On Going: A Pokemon Story

Becoming Wholly Unable to Help Falling in Love, Again​

One day, Sirindu will catch a Ninetales. Catch, hatch, evolve--somehow.

It is worth noting that Sirindu wanted the full title of this journal to be, "A Trainer's Guide to Catching Elvis Presley and Becoming Wholly Unable To Help Falling in Love, Again" but they told him that was just poor writing.

He'll get over it.

Sure, we all have aspirations. Sirindu's are not as lofty as most. He'll have many more goals along the way, to be sure. He wants to be a gym leader for a whole day (a feat, in a city of this size). He wants to go on a road trip with the love of his life, Brielle, and catch exotic Pokemon they would never see in their hometown. And, of course, he'd love to complete his Pokedex someday.

But, lengthy titles and other goals aside, what he thinks will really fulfill him will be having a Ninetales.

That may prove more difficult than he'd like, as he lives far from where most fire types spawn. More often, Sirindu is surrounded by bugs. He likes bugs, well enough. But endless Caterpie, Weedles, and Venonats can get depressing. He longs for something more.

~

So, at the beginning of his journey, we zoom in through the ethereal mists of narration and begin to frame our subject. He sits, as we have said, surrounded by bugs, and wearing a floppy 1920's newsboy cap that would be more at home in a Peaky Blinders episode if he didn't happen to wear it so well, darn him. The tortoise shell frames of his glasses are a further mismatch. We are at first surprised by this incongruous appearance and then, with a sigh, feel endeared to it. If you like to be told what to feel, that is.

Residing with his lovely Brielle and their two cats just outside of a placid cityscape, the picture seems too perfect and becomes disgusting.

Enter: Conflict.

Conflict's Generous Introduction​

SERVERS DOWN

This is not how Sirindu's journey is supposed to begin. He has patiently waited for months to be given his first Pokedex, a handful of Pokeballs, and the key to the mint--right??? Where is the key to the friggin' mint now???

His Pokedex is down and he is fuming a little under the proverbial collar, but his spirits are not broken. He tries logging in again, and again. Finally, his Pokedex lights up with a happy blue light.

He is in.

"A Caterpie approaches," his Pokedex proclaims. Yes, yes, Sirindu's first non-starter Pokemon. "Nice throw!" And a catch. The journey has begun.

But now, there are no more Pokemon that he can see on his screen. Only the "nearby" list on his Pokedex seems to show any hope. But that would mean leaving the comfort of his living room… and, though he would be embarrassed for you to know, that is a thing of difficulty for little Sirindu.

It's true that he dreams of a long road trip with Brielle, the love of his life, but he has been a bit down as of late. Alright, he has been out of commission for a while. Maybe some of it is his own fault, maybe some of it isn't. But he's been sad. Like, really sad. Simple tasks have become difficult and he just feels heavy most of the time, his mind an unyielding and stormy blue. He knows he's not alone. Many people struggle with this thing, whatever they call it, but, he still feels alone. And he definitely does not want to go outside.

But all the Pokemon are at least two or even three footprints away.

Before you begin to feel too badly for Sirindu, allow me to remind you that all it would take for him to move his story along at this point would be to put on some shoes, a shirt, preferably some pants… and simply open his door and walk down the street. If you detect his melodrama, dear reader, well, we would like to think this proves you to be a discerning individual. But then, as Sirindu himself said, he was embarrassed for you to know these things to begin with, perhaps some of it is his fault and, well, how are we to judge? I never know anymore.

His shoes are on. The closet door is opened and Sirindu dusts off an old Osprey backpack, fills a water bottle, and shoves it inside. Maybe he has been indoors too long. Maybe he has spent too long in his own mind. And, yes, maybe he has issues that need more help than this… but how could this hurt?

Spotty servers wouldn't deter him. Neither will the sun. Sirindu's resolve crystallizes and he heads out the door on his first Pokemon adventure.

Invent Your Own Friends When the World's Gone Cold​

Standing on the steps, Sirindu begins to wonder where he might even start looking for a Ninetales, anyway. He checks his radar one more time. There aren't even any fire types listed nearby. It's all just Pidgey, Weedle, Rattata, Gastly… Gastly!

Now Sirindu may be just a noob, but he knows standing around catching Weedles and Rattatas doesn't hold a candle to nabbing a Gastly.

He sets off through the apartment complex. Picking up the easy Weedles and Rattatas along the way, he eventually winds his way to the back where he sees the Gastly floating just above a dark fence row.

