Chapter 18 Stonks

Making my way out of Cerulean gym, I checked my phone so I could teach Milotic ice beam. What I didn't expect was to get blown up with messages as soon as I turned it on. If there's a fault I would admit to, it would be my bad habit of not messaging people or forgetting to. I'll take a minute to respond to them before I leave Cerulean.

[New Messages]

Misty: Hey Rian I saw your battle in Cerulean. You were acting kind of strange, and kinda showy. But more importantly, did you say something to my sisters? I've never seen them so angry with someone. It was a really good battle though, I've never seen my sisters enjoy a battle so much! Wish I could've been there, I would've given you a tour of the city.

Me/Misty: I might've said some mean things, but I just wanted to get them more invested in the battle. I wanted to know how much they cared about the gym, and show them they can still be great trainers and performers in battle. We'll have to do that tour another time, I'm moving towards my 3rd gym battle.

Gramps: Congratulations on your Milotic evolving Rian. Don't forget you can catch more pokemon, if you go over the carry limit I can take care of them on the ranch.Just let me know if you ever need anything.

Me/Gramps: Thanks Gramps, I just want to try doing things on my own. I'll visit before the League Tournament.

Gary: What the heck? They never showed those pokemon when I battled the Cerulean gym. You might've had a greater gym challenge than me but I'm already headed towards my 4th gym and my team is complete. Smell ya later Rian!

Me/Gary: I don't know either, but it makes the battles more enjoyable. Winning that's too easy isn't a real victory. Also obviously you're ahead of me, you are DRIVING to every gym you Tangela for brains.

Leaf: I saw your battle, you were so cool! Like you were the gym leader and they were the challenger. I'm going to stay in Cerulean for a bit to train my pokemon so you can go ahead to Vermilion City.

Jay: Hey Rian, things are going great with me and Officer Jenny. I've currently joined a police field agent program on her recommendation. I also wanted to ask for a favor. We've got a lead on finding who my parents are. Keep a lookout for Team Rocket members wearing white uniforms.

Unknown: Hello. This is Joseph Stone, president of Devon Corp. We have been following your challenges from Hoenn, and have noticed you used our product the Luxury Ball. We like to sponsor up and coming trainers to advertise our company. I'm contacting you to see if you'd be interested. Please contact me when you decide so we can talk about terms and benefits.

Unknown: Hello this is Nicholas Teal, I'm a Human Resources representative for Silph Co. We reach out to popular rising trainers in the Kanto region during the Indigo League to promote our products. We can give you some funding for training and a free TM. All we need from you is to say a few words about our company before any official live battle. Please reach out should you be interested.

-Somewhere south of Cerulean City-

I've had a lot to think about as I left Cerulean. I started by reflecting about my pokemon. Milotic was able to gain a lot of experience and reached Lvl.25, and learned the move Dragon Tail. Zorua, even with the work we put in for our victory. Only leveled up once to 33. Pidgeotto hit Lvl.26 after our battle against Brock. The only problem I'm having is finding a way to increase their strength more. Because tough battles are hard to come by, most stray trainers around the area are pretty underwhelming.

I have a feeling I'll come across some stronger trainers eventually. So, I'll ignore the experience issue. Still, this hasn't been the only thing weighing on my mind. The sponsorships that Devon Corp and Silph Co. have reached out about. While I won't question why a company from a different region is reaching out to a rookie trainer without any notoriety. Or really why any company would do that. I won't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. I could really use more money to buy new TMs, and other necessities. I only have a little over 100k but I just blew most of it on Pidgeotto's evolution item, and the TM for Will-o-Wisp for Zorua.

In the end I think I'll have to choose Devon Corp for my sponsor. While Kanto is my current home, I don't see myself staying here forever. Not only that, the president of the company himself reached out to me. If that isn't a show of sincerity then I don't know what that word means anymore. It's also not because I want to get my hands on some cheap Luxury Balls from the creators themselves…

Anyway, with my choice made I decided to message Mr. Stone first. It read as follows, "Hello Mr. Stone! I want to first say thank you for reaching out personally about this opportunity. I have decided to accept your sponsorship proposal, and would like to negotiate some terms you mentioned. I also know that your company is interested in new technology, I happen to dabble in engineering. I've successfully created a device that can store items in a compact space. I've also sent a video of it's use with a mobile home I made."

With that reply sent and a video file sent I've successfully sent my potentially biggest brain move thus far. If I can become business partners with Devon Corp, I can also request help when I create my own business.

The last thing on my mind is the message I got from Jay. I'm glad he's following his dream and all that jazz. I'm also not concerned that his absentee parents are Team Rocket members, but the specific uniform mentioned. It kinda rings some bells, but I'll just stay on the lookout.

Now on towards Vermilion City!

-Much Later-

On my trek towards my next goal I came across my next adventure. In front of me was a fenced out area. There was a large sign with a counter for wins and losses. While the sign read, "AJ's GYM undefeated, note: gym not sanctioned by Pokemon League." The counter currently had 90 wins and 0 losses, so the undefeated part is accurate. If the counter is anything to go by.

Let's do something about that 0, it's as they say; everyone needs one. Even if that one is a loss to your perfect win streak.

Making my way through the gate I'm greeted by a guy with spiky green hair in an orange and black polo shirt. "Welcome to my gym, my name is AJ and I aim to be the ultimate trainer! Are you here to be my 91st win? Then me and my Sandshrew will take you on!"

He has a slight country accent, but something about his smug attitude about winning rubbed me the wrong way. So, I did the only logical move in this pokemon world… Beat him in battle.

