Pokémon: Generation By Generation

CHAPTER 12: [Second Step into the Indigo League!]

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A/N:

Sorry for only posting a chapter last week. There's so much studying stuff happening IRL that I can't seem to write. I'm going to be busy for these few weeks; hopefully I have the time to write and draft more beforehand in case something like this happens again.

BTW, did you all see the new Legends Z-A game? I am so getting it along with the Switch 2. I've saved up years for this moment ;)

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"Sup, guys?"

"Sup."

"Morning."

"Fuck you."

The next day at school, I greeted my boys with the usual as I sat down on my seat. The gang was already here, so I coughed into my fist as I threw something on the table.

As expected, they didn't notice the significance of it since they were complaining about the League games that we played last night when Derrick suddenly noticed it.

His eyes went wide at the sight of the Pokémon License with my name on it, and he looked at me. He gestured at it with his eye movement, and the answer that he got was a sly grin.

"Holy shit, you got it?!"

Darren and Alvin looked at the excited face of Derrick before their attention was drawn to the card on the table.

"Is this for real?"

"Yo, what the hell?"

I matched their excitement with an excited grin of my own as I took and presented the card.

"Gents, allow me to introduce you to my new License."

I got cheers from the boys as they too took out their Licenses, and we all dapped one another up. The attention caused my other classmates to ask about what's happening as Darren told them the reason.

They gave their thanks, which I appreciated. It's a momentous moment for first-time Pokémon owners; they've certainly gone through it earlier in life, so they understood the reason for my excitement.

I understood a while back that Alvin, Derrick, and Darren already applied for their Licenses years ago and wanted to sponsor past me with my own. "I" had always declined, so they kept it to themselves about it.

Then, the topic of what Pokémon I chose to register came up in the chat.

"Hold on, Josh, what Pokémon did you even get?"

Darren hummed at the point.

"Oh, yeah, you have to register one. I totally forgot."

"How? I remember you holding on to Dad's Growlithe for hours before having to trade it back."

He shushed Derrick before gesturing for me to speak.

"A Pikachu. I got it for cheap in an auction house."

At that, they all nodded in understanding.

"Makes sense; they're easy to maintain and feed."

"You should train it. I heard that it's important that you have a Pokémon with a strong basis for Trainer School."

Alvin gave a good suggestion, to which I nodded as I explained.

"Yeah, I'm training her right now. Oh, and she's called Bolt. You know, since she can use Thunderbolt?"

I waited for amazement and praise for the name, but the only thing that I received were sighs of defeat.

"Dude, your naming skills are still the worst."

"Even I could name it something other than a literal thunderbolt."

"Yeah, Josh, no offense, but you've failed the vibe check."

Ticked, I slapped the table.

"My naming sense is impeccable, I'll have you know! And Darren, that's not even how you use that word!"

He returned my remark with a middle finger. I returned the same gesture.

"Yo, maybe I'll video call you guys and show Bolt. She's the cutest—"

I paused after realizing that I forgot something.

"Fuck, I didn't tell my parents about her."

"???"

Alvin facepalmed, Derrick sighed, and Darren scratched his cheek as he asked the money question.

"Uh, how does that work? What are you even feeding your Pikachu, then?"

Through a virtual game, but I can't answer it like that.

"I bought Pokéblocks and Puffs when I got her. And to be frank, I kind of forgot about telling them."

Definitely need to rectify that. Ugh, and my sister is back from university today too. She's totally going to freak out and scare Bolt...

=

=

=

"YOU WHAT?"

My older sister, with the difference of one year, squealed as she ran up to me from her room and grabbed my uniform collar.

"Hey, it looks like Dad brought you home already."

I said, already used to her freakish strength. She was inhumanly strong, capable of lifting tens of kilos without a sweat, so it wasn't a surprise when I was dragged as a victim into the countless sparring lessons taught by her to train in martial arts.

"Let him speak first, Selina. Joseph, can you repeat what you've said?

My mother sighed as she pulled my sister off of me before asking. I replied after nervously laughing.

"I-Er, I kind of bought a Pikachu and paid for the License?"

"EEEEEK! SHOW ME, SHOW ME, SHOW ME!"

We ignored the squealing as Dad rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Where did you even get the money from? From that book-writing thing you mentioned a while ago?"

"Yeah, and saving up a lot. Two years worth."

My parents looked at each other for a second before they chuckled.

