Thoughts

"Huh, what a bummer…" I said with a reluctant undertone of surprise and disappointment tinging my voice.

I was currently sitting in the lobby of the huge Pokémon Center, in the middle of Viridian City, reading up on common training strategies for Pokémon and their move pools.

Turns out, there really are no common training strategies. And if there are they aren't shared amongst the vast population.

Which was both surprising and really wasn't. On one hand the results of your training would turn up quite a bit of money, if you were good enough, but on the other hand I had found out that sponsorships are rather the rule than the exception.

Meaning that an immense amount of money was in circulation amongst the population and huge institutions like the league or the various researchers and private companies like Silph Co. for example. This however also meant that keeping the knowledge on your training strategies secret had actually nothing to do with the money, which was a huge surprise to someone like me who comes from a world were money reigns pretty much supreme.

That though left the question open what the motivation behind keeping those secrets was. But once I thought onto the topic a little longer it became pretty damn obvious to me.

Power. Not the vague concept of power given to you by money, with which you could pay someone to do your bidding or something like that. No. Actual power on a scale I hadn't yet realised was for real. Maybe thought about for a second but the actual realisation only just came to me.

After all, literal god like beings inhabited this world, which made not money but personal power the most desirable source to vie for.

However, that left me with no other option but to improvise on how to train my Pokémon and gather every scrap of knowledge about the different moves I had floating around in my head somewhere.

Closing the tabs I had checked for the training strategies on the internet, I turned my attention to the next subject I had decided to check up on.

Known Pokémon locations and habitats. I had made a list of Pokémon I would consider putting onto my team and its reserve rooster, which had become quite the ambitions list in my most humble opinion.

But how did the saying, by one of the wisest beings I'd ever known, been? "Do or do not, there is no try." Thanks a bunch Master Yoda. Your wisdom is greatly appreciated.

With Gastly as my actual starter, and wasn't that a woop woop to think about, I already had a major powerhouse in my possession, which would serve as my special attack sweeper for sure. And considering the fact that Ghost Pokémon actually were a freaking rarity to come upon, let alone catch, due to their phasing nature, my Gastly could very well become an absolute terror to fight against one day. If I could manage to train him correctly. No pressure.

That left me to fill the positions of a special wall, meaning a Pokémon that was exceptionally good at tanking special attacks of most types, a physical wall for physical move preferring Pokémon, a physical sweeper and two wall breaker Pokémon.

Depending on what Pokémon I would get however, I may have to change my choices to get a better balance, which always was a pain in the ass for me.

And besides the main team, I had decided to catch myself some good switch ins to fill out or counter any extreme weaknesses my team would end up having.

Since my starter is a Ghost/Poison type Pokémon, Psychic and Ground type Pokémon could be a huge threat, although the later may not actually be a threat if I could manage to train my Ghost to phase on instinct through the ground, so that he could avoid most ground-based attacks. To determine if that was at all possible, I would have to begin an in-depth investigation on my Ghost's capabilities to phase. But that was for later.

In conjuncture that meant I needed at least one dark type Pokémon on my team, which also ideally possessed quite the resilience against special attacks. That though left me with rather limited options. Although I guess I could still train said Pokémon up to become tougher at tanking but let's not go there. I should work with the base stats first before going of on a tangent concerning the topic of training.

I ended up looking at only a few Pokémon for the moment, also because I was curious if I was even able to catch them at all for that matter, all options for the position of special wall for now.

Eevee: very rare and rather expensive due to its many viable options of evolution and the high demand on the market, especially from those trainers that focused mainly on contests and shows.

Togepi: Even rarer. There are only a handful of cases known in which a trainer got their hands on one of those Pokémon. Still, its evolution of Togekiss was an incredible temptation, no doubt.

Clefairy: Unlikely, due to the protection protocol placed on the species by the league, which leaves it up to the Pokémon itself whether or not it wants to join a trainer's team. And that happened close to never.

Vulpix: although rare, it was not incredibly so, which would make it a very viable option with a bit of luck. Although its demand for a firestone to evolve was still a wall all by itself but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Poliwag: and its evolution of Politoed. Also unlikely, as King stones were even rarer than a freaking Eevee but dreams and all that jazz.

Chansey: an incredible wall Pokémon, and viable as well, if I could manage to persuade one of them to join my team, but also limited in its offensive capabilities. After all, I was not aiming to run a complete stall team, as those only really worked in games. And, you know, this was no longer a game. A Pokémon that could only tank was pretty much useless in a fight.

Snorlax: rare but not overtly so. The problem with encountering one of the species was only that they are all lone wolfs, which makes it harder to spot one in the wild. Let alone the costs of feeding one of them. But then again they were very good at tanking and had quite a bit of power inside of them.

Porygon: very tempting, but I'd have to make good connections with some company in order to get my hands on one of those, and also the fact that they were indeed artificial Pokémon creeped me out a little, not gonna lie.

Larvitar: Gods, if only! If I could get my hands onto one of those I'd be set for life. But considering the solitary nature of their later evolutions Tyrannitar and the danger those Pokémon posed to pretty much everybody, the chances of encountering one willing to join me were so small it that it wasn't even funny to talk about the number.

Lotad: an absolutely viable option. Not very rare, good typing and move pool. Not a bad choice.

Ralts: Tempting. Both variants of its later evolutions are powerful and tanks in the special attacks department. Definitely an option to keep in mind.

Baltoy: Very tempting. Its typing is pretty solid while also bringing with it the option of a rapid spinner if I remember correctly. A tactic I wasn't sure was employed already but it was something to look out for.

Milotic: Uff, if only. Feebas were rare and a pain in the ass to train up into a Milotic. Although, the results certainly were something to be proud of. Maybe I should go for this one, if I ever came across a Feebas.

Duskull: Very good tank but little offensive power. Maybe.

Spheal: Not the best tanks but packs a lot of firepower, that's for sure. Very tempting option.

With a giant yawn, I suddenly realised that I was the last one still sitting in the huge lobby of the local Pokémon Center and should probably go to bed. Thus, I finished my research for the moment and decided to hit the pillows for the moment.

Tomorrow I would get started on training Joker, and check out a real battle to see what I had signed up for. Gods, I really couldn't wait!