Pokemon From Afar 3

Once Magnus and his new partner Rookidee left the boundaries of the town, they were met with a green forested expanse that was route one. Now that he wasn't legging it at full speed, Magnus finally had the chance to properly take in his surroundings.

Route 1 is one of the safest outland areas in Unova thanks to the calm collection of pokemon that inhabit it. The area's very popular with newbie trainers because of this, on good days such as today, there's normally a substantial amount of trainers hacking their way up and down the path, fishing by the cove and even travelling deeper into its pokemon filled woodland.

Back when he ran through it, he did manage to catch sight of some of the easy going pokemon that hung around near the path, but because of time constraints he wasn't able to enjoy any of their meetings. The most he gave to the wild pokemon was a quick wave or greeting before speeding past them.

Now though, with time on his side, Magnus was eager to make the most of his travel up to Striaton city where he'd tackle his first gym.

While Magus was watching the surroundings for any of the local wildlife, Rookidee was doing the same but with a lot more zest. If he wasn't perched on his trainer's shoulder, he was soaring into the sky excitedly, beating his small wings to keep him airborne as he revelled in his time spent away from the lab.

Living at Juniper's lab for a few months was by no means a bad experience, in fact most pokemon would jump at the chance to do the same. All Rookidee's needs were accounted for and he was kept fit and healthy which is better than you can say for many pokemon roughing it in the wilds.

But if there's one thing that wild pokemon have more, it's freedom. Only being able to fly around in the vicinity around the lab irked Rookidee to no extent. Which was why he was ecstatic to be on the move again.

While walking up the path, the two had a few encounters with the route's wildlife. A small group of Patrat peeked at them though a plethora of foliage, but scurried off once Rookidee flew towards them so they just left the group be.

A Herdier shot across the path not long after, it never stuck around though, once it saw Magnus it froze up like a deerling in headlights, but not long enough to confront it in battle. The Pokemon clearly wasn't eager to be caught, as soon it got out of its stupor the Herdier raced off into the dense sea of trees.

"Not having much luck today are we?" Magnus sighed as Rookidee landed on him while tweeting in agreement.

Scratching his pokemons chin he said "Bet you're desperate for a chance to show off your skills"

"Rook!" the bird replied while beating his wings.

A few hundred metres down the road, the large bush they were passing by began to loudly rustle as if something was preparing to burst out.

"Rookidee get ready" he said to his pokemon as they both prepared for what was coming.

Somewhat anticlimactically, instead of a pokemon busting out it was a trainer, followed shortly after by a Watchog that seemed to be his own. The trainer was probably a year or two older than Magnus, he was wearing all green and seemed to blend in with the surroundings, the only thing on him that wasn't green was his messy brown hair that had a few leaves stuck in it, probably from the bush.

"Hey man! Sorry if I scared you, me and Watchog got a little lost while exploring" he explained as Watchog just shook it's head as if stuff like this happens all the time.

"I was just heading back to Nuvema Town to get my team healed, but since you're here how about a quick battle with Watchog here" he offered.

Meeting eyes with his pokemon for a second he replied "Sure, one on one match right?"

"That's right, follow me through for a bit, there's an open area not too far from here perfect for battling" He said while smiling

Magnus nodded and followed him into the forest, careful not to trip over and roots they arrived at a clearing not too far from the path. The tree surrounded a patch of healthy green grass with a couple of flowers mixed in that looked up to the sky.

Standing at opposite ends of the clearing the man named Mark shouted out "You ready!?" as Watchog stood out ahead of him.

"I'm ready!" Magnus shouted back, "Let's go Rookidee, show me what you can do"

Rookidee gliding off his shoulder and landing on the ground signified the start of the match. The emotions that Magnus was feeling were indescribable, it was his first real pokemon battle. Sure he's had mock one's before with temporary pokemon but that's totally different, they were always in a controlled environment with someone supervising.

Now it was the real deal. His own pokemon. His own opponent. His own skills.

"Rookidee Hone Claws then get in the air!"

Scraping his talons together they glow a shining silver for a brief moment before fading back to grey, as soon as Rookidee finished the move it used its unassumingly powerful legs to launch itself into the air.

"Watchog use Confuse Ray!"

Taking aim at its opponent, the Watchog shot a thin beam of ghostly energy. It flew through the air but wasn't fast enough to cause trouble for Rookidee who easily avoided the ghost type attack.

"Close in and use Fury Attack" Magnus ordered.

At the same time Mark shouted "When it gets close use Crunch!"

Listening to his trainers commands, the little bird plunged at Watchog with his talon's poised to attack. The Watchog was bigger, but much slower and had no chance at stopping the relentless assault.

Unimpeded, Rookidee managed to get a few solid hits in, he was just too nimble to be caught by Watchogs crunch.

Seeing his Pokemon being out manoeuvred, Mark racked his brain to come up with a counter. Every second he never did anything, his Watchog would become more injured.

Luckily before Watchog could faint he cried out desperately "Watchog blind it with Sand Attack!"

Magnus wasn't an idiot though, once he head Mark's order he called out to Rookidee "Stop and fly up!, don't let yourself be hit"

Just as Watchog used its tail to slap the group and bring up a cloud of sand and dust, Rookidee pulled out of his attack and flew out of the clouds' reach.

"Hit it with tackle Watchog!"

Magnus couldn't see Watchog thanks to the dust cloud so he yelled "Watch for it jumping out, when it does use peck!"

Rookidee's beady eyes constantly flickered around, searching for any movement underneath. Catching a glimpse of Watchogs brightly coloured vest, Rookidee prepared a peck for its now wasted surprise attack.

Watchog emerged from the cloud, it's strong tail was used to quickly propel itself at Rookidee in hopes Tackle would connect.

This was it's big mistake, Jumping so high into the air left it immobile, the complete opposite of Rookidee - a flying type - who easily used its flight to dodge the tackle and strike Watchog's exposed side with a peck.

When Magnus saw Watchog hurtling back down to the ground he yelled "Use Hone claws again and finish it with Power Trip!"

Badly failing to do an intimidating screech, Rookidee plunged after Watchog as his Beak and talons turned a malevolent black that gave off a dangerous vibe to both person and pokemon.

"Dodge it Watchog!" Mark cried desperately wishing that his pokemon could avoid taking anymore damage.

Sadly for Mark, it wasn't to be. Once Watchog impacted on the ground there was barely any time for it to move before the Rookidee smashed into its chest.

After the hit Rookidee flew away, revealing the KO'd Watchog lying in a small crater. Seeing that his pokemon fainted, Mark was quick to return it after saying a few words of comfort and then reaching into his bag for something else.

"Great job Rookidee. You showed him who's boss" Magnus praised the tiny bird that landed on his shoulder.

Throwing his bag back over his shoulder Mark walked over and said "Awesome battle bro, that flying type of yours is some fighter. Anyway here's your winnings" he gave Magnus a small bundle of 326 poke.

Getting his winnings was a bizarre experience for Magnus, this much money was what he'd normally earn in a week at this old job, and now all he had to do was win a quick battle to earn the same amount.

"Hope we can have another battle if we meet again." Mark said as he began to head towards Nuvema town.

With his first win under his belt and a heavier wallet, Magnus picked the pace up. Not too far up from here was the cove that sat in the centre of route 1, home to the resident water types. Curious to see what kind of pokemon were there he made quick word of the remaining distance.