Gotcha!

He spends the rest of an hour running around collecting what he can, with an Eevee--one of his favorites--and some Venonats thrown in. All in all, he's very pleased to find that there seem to be a fair amount of Pokemon right inside his apartment complex. He may have had to go outside, but he hasn't had to go far!

Oh… that's right… he realizes he's been out for over an hour now and hasn't felt the least bit tired or blue. In fact, he feels exhilarated and clear. Maybe this will be good for him after all, as long as he doesn't have to talk to many people.

~

Sleep comes sudden and deep that night as Sirindu's little brain is abuzz with images of legendary pokemon and his coveted Ninetales. There's no telling what he'll find tomorrow! Dreams of the Pokemon he may catch push other dreams away for a night; horrible dreams about the nightclub shooting in Orlando, racial hatred and wickedness--all are forgotten for this short night while his brain is occupied by his new obsession.

The next day dawns and he makes plans to drive to a nearby park, the first time he will have been in a park in a year. Hat on and water bottle full, he jumps in the car and arrives at his destination, pulling his phone out as he shuts the engine off.

Immediately, he sees the value of hunting in a new spot!

There are Tentacools out the wazoo here! The park is on a high hill overlooking a long, sloping bank down to a sizeable river. That must be why he is seeing water types he hadn't even glimpsed before.

And then he sees the people.

Oh, the people. He never would have dreamed there would be so many, all with active Pokedexes pulled out and humming. What a sight! There must be twenty, thirty--or more--all catching Pokemon in this park. Is this what the future looks like?

Actually, what Sirindu doesn't know at this moment is that this is only a very, very, very, very small taste of what the future looks like. The future, to put it bluntly, will see all video game records shattered into oblivion, a president elected while holding a red-white-and-blue Articuno, and the popular series, "Downton Abbey" rebooted to star Pokemon characters and "Fennekin" hunting in the English countryside. Sirindu's feeble mind regrettably falls short of such foresights.

"Hey, you!"

Sirindu turns, expecting to hear, "Listen!" but then realizes that is an entirely different game. Instead, he sees a red haired hipster with a side-fade standing in front of him asking what team he is on.

"Uhhh, what are my options?" Sirindu asks.

After a quick and impassioned rundown from Side-Fade, he chooses red, or, Team Valor. Maybe he just likes red. Or maybe he thinks he needs a little more "valor" in his life right about now. Either way, the red-haired man is on Team Mystic and walks away visibly disappointed. But Sirindu continues through the park and catches many, many Tentacool as well as some more Eevees and a Staryu.

Several hours later, as he goes to leave, he sees the red-headed hipster again.

"Hey, man, have you seen this Tentacool? I've been trying forever to find one."

Dilemma. Really didn't come here looking to talk or interact with people… Sirindu just wanted his Pokemans.

But Sirindu relents, and ends up feeling much the better for it. He shows the man where he can find not one, but several Tentacool and the guy turns to him with genuine appreciation,

"Thanks, dude, that was really cool!"

Yes, yes it was. Hm. Even the people aren't so bad.

Oh, look, level 6!

Crivens​

The next day, Sirindu's outing begins with a little nugget of friendly advice from Brielle, the very love of his life we took pains to mention before. She says that she'd learned Pidgeys are the best Pokemon in this part of town to catch and horde for leveling up via evolutions. Pidgeys and Weedles. She says that if he saves up a lot of those and then turns on a Lucky Egg before evolving them, why, he'll become the greatest there ever was in no time. Upon hearing this, Sirindu has to suppress a deep cackle and instead privately envisions scattering pokeballs freely while frolicking through the park as Pidgeys by the dozen flock to be scooped up and turned into candy. An odd picture, but he doesn't mind.

Sirindu wonders how he got so lucky as to fall in love with someone as smart as Brielle. But she provides no insight into the potency of his fortune before turning back to her ginger beer and book. Sirindu is grateful, but determines that he will discover the next big insight so he can be the one to share it with her.

The day is bright and sunny, so he hops on his bike and cruises down the street to his favorite park.

Pidgeys and Weedles are his focus for some time, though he also catches more Tentacool just like the day before. As he pauses to check, he realizes that he's actually gotten quite a lot of Tentacool. Enough for his first evolution.

In his excitement, he forgets his plan with the Lucky Egg for a moment and hurriedly scans his Pokedex for the highest CP Tentacool to evolve. Finding it, the evolution begins to materialize before him and he watches with awe. It's…?

