a/n: it's hard making battles involving moves like Fairy Wind and Absorb interesting i mean how many ways can you describe the same attacks

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Route 1 appears to be hardly affected by the raging Gyarados. The air is cooling and untouched trees flank the sides of the route as they stroll down the path. Jongup still isn’t tiring of Youngjae’s questions, and even joins in on the game. They end up playing twenty questions, and Daehyun feels strangely left out.

Cottonee looks up at its Trainer worriedly, not even joining in on Petilil, Riolu and Helioptile as they play together with the fallen branches and leaves along the way, getting along pretty well. As much as Daehyun enjoys his Pokemon’s presence, he sort of feels bad that it’s hanging back for him. Cottonee can be kind of a social butterfly at times.

Then, Jongup stops in his tracks, tilting his head towards the trees. Daehyun tries to follow his gaze, but sees nothing. Even Youngjae is confused, but Jongup shakes his head, saying that he thought a wild Pokemon was going to attack them.

“Speaking of which, how do you catch Pokemon?” Youngjae asks when they resuming walking. “I’ve never actually tried it myself.”

Jongup gives him a surprised look, but offers to teach Youngjae, which the latter accepts gleefully and Daehyun stands off to the side, opting to watch than to participate.

“Wild Pokemon appear in the tall grass,” Jongup says, pointing to a patch of grass that seems to reach up to their chests. Daehyun wonders what kind of Pokemon can be living in there. “They rarely appear outside, unless in caves or in the water.”

Youngjae listens attentively, even as Jongup ventures into the tall grass. Almost immediately, something hops out at him. A Dewpider. A stream of bubbles burst from the Pokemon’s own protective water bubble, aimed straight at Jongup, who deftly sidesteps the attack and Helioptile slams its body into the Dewpider.

“You can check the opposing Pokemon’s energy levels using the Pokedex,” Jongup says, opening his own Pokedex as Dewpider attempts to strike Helioptile again, but its movements are more sluggish. There is a tiny bar below Dewpider’s image, and it is currently blinking red. “When its health levels are in the red, you can throw a Pokeball at it.”

The Dewpider looks too exhausted to even move after Helioptile has evaded its persistent attacks. Jongup tosses a Pokeball and Dewpider is in with a blinding red light. The Pokeball falls to the floor and shakes three times, before, the clasp clicks shut.

Youngjae opens his Pokedex up and sees Dewpider’s entry automatically recorded.

Dewpider. Level 3. Type: Water/Bug. Ability: Water Bubble. Moves learned: Water Sport, Bubble. When it comes across enemies or potential prey, this Pokemon smashes its water-bubble-covered head into them.

Well, smashing its water-bubble-covered head into Jongup wasn’t the first thing this Pokemon tried. Jongup fixes the Pokeball containing Dewpider in it to his belt and turns to face Youngjae. “Do you want to give it a go?”

Youngjae beams and heads out into the tall grass himself. There is the sound of rustling and Youngjae smiles as he pushes the tall grass apart, revealing a Buneary. The Pokemon is gnawing at a blue, spherical berry, before looking up at the intrusion and striking.

Youngjae is smacked plain in the jaw by its rolled-up ear. Daehyun hears the clear smack sound as Youngjae is thrown back, and Petilil attacks. He immediately goes to help his friend as Buneary attempts to get a hit in on Petilil, but Youngjae’s Pokemon is fast. It gets a hit in with Absorb, some energy out of Buneary.

Doing as he’s told, Youngjae fishes out his Pokedex, stumbling a little with one hand on his chin (where an impressive bruise is already forming). He flips the device open and sees it already opened to Buneary’s Pokedex entry, and the tiny health bar beneath its picture is in the yellow.

“Its health is down, right? So I can catch it,” Youngjae breathes, grabbing a Pokeball from his hand and ing it at Buneary.

The Pokemon is caught off-guard by the sudden impact and red light it into the ball. The ball shakes once, twice, then…boom! It bursts open. Youngjae stares slack-jawed at the Pokeball that’s now lying useless on the ground. The Buneary, now enraged, attacks with greater ferocity than before.

“Try again,” Jongup instructs. “Hit with another Absorb attack.”

