Pokemon Trainer Vicky

"Here they are. Your Arcanine was a little beat up, but she is fine now… Her fur was so soft!" Nurse Joy informs me with a squeal as I grin up at her.

"It really is!" I tell her grabbing my Pokemon from the tray. What a day! My badge was now pinned inside my Badge carrier that I had to purchase from the Pokemon Store. No way was I going to Ash Ketchum and just pin them inside my jacket.

"Vicky!" Ivy calls out as she enters the Pokemon center. "You are finally up! Me and Kenta already scheduled our match against Brock! The receptionist told us that Brock is full up the rest of the day! We tried to get you up, but you must have been sleeping like a rock." Ivy grumbles at me as she pokes me a little. The Greenette was followed by Kenta who was smiling a little at me.

"You snooze, you lose Vicky. We will get our matches out of the way first." He smiles which I return, waiting for a few moments to best pop their bubbles.

I opened my mouth, "I alrea-"

"No time! C’mon Vicky we need to get you to Pewter Gym so you can schedule your match for tomorrow! Brocks schedule is super packed you know!"

"Ivy, I alre-" I attempt again only to be pulled along.

"No talking! More running!" She urged me along tugging and pulling.

Laughing to myself I let Ivy pull me along, oh well. If she wasn’t going to listen. So I was once more rushed towards Pewter Gym by my meticulous friend until I was pushed in front of the receptionist.

"Vicky needs to schedule a Gym battle with Brock!"

"Huh? Ms. Ferrous?"

"Hello again." I wave giving it a second before Ivy turned to look at me in confusion.

"Again?"

"Yeah I fought Brock this morning when I got up early. I got lucky and Brock had an opening really early." I tell her with a grin earning a stumped look from Ivy for a moment.

"W-wait! You already had your match! But I wanted to watch!" Kenta moaned, earning a chuckle from me at his groans.

"I wanted to see it too! Vicky!"

"What can I say, I tried to wake you up, but you were sleeping like a rock." I joke. Earning a groan of frustration from Ivy as well.

"Hey no Rock puns in my Gym. It’s a rule!" Brock called out as he suddenly appeared from a side door smiling to his receptionist for a moment.

"No promises." I offer with a smile as he nods to me.

"Vicky, back again? I’m afraid it will be a bit before I can offer you another match."

"That would actually be fun. But no my friends didn’t understand I already had my match. So they dragged me over to schedule one."

"Ughhh!" Ivy gave off a groan of utter embarrassment at what she had done but I started patting her back.

"So these are your friends? Should I be worried for my team?" He asked semi-joking.

"They just have their normal starters." I inform him, earning a chuckle at that.

"Good. Onix is still sulking."

"Why? He totally rolled Arcanine…. Ack!" I jerked back as Brock dope slapped me across the back of my head.

"No puns!"

"Sorry!"

"Well Onix isn’t used to losing."

"Well it was a monster. Honestly. I still can’t believe he took out Arcanine like that. How did you come up with that move? I never expected a Rock type to be able to keep up with Arcanine."

"I had to fight someone who used a Rapidash a few times. They kept trying to outrun my Onix. so I came out with, Rollout Wrangle." He gives me a peace sign which I return.

It was an honestly amazing move. "I’ll have a counter next time. Arcanine won’t lose again." I tell him firmly, that feeling of competitiveness rising up.

All I got was a toothful smile in return.

"W-wait! Arcanine got taken out!? THAT Arcanine?" Kenta asked, looking pale. "B-But It’s so strong!"

"R-right? How is Bulba supposed to defeat an Onix that beat Arcanine!?"

"W-whoa guys relax. I wasn’t fighting Brocks normal team."

"Right. Vicky proved she had been training her Pokemon for long enough that I pulled out my stronger team. You both will be facing my first badge team. Don’t worry it will be a challenge, but it is doable." Brock offered and the fact it was coming from a gym leader seemed to have Ivy relax a little although I could see it struck Kenta bit.

He wasn’t strong enough to face Brocks strong pokemon? Just his baby team? I could practically read the thoughts on his face.

I walked over and slapped him on the back with a grin. "Hey. I had Two years with Milotic. And a Year with Arcanine. They have as much training as you will when you get to reach the League. Stop thinking that you don’t match up to me. Because it’s not just us competing it’s our Pokemon. Think about where Squirtle will be in a year."

