Things had gotten easier for trainers since the last time I was out in the world. When I was young, you could get lucky and crash on a couch at a pokemon centre... these days, they set aside space for trainers and their pokemon, trying to get out of the deathly chill of a late autumn night and warm themselves up. Most kids went home for the worst of the winter weather, and Cherrygrove wasn't exactly a bustling place to begin with, so tonight, I had the place to myself.
Well, almost. I try to let my pokemon out of their pokeballs whenever possible. It was a pretty small roster today. There was Greggory, my stubborn little terrorist of a Totodile, snapping up crickets from his dish, before rambunctiously going and pawing at my bag, as if I had carried those things with me.
His claws skittered across the vinyl flooring as he came to me next, and insisted, vociferously, that I get more. I chuckled, and scratched the scales between the two red ridges on his back, pondering. Greggory was a rescue from a friend of mine. A little ill-bred, maybe, and more than a little rambunctious, but able nonetheless.
To be honest, I thought I was over and done with training. I'd hurt my shoulder pretty badly in an accident at the Mahogony City gym, and retired from the training, in order to focus on breeding instead. I was good. I specialized in fish-like and reptile-like pokemon - those from the water egg groups, the monster group, and the occasional bug. I never cared for the latter, and I'd always wanted to try my luck with dragons, but I'd never had the chance.
But here I was, starting the gym challenge all over again, with a young an inexperienced pokemon in spite of my old, experienced shell.
I heard Greggory growling, and snapped my fingers at him. He stepped away from the box he had been investigating, and I got up, to go over and look.
Vespa was a weedle. A nice one. Well-bred, from what little experience I had with her evolutionary line. She had none of the characteristically thorny behaviour of her brothers and sisters. When I stuck my hand in, she crawled right on out of the pile of leaf-litter she was munching on, and a good way up my sleeve before she decided she was close enough.
Violet City would be next. It was a long walk from here to there, but my team and I could stand the exercise. I'd made the trip before, years ago, without much difficulty. My concern lay in the gym leader - Falkner. He was an unknown to me. When I had attempted the gym challenge last, his father was still in charge. Flying types would be a problem for Vespa. Not as much of one for Greggory. The thought crossed my mind more than once to try and pick up a geodude along the way, but it wasn't fair to the geodude to get used for the one battle and set aside. I have neither the experience, nor the desire, to work closely with pokemon of the mineral group.
Cubone crossed my mind. I'd bred them for a while, but I can't think of any local to here, and it would undermine the spirit of the attempt to bring in my very best pokemon from Kanto. What's more, those pokemon are often sold well before I have them grown enough to leave the house. Pokemon are in high demand on the world exchange - well-bred pokemon, doubly so.
My loss, I suppose.
