Chapter 11

The first day of Redwald and Greta’s journey was not that bad. The beginning of September had always been warm and nice for Pallet Town, and it was just the same for Route 1, too. Redwald and Greta delegated the duties first. Greta was in charge of the map, and she was going to lead the way. But after she brought the group to the wrong directions twice, Redwald decided to help her with the duty. In the meantime, Redwald was in charge of making lists of things to do. So far, he had only one thing in the list – to register for Kanto League. He could do that only when he got to Viridian City, so, there was still time for that. In the beginning, Redwald and Greta called their Pokémon, Eevee, Nidoran, Pidgey and Caterpie out of their Poké Balls and let them walk all the way with them. Despite it was good for them to get some fresh air and feel the nature in their bones and on their skins, Redwald came up with the idea that making them walk along with them could only tire them for no reason, therefore, after a while, they called their Pokémon back in their Poké Balls.

Greta cooked for herself, Redwald and their Pokémon after noon. It was not as good as the food they had in their houses, or the ones that were provided at Professor Oak’s laboratory, but it was still better than nothing. But Eevee and Nidoran insisted on being picky on the food. After all, they spent years with Professor Oak at the laboratory, and ate their delicious food which was made especially for Pokémon based on their species. Greta dedicated herself to improve her skills for cooking as well. She made Redwald add on the list to buy a cooking book in the city.

The first day was rather silent than expected, because everyone was busy in their minds. Redwald was lost in his own style, thinking how to get through with the journey in a year, gain the badges, compete in the Kanto League, and even have a great result, become a Champion. Greta was simply discovering the nature. She was impressed how the Pokémon could unite with the nature ages ago, and never disconnected with it, unlike humans. If people were put in the natural life with no technological or electronic devices, they could not survive for long. Greta hated that.

When it was nearly evening, Redwald took a flashlight from his backpack. Greta never thought how to deal with darkness, but luckily for them, Fennel put two of the flashlights in Redwald’s backpack, just in case. Redwald gave one of them to Greta, and added on the list to buy batteries when they go to the city.

Greta and Redwald walked for a while after pure darkness. There were no city lights, or even a crowd to join. They felt like they were the only people on the road. It was partly because Greta took them to wrong directions, therefore, they were walking on a different road than the usual one. But still, Redwald expected to see at least some other people.

Greta finally stopped walking. She was feeling too tired to keep going. She suggested to spend the night there. Redwald found a safe spot under a tree. They set up their tents. Redwald knew how to set up a tent because of a camp he attended when he was younger. But it was Greta’s first time. Redwald helped her to set up her tent, too. Greta hoped to remember everything the next time.

Early in the morning, Redwald and Greta talked about their future plans. Both wanted to get to the city as soon as possible to provide their needs. Because it was almost emergency case for them. Redwald knew that he had no chance to heal his Pokémon if they were paralyzed or burned. It was too risky for them to go on without any medicine.

Greta prepared the breakfast for everyone. Compared to her dinner, breakfast was much better. After the breakfast, Redwald took his time with his Pokémon near the trees. They lied down and enjoyed the sun. Greta was uncomfortable with all the dirty clothes and the dishes from the previous day and the breakfast.

“There is a lake nearby.” Greta said. “I will go there and wash my clothes, also the dishes. You wait here, will you?” She could not stop looking at the dirty clothes and the dishes while talking. She was extremely sensitive when it comes to hygiene. After all, she had a domestic life at home. Her mother had always been careful about keeping the house clean. Due to her mother’s infection, she could not even stand in her room when she felt dust in the air. But now, she was sleeping on the grasses, she did not have the chance to take a shower every day, or she could not provide a clean room as required. She had to obey the nature. That was what she wanted all along, but if only there was an easier way.

She went to the lake and took some water in her basin. She used the right requisites to clean up all the clothes. When she was done, she softly smelled them. For some reason, they did not smell clean at all. When Greta gave a closer look, the clothes looked even worse than before.

“Am I imagining this?” She thought. But it was true. The clothes were really worse than before. It did not make any sense to her, but she poured all the water and got started it all over again. She repeated the same things, and the clothes got even worse.

“Am I failing at this?” She thought this time. She was probably doing something wrong, and therefore, the clothes kept getting ruined. She decided not to ruin the clothes anymore. She could ask her mother when she gets to a Pokécenter. Instead, she took the plates off her bag, and put them aside. She poured all the water again, and went near the lake to take some more. But there was something fishy about the sea once again. It was not pure blue as she thought it would be. Not only that, but it was nowhere close to be blue.