Kenta blinked before nodding, his face firming. "I’ll grow strong enough that you won’t have to save me someday. I’ll do the saving."

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"I look forward to it!" I tell him with a grin Ivy not having the same issue with Brocks announcement only looked relieved she wouldn’t be facing down a Pokemon that defeated Arcanine.

"I did want to see your match though Vicky! You shouldn’t have raced off on your own!" Ivy came back to herself after a moment once more bossing at me.

"Sorry sorry!" I offer with a laugh as I wave my hands at her pointing finger.

"Oh? Well we do record all matches. They play on a loop on the TVs there in the corner. If you want to watch it. Maddy? Can you play Victoria’s match this morning?" Brock offered earning starry eyes from my friends as the Receptionist nodded easily.

"Well I have to run. I look forward to facing you both later." Brock offered Ivy and Kenta earning a happy smile and a fierce look respectively.

Leaving them to watch as the Match began with Arcanine Vs Golem. It looks like they cut out the Geodude part.

I sighed, settling in to let the match play out. Maybe a second viewing would give me some ideas for better training.

I would not let Arcanine fall so easily next time even if rock types are some of the strongest Pokemon for Arcanine to face. Being type advantage and strong defenses making her physical moves weaker.

Arcanine was still The Legendary Pokemon. I wasn’t about to give her a bad name.

—-

Not long after hearing all about how amazing my match was from Ivy and Kenta. I once more split off from my friends. They needed to prepare for their matches later today, and I needed to do some more training.

I wandered up into the hills around Pewter before I found a quiet spot.

"Come on out everybody!" And my three Pokemon burst into being around me. Instantly Arcanine wandered away. It was obvious she was unhappy. Grumpy was a good word for it.

I pat Milotic on his head and hug Chansey, before following after Arcanine who had wandered a bit away and was grumping to herself. Letting out a huff as she sat down.

I settled in next to her, despite her head turning away from me.

"I’m sorry. I messed up." I tell her, earning instant attention. "I thought I had it all planned out, but Brock taught me different. Despite type advantage, and everything I thought we had it. But I was surprised by Brock. Bad. I led you wrong. I still have a lot to learn. I’m sorry I failed." I tell her earning a grumbling growly deep in her throat as she nearly knocked me over with a push of her head.

"Arc! Arcanine!"

"I know." I tell her, she was obviously blaming herself. "But a loss of a battle isn’t on you Arcanine. I’m the trainer. It’s on me. It means I didn’t teach you the right thing, or I wasn’t prepared with a quick order on how to react. We both got surprised, but you were in a battle. I’m responsible for callouts. That move really threw me for a loop. I had no idea what he was doing until it was too late."

I sigh. "I’ll admit I went into the gym with part of me thinking I would definitely win, and another thinking that despite all of our training, if Brock was serious we would probably lose hard. Instead we went through a tough battle. Definitely the toughest battle we have ever had right? And in the end we won."

"Arcanine."

I looked into the large eyes of my pup, and I wished I could just hug the pain away. That sense of failure. But I couldn’t. But I knew what I could do, that was healthier.

"Well. If you are upset. Then how about we get up, dust ourselves off, and train. I think I have some new ideas. If nothing else. We can just train our speed even more. I don’t want to ever be caught again."

"Arc!" She woofed standing up tail raised ready for training. For exercise and for battle.

"Good girl."

—--

I spent a few hours with my Pokemon training. Gravity training added in while Milotic worked on his Special attack abilities. The weakness of what should be his stronger aspect had hit us hard. So he was sitting on the edge of a river constantly shooting water moves into the water to try and work on increasing the force of the water. First stage was narrowing the focus.

Funnily I was doing the same training Kenta and I had figured out for his Squirtle.

The goal was to try and get more water pushed out in a smaller time. Narrowing the beam of moves like Water Gun should be good practice. One it was narrowed down with much greater force, we could train increasing the width without losing any of the pressure.

Chansey was keeping Gravity up to give some exercise for the lazy eel, and for Arcanine, who was working on her power.

She hadn’t liked the fact that Rhydon had matched her Iron Head. I could see it in the way she worked on her strikes. She wanted to be strong enough to smash through anything.

I guess I would get her there. For now Gravity training was our primary edge, but I knew it wouldn’t push us into the true elite tier.

Lance the Dragon Master would smash my team.

Cynthia? She would demolish us.