Once more, Petilil drains the energy out of Buneary, and at this moment, Buneary looks ready to pass out. Daehyun notes that its health is now in the red, just like how Dewpider’s health was like earlier. Youngjae takes another Pokeball from his bag and hurls it at the Pokemon, catching it on its ear. The Pokeball the Pokemon in again. It shakes once, twice, thrice…and caught!

When the Pokeball lies motionless, Youngjae looks like he’s going to cry. Out of joy, of course. Daehyun swears he sees the tears on the guy’s lashes as he walks forward and picks up the Pokeball.

“Holy ! I caught my first Pokemon!” Youngjae half-screams, holding the Pokeball to his chest, and bouncing happily over to Jongup. “Oh my Arceus, thanks so much!”

“It’s no problem,” Jongup says politely and points out, “Pokemon aren’t battle-ready when you catch them. Chances are, they’re still tired from it all, so you’ll have to take them to a Centre to get them patched up.”

Daehyun hates to ask, but he has no idea what this “Centre” that Jongup mentioned is.

Yet, he doesn’t want to seem ignorant of the world, so he keeps the question to himself and vows to get Youngjae to ask.

With his newfound Pokemon resting in the ball secured to his belt, Youngjae marches on, dragging Daehyun along with him, Jongup trailing behind the two of them.

Soon, Columinus Town is within sight.

*

Columinus Town is located snugly between Route 1 and the Willowrain Forest. There is a denser population here than in Springfall, with around thirty to forty people. It’s quaint and quiet. There are some children roughhousing with their Pokemon near a large pond at the edge of town. Otherwise, people are hanging out at the town square, feeding a whole flock of Pidove and Pidgey.

Daehyun spots Professor Acacia’s laboratory almost immediately. The building is obviously different from the rest of the residential housing here. It’s larger, greyer and affixed with what seems to be an antenna on its roof.

Jongup is making a beeline for a building with a red roof, the Pokemon League’s official coat-of-arms (a Scizor and a Gallade crossing swords) painted right above the entrance. Jongup pushes the door open and walks in, followed closely by Youngjae and Daehyun.

The two of them have never been outside of Springfall, where such buildings don’t exist, so Youngjae is peering at anything and everything with an expression of curiosity. Daehyun observes the place as well. It is rather large, but cozy at the same time. It has multiple storeys, with elevators leading up to the second floor and down to the basement.

Jongup speaks to the lady at the counter, her face caked with makeup, pink hair pulled into a tight bun and she’s clad in a nurse’s outfit. Jongup motions for Youngjae to come forward, and he hands their Pokemon over to the nurse. The Pokeballs are placed in a machine behind her and it whirrs to life, blinking a few times, letting out a rather cute jingle, and the light dies down. The nurse hands the Pokeballs back to their Trainers, and bows, telling them to “Come again!”

“That’s the Pokemon Centre,” Jongup says as they exit the building. “In case you didn’t know.”

Daehyun decides that maybe they’ve made their inexperience a little too obvious. “The Pokemon Centre is a League-funded initiative, to provide free healing for Trainers’ Pokemon. It’s a public good, of course, meaning that no firm in their right mind would produce it. So the League has to take charge of providing it for the people.”

Youngjae looks utterly lost, and Jongup’s mouth twitches, almost into a smile. “Economics. I took that in Trainer School.”

“You went to Trainer School?” Youngjae bursts out. “That’s like—”

“It’s no NUO,” Jongup shakes his head. “I’m not that smart.”

“Nah. Graduating from Trainer School is good enough. Speaking of which, where is it?”

“Snowberry.” Snowberry City is a small place near Mount Frostrail, if Daehyun’s memory serves him well. They had initially wanted to build the Trainer School in Sparkridge, since it’s the hub of commercial activity in Oakre, but Irene had come out to say that it would be best for students to experience being nearer wild Pokemon, to really feel what it’s like to travel, rather than just being cooped up in a classroom and made to study.

They find themselves standing at the entrance to Route 1 again. Jongup declares that he’s going to train his newly-caught Dewpider, and Youngjae decides to tag along. Daehyun opts to do his own training. He’s, needless to say, never trained before, but his battle prowess has been serving him just fine.

So Daehyun takes a deep breath and steps into the tall grass.

*

The roaring of the plane as it touches down on the runway jolts Himchan awake. He opens his bleary eyes to find his head lying on his best friend’s shoulder. Ralts, settled in his lap, tries to snuggle even deeper into his side, arms around Flabebe. Yongguk’s Pokemon is kept in his Pokeballs, since they’re bigger than the maximum size.

