and general mobility while having it in hand. The baton weighed just under a kilogram, so it was good for striking. Adding on the crackling electricity coursing over the pronged end when triggered, it looked like some rattata would have a bad time.

While I swung about and dove around like a madman, Chrys and Chaos were “playing” with each other. And by that, I mean tackling each other relentlessly as they tried dodging and receiving blows. They weren’t going all out, but they still packed some power.

After an hour of training, with some breaks in between, we sat down under a tree for lunch. Chrys and Chaos gobbled up their food, while I slowly ate my nutrition bar. I was feeling a little tired and thought I might have gone overboard on training before heading out. But even though the road to Cherrygrove is considered relatively safe, I wanted to know we would be okay if we stumbled upon a rattata nest.

“Alright team, after a 15 minute break we’ll head outside the gates towards Cherrygrove City. It would take us 6 days to get there if we travelled normally, but I think we should prioritize training and battling wild pokemon. We only need to get our first badge within a year to keep my license.”

“Happi!”, “Chiko.”

“Alright, let’s rest up.” I say, lying down and closing my eyes. Shortly, my alarm on my phone went off.

“Okay, I’m going to put you in your pokeballs until we get outside of the gates.” I say, recalling them after their assent. I stowed their pokeballs on the lining in my sleeve and took a deep breath. Shouldering my pack, I made my way to the gates.

Once outside, I released Chrys and Chaos. “Chrys. Chaos. We’re in the wilds now so we’ll have to be careful. Make sure to keep your senses open for any pokemon that approach us. Let’s stick to the route for now until we’re further from New Bark Town.”

“Chiko!”, “Happi!”

“Good, let’s go.”

We made our way along the route, Chaos trundling along by me and Chrys scouting 10 metres in front of us. Our day was uneventful, with some sightings of pidgey and rattata that flitted about in the forest. I knew that the area around town housed pokemon that were wary of humans, and promised to not let my guard down.

About an hour before sunset, we came upon a clearing on the side of the route. There were a couple of tents setup, it looked like this was an unofficial rest area.

“Alright team, looks like this is where we’ll set up for the night.” I called out to Chaos and Chrys, who ran up to my side. There was a lone tent at the back and two tents set up by the left side. I decided to set up on the right side, pulling out my tent which just needed a press of a button to set itself up. Making my way inside, I took out the bed which also inflated at the press of a button.

“Let’s take a rest, team.” I said, picking up Chaos and putting her on the bed as Chrys jumped on top. I lay down beside them, tired from our journey. Even though I had tried to get into good physical condition in the past months, the added weight of the backpack and the long distance left me sore and listless. Chrys seemed to be holding up fine. While Chaos was starting to slow down, unused to long periods of activity. I was debating putting her back in her pokeball earlier, but decided she could use the endurance training.

“Chaos, how’re you holding up?”

“Happiny!” She seemed to be indignant at the fact that I questioned her lack of energy.

“Okay, okay.” I conceded, but decided that maybe I’d forgo training this evening.

“In 15 minutes we’ll go collect some firewood and maybe ask if there’s a stream around.” We still had a reserve of Trainer Meals(basically MRE’s) and water, but I wanted to make a potato and sausage stew. It was one of my favourite meals from “before”, so I got the ingredients along with some ingredients for other simple meals. Luckily, everything is able to stay fresh in my backpack.

Once my alarm rang, I grudgingly got up alongside Chrys and Chaos. Exiting the tent, I saw that the trainers from the two tents opposite mine were outside with their pokemon. They were the trainers in 3rd and 4th to receive regional starters. They had both chosen totodile.

I approached them and waved, “Hello, I’m Jason.” Trying to be more social, like I promised myself.

“Elizabeth.”, “Alan.” They replied, looking at Chrys and Chaos behind me.

“That’s such a cute happiny.” Elizabeth said.

“Her name’s Chaos, and this is Chrys.” I say, introducing them, while they shyly peek out behind my legs.

“This is Allie.” She says while petting her.

“Toto!”

“Croc.” Says Alan.

“Dile! Dile.”

Introductions out of the way, I ask, “Do you know if there’s a stream nearby?”

“About a kilometre that way.” Elizabeth replies, pointing northwest.

“How’s the journey been for you? I’ve had it pretty easy so far, no aggressive pokemon.” I say.

Elizabeth replies, “Well, that’s probably because of her.” Pointing to the other tent in the clearing, “Kaley likely scared them off when she came through. She has an aggressive fletchinder that had been terrorizing the local pokemon."

I remember she was the 1st place participant who chose a cyndaquil.

"Not that there's anything strong around here. Off route is where the stronger pokemon live." Alan added.

"Not like you would know, Al."

"I'm just talking about what I read, Liz."

While they bickered, I thought about my plans to go off route. Was I being reckless?

“Hey, Alan, I’ve read that off route around here isn’t too bad?”

“Well, yes, and no. For the most part, you’ll find weaker pokemon. But there are always outliers, those that rise above the rest. It’s unlikely you’ll encounter one, though.” He replied.

"Thanks, Elizabeth. Alan." I said, "We're going to go check out that stream."

We headed in the direction Elizabeth pointed out and found the small stream. There are some tiny non-pokemon fish darting around.

"Why don't you two take a dip." I suggested.

"Happi!", "Chiko!" They said as they frolicked into the water, scaring all the fish off. I helped to clean them off. Then gathered some water in my pot and headed back to my tent.

When we got back, I saw that there was a newcomer to the clearing. Matt and Bruno looked to have just arrived.

“Hey, Jason! Mind if we set up here?”

Well, I guess I was trying to be more social. “No problem, Matt. I was just going to go look for some firewood.”

He smiled and said, “We’ll join you.”

“Why don’t you make a circle of stones for the firepit?”

“Sure.”

After some quick gathering of firewood, we met back up at the clearing. Bruno made quick work of starting the fire and I started setting up my pot on its tripod.

“Do you want some stew? Potato and sausage?” I ask.

“Thanks, man. These Trainer Meals aren’t that appetizing.”

While I started cooking, we started talking. Matt was an only child to a single mother. They weren’t very wealthy, so his mom couldn’t afford to get him a starter. After getting 5th in the regionwide test, he was ecstatic. But his mother was more worried than happy, it turns out she didn’t want him to be a trainer due to the risks. He still ended up becoming a trainer, but things were patchy with him and his mom.

I told him my story as well and he was surprised to learn about my memory loss and lack of parents. We both shared a passion for pokemon and training, which got us started on talking about which pokemon we wanted to capture.

“For a flying pokemon, I would want dragonite! They’re so awesome.” Matt said.

“I don’t know, for me being comfortable on my flying pokemon is a must.” I said.

“Dragonite saddles are comfortable enough, what do you want?” He asked.

“What could be more comfortable than riding on a cloud?”