Dear Journal,
So my first night on my own came and went. It was interesting, it was scary, and it was exciting. I've seen a few new things and I've tried a few new things as well. I think I'm getting the hang of this being out on my own thing. At least I hope.
After a decent nights rest in the
Jubilife City PokeCenter I decided to get up early and start on my way.
Chim was a bit reluctant to be awake so early and
Future just stared at me with those big fish eyes...sigh.
What am I going to do with
Future? I talked to a few other trainers about
Magikarps and they all scoffed at him and told me I was wasting my time. I'm afraid I might be starting to believe them. He seems to learn slow, doesn't put out a lot of effort, and most of all he's extremely handicapped. He knows zero attacks.
What's done is done though and I decided to just roll with it. If he comes around then I'll be ecstatic but if not...well I've always wanted a pet fish.
So today I managed to explore most of the surrounding areas of
Jubilife. Nothing was too interesting but I saw a bunch of new trainers and a few different
Pokemon. But too many of those damn
Bidoofs. I want to catch them all if just to be rid of them.
And then I saw it. On the path to
Oreburgh City I ran into the next part of my team. A small purple and yellow creature. My Pokedex let me know it was a female
Shinx. A
shinx! Well, I sent out
Chimchar and let him take care of business. A short while later
Shia the level 8 female
Shinx joined my team. I gotta tell you, I was proud to have her. She was relaxed instantly as part of my team. It made things easier.
Scooping up the newly filled
Pokeball I continued on my way, through some cave--and a few dedicated
Rock Type trainers--and found myself in
Oreburgh. I explored every building and the museum and talked with the people. They all seem so nice, it's great.
I ran into
Shaun at the
Oreburgh Gym and he told me, not too kindly, that he had already gotten his first badge! Well, of course he would. I bet he hasn't taken the time to enjoy his journey like I have.
So I turned around and headed up to the Northern Hills above the town. A female trainer I had come across had mentioned that she was trying to trade her
Abra for a
Machop. Well,
Machop are pretty common around here and I've never had the chance to capture an
Abra so I took that idea and went and captured myself a
Machop. I named him
Champ but I did't really get too attached to him. After all, my eyes were on that rare
Abra.
About an hour later I was a proud owner of the phsychic type
Pokemon but I was sort of confused. If
Machop were so common around here...why was she trying to trade away such a good Pokemon for one? It confused me but I didn't dwell on it as I was too busy admiring
Kazza the
Abra. I've got big plans for him.
After a bit more snooping I find out that
Roark, the Gym Leader, is out carousing in the caves at the southern end of town and that if I'd want to battle him I'd have to go get him myself. Some gym leader.
So I head to the mine and dodging quickly working Machops manage to find my way into the cave. I instantly didn't like it. It was damp and closed and a bit hard to breath. To top it off I was almost instantly attacked by a
Zubat! Not caring too much for the bat creature I tried to knock it out but the thing was resilient and I end up just throwing a Dusk Ball at it to get it out of my way. I named him
Temp.
And then I found
Roark at the butt end of the cave just training his
Pokemon using the
HM Rock Smash (a kind man had given me this earlier, I still couldn't use it--some gift huh?). Grimy as the leader was I could tell he was a true blue trainer and he'd be a challenge. He let me know he'd be ready for me when I was ready to face him and I nodded my thanks. I whipped out an escape rope and dissapeared to the exit.
Suddenly my prospects were looking pretty good. I had almost a full team:
- Kazza the Abra
- Shia the Shinx
- Temp the Zubat
- Future the Magikarp
- Chim the Chimchar
How could I not win?
Well, with little reason to hold off I barged head first into the gym and straight into a couple of
Youngsters. They were stronger than most of the other trainers I had faced but
Kazza set down their
Pokemon like chess peices with his
Hidden Power technique. It was great. And suddenly I realized that, according to my Poketch, that
Kazza was as strong as my
Chimchar. Little did I know how bad that really was.
"
Roark, I'm ready for you!"
"Alright young trainer. Let's battle!"
Roark pointed a confident and unwavering finger at me as a
Geodude appeared between us.
I didn't let it get to me as I tossed a
Pokeball into the air.
Kazza appeared with a "Bra!" and was practically rippling with power and energy.
"
Abra, let's take him down! Use your
Hidden Power technique!"
I screamed the words fully believing he'd heed them and almost fell flat on my face when the
Pokemon sat down abruptly and yawned.
My face flushed red as
Roark gave a giant laugh, "Seems he's gotten a bit strong for you, kid. Looks like you NEED this gym badge!"
Geodude surged forward and by some instinct I didn't understand only THEN did
Kazza decide to defend himself and unleash his Hidden Power.
I had the joy of seeing
Roark choke up as
Geodude was knocked out in one hit. But then I saw the veins bulging and knew I was in trouble.
"
Craniados, go!"
Craniados?
Suddenly a reptillian
Pokemon on two legs with a heavy dome shaped head appeared. It didn't look too tough.
"
Kazza, use Hidden Pow--"
"
Craniados, use
Pursuit!"
"Craiiiinnn!"
And before I could gasp out the rest of my sentence
Kazza was sent flying against a nearby wall already unconcious. I returned the
Pokemon with shaking hands. How could that thing be so strong!
"
Temp, it's time to get goin' out there!"
I sent the
Zubat out with little hope and wasn't surprised when I was shortly calling the fainted
Pokemon back.
The same story with
Shia.
It was
Chims turn. I felt a surge of confidence. He'd never let me down before.
"
Chimchar, use your
ember technique! Let's roast some reptile!"
"Chim!!"
The chimp
Pokemon leapt forward and expulged a stream of red hot fire. I saw a smirk light up
Roarks face and I gasped as the lizard merely turned it's head and whipped at the flames with it's sturdy large tail. I blanched and
Chimchar mimicked.
"I'm sorry kid..."
What was he talkin' about?
"
Craniados, use your headbutt...now!"
"CRAAIINN!!"
The lizard Pokemon shot forward and
Chimchar vainly tried to leap to the side. No dice. Instead he was hit solidly in the hip and was sent flying to the ground. I reached quickly for a
potion but I caught the eyes of my loyal first
Pokemon and saw him shake his tiny head.
We weren't ready yet.
Holding in hot tears I pulled up my
Pokeball and returned
Chim. I didn't even bother to try putting
Magikarp on the field. It was no use.
Without a word I turned on my heel and walked steadily out of the Gym.
Roark was pleasant enough not to send a taunt my way and the Youngsters I had had my way with were silent as well.
How had
Shaun gotten through here so fast? How come I wasn't able to.
I'd figure it out. I had to.
Lief.