“We have now arrived at Stratuseon City,” a voice crackles over the speaker. “This is your pilot Momo speaking. The weather is sunny, not a single raincloud in the sky. The temperature outside is about 20 degrees Celsius. Welcome back to Gumtree residents and welcome to Gumtree for visitors.”

When Himchan’s feet touches solid ground again, he’s relieved. Well, such dusty environments aren’t doing wonders for his skin and lungs. Not to mention that he hates being in the air thousands of metres above land.

“This place looks so different from Crispleaf, wouldn’t you say?”

Yongguk nods, glancing around, hands tucked into his pockets. “Yeah. Crispleaf wasn’t as gaudy.” Most of the shops around them are selling fashion items and food. Stratuseon is the city for the fashionistas, and, naturally, home to the Contest Dome, where Pokemon Contests are held.

“It suits you,” Yongguk says. When Himchan shoots him a confused gaze, he clears his throat, “That is, this city suits you.”

“Of course,” Himchan puffs his chest out proudly. “Stratuseon is a city of blinding lights, of catwalks, of models and fashion! You can’t get anymore fashion than this!”

Yongguk sighs, and Himchan knows it’s because he doesn’t understand Himchan, or at least, that’s what Yongguk always tells him. Himchan knows that it’s because his level of thinking is too high for a peasant like Yongguk. It was impossible to make their way past the shops without Himchan stopping at every single one of them and trying on whatever he deems to be “fashionable”, although he eventually walks out of the gates with nothing other than the backpack he brought along.

The weather in Stratuseon is sunny as expected, the rays of light caressing Himchan’s face as he throws on his sunglasses. Yongguk follows behind, releasing his Pokemon, Houndour by his feet and Rufflet perched on his shoulder. Himchan’s two Pokemon, Flabebe and Ralts, are by his side as well, marvelling at the city.

The city is essentially a network of roads, cars zooming to and fro. Buildings are painted in bright colours. Flashing billboards are screaming. Pokemon dressed in expensive clothing strut about. Himchan suddenly feels underdressed. He himself is in a loud, orange coat with red buttons, black shirt and ripped, dark blue jeans along with bright pink tennis shoes. Himchan watches as a black CAR.Racosta pulls up in front of him, stopping before the pedestrian crossing. Without a second thought, he opens the door and gets in. Flabebe and Ralts head to the back where they sit with Houndour and Rufflet.

“Where are we headed again?” Himchan asks, as Yongguk turns the steering wheel, manoeuvring them out of the cramped rental car park.

“Columinus,” Yongguk answers, as he stops as a red light. People cross the road. The light turns green. They’re off again.

Stratuseon isn’t too big, and they’re out of the city gates pretty soon. The sun is about to set pretty soon, and they’d have to stop by a motel on their way there. Yongguk has had it all planned, and Himchan doesn’t know what he’d do without Yongguk. He’s known Yongguk ever since the quiet man had shown up in Crispleaf after buying a house there a few months ago. They’d hit it off pretty quickly, and before long, Yongguk became Himchan’s best friend.

Now, they’re travelling down a road path headed straight for a mountain. They’re currently on Route 4 and would be able to bypass the mountain since the road goes around the mound of earth. Himchan rests his head against the window and looks out, staring at Pokemon like Pachirisu and Skorupi as they scamper about. He’s glad they’re in a car. The Pokemon around here are too strong for them to handle at the moment.

“Let’s listen to some music,” Himchan mumbles, fingers turning a knob, tuning in to the frequency of PokeFlute. Almost immediately, a melodious sound emits from the radio, a fluid set of notes that are performed with the accuracy and precision of a talented musician. Then, joining the violin is the accompaniment of a piano. It’s a familiar song that has Himchan humming along as he continues to peer out of the window.

The sky turns grey awfully quickly, and from the looks of it, it’s going to rain soon. Himchan sighs with relief when he sees the road sign for Stantler Motel up ahead. He was initially against the idea of staying at a motel, announcing that “such lowlife places will destroy my flawless skin”, but Yongguk had chided him out of it and threatened to give Himchan’s Pokedex to another kid if he didn’t oblige.

Thus, Himchan sulked.

