First Day in Viridian City

By the time her pokemon finished the exercises Steven hag given them, they were exhausted, but an Oran berry each gave them the energy to show off their attacks. Steven had guessed right when it came to Smaug having the most power with Balto having far more control. Pidgey was definitely the weakest, but the little bird was determined to catch up to her senior teammates and beat the one that had beaten her. Smaug's Dragon Pulse barely rated as more than a concussive blast of energy that couldn't even manage to get more than a foot away from him. The Charmander had growled at himself and tried again without making much progress. Balto used Helping Hand on Smaug both to show off his ability to use the move and to help his fellow teammate use the move.

It was interesting to see Helping Hand in action prompting her to ask, "Do you think Helping Hand will help them learn new moves?"

Steven thought about it before saying, "It would probably help once they get the basis of the move down. More than likely, it will take Smaug a long time to learn how to properly use Dragon Pulse unless you can find a dragon type to help him. Even then, it probably won't be easy."

It would probably be as hard as teaching a dragon type ice type moves. They could learn them, but it was hard for any dragon type to learn moves that they were naturally weak against. Vali wondered if meditation would help if only so Smaug could get a better feel of the dragon type energy. Vali took out her dex and continued to make notes as she called out, "Smaug, that's enough. Show us your Ember. Balto, you too."

The two immediately began peppering the stones that Steven had his Claydol set up with fire balls. Smaug's caused bigger burn marks, but Balto's were far more concentrated causing the burn marks to be fairly deep. Steven surprised her by asking, "What are you making notes on?"

"Ideas that I have while watching them train or when I talk to you, my thoughts on their current move set, plans for how to use their attacks in battle, and things like that," Vali hesitantly held out her pokedex and Steven looked them over, "I sometimes have trouble remembering my plans or keeping certain ideas in mind. Professor Oak suggested writing them down. I can think outside of the box pretty well, but my memory isn't the greatest sometimes. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to remember certain facts about history when I kept thinking about how to use the terrain the events were taking place on to my advantage,"

It was a problem that had happened back during her school years at Hogwarts. It wasn't that bad until she started playing Quidditch. Thankfully, she'd had Hermione to help her after the troll incident. Steven made a noise of surprise, "These calculations are fairly on point despite the fact they're just numbers on paper."

"I used to play a sport involving flying on a broom and chasing a something that was about the size of a walnut," Vali explained with a shrug as Steven handed her pokedex back to her, "It was gold and could fly really fast. Along with trying to catch it, I had to dodge other players, a pair of iron balls that would really hurt if they hit me, and help my team out while playing. We might not have won all of our matches, but we did fairly well. Also learning how to aim spells and where to aim them to get the best possible reaction also helped," It was a shame Arithmancy was focused on the magical properties of numbers and their use in spell creation otherwise she probably could have done better, "Professor Oak also had me..." Vali trailed off as she noticed him staring at her and flushed with a sheepish smile, "I'm babbling, aren't I?"

"Just a small amount," Steven smiled warmly at her, "It does make me more curious about your world. Though I suppose this is more subconscious thoughts than conscious ones,"

Vali thought about it before saying, "I think fifty-fifty would be a better assessment at least when it comes to wind resistance and things like that. When I'm in the air, it's kind of instinctive rather than conscious thought."

"It's still amazing," Steven told her, "I suppose talking strategy would probably be a good idea for both of us,"

"Sure, but lets save that for when we're either bored walking or resting," Vali told him, "Mental exhaustion isn't a good thing especially since we're not very close to any cities. We could make stupid decisions,"

And she had had her fair share of stupid decisions. Steven agreed though it looked like he wanted to protest.

It took Vali a little while to fall asleep even with Balto and Smaug curled up on a medium sized fireproof blanket beside her. Pidgey was resting on one of the nearby tree branches. Even if it had only been her first day of being on her pokemon journey, she could honestly say she was glad that she'd decided to go, but it was hard falling asleep. The ground was a bit too rough even with a sleeping bag between her and the hard ground. Something about the rustle of the tress, calls of nocturnal pokemon, and the stars shining above her just stopped her from falling asleep. Eventually she did, but it made her a bit cranky when Steven woke her up a bit after eight in the morning. He didn't seem surprised by her crankiness and only offered her some breakfast that he had made over the fire. She took the offered breakfast and was surprised to taste Oran berries. When she asked about it, he told her, "Until your body gets used to traveling and sleeping on rough ground, it will help if you eat Oran berries in the morning. While they don't work on us as well as they do pokemon, they'll help with the stiffness and aches."