"For some podunk trainer in Nowheresville, you sure have a lot of Exeggcute to assume you can walk all over me like some common trainer. So, let's stop talking the talk, and start the battle. Let's show them Zorua."

We fight in a poorly made dirt arena, likely damaged from previous battles. In the enemy field is AJ's Sandshrew. A pangolin-like pokemon, with a yellow shell protecting its body with the exception of the face and stomach. It has three sharp claws on its hands and feet. On its face is a rounded nose and two beady black eyes.

[Sandshrew ♂

Lvl.40

Potential: Gold grade

Ability: Sand Veil/ Increases evasiveness during a sandstorm

Favored Moves: Fissure, Defense Curl, Dig, Fury Swipes, Tackle]

While I could finesse my way to a hard win for more experience, there's something about steamrolling a cocky opponent that helps me sleep at night. So my strategy for this battle is overwhelming force with some tactics. "Agility to scary face, time to invade their personal space."

Powering up her own speed she flashes in front of Sandshrew, stopping him in his tracks with a face that's nightmare fuel for pokemon. "Zorua will-o-wisp! Roast him!"

Shooting three ghostly fireballs at point blank, Sandshrew's body is covered in flames and burned. This happened in the span of a few seconds, leaving AJ as stunned as his Sandshrew was. "Sandshrew! You can take it, power through it and dig!"

Sandshrew quickly burrowed into the ground, out of sight. But just because you're hiding in the earth doesn't mean you're safe. The downside of dig is that you leave tunnels that lead straight to you. "Zorua, Bitter Malice. These fools have sealed their fate."

Zorua sent a wave of ghost energy into Sandshrew's tunnel. After a few moments Sandshrew came shooting out of the hole covered in ghostly flames. He was knocked unconscious with a violent burst of black-purple flames. "Sandshrew! Nooo!"

AJ ran to his pokemon and started using an emergency potion. I won't lie, I would be scared if my pokemon was engulfed in a violent explosion of dark flames. It gives me an idea for a future invention for battling. But that's for later, I wasted enough time here. At least Zorua jumped to Lvl.36 and learned Shadow Claw.

"I won, not that it was much of a battle anyways. You should change your gym sign, don't want people to accuse you of false advertisement. The reason you lost is because you've been stuck here battling amateur trainers, don't get a big head for beating up 90 weaklings." I don't know what's been up with me lately, I've been a lot more cruel to my opponents lately. I need to leave before I say anything more.

"Grrr! You don' know nothin' about me and Sandshrew! We worked hard to get where we are. We'll show ya! Start over and get 100 wins, then we'll do the League Circuit and beat you!" Throughout his angry defense, he couldn't stop the tears that were coming. He probably spent a long time training his Sandshrew to that level.

"Tch, whatever. Come at me anytime you'll still lose." Now I sound like an emo kid with a duck butt for hair. I pick up Zorua for comfort and hold her tight, trying to ignore the negative thoughts that have started to plague my mind ever since Cerulean.

As I walk along the path I think heads towards Vermilion City I had an epiphany after thinking about it. I want people to hate me. I can't stand that I'm living my life to the fullest while my parents died to buy me time to survive. I can't stand that I'm trying to be happy when deep inside I'm honestly not.

I know the cause of my recent issues, but how do I fix it? Is it even something that can be fixed? I don't know the answers to these questions and I don't think I can find the answers I'm looking for in the span of a few days. So I'll just do what I've done for the longest time, bottle it up, put on my smile, and just keep moving one step at a time.

-The next day-

After leaving AJ's gym it was already evening so I looked for a good resting spot further along the path. Eventually I found a small clearing in the forest where I could take out my cabin. Before calling it a night I had my pokemon work on their mastery of the moves they've recently learned. For Zorua I had her work on the speed of her moves while retaining their power. For Pidgeotto I had him work on tempest slash so it wouldn't take so long to charge. And I had Milotic work on her ice beam and dragon tail, she focused on output. Overall a very productive night, everyone showed a lot of progress. Unfortunately, the surrounding forest didn't fare too well.

Today I'm making my way towards a random direction in the south, I should eventually make it. One thing I noticed is that the map of Kanto is very different from the games I played. But the major cities are the same. It makes sense though, there are other settlements beside the big cities.

On a side note, Mr. Stone sent me a response today. The sponsorship included 20 Luxury Balls, a brand new custom fit, 250k pokedollars a month, Hoenn dual citizenship, Devon scuba gear, pokemon training gear, fossil revival tech access, and a lifetime 15% discount on DevonCorp products. I think I made the right choice, I don't even have to do anything besides send some clips of training and battles to use for advertisement. When I asked why he reached out to me all the way in Kanto, he said his businessman intuition told him I'd be a worthwhile investment.

Now if that wasn't juicy enough, "my" DinoCaps was a hit! He said that this invention could revolutionize the market. He gave me 5m pokedollars, 25% of the sales, and 5% shares of DevonCorp. Some might say that this is too much, but they have to think about the bigger picture. DinoCaps can make the transfer of goods safer and easier, whether it be raw materials or houses and vehicles. Of course there's a limit in what can be stored, like you can't store a skyscraper in a DinoCap. This is still a big deal, and now I'm officially a partner in DevonCorp.

When I think about all the things I can buy in the PGQ Shop… hehehe money makes the world go round. Well enough about that, in my aimless wandering I've come across a school that seems to be for the elite. I wonder if I can find any lovely exp walking around there…