Well, honestly it's sort of fugly. But Sirindu is ecstatic. His first evolution!

He begins to look for a place to sit and has a park bench call his name when he notices that it balances between not two but three Pokestops. Surely sitting there while using his Lucky Egg will prove profitable. In preparation, he counts up his stash.

There's enough for fifteen or so evolutions just between the Pidgeys and Weedles he's collected the past two days.

Of course, if he puts a lure on the stop then he'll be earning double experience from catching Pokemon as well as evolving them! The lights begin to come on behind Sirindu's eyes. This is going to work out great.

"Ach! Crivens! Ye already has a swole hed an' yer not even gradumicated ta grate balls yet."

Sirindu spins around and looks for the source of the odd accent. He sees his newly evolved Tentacruel floating in the air next to him. He didn't know Pokemon could talk to him…

"Naught jus' talk, ye ken, boot sees yer thoughts, too. Aye, thas wottle really konk yer woople."

"I'm not sure I want you reading my mind…" Sirindu posits aloud.

"Tha' dinna matter. Yoo made me what I am an' yoo'll deal wit it. Jus' dun get such a hed atop yer shalders s'quick, I canna bide a cocky whi' boy."

Sirindu settles back against the park bench, trying to ignore his Tentacruel while he quietly levels up multiple times amid the evolution and catching spree with his lucky egg. Maybe it's just a glitch. Hopefully his Pokemon won't continue to be so annoying and insightful. At least he'll be able to go back home and tell Brielle how to really level up quick.

"Pah. Ye dinna pack me inee sardeens."

The Road Goes Ever On And On​

Time flies and Sirindu truly learns the joys of taking gyms alongside strangers and filling his Pokedex along the way. His Tentacruel continues to be a verbal nuisance, but Sirindu has learned to tune him out most of the time. And, of course, his entourage continues to grow.

He finds triplett Hypnos and names them "Episode IV", "Episode V", and "Episode VI" because for some reason they appear to be HUGE Star Wars nerds and basically just quote the movies non-stop while discussing the intricate plot points of expanded universe stories.


Sirindu catches a Slowpoke early on who quickly evolves into "Peaches", a humble Slowbro who becomes one of Sirindu's best gym defenders.


A pair of Vaporeon begin to flank Sirindu in battles. "Guinevere" and "Antoinette" lead his finest attackers--especially Guinevere, who has the best moveset of all her species and 84% perfect base stats.


Other faces also become favorites, even if they do not regularly feature in his lineup.

Tarandus, the mad-scientist Pinsir,


Prince, a diva Starmie with a quirky fashion sense,


And Furiosa, his bloodthirsty Cloyster,


But through it all, though his Pokedex grows each day, he has still never found a Ninetales…
Will his growing crew of fighters help him capture the elusive canine? Will more strange faces join him first? Will the…

"Fie an' poopsies on yer gran'standin'," says Crivens, "If ye 'spect…"

Sirindu sighs and pulls out a pair of earplugs as he continues on his way.

Building the Future​

Holy water types, Sirindu!

Brielle and Sirindu decide to travel downtown to visit perhaps the most popular Pokemon hunting site in the city: The Canal. Also the site of pedalboats, gondolas, and sunburn, they excitedly approach, wondering what new water types they may find.

Sirindu quickly realizes that what is so special about hunting Pokemon at the Canal is not necessarily the rarity of the Pokemon (though he does excitedly find his first Dratini!)... the best part is all about quantity.

Magikarp galore, as well as Poliwag, Psyduck, Goldeen, and Staryu.

He already has his Starmie and a good one at that, with the species' best moveset and 89-93% IV perfection. Poliwag have been few and far between before coming downtown, though, so he decides to focus on that.

As he and Brielle wander along the paved walkways they begin to notice that… well… everyone around them seems to be looking for Pokemon, too! In fact, as they approach a bridge they see that it is covered in lures and has attracted a group of 50-60 trainers all actively on the hunt. It's a party!

Then he and Brielle screech to a full stop because something they never expected to see here appears in front of them:


Their first Growlithe!

Brielle drops a lucky egg and begins to power level as they settle in between four lured stops. Meanwhile, Sirindu wanders about, casting a bit of a wider net to ensure that he can pick up all the lured Pokemon that are arriving in the area. Soon, he has enough for his second Golduck:


And just before they leave he obtains the last candy needed to evolve a very promising Poliwag two whole stages into his first Poliwrath.