She made a mental note to keep a healthy stock of Oran berries along with whatever berries her team liked. After eating, they cleaned up their camp and set off for their second day of traveling.

It wasn't until they were within sight of Viridian city that Vali got her chance to catch a Pikachu. The Pikachu was a fast sucker which made her glad that she'd chosen Balto to fight it. It managed to get in a fair few hits before Balto managed to Bite it. When it was weakened enough, Vali tossed the pokeball she'd prepared and managed to catch it. Balto brought the ball over to her looking happy with himself and Vali immediately fed him an Oran berry as a treat. Steven congratulated her, "A nice catch and Balto definitely did good. You're a quick study."

Vali smiled at him and thanked him before saying, "Shall we go and get our pokemon checked out?"

Steven nodded and they quickly made their way to Viridian city. Vali noted that while it was bigger than Pallet town, the city didn't have the pollution that London did. Considering the history of this world, she highly doubted any of the cities would be like that. Still, she could smell the pollution and it was not exactly a pleasant smell not to mention the noise/crowds would take awhile to get used to. They found the Pokemon Center fairly quickly and headed towards the Nurse Joy manning the counter. She smiled at them, "Hello and welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center. What can I do for you?"

"We need our pokemon checked out and two rooms for a week," Steven answered her with a smile, "My name is Steven Stone and the young lady with me is Valkyrie 'Vali' Potter,"

Nurse joy took out two trays and they set their pokeballs on them with Vali telling the healer, "The Pikachu is a new capture. I haven't had the time to talk to it since Balto, my Growlithe, won our battle with it."

"Thank you for the warning. I'll be extra careful of it," Nurse Joy beamed at them while handing the tray to her Chansey partner, "It shouldn't take long to get them healed up. I'll call your names up," She handed them two room keys, "Please enjoy your stay with us and come again,"

They thanked her before heading upstairs to their rooms. Vali found that they were right next to each other which was kind of nice. Vali told him, "I'm going to take a shower. Why don't we meet up in the Cafeteria? It's getting close to lunch time."

"Sure," Steven nodded, "I think I'll take a shower as well,"

Vali and Steven met up downstairs in the cafeteria. Both their teams had been checked out and were given a clean bill of health by the time they had both come downstairs, Vali had been told that Pidgey was malnourished, but it was something most wild pokemon had to deal with especially from Route 1. The Spearow were making it harder for the other pokemon to get the food they all required though it was worse this season than in the past few years. Nurse Joy had told Vali that with this newest documentation, the league would be sending a team out to lower the population. More than likely the Spearow would be brought to one of the areas that had a harsh drop in the population recently for whatever reason, Vali wasn't sure where. Once they'd gotten food, Vali released her team and let them eat their food while Steven only released Squirtle. As they began to eat, Steven explained, "Pokemon centers like this one have limits on how big of a pokemon you can release. Lileep and Squirtle are the only ones small enough for me to even think about releasing. I've only released Squirtle because Lileep would get a lot of attention that neither of us need at the moment."

"True," Vali didn't mind the food too much though she definitely preferred Delia's cooking, "So why a week?"

"You're probably feeling sore from the time we spent camping not to mention the exercising we did," Steven pointed out earning a nod and small shudder from Vali since Steven had put her to running along side her pokemon whenever they were training.

It would help her later on in her journey especially in the more perilous portions that she would be traveling through not to mention she would have a better bond with her pokemon if they saw her working as hard as they did. It brought back memories of the rather hellish training regiments Oliver had forced the Quidditch team into doing. She didn't mind the exercises now, but she definitely didn't like them while they had to travel for the day. At the very least, Steven had joined in so she wasn't suffering alone even if he made it look easy. Drinking some of her water, she swallowed the food she'd been chewing on before asking, "Are you going to try and catch another pokemon while we're here?"