And is still sulking as he sashays into the motel lobby, greeted by an elderly woman with wrinkles all over her face, her Purugly asleep at her feet. While Himchan wants to pet the cat (he always has had a thing for felines), the Purugly sure doesn’t want him to pet it. It snarls and swipes at Himchan with a sharp claw when the man tries to go near it.

“It doesn’t like strangers,” the woman tells him as Yongguk hands over the money and she passes him their room key.

“Wait, why is there only one room key?” Himchan’s eyes go wide as Yongguk mutters something about needing to save on costs. Needless to say, Himchan isn’t very happy about the arrangement as they trod up the stairs to their room, Room number 206. It has two beds below a single, large window. The carpet is ratty and the room is dusty.

But the dustiness isn’t the first thing that captures Himchan’s attention.

It’s the large, green spider hanging from the ceiling, looking ready to eat Himchan for dinner, clear poison dripping from the horn on its head.

“What the fuc—” Himchan half-screams. The spider is about as big as his head, if not bigger, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to give up its territory anytime soon.

“Houndour, Ember!”

 The Pokemon isn’t quick enough to dodge the flame coming its way. The fire engulfs the spider Pokemon and it lands on the ground, fainted.

“I would say ‘time to get it back out there’, but the thing would get eaten first thing if it doesn’t recover by tomorrow,” Yongguk says, picking the Spinarak up and he taps its head with a Pokeball, red light the Pokemon in. The ball clicks shut without so much of signs of a struggle.

“Don’t tell me you’re keeping that thing,” Himchan hisses. “I will de-friend you, Bang Yongguk.”

“Relax, I’m not,” Yongguk says, chuckling. He remembers how much Himchan hates bugs, and frankly, it’s hilarious. “I’ll release it in the morning.”

“You’d better,” Yongguk hears Himchan muttering under his breath as he unpacks his rucksack and takes out a set of clean clothes and he heads into the bathroom. He’s made the mistake of letting Himchan use the bathroom first before and he is a man who learns from his mistakes. It’s not that Himchan leaves the bathroom in a mess. No, quite the opposite, in fact. The problem lies in the amount of time he spends in there.

Only about one per cent of Himchan’s entire time in the bathroom is spent on actually showering. That makes it around…five minutes? He spends the other one-hour-fifty-five-minutes on his facial routine.

“I’m done,” Yongguk calls from the bathroom. He reminds himself to give Houndour and Rufflet a bath later (even though he knows both of them hate water but Houndour’s coat is starting to smell). He dries his hair with a towel provided by the motel and looks up to find Himchan fast asleep on one of the beds, Flabebe asleep as well next to him. Only Ralts is awake, lying against Himchan’s back.

“Hey, Channie. Go take a warm bath or something," Yongguk says. “And change into something more comfortable.”

Himchan grunts as Yongguk tries shaking him awake, and reaches up to bat at Yongguk’s hand.

“Lemme sleep—” he grumbles, scratching at his exposed stomach as his shirt rides up his body. Yongguk sighs, shaking his head. Once Himchan’s dead set on doing something, you can’t very well just force him not to do it, even if it’s his subconscious mind speaking.

The cold wind howls. Yongguk can hear the rattling of the windows as the wind beats against the glass. Once or twice, he sees a Gligar or an Emolga hanging from the window, peering in, as if wanting to seek the warmth of the room. While Yongguk’s heart hurts for them, he cannot provide for all the wild Pokemon, and Himchan would throw a fit if he sees a load of Pokemon in the room the next morning, so Yongguk resorts to pulling down the blinds.

He reads from his book, Trainer Tips, Houndour curled up by his feet and Rufflet perched on the bedframe, until his eyelids begin to feel like lead. He shuts the book and places it on the table beside him, before crawling under the covers and falling asleep.

*

When Himchan wakes up the next morning, it’s to Yongguk’s smelly breath.

He socks the man across the cheek in his half-asleep state. He then sits upright, rubbing at his bleary eyes, Flabebe tumbling off him and waking up as well. Ralts is already awake, trying to help Yongguk who’s apparently clutching at his cheek in pain.

“That actually hurt,” Yongguk complains.

“Serves you right, you monster,” Himchan yawns. “How could you leave me like that so vulnerable to the elements…?” His voice trails off as he tries to stifle a yawn.

Well, Himchan was lying on the blanket and shown no signs of moving, so Yongguk had no choice but to leave him be. It isn’t really Yongguk’s fault, the man tells himself. Himchan peels off the coat from his body, soaked with sweat and dumps it into the washing machine. They’re going to leave straight after the clothes dry.