As much as I didn’t like him, Leon wouldn’t even count us as a speedbump. If he was as skilled as he was hyped up to be in the Anime.

Considering how weird everything was, I wasn’t sure what continuity I was in. Eh. Whatever. I shrugged. Not my problem. I would take the world as it came.

Still I needed more edges if Arcanine was going to become a legend… Well more than she already was. Arcanine was training furiously today. Her movement is even sharper than it ever has. After all she felt true battle, and even defeat today.

"Arcanine. " I called out, interrupting her constant running under gravity. I waved her over and it was only a moment’s hesitation before she wandered over. "Catch a drink first, and get some food in you." I tell her pointing towards the bowl of food I had been preparing as I thought. The very expensive special order Pokechow mixed with vitamins, and her favorite Liechi berries

I don’t know how she ate them cause they were honestly spicy, more like a Jalapeno, or other pepper rather than a Berry, but she loved them.

Nurse Joy had helped me figure out the right mix for Arcanine to do the best. Well she had helped me figure out the right balance for all of my Pokemon.

Milotic also came over once his bowl was done.

While they ate I talked to her about my idea.

"So I told you about Counter Shield before. The idea is to use a move as both offense and defense. Like surrounding yourself in a Flame wheel, but not just using it as an attack. The goal is to hold the move around you and make it strong enough to push A pokemon or their moves back. Basically if you get wrapped again, you light yourself on so much fire they can’t hold you anymore." Arcanine nodded eagerly at that idea. She hated her loss.

"That’s what we are going to work on today. While you are doing that, Milotic will be doing Damage control, making sure the fires you make don’t go out of control." Milotic nodded for a moment as he ate.

"But Milotic, keep working on your training through it all, remember to narrow the pressure so more water comes out. We want you to be able to flood an arena eventually. That’s the goal."

"Miii!"

"And Arcanine. Today’s goal is to do something similar. We need to pressurize the fire, if it’s just a weak flame nothing will be blocked, but if the fire is thick enough it will push attacks away almost like it has mass. So we need to strengthen your flames!"

"Arc!"

"Alright finish lunch, we have a few hours before Kenta and Ivy’s match."

While they were doing that. Once I was sure I didn’t need direct supervision, I pulled out my Sorta-Pokegear and opened the map.

I needed to find something. I had seemed to already build my team around Rare, or ’legendary’ Pokemon. Well there was another Pokemon in Kanto that fit both categories in a way. And my memory was pretty good about where I could find a bunch of them, I just needed to actually find it on a map.

—--

"And to your victory, I give you a Boulder Badge." Brock offered to Kenta who had just finished his match with Brock. It wasn’t quite your own knock down drag out explosion filled battle, but it was fun. Squirtle had done well to keep Brock’s Rock Types away, and the training you had suggested to increase the pressure of Squirtles attacks had meant the little guy was doing a lot of damage.

Ivy had won earlier. Bulbasaur utilizing its 3d movement to avoid attacks, and batter Geodude with vines, and Razor leaf. Then while avoiding Onix, and leech seeding him till the match finished.

Brock was a good trainer. He pushed both of my friends to their limits, but still made sure their smart training would be rewarded.

I congratulated them both as we left heading out on the town for a second day gorging on good food.

"Seriously stalling Onix and using Leech Seed to slowly drain him down was brilliant Ivy."

"I… My Mom mentioned doing it once, I was just copying her." she muttered but I shook my head.

"Nope! Stealing ideas isn’t wrong! Bzzzt!" I poke her in the head earning a squeak and a swatted hand.

"Vicky!"

"Ivy! You are a trainer. If someone says something and it gives you an idea to make your pokemon stronger. You do it! If you heard how someone defeated a Pokemon once, and you use that same method that’s good! Take the good! Humans always learn like that." I tell her earnestly.

"A-ah. Okay!" She nods.

I nod pleased that she took my words to heart. This world was pretty rough at times. It was important to make sure your team was as strong as they could be.

I grinned as I stuffed some more french fries into my mouth. As Kenta nodded as well. "I learned a lot from Brock. His use of harden is something I can use with Squirtle with Withdraw. Make an attack and then have Squirtle hide away."

"Don’t stop there." I tell him. "Combine Withdraw with an attack. Use Water Gun to push squirtle out of the way of attacks as well. I bet that would give you some good mobility along with a defense boost."

Kenta looked surprised before his face morphed into a grin. "Good idea!"

