We headed back to the forest, this time on the lookout for Beedrills or any other dangerous monsters that may roam these woods. After I protected him from Beedrill's deadly attacks, Carnivore seemed to behave very differently - he was obedient after we made a deal, me respecting his name and existence in general and him following my rules. But now he seemed more... friendly?
He was walking a lot closer to me. More next to me than behind me and just blindly following me. I wanted to comment on it and tell him to stop being clingy all of a sudden, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to it.
Carnivore spotted a Caterpie and alerted me. Seems like this will be our next catch.
I let Carnivore go at it, but it turned out to be a much easier case than the Beedrill catastrophe - Caterpie basically climbed up on my leg all the way onto my shoulder and tried to nibble on my hair. It made me laugh. I simply took out an empty Pokeball and poked Caterpie with it. And it stayed in. Silly little worm.
I named it Bug, because bug types never last long. No need to get attached to this little thing, it's not important. Carnivore and Stardust had some hope in their future and seemed viable, but... not bug types, especially not one like Caterpie. Maybe when it evolves but even then, Butterfree is also very fragile.
Bug didn't seem to have any objections. It kept trying to climb on me and eat my clothes, so I decided it would be for the best if it stayed in its Pokeball for the time being.
We continued our journey and faced some of our first trainer battles. They were just bug catchers with some Caterpies and Weedles, which we've dealth with easily.
I've honestly never understood bug catcher trainers. As I've stated, bug types aren't any good. Trying to make them into fighters just... never works out. No one uses them.
And soon enough...
First evolution. That's one good thing about bug types actually, they evolve quite early and having evolved Pokemon is always a plus. I've seen trainers who have kept their Pokemon unevolved for 'extra challenge', but... that is not my thing.
Bug seemed emotionless now. Just a shell of his former self. Once he evolved, he was just standing in one spot waiting for me to call him back to his Pokeball. It's surprising how much a Pokemon's personality can change and not only during the evolution. I made a note of that in my Pokedex for Oak's research - hungry Caterpie evolving into a calm cocoon and a Pikachu, who went from slightly aggressive to obedient to... friendly? I sighed. This isn't at all what I wanted.
Carnivore was sitting next to me, observing Bug's evolution process with interest. He scratched himself behind his ear and then noticed me staring at him.
Whatever.
From the local bug catchers, I found out that there's one of them who calls himself Samurai and apparently he demands trainers to beat him before they proceed. He's known for his absolute monster of a Pokemon - A Pinsir, who's crushed many of its opponents with its giant pincers. An example for an actually good bug type Pokemon, if trained well.
I was very nervous to face him - What if I'm not good enough yet?
With an ease, I've captured a Pidgeotto, an evolved form of Pidgey - a common bird Pokemon. They live basically everywhere. Carnivore simply paralyzed him and he was mine. Should help with Samurai's Pinsir.
I named him Bullet, for his speed and agility he has shown during the fight. He seemed pretty beaten up, maybe from a previous fight, while Carnivore was weakening him. Maybe that's why he was so easy to capture.
Haha.
After venturing further into the woods, I've found the so called Samurai.
Samurai sent out his Pinsir right away. I didn't hesitate and sent Bullet to fight.
He wasn't as obedient as my other Pokemon - he would just fly around squawking angrily. I really should have done a training session or two with him before this battle.
"Bullet! Use Gust!"
He didn't listen immediately. He was circling above Pinsir, before finally striking it with the move.
Pinsir was surprisingly faster and tackled Bullet down.
That angered him, so he managed to use several Gusts in a row.
Bullet proudly squawked, ready for his next fight.
The Pidgeotto's face was bleeding, as the pincers would scratch him everytime the Pinsir has tackled him. He was in no condition to keep fighting, but when I tried to switch him out, he dodged the Pokeball's light. He wanted to fight.
(Yes, he got 3 levels from the Pinsir fight lol.)
As soon as I saw Samurai's second and last Pokemon, my worries about losing went away.
"You call yourself a Samurai? With a fucking Metapod?"
One Gust take care of the poor bug Pokemon.
Want me to sweep you again?
I proudly walked out of the forest and got into Pewter City, where my first real challenge is going to be.
Gym leaders are trainers known for their exceptional strength. You get a ton of money and fame for beating them in a match and it's what most of the trainers aspire to. Each region has 8 leaders to beat and then you can sign yourself up for the Pokemon League. And the winner goes big.
The government loves to promote the gym leaders, they have so much merch available it's insane. They are known icons all over the world.
Knock knock.
Sorry to hear that.
It's actually quite admirable - Brock has been training Pokemon only to afford taking care of his little siblings. Rare to see a person who's not selfish.
I don't have any just yet, unfortunately. My current team will have to do.
Bug could learn it, so... why not.
I forgot to mention - lot of gyms hire trainers to work there, for the extra excitement and challenge. Some gyms have more trainers than the others. The more badges you have, the more difficult the gyms get. I rolled up my sleeves, as the kid sent out a huge Rhyhorn. With a strategy in mind, I sent out Stardust.
Despite being much smaller than the rock-type, Stardust was ready for commands.
Sand attack hit Rhyhorn right in his eyes, making his vision blurry and unclear. Now his moves will be a lot easier for Stardust to dodge, as Rhyhorn loses its ability to aim properly.
The Rhyhorn settled for using Tail Whip, lowering Stardust's defense so when the offensive move actually hits, it will deal a lot more damage to Stardust than normally. It was up to the Sandshrew's dodging skills now.
"Remember to dodge!" I shouted. "Use Poison Sting!"