They go downstairs to the little breakfast room to, well, have their breakfast, consisting of nothing more than Persim berry sandwich for Himchan and porridge with a side of ground Chesto Berry for Yongguk. The Pokemon themselves enjoy an assortment of Poffins. There are other guests there, some reading their papers, others eating happily while talking to their Pokemon.

After breakfast, Yongguk finds himself standing outside the motel, hands stuffed into his pockets, breathing in the morning air. He hears the call of birds and the chittering of insect Pokemon. Now, with the morning sunlight, he can observe their area more effectively. The motel seems to be in the middle of nowhere, and the only thing that Yongguk can see for miles is the road flanked by bare trees.

Tall grass surrounds them—without a vehicle (or at least a ton of Max Repels), it would be near impossible to traverse this route, what with the sheer number of wild Pokemon that would attack them with every step they take.

With that said, the great number of wild Pokemon mean that there are many training opportunities. As Yongguk had promised, he released the Spinarak back into the wild, where it had bounded off with threads it shoots from, well, its . Himchan was more than happy to see it go. He’d tried his hand against a few Audino and Emolga he’s happened to see, but they prove to be a little too high-levelled for his team, so he decide that it’s best to keep out of the grass now.

Himchan had kept himself occupied with the Pokedex as well as his notepad. Himchan is no artist, but he is creative. He may not be able to draw for , but he can certainly design clothes. He has already filled at least three notepads with his designs ever since he picked up the hobby two months before they left Crispleaf.

“How is it coming along?” Himchan asks. “Your training, I mean.”

“I can’t win by outright attacking,” Yongguk sighs, sitting down on the bed and crawling into a more comfortable position, such that his back is against the bedframe and he begins reading his book again. “And it just takes too much effort to think of a strategy to beat every single wild Pokemon I come across. I’m beat.” He peers over at Himchan, still hunched over his notepad.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“How are your…jackets or whatever coming along?” Yongguk asks, eyes falling back onto the words in his book. Houndour snuggles up to his side, tired body trying to get some rest before they continue on their road trip.

“Great. I’m having an artist’s block, actually,” Himchan says, huffing and putting his pencil and notepad down.

Oh no, Yongguk thinks. Alarm bells start ringing in his head, and he sort of wishes that the dryer would beep or something. He starts praying for anything, anything, to happen because…

“Can you be my model, Bbang?”

*

“Well, here’s the place, kid. That’ll be a thousand.”

The tall boy hands over a thousand dollar bill to the cab driver, who pockets the money happily and prepares to drive off, his Rockruff barking out through the window. Junhong watches the taxi travel down the uneven road that is Route 2.

Finally, here he is in Columinus Town, blue Pokedex in hand. The Professor had asked to meet today. He surveys the area. In the evening, it’s quiet—people are either in their homes or taking evening walks. It’s peaceful, and feels kind of nice.

“Come on, we’ve got to find the professor’s lab,” Junhong says, lifting Cleffa from the ground, the little thing squirming in his grasp. Bellsprout and Meditite follow after him as he gives himself a tour of Columinus, passing by tiny souvenir shops, eateries, clothes shops and more.  He comes across an inn, albeit a pretty expensive one. He’d be better off staying at the Pokemon Centre dorms.

The lab isn’t hard to spot, really. It looks remarkably different from the other buildings, its grey a stark contrast from the warm colours of the other houses. Junhong checks the time on his Pokedex. Another ten minutes, and he’d be able to meet the other owners of the Pokedex.

He knocks on the door, and there is a shrill voice shouting, “Coming!” and the door is answered by a bespectacled plump woman who introduces herself as Professor Acacia. She adjusts her askew glasses as she beckons him in. The first thing Junhong notices is that she is a little dishevelled. He wonders what’s happened when—

“Eeek!” she gives a scream of surprise when something rushes past her legs, then slams into Junhong. Junhong looks down to see a Chimchar rubbing at its head, fiery tail burning brighter than ever as it picks itself up readily and proceeds to run off.

“Oh no…Chimchar! Come back!”

“Whoa, don’t worry about it, ma’am. I’ve got it,” Junhong squints, catching sight of the unmistakable fire-tailed monkey as it dashes off towards Route 1.  “Let’s go!”