"Well, I guess we saved up for nothing too then!"

Dad said with a smile as Mom continued.

"We were going to surprise you with the money for a License and a Pokémon. Next week, actually, but since you got it yourself, then maybe we'll use it for your Trainer School tuition fees."

... Dammit, I'm going to cry. My family is the best.

I sucked the tears back as I handed them my License. They ooh-ed and aah-ed over it as I went to my room and fetched Bolt's Pokéball from the Arc. Walking back to the living room, I witnessed my Mom holding my sister back with a single arm as my Dad simply laughed at her.

"Here. Don't scare her away, OK? Just press the button and toss it into the air ; the Pokéball is made to fall onto the ground."

I handed them the Pokéball. My parents, from my understanding, had never held a Pokéball of their own before, so they too were in awe at the technology in their hands. My sister was in the same boat, but she had experience holding and releasing Pokémon from their Pokéballs; it was in her subjects to be able to handle Pokémon , after all.

Dad let Mom be the one to release Bolt. With a deep breath, my mother hit the center button and tossed the Pokéballs high into the air...

With a loud popping sound, light flashes through the whole living room as Bolt gracefully dropped to the floor.

"Pika pika! [(o´▽`o)]"

She greeted me with a snuzzle before noticing the other occupants in the room, causing her to shrink herself as she quickly hid behind my leg with a shy look on her face.

"Awww, she's so cute!"

My sister raved as she bent down to meet the Pikachu's eye level.

"Bolt, these are my parents and sister. Everyone, her name is Bolt."

A flicker of understanding lit in her eyes as she realized that she was looking at my family.

"Pi-pika, pikachu! [(≧ω≦)/]"

She shyly greeted my family as my mother suddenly started to tear up.

"I-I always wanted to be a Trainer... Travel around the world with Pokémon, battling Trainers for recognition... but never could. Ah, I'm just so happy that at least one of you can inherit my dream."

Dad patted Mom on the shoulder as she dried her tears. I didn't respond to that, as I simply picked Bolt up and gently handed her to my mother after asking for permission from Bolt.

Holding onto the Pokémon, she gently hugged Bolt to her chest, making Bolt return it with an enthusiastic cuddle.

=

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Honestly, not having to lie about my Trainer status was relieving. And that meant that I could finally bring my Pokémon friends into reality without being scared of the law. At least Bolt, for now.

For now, though, I have a hurdle to overcome before my dreams of becoming both rich and powerful in the Pokémon scene could be reached. Sorry, Misty, but you're going down!

---------------- Status Summary ----------------

[Name: JOSEPH]

[Age: 15]

[Pokédollars: 10,833 + [...] ]

[Badges List]

[INDIGO LEAGUE: 1 / 8 (Boulder)]

---------------- Status Summary ----------------

---------------- Current Team Summary ----------------

---------------- 1st POKEMON SLOT ----------------

[Nickname: Bolt]

[Species: Pikachu (♀)]

[Level: 28 (35%)]

[Nature: Timid]

[Ability: Static (1/3 chance of applying Paralysis status on opponent when damaged with a physical attack.)]

[Moves: Thundershock, Growl, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, Double Team, Body Slam, Thunderbolt]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- 2nd POKEMON SLOT ----------------

[Nickname: King]

[Species: Nidorino (♂)]

[Level: 27 (65%)]

[Nature: Naive]

[Ability: Poison Point (1/3 chance of applying Poison status on opponent when damaged with a physical attack.)]

[Moves: Leer, Peek, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting, Horn Attack]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- 3rd POKEMON SLOT ----------------

[Nickname: Zardon]

[Species: Charmeleon (♂)]

[Level: 28 (4%)]

[Nature: Lonely]

[Ability: Blaze (Boosts the power of Fire-Type moves when HP is below 1/3rds)]

[Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Metal Claw, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Scary Face, Fire Fang]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- 4th POKEMON SLOT ---------------- 

[Nickname: Monkey]

[Species: Mankey (♂)]

[Level: 27 (3%)]

[Nature: Quirky]

[Ability: Vital Spirit (Prevents the Pokémon from entering Sleep status.)]

[Moves: Leer, Scratch, Low Kick, Karate Chop, Fury Swipes, Seismic Toss, Assurance, Focus Energy]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- RESERVE POKEMON SLOTS ---------------- 

[NULL]

---------------- Current Team Summary ----------------

I've been busy for the last few days waiting for my License to arrive. I made it my goal to let everyone hit at least Level 25, and boy, does everyone look stacked. Especially Bolt and Monkey, they learned some new moves that will prove useful in the fight.

