Chapter 3 - Pokemon (1)

"How could I oversleep?!" The young man internally cried, running with his everything toward Oak's Laboratory.

Hell, he was still in his pajamas as he traveled at his full speed down the dirt road that led to the Professor's Laboratory.

He ran so hard that he failed to see the person that was coming down the stairs before they collided.

"Ah!" The young man shouted, about to fall before the person's arm caught him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes hidden by the shadow cast by his bucket hat.

"Huh? Yes, sorry about that!" Ash quickly excused himself before running up the stairs toward the Laboratory.

The other young man half-turned toward him, looking at his departing back for a few seconds before continuing on his way.

-*-*-

Huffing with his hands on his knees, Ash Ketchum arrived in front of the Laboratory.

"I'm here Professor!" He declared, making the older man whose gaze was focused on his grandson look at the Pokeball in his hand with a conflicted look on his face.

Around them, a crowd of civilians was whispering among themselves, all with expressions varying from excitement, to shock and awe.

"You are late, Ash. And you are in no condition to properly train a Pokemon" The man declared, walking toward the young man as he observed his clothes.

"Ahaha... My alarm clock broke this morning but I swear that I am ready to choose my Pokemon!" Ash explained, his excitement practically radiating off him.

"Thankfully for you, I still have a Pokemon left, come with me." Prof. Oak said, much to Ash's relief as they both walked inside the Laboratory.

Though Ash wanted to go and talk to Gary first and ask about the Pokemon he chose, he refrained from doing that due to the way he was unusually quiet.

"Say Professor, do you know what happened with Gary?" Ash asked, curious about why the usually loud and obnoxious 17 years old guy had such a somber expression on his face.

"... It seems like my grandson finally understood that the world is far bigger than he always thought. He lost his first match despite the type of advantage he had." The Professor revealed, a hand to his chin as if rethinking about the fight from earlier.

"What?! Gary lost?!" Ash exclaimed, forced to believe the tale.

Not only was he academically higher ranked than him, but he was also always gloating about how well he knew about Pokemon thanks to his grandpa being one of the most renowned trainers and professors in the world.

If anything, he believed that they were equally matched in terms of trainer capability which is why his loss is such a surprise for him.

Nodding at the rhetorical question, Professor Oak continued with more details.

"Yes... It was both their first match, Alexander seemed somewhat more experimented and proved to be an overall better trainer. Although I have to admit that his Torchic is the result of excellent breeding."

"Alexander? I feel like I have heard his name before..." Ash pondered, not remembering exactly where and when did he meet him.

"Well, whatever! I will get my starter and if I meet this Alexander guy I will show him that I am the best trainer in all of Kanto!" The young man exclaimed, fired up like he never was.

Chuckling at his words, the professor replied, before showing him the Pokemon that would be his companion from now on.

"It's good to aim high, but don't forget that what matters most is the bond you share with your Pokemon!"

-*-*-*-

"Mhm... Perhaps I should have taken my bike?" Lex asked himself aloud, walking along a small dirt road in the forest.

The noise of the active Pokemon living in the forest could be heard all around him.

Unlike the main road toward Viridian City, this route is mostly used by trainers due to the increased chance to be attacked by wild Pokemon.

However, it not only is a shortcut that can allow one to reach the Viridian City in less than two days but it also serves as a good training ground for weak Pokemon that rarely attack in hordes.

"Speaking about the Growlithe..." Lex's hand said to himself, his hand going to one of the balls at his waist.

The nearby tree's leaves violently shook for a few seconds before a Pidgey emerged from the branches, flying down onto the path.

It noticed the young man as it seemed to want to block his roads, a not-so-impressive cry.

"Why are you stopping me, little guy?" Lex asked the Pokemon, his hand still on the ball.

"... Gey!" It answered, not backing down although it hesitated for a few seconds.

"..." Lex looked around, seeing some scratches on the trees and other traces of battle.

"It seems that you don't give me much choice." The boy finally said, taking the ball containing his first Pokemon in his hand.

"Come out, Beldum." He said, letting the Pokemon out of the ball without throwing it like most trainers would during a match.