That is how Junhong finds himself standing at the entrance of Route 2, arms crossed. He glances down at Meditite and utters a command. A pulse of psychic energy emits from Meditite as the Pokemon scans for the monkey’s presence while simultaneously beaming the images to Junhong’s mind.

“There!” Junhong looks up just as Chimchar swings from a vine, chittering happily as it bolts past him. Junhong makes further into the route and he hears a shout. Is there another Trainer out there? “Hey!” he yells, trying to catch the attention of the other boy standing there with his Cottonee, looking dumbfounded.

“Cleffa, Sing!”

Cleffa’s powerful voice is enough to stop the Chimchar in its tracks, and in an instant, the monkey falls asleep inches from the boy’s face.

“Are you hurt?” Junhong asks, running over to the boy, who’s scooped up the sleeping Chimchar into his arms.

“Thanks for your concern, but no,” the boy says. “Is this your Pokemon?”

“Uh, not really,” Junhong shakes his head. This boy looks older than him, despite being shorter (that being said, Junhong does his trouble finding people shorter than himself). “It’s Professor Acacia’s. It sort of…slipped away.”

“Hmm,” the boy hums. “Are you—”

He is interrupted by a harried “E-Excuse me!”

Junhong turns to find Professor Acacia making her way over with her Ducklett, the bird Pokemon squawking and flapping its wings incessantly as if in a panic. “Did Chimc—oh! You caught it!” Her spectacles glint in the evening sun.

“It was actually all him,” the boy’s eyes dart towards Junhong, who scratch his head sheepishly. “I hadn’t seen the Chimchar coming at all.”

“Daehyun!”

Behind the boy, two other males run up to them, one in a bright yellow jacket and the other with striking blue hair, their Pokemon running up after them.

“Oh, are you—” There is a look of recognition on Professor Acacia’s face. “Are you the other Pokedex holders?”

“Yes, we are,” Yellow Jacket walks up and bows. The rest follow suit. “You must be Professor Acacia.” Professor Acacia beams.

“That, I am,” she nods. “Come on, we should head on over to the lab. We can talk more there.”

Junhong watches as the boy hands Chimchar over to Professor Acacia, who throws the still-sleeping Pokemon over her shoulder. Chimchar doesn’t even stir. That Sing attack is lethal. The group of four follow Professor Acacia back to the laboratory while getting acquainted with one another. Well, it’s more of Youngjae interrogating Junhong than anything.

*

Daehyun refuses to look at Jongup, preferring to stare ahead with his hands by his sides. Cottonee is socializing with the other Pokemon. A pang of something hits Daehyun’s heart, but he shakes it off. He walks a little faster, until he’s close enough to hear what Youngjae’s talking about.

Something grabs his leg, and Daehyun would have screamed if he didn’t know the Pokemon. He looks down to see Helioptile holding something in its mouth. A small, white seashell-shaped bell, a strand of clear beads strung from it. Daehyun looks to his left to find Jongup facing the front, continuing to walk, almost ignoring Daehyun’s presence completely. Daehyun bends down and picks Helioptile up. While he may not like their Trainer, the Pokemon themselves are tolerable if not likeable. They’re well-mannered, as expected from someone with discipline like Jongup’s (Daehyun had sat down halfway through his training and watched as Jongup battled wild Pokemon for hours on end).

Daehyun takes the seashell out of Helioptile’s mouth, and the lizard remains contentedly in his arms even as they reach the lab. He tries not to think about the meaning of this as he enters the whitewashed room, machines, files and notes dumped haphazardly in the space, a desk in the corner.

“Aren’t there supposed to be six of you?” she asks, glancing around. Daehyun follows her gaze as Helioptile squirms and manages to escape his grasp, running over to Jongup and curling around his feet. Cottonee moves to stand by Daehyun’s side once again. It’s true that there are only four of them at the moment.

“No matter. I’m sure they’re caught up somewhere,” Professor Acacia says. “In any case, I want to meet with you all before you begin your journey because I have another task for the six of you.”

“Another task?” Youngjae asks.

“Yes, and I must apologize for the sudden request, but here I have six unique Pokemon that I have received from other Professors around the world, and I wish for the six of you to study their growth,” Professor Acacia says. She leads them over to a cylindrical machine, where Pokeballs are placed in their indentations.