It took a couple of tries, but Stardust has managed to poison him. Unfortunately during those turns, when Stardust got closer to land a move, Rhyhorn could easily hit him as well.
Rhyhorn's Stomp did a great amount of damage to the small mole. The hard shell on his back was basically cracked, from Rhyhorn's big feet crushing him.
"Back! Carnivore, go!"
Carnivore dodged a Stomp and after hitting a few Quick Attacks and the damage from poison, Rhyhorn eventually goes down. Without a scratch, Carnivore managed to win.
The kid wasn't done yet though. There still was a Geodude, another bulky rock type. I couldn't use the same strategy as before because Stardust was hurt.
"It's up to you now! Play nice!" I called.
What a backstabbing move. Carnivore put on a cute face, radiating a friendly and harmless energy. Geodude's attacking power instantly goes down, but he braces himself, following up with a Defense Curl.
Carnivore managed to hit him with a few Quick attacks. Geodude went for Tackle, crushing the Pikachu's body under itself, but that was a mistake.
The paralyzed Geodude goes down. Carnivore suddenly looks at me and raises his little fist.
"Huh?" Checking the Pokedex data, I realize that Carnivore has learned a new move.
"Oh." I said, surprised. This is going to make the gym a lot easier. I almost smiled at the proud Pikachu in front of me, but I managed to keep my poker face.
"Good. That means you probably won't die." I say instead.
Happy pride month!
I went to the healing station and after that, took my monsters out for last training session before the gym.
Bullet has been... A problematic asset. He refused to listen to me on multiple occassions, training him is going to be a pain in the butt. Hopefully he'll be worth it. For now, I decided against using him for the gym. Which leaves... Carnivore and Stardust. No way Bug would be useful for the rock types that Brock has.
The strategy we used against the first kid would be great, plus now we can combine that with Carnivore's newly learned Double Kick.
Brock led with his Geodude and I sent out Stardust. Thanks to our training, the Sandshrew already knew what to do.
"Scratch! Now!" I commanded and Stardust scratched the Geodude's surface. It didn't do anything at all and I realized that could be a problem.
"Seismic Toss." Brock said calmly and the Geodude grabbed Stardust with its massive arms and threw him to the ground. The impact made a hole in the stadium. Stardust was trying to get up, but Geodude grabbed him again, threw him and repeated that once more. Stardust was bleeding. I clenched my teeth.
"Get up!! Get up now!!" I yelled, trying to get my Pokemon to move. Stardust managed to get up, but as soon as the Geodude was coming at him again, I knew I'm going to lose him if I let him take another hit.
"Damnit. Come back!" Before Geodude could grab him again, I took him back into his Pokeball.
Carnivore was standing next to me the entire time, carefully watching the match. As soon as I returned Sandshrew, he knew what was coming.
"Go, Carnivore." The Pikachu jumped in front of me, ready for the fight.
"Remember that electricity won't do anything. Hit it as hard as you can." Carnivore probably already knew that, but listened to my advice nonetheless.
"don't worry." Carnivore squeaked. Thoughts were rushing in my head and I couldn't quite process what was that supposed to mean, but he was ready.
"Double kick!"
Carnivore kicked Geodude right in the face. With blood dripping from its mouth, the rock-type went straight to grab Carnivore by the tail, but the Pikachu was much faster and dodged. Another hit in the face and Geodude was done.
"You know what you're doing, kid. But my Onix is even stronger! Go, crush him!" Brock smiled at me.
The Onix suddenly appeared out of the ground, its huge body completely overshadowing Pikachu's tiny form. Carnivore gulped. This is gonna be the toughest fight of his life yet.
"Carnivore, Play nice!" Went for a safe move. Carnivore successfully lowered the snake Pokemon's attack. After that, he quickly hit him with Double kick. But it wasn't over.
"Onix, use Bind!" Onix wrapped his tail tightly around Carnivore's body, squeezing him.
I commanded Carnivore to use another Double kick to finish off Onix, but he couldn't move out of the Onix's grasp. Onix squeezed him even more, Carnivore was barely breathing. I was sweating, I didn't expect the fight to turn out like that.
"Carnivore! Uh.... Use... Uh....." Quick, think... Think!
"don't.... worry. trainer. " Carnivore slightly moved his little mouth. He basically whispered, but for some reason I heard it as if he was right next to me.
"What?"
"Don't worry." I heard it clearly now. As soon as I realized what was he trying to say, his cheeks started generating electricity. His ability, Static, managed to paralyze Onix.
Feeling the sudden jolt of electricity, Onix loosened his grip and let Carnivore free. Taking deep breaths, Carnivore jumped into the air and hit Onix with one last Double kick.
The defeated Pokemon fell to the ground. I ran towards Carnivore, as he fell down too. He passed out, completely drained. I took him into my arms and... felt something strange. I couldn't give it much thought, because Brock walked right up to me right after he returned his Onix to the Pokeball.
I was holding Carnivore with one arm and holding the badge in my other hand. It was a shiny little badge. I pin it on my jacket - a sign that I'm a next level trainer now.
As I was about to walk out of the gym, victorious, Brock took hold of my shoulder and looked at the tired Pikachu in my arms.
"I know they can be cute, but... Don't get attached too much." he told me. "I've spent years training my Pokemon. They are as sturdy as they can be and they respect me, so our bond is a little different than of a usual trainer and monster. Mine won't go down that easily. But Pokemon... Pokemon die, just like us. Both of yours were almost out of it today. Spare yourself the pain, if you use them in fights frequently there's no reason to care for them."
"I'm not attached." I replied immediately, but my hold on the little mouse Pokemon's body got tighter. "They mean nothing to me. I just want to win."