The evolution is blindingly bright and the ensuing Pokemon is so large… Sirindu has to step back and shield his eyes as he looks upward and along the dizzying black and white chest of a muscle-bound monster, wreathed in smoke and shadow.

"What have I created…" Sirindu wonders aloud.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear. You will call me Blaine. But you did not make me. The darkness made me. I was born in it. Molded by it."

"Damn, another talking Pokemon," Sirindu says and then adds, "...But wow, you're a big guy."

"For you," Blaine responds.

"Are you… You're on my side, right? Why all the theatrics and showmanship?"

"Theatricality and deception are powerful against the uninitiated. But we are initiated, aren't we, Sirindu?" Bane towers over Sirindu with large, grasping hands.

"Yeeeeeaaa……. Here, just get in the Pokeball for now, please."

"As you wish," Blaine replies.

There is a loud pop and an incredible amount of shrinkage occurs in all the right places so that Sirindu is left holding the indomitable Poliwrath inside a Pokeball carefully labeled in permanent marker, "Blaine--Wordy Narcissist".


After checking the Poliwrath's IVs and Moveset in his Pokedex, Sirindu is left utterly thrilled and dumbfounded. This thing has 91% perfect IVs and the best Moveset of its species! Perhaps he will have to just condescend to its ego every once in awhile, because, my goodness… Blaine looks to be a formidable defender.

Sirindu has found a key pillar for both his current and future team.

Today's the Day​

Actually, nope. Nuuuuuuupe. Today is not the day.

Sirindu wanted so badly to believe he would hit 100 on his Pokedex today...


The plan had been to go to the Abra nest and farm the last remaining Abras that he needs, then set up in a few gyms with the help of Blaine (his narcissistic Poliwrath) and Guinevere (his token--yet lovely--powerhouse Vaporeon).

What actually occurs is that he sees 8 Abra, four more than he even needs… and has 6 of them run away, after being fed Razzberries and caught in Ultra Balls.

~

Sirindu sighs and sits down on a bench. A tiny twig wiggles in the wind beside him. For some reason he begins to contemplate the existence of lint and the incredible way in which it seems to wind up in belly buttons that have no need for it. Then he wonders if anyone or anything has any need for lint at all. Perhaps there are tiny monsters that cannot eat anything normal monsters can eat and lint happens to be their only sustenance.

He fiddles with the twig beside him.

It says, "ow."

Or, at least, it makes a sound that he recognizes as pain and confusion and general put-off-edness. As he inspects the twig for the first time he realizes that it's a bit more than that, actually… it's a little plant with twiggy arms and legs.

Without further warning it places a sucker-like mouth on his navel and shloops up his hidden belly button lint, right through his shirt.

Sirindu is understandably taken aback by this, and his wide eyes say so.

The twiggy lint sucker just stares right back into them.

"How do…" Sirindu begins. But then the tiny creature begins evolving right in front of him. It becomes bigger--less twiggy--and still, to Sirindu's satisfaction, silent. He was getting tired of his Pokemon talking to him. Then he has an idea and reaches into his backpack, scraping the bottom of the bag.

He holds the little ball of lint out toward the creature and it quickly sucks it up from his hand. The plantlike thing grows even larger. Much larger. As the dust settles, Sirindu sees that it has become like a curvaceous pitcher plant with a long, evil-looking stinger attached to a vine. Sirindu reverently offers a Pokeball to the dangerous flora and only checks his Pokedex after he has it safely inside.

An Alakazam and an end to his Abra farming may not have been achieved today, but Sirindu has suspicions that this Pokemon will prove much better. As a grass type with 93% perfect IVs and an Acid/Solar Beam moveset, the Victreebel affectionately named Svetlana will round out Sirindu's team nicely in a city dominated by water-types.

Milestones​

Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam!




The evolutionary chain is complete and Sirindu has knocked down another goal. It took a good 6-8 days of farming at the Abra nest he discovered nearby, but it is finally done.

Summer has heated up in Sirindu's area and brought with it buckets of rain. Fewer outtings have been made in recent days but he has still managed to build his experience and begin planning toward new evolutions. He is ready to evolve a Vileplume now, but is still searching for good Oddish to employ in that role. The nights have been filled with pouring over his Pokemon's stats and carefully preparing for the future competitions he envisions for his team.