“Here are the six Pokemon. Since you’re all on time, you can take your pick first, before the other two arrive,” Professor Acacia says, winking. Youngjae takes it as an invitation to grab the first Pokeball he sees and releases the Pokemon inside, revealing a small, yellow fox-like Pokemon with fiery orbs for eyes and tufts of red fur peeking from its ears.

Fennekin. Level 5. Type: Fire. Moves learned: Scratch, Tail Whip, Ember. Ability: Blaze (increases the power of Fire-type moves when health is low). Eating a twig fills it with energy, and its roomy ears give vent to air hotter than 200 degrees Celsius.

Junhong appears to be as excited as Youngjae is, and proceeds to choose his Pokemon, but a little more carefully than Youngjae. He settles on a blue Pokemon with red scales on its back and a large jaw showing sharp teeth.

Totodile. Level 5. Type: Water. Moves learned: Scratch, Leer. Ability: Torrent (increases the power of Water-type moves when health is low). Despite the smallness of its body, Totodile's jaws are very powerful. While the Pokémon may think it is just playfully nipping, its bite has enough power to cause serious injury.

“You just want to look cool,” Youngjae huffs. Daehyun is just amazed that he’s already carrying the Fennekin in his arms with the fox Pokemon snuggling into him already. Youngjae has such a way with Pokemon, if you discount Buneary at his feet looking less than happy at the new addition to the team. Junhong sticks his tongue out at Youngjae in true teenager fashion and the two burst out laughing. Daehyun wonders if they were best friends in another life.

Jongup gestures towards the machine, in a subtle motion for Daehyun to pick first. Daehyun harrumphs inwardly. He doesn’t like Jongup’s attitude. Or Jongup in general. He walks over to the machine and is about to pick out a Pokeball when suddenly, something grabs his collar, sending him crashing to the ground. He hears the sound of humour-filled chattering beside him.

He rubs at his spine where he’s landed on rather painfully, and comes face to face with the monkey from earlier, clapping its hands while its tail burns even more fiercely than before. Youngjae snickers as he walks over and offers Daehyun a hand.

“It seems to like you,” Professor Acacia says, failing to conceal a giggle behind her palm. “Maybe you should keep it.”

Daehyun jolts as the monkey proceeds to climb up his body, swinging from his arms so that it hangs from his shoulders. Even Junhong laughs at this.

Chimchar. Level 5. Type: Fire. Moves learned: Scratch, Leer. Ability: Blaze. Its fiery rear end is fuelled by gas made in its belly. Even rain can't extinguish the fire.

Jongup is about to head towards the machine to pick out his Pokemon when the door bursts open. Evening sunlight streams in as well as two figures, hair sticking out in various places and clothes torn to certain degrees.

“Sorry we’re late, Professor!” the taller one bows, and uses a hand to force the latter to bow as well, who does so disgruntledly. “There was—”

“Goodness, are you two alright?” Professor Acacia fusses as she walks over to them. Their Pokemon look pretty beat up too, from what Daehyun can see. Houndour is barely standing, patches of fur torn and there is a chip on the skull on its head. Ralts and Flabebe are looking rather weathered too. “What happened?” she guides them over to a couch at the corner of the room and the one in the orange jacket collapses into it, gratefully accepting the cup of water that the professor offers the both of them.

These two, Daehyun realizes, look significantly older than the rest of them.

“Feral Pokemon attack,” Yongguk shakes his head. “We were lucky to get out alive.”

“Oh my,” Professor Acacia places a hand over her chest. “You should get some rest for today. No adventuring at night! Feral Pokemon love to come out at night.” She directs the last part to the rest of the group. She proceeds to brief the two newcomers on what she told the rest earlier.

Daehyun watches out of the corner of his eye as Jongup moves to inspect the other three Pokeballs, looking at each one closely before choosing one and releasing it. It’s green with yellow strips on its shoulders, and its tail is three-pronged and green as well.

Snivy. Level 5. Type: Grass. Moves learned: Tackle, Leer. Ability: Overgrow (increases the power of Grass-type moves when health is low). Being exposed to sunlight makes its movements swifter. It uses vines more adeptly than its hands.

Professor Acacia presents the last two Pokemon to the other two Pokedex holders, who thank her and they both press the clasp on the Pokeball.