We continued eating and chatting about Pokemon until we were all stuffed and we headed back to the Pokemon Center.

While Ivy and Kenta passed out. I made a call to Papa to tell him how everything has been going as well as show off my new badge. He was super surprised that I had beaten Brock’s real team.

I went to sleep that night pretty happy overall. After all this was only the first step on my journey I had almost a full year before the next Indigo league. Plenty of time to beat all the gyms and hopefully get some more Pokemon.

—--

"Sorry… I don’t think I’m ready for Mount Moon." Kenta Mentions nervously the next day as we all had breakfast. "I want to try and catch a few more pokemon down here and maybe work with Squirtle some more… We weren’t ready last time. I want to be next time." He tells us seriously. His Squirtle chirping as Kenta rubbed his head.

"Wha! Kenta you can’t j-"

"I think it’s very mature of you Kenta." I cut in, interrupting Ivy’s response. As she turned to me in surprise.

"What, we can’t split up Vicky!"

"Actually. I think it’s a good idea." I turned to Ivy as she was the one this would most effect now. "Ivy I like traveling with you, but this isn’t our journey together. It’s your journey. I think it’s great that we all got together through the forest. I was honestly gonna be pretty lonely on my own for so long. But I had my friends and that was great… But if Kenta wants to stay. I think I’ll head off as well. There is a Pokemon I want to hunt down."

"B-But! Vicky! You can’t leave me all alone!"

"I’m not." I tell her, smiling gently as I lean in and poke her forehead. "You have your team. Your Pokemon. Your friends!" I pointed to her belt that had her Pokemon strapped there. Although it was only two pokeballs right now.

"But what if we get attacked!?"

"Then you rely on your Pokemon to help, or you run. Journeys are usually pretty safe, you know?"

"But but!"

"Ivy. It’s not forever. Not even for super long. I still need to go to Cerulean right? So we might even meet there. If not, maybe Vermillion. I will probably be around there on my hunt. You know Nurse Joy will let us leave messages for each other. We won’t be apart. Just not standing side by side."

Ivy was biting her lip and looking scared but she needed this, the Journey was meant to give kids time to sort of take on responsibility. She couldn’t do that if I followed her everywhere. She needed a chance to make decisions on her own. With her team. To build trust with her Pokemon.

Ivy was looking pretty sad so I pulled her into a hug much to her shock as she finally relaxed. "I wouldn’t say this if I thought you couldn’t do it Ivy. You’re really strong you know? You just haven’t had a chance to realize it yourself yet.

"But I only have Bulbasaur and Caterpie!"

"Then use this as a chance to catch some Pokemon! I hear Clefairy live in Mt. Moon. But you can also find Geodude. After Brock you should realize how strong they can be. Onix can live there too. Zubat."

"Ugh don’t bring up Zubat. They swarm like Beedrill." Kenta mutters shivering which I restrain myself from laughing at.

"It will be fun. Remember, not forever. Just until Cerulean or so. Who knows? Maybe Kenta will meet up with you before I get there as well."

"I’ll try." He adds with a smile and Ivy nodded.

"Fine." She said that, but her face showed anything but.

—--

"Okay Arcanine. You ready?"

"Arc!"

I grinned. I had bought an actual saddle for her for long distance running. It had cost a pretty penny, but Prism Scales still made me a ton of Poke Dollars.

I spent a good half hour making sure it fit and testing everything, letting Arcanine get a feel for it as she walked in circles behind the Pokemon Center. But it was time. Everything was ready.

"Okay Arcanine! We are going East! Then south. We need to hit Vermillion! Ready!?" I ask as I pull myself into the saddle and get comfortable.

"Whuff!"

"I know you are. But really Arcanine. If you get tired or thirsty tell me! This isn’t an endurance run. Just a faster trip than me walking."

She grumbled a bit at that. Arcanine really liked anything to do with training. But I patted her head. "Okay! Let’s go!" And with that Arcanine burst into a run and instantly I was sighing with relief.

A pair of goggles around my eyes and a strap for my hat to make sure it wouldn’t go flying meant it was a much more comfortable trip than last time. I could actually see where we were going.

We raced up the hilly terrain of Mt. Moon although we didn’t go inside the mountain, instead Arcanine simply ran up the paths until they cut off before jumping, uncaring about things like falls, or heights. She practically ran up the mountain on the outside, howling all the while when she felt like it letting everyone know she was here.