“What is this now?” She said. That was a whole dirty water. She lifted her head and looked at the lake as a whole. There was a Pokémon near her. Was he up to something, Greta thought. She took her Pokédex off and identified the Pokémon.

When Greta looked at the Pokémon more carefully, she realized that Tentacool was using Acid in the water, which caused it be dirtier. Instead of messing with him, Greta took Nidoran and Caterpie as silent as she could be, and just walked away. But she had her nerves on the edge.

“Pidgey, use Tackle!” Redwald ordered. While Pidgey flew through the tree, he created thin beams around himself. It was something new, and Redwald knew Pidgey was getting better already. Pidgey hit a branch and he broke it off the tree. While it fell to the ground, Redwald did not stop and ordered the second move. “Now, use Gust!” He said. Pidgey stood back and flapped his wings as tough as he could. Suddenly, he created a gust in the middle of tree and himself. The gust hit the tree and countless leaves fell on the ground.

Pidgey was hardly breathing. He put a lot of afford on his training. “Thank you, Pidgey. You shall rest for a while now.” Redwald said, while he called the Pokémon back in his ordinary Poké Ball. Then, Redwald turned his back and looked at his other Pokémon, Eevee, who had been watching the battle all along.

“Are you ready?” Redwald asked. Now, this was his turn. Eevee nodded his head determinedly. He was ready to pull off a remarkable training impression on Redwald for sure.

“Use Tackle!” He ordered. Eevee dropped his head, lifted his back, aimed on a branch of the tree, and ran to the aim as fast as he could, until something distracted him.

Two Pokémon came out behind the tree, and they ran through him. Eevee suddenly stopped and started to watch them. The two Pokémon ran through him, and reached to Redwald. Redwald lifted his right arm, and covered his chin to protect himself. But the two Pokémon ran through him too, and reached to his backpack. They were stealing the food.

Redwald and Eevee, both were familiar with these species. These species were the ones that attacked them when they went out of Professor Oak’s laboratory. They were Rattata and Raticate with their fulsome appearances. Redwald never felt disgusted by a Pokémon, but that family was an exception.

Redwald had no intention to let these disgusting Pokémon steal his food. Even if he did not need any of it, he would still protect them towards these.

“Eevee, focus your Tackle on these!”

Greta washed all the clothes and the dishes over again. She was in an unpleasant position that she was already forcing herself to not regret on going on that adventure. She did the math of everything peevishly. But she never thought of hygiene. Because when she attended the school, and even the summer camp, everybody talked about Pokémon, goals, how to get there, what to do or not to do, how to catch or train a Pokémon truly, but no one talked about real challenge of a journey – surviving in the nature. She would not be surprised if she found a dead body on the road.

“At least,” she said, “they are finally done.” She packed her bag and got ready to leave, until she felt like she was attacked. She turned her back, and saw the two Tentacool standing in the background, aiming on her.

“What is your problem with me?” She said. She was the one who supposed to be mad at anything, but instead they were acting like Greta was the problem.

One of the Tentacool used Acid on Greta. Greta suddenly jumped on the right side, hoped the acid would dodge her. Otherwise, she had no chance to cure herself in these circumstances. The acid, luckily for her, missed her, but the two Pokémon had no intention to let things go.

Greta tried to reach to her Poké Balls in her bag, but she could not find any of them. The Poké Balls were lost in all the clothes. She quickly stood up and hid behind a tree, and put her bag on the ground. She was so worried that she was afraid if Tentacool could also leave the lake and stay on the grass.

“Secondary type is poison, the type that is commonly seen with grass type Pokémon...” She was thinking. “...they sure might be able to be on their own outside of the water.”

She could still not find the Poké Balls. Finally, she dropped everything in her bag, and finally found the two Poké Balls in the clothes. She took both of them and came out from the tree. She threw the Poké Balls as soon as she appeared in front of the two wild Pokémon.

“Nidoran, Caterpie, come out now!” She cried out. The two Poké Balls, as they were thrown, fell on the grasses, and the two Pokémon appeared. Nidoran and Caterpie were ready to have the battle right away.

“Caterpie, I count on your String Shot!” Greta said. Caterpie was born for it. She came closer to the two Pokémon, and used String Shot on them. Both Tentacool were slowed down.

“Nidoran, use Scratch!” Greta kept going. Nidoran’s claws glowed bright as she ran to the water. Once she came on the edge of the grasses, she jumped as far as she could, and reached to one of the Tentacool. Then, she used Scratch one after another.

The other Tentacool used Bubble on Nidoran. As the bubbles exploded around Nidoran, and left her all wet, Nidoran felt distracted and stopped moving.

The Tentacool that had Nidoran on his head used Acid on Nidoran. But since Nidoran was also a poison type, she was not harmed as much as Tentacool expected.