Two Pokemon leap out from their respective Pokeballs. One of it is green in colour, with a red belly and a large, dark green tail. It scrambles up against the taller guy and rests atop his head. Meanwhile, the other Pokemon, a blue sea lion Pokemon gingerly makes its way over to the orange-jacketed man and crawls into his lap.

Treecko. Level 5. Type: Grass. Moves learned: Pound, Leer, Absorb. Ability: Overgrow. The soles of its feet are covered by countless tiny spikes, enabling it to walk on walls and ceilings.

Popplio. Level 5. Type: Water. Moves learned: Pound, Growl, Water Gun. Ability: Torrent. The balloons it inflates with its nose grow larger and larger as it practices day by day.

“Well, now that you’ve chosen your Pokemon, it’s best that you’d start your adventure tomorrow. Have a good night’s rest! There’s the Pokemon Centre dorms if you’re looking to cut costs or there’s always the Munchlax inn!”

They bid goodbye to Professor Acacia, who makes them promise to call sometime to update her on the progress they’ve made with their Pokedexes.

“Where are you going, Jonguppie?” Youngjae asks, watching as the blue-haired boy is making his way towards Route 2. “It’s almost dark. There could be a lot of Feral Pokemon out there.” Daehyun glances around him. The streetlights are on, and the blue-black hues of nighttime has already painted the sky, the clouds like wisps of smoke as they curl around the moon.

“Training,” Jongup answers simply. “I’ll be back before eight.”

It’s not like they’re any safer in the town anyways. The red Gyarados is proof of that. Youngjae doesn’t do more to stop Jongup. His back is to the group as he walks over to Route 2, surrounded by his Pokemon.

“Earth to Daehyun~!”

Daehyun is shaken out of his trance by a certain Youngjae, and Junhong is peering curiously at him.

“W-What?”

“Pokemon Centre dorms?”

Daehyun nods, realizing the other two men are nowhere to be seen. Have they already gone ahead? “Yeah…sure.”

*

Pokedex entries gathered:

- Bellsprout
- Chimchar
- Cleffa
- Dewpider
- Flabebe
- Fennekin
- Hondour
- Meditite
- Popplio
- Ralts
- Rufflet
- Snivy
- Spinarak
- Totodile
- Treecko

Daehyun's Pokemon:

Cottonee. Level 10. Moves learned: Absorb, Fairy Wind, Stun Spore, Leech Seed. Nature: Jolly.
Chimchar. Level 5. Moves learned: Scratch, Leer. Nature: Naughty

Youngjae's Pokemon:

Petilil. Level 10. Moves learned: Absorb, Growth, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder. Nature: Rash.
Buneary. Level 8. Moves learned: Pound, Foresight, Endure, Frustration. Nature: Naughty.
Fennekin. Level 5. Moves learned: Scratch, Tail Whip, Ember. Nature: Lonely

Jongup's Pokemon (after his nighttime training session):

Helioptile. Level 15. Moves learned: Pound, Charge, Mud-Slap, Shock Wave. Nature: Calm
Riolu. Level 18. Moves learned: Feint, Counter, Foresight, Force Palm. Nature: Relaxed
Dewpider. Level 14. Moves learned: Water Sport, Bug Bite, Bubble, Spider Web. Nature: Careful
Snivy. Level 10. Moves learned: Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Wrap. Nature: Quiet

Junhong's Pokemon:

Cleffa. Level 10. Moves learned: Sing, Sweet Kiss, Pound, Charm. Nature: Docile
Bellsprout. Level 10. Moves learned: Vine Whip, Growth. Nature: Adamant
Meditite. Level 12. Moves learned: Detect, Confusion, Bide, Meditate. Nature: Lonely
Totodile. Level 5. Moves learned: Scratch, Leer. Nature: Hasty

Yongguk's Pokemon:

Rufflet. Level 10. Moves learned: Peck, Leer, Fury Attack, Wing Attack. Nature: Jolly
Houndour. Level 12. Moves learned: Ember, Smog, Howl, Leer. Nature: Bold
Treecko. Level 5. Moves learned: Pound, Leer, Absorb. Nature: Quirky

Himchan's Pokemon:

Flabebe. Level 9. Moves learned: Fairy Wind, Vine Whip, Tackle. Nature: Mild
Ralts. Level 9. Moves learned: Teleport, Double Team, Confusion, Growl. Nature: Gentle
Popplio. Level 5. Moves learned: Pound, Growl, Water Gun. Nature: Sassy