Thunderbolt is just, hands down, the best staple Electric STAB move that an Electric-type Pokémon can have. High base damage and accuracy, along with great PP numbers.

Assurance, on the other hand, is great for Monkey; if he has already taken damage, the move doubles its power, and since he's a slow Pokémon, the bonus would activate most of the time.

The game plan was simple enough. Bring Bolt out and let her sweep everything that stands in her way. Nothing much can deal with Bolt other than perhaps Misty and her monstrous second-line evolution, Starmie, but I have a backup plan in case she goes down.

Starmie's typing is Water/Psychic. So, Monkey will be the second Pokémon that I'll use in the Gym Battle. Assurance is a Dark-type move that'll do super-effective damage to the Starmie, he had good HP and ATK IVs, so hopefully Starmie goes down easily without much of a fight.

[Enter the CERULEAN GYM DUNGEON?]

[YES / NO]

Navigating to the Gym, I made sure that everyone was in the right slot before hitting YES and entering inside. The familiar blackness engulfed my vision while in my room before returning, now in a different location and space.

Looking around, the first thing that came to mind was the large open area for a single swimming pool. Imagine a large indoor pool with spectator seats surrounding the pool, and crank its size up to 10 times. Smooth marble tiles made the floor, with a lot of sunlight entering the Gym due to the windowed roof.

My eyes then drifted to the people swimming in the pool alongside their Pokémon. In Brock's Gym, the Trainers were wearing hiking gear and apparel. In Misty's Gym, they were wearing swimsuits.

The pools were divided into five separate pools: four square-shaped pools connected together in a square and a much larger pool next to the sectioned pool. The four smaller pools were arranged in a 3x3 grid pattern, with a plus-shaped lane separating them, one pool in each corner of the grid.

A long lane led straight to the center of the Gym where a large lifeguard seat was present on an elevated surface made of marble, similar to Brock's Gym. Behind the elevated surface was a much larger pool, occupying half of the whole indoor stadium. However, the Gym Leader herself wasn't sitting on her "throne".

Instead, Misty erupted from the waters of the large pool, launching into the air with Starmie beside her. She flipped gracefully midair before landing with practiced precision on the elevated platform. water streamed off her as she gave her orange hair a quick shake to dry it off.

Then she turned to me with a smile.

"Oh, hi there! Pokémon Trainer Joseph, right? Sorry, I didn't notice that it was time for our appointment."

"Yep, that's me."

A Gym Trainer ran up and handed her a towel, which Misty thanked before wiping her hair dry. Once it was, she wore a blue swim parka to keep herself warm before walking down the stairs with Starmie floating behind her.

"I'm sure Brock has already told you about the rules of a Gym Battle?"

Recalling the rules, I nodded and repeated them to make sure.

"I will have to defeat a Gym Trainer before getting a chance to Battle against you."

"That's right, and my Trainers will use Water-types as well. Louis, you’re up!"

"Of course, Gym Leader Misty."

A man wearing nothing but swimming speedos and a swimming cap stepped forward with Pokéballs magnetically connected to those speedos. Looking at the guy, my head was just asking one question... How was that speedo holding onto three rather heavy Pokéballs and not showing any signs of dropping?

"Diana, please initiate the Gym's Challenge Mode!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

A woman wearing a one-piece swimsuit pulled a lever on a wall as the whole stadium suddenly started to shake. From underneath the square-shaped pools rose a grill platform, the four separate panels shifting and locking together to form a single, solid battlefield that covered the pools entirely, transforming the area into a space ready for battle.

Walking up to the platform, I snapped out of my thoughts. I breathed in and cleared my mind before grabbing the first Pokéball on my belt as the Swimmer Louis grabbed his own Pokéball.

"No switching out a Pokémon until it faints, no consumables unless needed, no intentionally harming a Pokémon, and only a maximum of three Pokémon will be used for this Battle! Trainers, take your marks!"

Holding onto my Pokéball, I clenched it with anticipation as I waited for the countdown to drop.

"Get set..."

Pausing to create suspense, Misty looked at both of us Trainers on the platform for a second before grinning excitedly, her hand slicing the air as a loud "beep" sounded from the public announcement system of the stadium.

"Begin!"