"I will if one catches my eye, but I'll mostly be testing my pokemon's skills and working to get Squirtle and Lileep up to snuff," Steven answered as he rubbed Squirtle's head, "I might end up switching out two of my current team for another pair that need work, but I'll decide that later on. I assume you're going to go Poliwag hunting?"

"Yup," They had passed by the pond and she'd seen some Poliwag wandering around, "It'll be a challenge, but I think my pokemon can handle it," Vali's hand went to pokeball that contained the Pikachu that she hadn't met just yet, "I also need to meet my newest teammate,"

Steven nodded as he swallowed the food in his mouth, "I suppose that means we'll be splitting up. I want to check out the library they have here and read up on the Viridian Forest."

Once her team had finished eating, they headed to the pond. The Poliwag scattered when they arrived, but Vali ignored them for now as her pokemon settled down around her. She held up the pokeball containing their newest teammate, "Okay guys, you remember how Balto helped me catch a Pikachu, right?" They nodded with Balto looking proud of himself, "I'm going to let them out. Don't attack it and try to be nice. Of course, if it attacks, I want you guys to take it down so no one gets hurt, okay?"

They nodded with Pidgey looking a bit apprehensive. She smiled reassuringly at her first capture before letting out the electric type. Pikachu appeared looking a bit dazed before shaking itself and growling at the pokemon around it. Vali called out, "Pikachu," The Pikachu spun around and it's cheeks spark, "Based on your reaction, you remember me capturing you, right?" The Pikachu's eyes narrowed and it nodded, "That means I'm your trainer now. I'm not going to ask you to do anything drastic, but please listen for now. If you don't want to deal with me after I lay everything out, I'll release you no questions asked. Okay?" Pikachu seemed to think about it before nodding and settling down though it still looked a bit hostile, "My names Valkyrie Potter though I prefer Vali..."

She laid out everything on the Pikachu and made it clear that she would do her best to make it the strongest it could possibly become. She admitted that she wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to do, but her goal at the moment was to complete the gym challenge to get into the pokemon league. By the time she finished, Pikachu still looked a bit skeptic, but didn't immediately ask to be released. She held out her hand to Pikachu and the electric type slowly moved forward until she could touch it. Its eyes closed as she gently began to scratch behind its ears. Vali smiled at it before taking out her pokedex. The Pikachu looked at the pokedex with a frown, "This will just tell me how strong you are."

Vali took out the bowl of food she'd made for the Pikachu before she'd left and watched it eat for a moment before scanning it.

Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon. Whenever Pikachu comes across something new, it blasts it with a jolt of electricity. If you come across a blackened berry, it's evidence that this Pokemon mistook the intensity of its charge. Its nature is to store up electricity. Forests where nests of Pikachu live are dangerous, since the trees are so often struck by lightning. While sleeping, it generates electricity in the sacs in its cheeks. If it's not getting enough sleep, it will be able to use only weak electricity. It raises its tail to check its surroundings. The tail is sometimes struck by lightning in this pose.

This Pikachu is male and has the ability Static. This Pikachu knows the moves Tail Whip, Thunder Shock, Growl, Play Nice, Quick Attack, Thunder Punch, and Electric Terrain.

Vali hummed at the move set, "You're a pretty powerful guy especially since you have two egg moves," Pikachu flicked his tail slightly as he finished eating, "Do you want a nickname? My Charmander and Growlithe have nicknames. Pidgey didn't want one."

Pikachu shook his head and curled up. Instead of being bothered by that, Vali leaned back against the tree that sat by the pond. Smaug walked over and followed Pikachu's example. Balto decided to wander by the pond and snap at the reeds as Pidgey settled in the tree above her. Instead of looking for a Poliwag like she'd originally planned, she decided to use the time to create a training plan for Pikachu. She would probably be better off training her current four pokemon and worry about getting more later once they'd all gotten to know one another. While a Poliwag would definitely make the first gym easier, she knew that with enough training, her current team could beat it. They would have to train hard though.

When she met up with Steven for dinner, he looked at her curiously, "Catch anything?"

"I decided not to," She said while releasing her team after setting out food for them all, "I need to get to know my current team better and I know that I can beat the first gym with them. We just need to train hard. I also scanned Pikachu and he's got a pretty strong move set,"

"So I guess you'll be using our time here to train them," Steven said as she began eating.