Usually, poke balls just come back to the owner when thrown but he didn't feel like it was necessary to be overhyped for this fight, due to certain reasons.

"Bel!" The gray Pokemon roared, his sole red eye shining in excitement.

It was sleeping for a while now, and only regain consciousness when Lex entered the forest.

Though it missed the fight Torchic, it was filled in by his trainer that spoke aloud, giving advice and explaining strategies.

It became even more ecstatic once it has seen that he could prove his abilities to his trainer by going against this strange fellow.

After the tale of the first fight he missed, he felt the need to prove himself. Even though, Alexander reassured him that his sleepiness was expected considering he was born a few hours ago.

"Let's not severely injure him, Beldum." The young trainer said, fully trusting his first Pokemon to overwhelm without much difficulty the wild flying-type Pokemon.

"Dum!" It agreed, ready to fight the avian opponent.

"Pid... gey!" The enemy Pokemon cried back, sand materializing in its pawn before it threw it to Beldum.

Unfortunately, its strategy was quite lacking in front of the sharp mind of the trainer.

"Beldum, use [Magnet Rise]."

Obeying immediately, the iron ball Pokemon began to levitate way higher than before, and with more ease too.

The earth-type debuff completely missed the Pokemon much to the other Pidgey's annoyance.

However, he did not have the time to do anything other than observe how the opposing Pokemon executed a series of moves before he even had the time to process what happened.

"Now use [Agility] until your speed can't go any higher." The young trainer ordered, making his Pokemon surround itself with psy-type energy that gradually boosted its speed far beyond its opponent.

"Gey!" Feeling that if left alone, he would certainly be defeated by the pseudo-legendary, the Pidgey's wings turned cyan for a few seconds.

Recognizing the attack, Lex immediately gave another order to his Pokemon.

"Use the trees to shield you from the [Gust] and prepare a full power [Metal Claw]."

As it did before, immediately obeyed and the speed-boosted iron Pokemon outran the incoming [Gust], hiding behind the surrounding trees.

The wind-type attack slammed into the tree used by Beldum but was unable to do much besides slight damage to it.

"Gey!" The opponent Pidgey cried in anger, repeating the attack as it hoped to destroy the tree and defeat the Pokemon behind it.

'That's a strong wild Pokemon.' Lex mused to himself, his attention never straying from the battlefield.

Observing how the flying Pokemon's movements became slower and the [Gust] weaker, he finally ordered.

"Now Beldum! Fly straight to it with your [Metal Claw]!"

Immediately, the iron Pokemon emerged from the assaulted tree, its rear shining with a dark, grayish glow.

"Pi-!"

Though Pidgey tried to resume with the intense [Gust], it failed to do much more than slow down the incoming Pokemon that turned around at the last second, slamming its rear into it.

The steel-type attack was much more powerful than the wild Pokemon could take, its body being sent flying toward the ground with speed, raising some dust as it impacted the grassy dirt.

"Good job, Beldum. You did extremely well." Alexander praised his Pokemon, to which it happily replied, floating all around him at a much slower speed now that the [Agility] was not needed anymore.

"Dum! Dum! Dum!"

It was obvious that the bird Pokemon did not resist that attack as when the duo approached it, they found the wild Pokemon fainted on the ground.

Though it did not have many injuries besides some scratches, the battle surely took a great toll on it, not to forget about the final attack that sent it into unconsciousness.

"It did well too." The trainer said, approaching the fallen Pokemon.

"Dum." The other Pokemon nodded, agreeing with his trainer.

The young man put down his bag, opening it.

Since he always took great care in organizing his belongings, it didn't take him much longer to find what he was searching for.

"Here it is." He said, holding a purple spray with a white handle.

"It should be enough for it." The young man commented, spraying the downed Pokemon with the potion.

The scratches disappeared in real-time and the Pokemon's breath became way better, its exhausted state going to a resting one.

Taking it into his arms, the trainer turned toward his Pokemon.

"Let's see if what is further along this road is worth this amount of determination." Alexander asked his Pokemon, continuing walking down the road, the wild flying Pokemon in his arms while the Steel/Psychic Pokemon happily followed after him.