“Nidoran, return to the grass.” Greta said. She felt unsafe about it. Nidoran jumped back and landed on the grasses. But before Greta realized, one of the Tentacool used Acid on Caterpie. Caterpie could not dodge the move, and all the acid stuck on her. Not only that, but also Caterpie was poisoned. As soon as she took the damage, she threw out.

“Caterpie, enough for you.” Greta said, while she called the Pokémon back in her Poké Ball. She knew for sure that it was not good for Nidoran to keep the battle on her own, but there were no other choices.

“Nidoran! I know you can do that!” Greta responded. “Use Double Kick now!” She ordered. As Nidoran ran to the edge once again, her claws on her hindlegs glowed bright once again. She came to the point, and jumped as far as she could. She landed on Tentacool’s head, and used Double Kick one after another. She kept using the move until the other Tentacool used Water Gun on Nidoran. The water body that came out of Tentacool hit Nidoran and Nidoran fell in the water. But she quickly swam to the ground.

Unlike what Greta expected, the two Tentacool fled away. Greta ran to her Pokémon and hugged her. Nidoran was awake, but she was damaged and getting wet definitely did not help her at all.

“Thank you, Nidoran. You did your best for me.” Greta said, and she took her Poké Ball to let her rest more. Then she realized that the other Poké Ball was shaking at times. She knew why it was happening, though. Caterpie, due to her pain, was dealing with her body. But she had to be cured as soon as possible. Greta, in theory, knew that an antidote was what she needed. This was taught at schools, and those who don’t know that could not graduate. But no one told them to take them before passing through Route One. No one told them how to use the knowledge in practice.

“I have to prepare antidote by using herbs and plants.” She said.

“Tackle, Eevee!” Redwald ordered. Eevee was sharing the same anger and eager as Redwald in his hearth. While he ran to these Pokémon, he let his feelings lead him the way. When he reached the Pokémon, he used Tackle on Rattata. Rattata dropped all the food he was holding. As they collapsed on the ground, Raticate said something to the purple Rattata. Redwald assumed Raticate told him to grab them again.

“Don’t give up, Eevee!” Redwald responded. “Use Bite right now!”

Eevee’s teeth glowed bright, and they reflected a sight of giant teeth that appeared around his mouth. As he came closer to Rattata while he was picking up the foods, the reflection hit him hard. Rattata was super effected by the power of Eevee.

“You are doing great, Eevee!” Redwald responded. “Don’t stop yet, use Tackle again!”

Eevee quickly turned around himself, and hit Rattata’s stomach with Tackle. Rattata stumbled and fell on the ground. He was already fainted. Redwald knew, he could be proud of his Pokémon. Eevee was improving great so far.

Raticate put all the food on the ground, and stepped forward. He stood in front of Eevee, glared at him. He was declaring a battle. It looked like a challenging one.

As far as Greta could remember, she collected all the herbs and plants she needed to prepare an antidote. She learned that at home while her mother was taking care of a Sandshrew, and he was badly poisoned. She realized that they ran out of antidotes, and Sandshrew was in a really bad shape. Greta was younger, but she watched her mother preparing one for the Pokémon.

“I hope it works!” She kept repeating herself. If the antidote that she prepared would not cure her Pokémon, she had no idea how to deal with the situation. She smelled the healer that was boiling on the fire, and she felt comfortable giving it to her Pokémon, at least as possible as the situation let her.

She took Caterpie’s shaking Poké Ball and called her out. When Caterpie came out, she was exhausted, tired and craving in a pain. Greta could tell that her skin faded. She took the liquid antidote to her empty bottle and gave it to Caterpie. The little Pokémon opened her little mouth and drank the liquid.

“You will feel better soon, Caterpie.” Greta said before she put a kiss on Caterpie’s tired, tiny body. Caterpie did something like a smile, but it could not be spotted easily. Greta called the Pokémon back, and pack everything in her bag to leave the area. She spent hours near that lake, although she intended to stay not longer than an hour.

She turned her back to leave the lake and get back Redwald, but she encountered two wild Pokémon having a Pokémon battle. They both were Oddish. Greta was amazed, decided to watch them.

One of the Oddish used Rage to her foe. The foe Oddish stumbled, but pulled herself together quickly, and responded with Toxic. But the Oddish was not affected. As a response, the Oddish used Stun Spore on her foe. Greta suddenly petrified. She was familiar with this move. Her father was exposed to another Oddish’s Stun Spore in the jungle, and he was paralyzed for two days. Greta was too young back then, and she feared that her father could never recover. On a journey like this, she could not afford being paralyzed for two days. Automatically, she stepped back to not breathe the air with spores. But involuntarily, she walked back so much that she found herself in the lake in that the other Tentacool used poisonous moves.