"I'm also going to see if I can battle a few of the other newer trainers," Vali really wanted to see what battling was like not to mention she could use more money especially if she wanted to get TM's when they finally made it to Celadon, "We'll need the experience for when we battle Brock,"

Steven inclined his head, "On our last day here, why don't we battle? While my older team members can beat you, it'll be good experience."

Vali thought about it before nodding liking the idea, "Sure!"

Vali's first battle was with a stocky boy with short black hair and a pair of square glasses. He fixed his glasses as he released a Rattata, "Rattata, we're in a battle."

Vali chose to release Pidgey, "Pidgey, we're battling that guy. I have faith in you," Pidgey trilled at her before focusing on the Rattata, "Let's start off with Sand Attack,"

Pidgey kicked up dust towards the mouse pokemon as it's trainer shouted, "Dodge it!"

Thankfully, Sand Attack's 100% accuracy kicked in and ensure that it couldn't dodge. Vali called out, "Tackle that Rattata while it's distracted!"

Pidgey's speed training kicked in and she managed to hit the Rattata as it was attempting to clean the debris that had hit its face. It squealed in surprise as it went rolling until it hit one of the nearby trees. It pushed itself onto its paws and growled at Pidgey in anger. Pidgey rushed towards it with another tackle only for the other trainer to shout, "Hit it with a Quick Attack when it gets close!"

"Pidgey dodge it!" Vali shouted and Pidgey quickly swerved to avoid the rat before it could land a hit, "Now Tackle it!"

Pidgey slammed into the rat earning another squeal. The battle continued like that until Pidgey managed to slam into the rat hard enough to send it flying into a tree. The Rattata couldn't handle anymore hits and slumped as it fell unconscious. Pidgey chirped and flew over to Vali. Vali congratulated the bird with a smile and fed her an Oran berry. The other trainer shook his head as he returned his fallen pokemon, "I have a long way to go with Rattata before I can even think of trying to battle again."

"Try teaching it Bite and increase its speed," Vali suggested as the other trainer handed her a small wad of cash, "Rattata and Raticate are pretty quick,"

"I might just do that," The other trainer smiled at her, "Thanks for the suggestion,"

"No problem," Vali told him before continuing to walk.

It was as she did so that she heard the sound of growling and shouting coming from one of the alleyways. Feeling curious, she walked towards the alleyway and found a shocking sight. A group of teenager were kicking at a grimy bundle of fur that was weakly growling at them. The bundle attempted to attack with what looked like a weak Shadow Ball only to be cut off by a kick to the head that sent it sprawling. Anger coursed through her veins as she shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"It's none of your business," A sleazy boy that reminded her of her cousin smirked as he sent another kick at the bundle, "Just run along,"

"Attacking a pokemon that's clearly not able to defend itself is definitely my business," Vali growled as Pidgey made a hissing sound.

"It's my goddamn pokemon, so I can do anything I want with it," The boy's eyes went to Pidgey, "Trying to be a trainer little girl? Don't make me laugh,"

Vali released her pokemon earning wide eyed looks, "Do you really want to test me?"

The boy snorted and took out a pokeball, "I didn't even want the weakling anyway."

He crushed the ball and walked away, "Let's go guys."

They took off and Vali made her way over to the bundle. She felt sick at the sight of blood and was tempting to send her pokemon after the teenagers. Instead, she took out one of her empty pokeballs knowing that it probably wouldn't make it to Nurse Joy. The bundle snarled at her and she could see hazy amber eyes glaring at her, "Easy, Little One. I'm not going to hurt you," It snarled at her and attempting to charge a Shadow Ball only for the attack to fade away as shivers racked its body, "I just want to help you. Please, I just want to take you to Nurse Joy. She'll heal you," It's snarls and growls weakened as its eyes began to flutter, "I promise you that I won't hurt you," Her pokemon began speaking to the trembling bundle that began to hack up blood, "Please."

The bundle's growls cut off as it fell unconscious and Vali caught the injured pokemon. She would release it after Nurse Joy healed it. She returned everyone save for Balto and Pidgey before racing off towards the pokemon center.