In the meantime, the Kadabra evolution means that a nice medal has also been added to Sirindu's Pokedex:


The path to 100 has been sweet and filled with fun. Sirindu expects that the next 42 will be harder to come by and, due to that, even more rewarding.

He looks up from his journal entries and stat sheets as Brielle comes in through their front door. Sirindu's Vaporeon rises to greet her and brushes lovingly through her legs.

"Blaine is in the shower… He's been in there for two hours," Sirindu says, "I told him to get out and stop wasting the water, but he insisted that the application to his beautiful skin was hardly a waste. So, good luck getting in there."

Brielle simply stands next to Sirindu, rocking up and down on her heels. Finally, Sirindu drops his pen and turns to face her.

She is standing and holding a large, pink Pokemon that appears to be holding an egg of some sort…


"How did you get that?!" Sirindu cries.

Chansey is an extreme rarity in their area. Sirindu has never even seen one in the wild, but Brielle had all the luck in the world tonight. It may be quite some time before Sirindu can add that name to his own Pokedex.

Friend​

Dark days and more rain bring little progress and threaten to send Sirindu back into the spiral of sadness and depression.

Due to a timely egg hatch, he is able to make a new evolution--very appropo given the weather.


But summer isn't supposed to be like this! Sirindu misses the days spent roaming downtown with Brielle and his friends and meeting new people, mutually aiding one another in their quests. He has seen the local gyms climbing around him with many trainers entering Pokemon with power well into the 2000's now. But the dreariness outside the window is just too oppressive.

He sleeps fitfully.

In the morning, he listens for a few minutes to the rain hammering on roof and thinks about his Pokemon goals:

He still needs that Oddish base to evolve into his first Vileplume.

Another Nidorina base is needed as he has enough candies for her final evolution, but is waiting for a good IV to come along.

More Poliwag would also be good so he can power up his Poliwrath, Blaine, which is a high-ranking Gym Defender in the current meta.

And, of course, he needs some way to find more Vulpix and work toward the Ninetales he has been dreaming about since Day 1. But there are no Vulpix around the city anymore. There had been one nest he found downtown just before the first Great Migration. But since the migration event, most fire types have become absolutely scarce in his city. So he has little hope of finding enough Vulpix let alone ever finding a Ninetales in the wild…

Rising from bed, he reaches to turn on the light and freezes suddenly when he catches sight of the pillow that should be empty next to him.


With blurry eyes he picks up the plushie Ninetales and also sees a note lying on the bedstand nearby,

"Dearest Sirindu,

I know you've been lonesome and cooped up lately. This little girl is here to remind you not to give up on your dreams--and that there is true friendship, freedom, and peace to be found in the world. You have to be willing to keep looking for it. And don't forget to cherish the glimpses when you find them.

I love you.

-Brielle"

Then suddenly it is a gentle rain outside, and comforting clouds.

Taking Names​

A lot has happened for Sirindu since the last story!




Instead of just seeing it rain outside, Sirindu has been making it rain 'mons. Figuratively speaking. Perhaps that's an unfortunate metaphor, though, as it's Brielle who makes the money in their relationship, not Sirindu. BUT SIRINDU WILL HAVE ALL THE POKEMANS!!!! And one day, he will have better self-worth, too, though that probably won't come through catching all the Pokemans.

Today's hunt took Sirindu through the northern part of his city and to the northernmost part of the canal he and many other players often hunt beside. But wait… that was after....

The nest near Sirindu's house changed recently!

It only took him two days of lite hunting to farm a few Machop candies and obtain his first Machamp:




But that's not all. If it walks like a woman and talks like a man…




That's right. A new Defender (and Attacker, honestly) has been added to the team. Lola is a whacked out firecracker you shouldn't want to cross. In need of a few power ups, but all in good time.

With his time at the park completed for the day, Sirindu headed to the canal and met some surprises along the way!


This big guy was just hanging out in the shallows.

And then, where the water got a little clearer, a Dratini!



There was also a wild Tentacruel and a wild Poliwrath, the second of which Sirindu lost over 15 Ultra Balls and Razzberries to before finally catching, only to reveal the poorest moveset possible. Phones may or may not have been thrown in the canal.

But that aside, here are some of Sirindu's new goals:


Such a beautiful day full of sunshine and much bike riding. Soooo many pokemon including exciting new evolutions.

And since it was such a good day, Sirindu is including two bonus pictures that he took today of animal besties!!! The first is of a duck and turtle couple he saw by the canal. The second is of cats. He hopes you knew that already.