Greta quickly swam up to the surface. She took her time to breathe calmly. Not only all the clothes and the dishes got dirty again, but also the clothes she was wearing were dirty, too. Also, she was all wet now. She came out of the lake like fury, and started to walk through the road as fast as she could. She was so mad, furious and out of control, that she sat down at one point and started to cry as loud as she could. She did not care about anything at the moment, not being strong, determined, achievement, or what others would think of her if they saw her like that right away. She only cried and let everything out of her mind. Things just were not going even close to what she expected, and she wanted to go back home already, until her Poké Balls shook. Distracted, she paid her attention on the Poké Balls that came out of her bag and stood in front of her by rolling. The two Poké Balls shook over again and the Pokémon popped up. Nidoran and Caterpie were standing right there, smiling at her.

“Nidoran... Caterpie... What are you doing?” She asked. Her cheeks were all wet, and her eyes were flame red. But she did not even realize that. Both Pokémon approached her, and hugged with their tiny arms. It was so touching for Greta that she cried even more then, but not for her disappointments, but her love for her Pokémon. They were there to help her. She never experienced something like that in her whole life. She was always pushed aside. She was never centre of attention, but now what her Pokémon had in common was her, and they both were there for her.

“You are right.” Greta said. “You don’t deserve a trainer like me, whining about everything ever since setting off. From now on, instead of whining, I will do things better for all of us. I will be a trainer who you deserve to have. I will be the best one you could ever company with.”

She used her arm to wipe her tears. After that, she put her both Pokémon on her shoulders, and stood up. “There is a long way for us. We will make it no matter what. As long as I have you, I am here. You give me the strength that I need. Thank you...”

Raticate dodged the move from Eevee limberly, and responded with Body Slam. Eevee was crushed between Raticate’s giant body and the ground. But he could still go on.

“Use Bite!” Redwald said. Eevee opened her mouth as the reflection appeared in seconds. But before he made his move, Raticate used Hyper Fang. Eevee was super effected over this move. He was about to lose the game for good. He could barely even touch the foe.

Eevee was lying on the ground with closed eyes, struggling to hold on.

“Eevee, do you think you can go on?!” Redwald responded. Eevee’s answer was his move to stand up. He opened his mouth and cried out. He was declaring that he could do anything to overcome. Raticate was imitated by the cry. After the cry, Eevee quickly created reflections of himself all around. Redwald knew what was happening.

“This is Double Team!” Redwald said. Raticate found countless Eevee around, and he had no idea which one was the true one. He turned his back, and rolled around to see all the reflections. He took his chance and used Bite on random reflections, but the first three did not turn out to be the true ones.

“Use Bite, Eevee!” Redwald cried out. All the reflections began to run on Raticate at once. Raticate covered his face with his short arms. He had to drop his head to do that. All the reflections used fake Bite on Raticate. All of them were showing off their giant, beam teeth. Raticate was not harmed by the reflections, but every time he believed that he was going to get harm, he felt drastically down already.

He withdrew from the battle in a sudden. Before letting true Eevee show up, he ran to his infant Rattata, hugged him with his tiny arms, and fled away. All the food remained on the ground.

Redwald could not believe it for a moment, but it was true. Unlike what happened at Oak’s laboratory, this time they truly won against a Rattata and a Raticate. They even escaped from them. Redwald never felt that proud before, as he walked to his Pokémon.

Eevee’s reflections disappeared in seconds after Raticate took his infant and escaped. While Eevee ran to his trainer, Redwald walked towards him slowly with a determined smile on his face. Eevee jumped on Redwald’s arms and expected to be pet. Redwald put his hand on Eevee’s glorious fur, and praised him.

“You did your best yet, Eevee.” He said. “We finally overcame our weakness from the beginning. Imagine how far we got already, and imagine how far we will get by the end. This is our story together. There is nothing that can stop us.”

Eevee nodded his head happily. He was prouder to have a trainer like Redwald. He believed in heart that what they achieved would be nothing compared to their process to the end. It was just a beginning...

Humans

 * Professor Oak (mentioned)
 * Greta's Parents (mentioned)
 * Professor Oak (mentioned)
 * Greta's Parents (mentioned)

Pokémon

 * Wild Rattata
 * Wild Raticate
 * Wild Tentacool (×2)
 * Day Care's Sandshrew (mentioned)
 * Wild Rattata
 * Wild Raticate
 * Wild Tentacool (×2)
 * Day Care's Sandshrew (mentioned)