Multiple times we ran through batches of Pokemon scattering them in a flurry at our sudden passage. A few times like when a Geodude yelled at us for jumping on his head. His voice disappearing almost instantly far behind us.

But on we ran. It honestly hadn’t been that hard to find what I was looking for. Sure the maps in my Sorta-Pokegear weren’t like Google maps. There were massive empty spaces on the map. But there were plenty of books, and the internet still existed in a rather anemic form.

Searching for storms out in the ocean, especially ones that never end, hadn’t taken me long to find. Especially since I already knew it was off the coast of Kanto. And since the way Kanto was shaped, that really only meant one area it could be.

If it was near the Orange islands to the south, or the Sevii islands then they would have said that. Instead in the Anime that I remember it had been off the coast of Kanto. Ash took a boat to get to a small island covered in Dewgong. Which was then close enough to take a captured Dewgong to the island.

So I was heading to Vermillion city to buy some equipment and then hit the ocean.

In the anime Goh had figured out the area of Dragonite Island by finding rescue reports of them saving people. Me though? I had just tracked down some old sailors talking about the ’eternal’ storm off the coast that you really didn’t want to take your boat into, but was safe to go around.

Well that was all I needed!

"C’mon Arcanine! I’m feeling so excited!"

"Wooooo!" She howled as we came to a stop on the other side of Mt. Moon for a moment before racing off. Leaving a trail of frantic Pokemon in our wake.

—--

"Here you are dear. Be careful if you are heading underwater. Never know what Pokemon you might run into." The old lady that sold me a diving suit and a rebreather tells me sternly as I nodded.

"No worries! I have a strong Water Pokemon!" I grin as I pile it all into my bag. The rebreather alone had cost a pretty penny, but it was basically super tech, using the storage tech from the bags to let someone breathe underwater with just a small face rebreather for hours. Honestly I wanted one for more than just this hunt.

Drowning was scary. I still remember that one Pokemon movie with Ash drowning.

Yikes!

So I bought this, it would stay in my bag for whenever I needed it.

It had only taken a few hours to get to Vermillion most of which was spent figuring out how to get to it. The trails were weird, some of them literally crossing mountains for no reason. I guess Ash and his group getting lost while following main roads wasn’t as unexplainable after all.

Arcanine was taking a well deserved rest, not that she wanted one and I was gathering the equipment I might need for the trip. Including a stop for more Pokeballs… I wanted some more Premier balls, just in case!

After all, the goal was to catch a Dragonite. Or one of its family. I like Dratini just as much! I wouldn’t mind training a Dratini from scratch as well.

Then came the annoying part. I needed to get to an island off the east coast of Kanto, it was a weird little pit stop that was mostly just a little village of people that lived there. Also Dewgong. Lots of Dewgong.

But it was so small, it wasn’t like they had a consistent ferry. The people that live on the island just have their own boats usually. Or Dewgong.

Which is where Milotic came in. I went out of the city a ways till I was in the rough beaches around Vermillion city and summoned my boy.

"Miiii!"

"Hey buddy. You ready for a long swim? We need to get out of the Vermillion bay and then head east. It’s gonna be a bit of a swim."

"Mii! Miii!" Milotic instantly cried out and wiggled around me. We had of course gone swimming before, but it wasn’t like with Arcanine where I could ride her for long distances. We had mostly just swam in our pond river. Or in the rivers around Viridian.

"Good. Let me get changed into my suit. It’ll keep me warm. I don’t want to spend six hours or more in the ocean without something to keep my body warm." I tell him as I quickly pull out the suit. It was a wetsuit, the same sort of thing I might have bought back in my other life. It wasn’t anything special, just a suit meant to keep you warm in the ocean.

Pulling off my normal clothes I stuffed them into my bag besides my goggles. They were both diving and riding goggles. Then I took a few minutes grunting as I forced myself into the wetsuit. It wasn’t easy but the lady I bought it from had explained how to use it well enough. Once I was done, and zipped up. Milotic helped finish the zipper. I was ready. "You ready Milotic!"

"Milotic!"

With a wide grin I slipped onto Milotics’ back. And in a surge we were in the water. Racing through the ocean. For this bit I didn’t even need a rebreather, although my bag was in reach if I ever needed it. We simply enjoyed racing through the water, jumping in and out together. My compass guided us on our way.