Chapter 34: Squirtle Vs Spearow

"Mmm.", Serena said, stretching out her body. Dusting her hands off a bit, she approached me. The tent could no longer be seen on the outside but in my hands. Lillie also stretched her knees, letting out an audible crack.

With a whoosh, the backpack I was carrying on me sucked in the tent. Man this thing was very convenient.

I was wondering why Trainers never had issues travelling with lots of items. From my experiences here so far, the Pokemon World's technology was quite advanced compared to my past life. Stuff that was impossible there was easily possible here. Things easily took shape of what they used to look like there too so it could easily be misinterpreted.

As my backpack appeared to be a normal looking traveling backpack. However it wasn't just that. It had spatial pockets. As long as you can store the item in a decent size to fit it, the backpack will suck it right up. And In these ten years, I was able to experience the technology growth one the leading corporations of this world, the Aether Foundation.

But with that said, our tent could no longer be seen.

"Shall we head off? Let's go see if that group of Spearow is still nearby."

"Let's go! I want to see what your Squirtle can do."

"That's Raph."

"Haha.", Serena replied with a laugh at my retort. Lillie smiled and nodded.

We had our first night in the wild, even though it is still Route 1. It was January 8th. After seeing Ho-Oh and making sure the coast was clear, we set off about ten in the morning.

We only had around three hours of walking distance between us and Viridian City. We could already see Viridian City on the horizon and if we make good time, we could have a late lunch there before we check in at the Pokemon Center.

Feeling confident, we set off once again, largely ignoring the rolling hills with cliffs off to the left side. The main path was big winding road that went all the way left then to the right, before it made its way back into the middle, leading into Viridian City.

I guess if I had one complain about this route, it was exactly that windy road. An hour into our walking, we left the rolling hills behind us and we encountered several trees. It wasn't anything massive compared to Viridian Forest though, but once we arrived, the grass started to get thicker. We've left behind the Spearow and Rattata territory. More Bellsprout appeared here but more importantly, we started to come across some Spearow.

And there was a certain bossy Spearow I was getting an itch to have a battle with. But the main question is, where the heck could I find this guy?

It is a shame, but from what I could see on the Pokedex features, there wasn't anything like the DexNav or Itemfinder functions, to where we could hunt specific Pokemon or items down. All the Pokedex did was generalize their habitat, letting us know where a Pokemon could generally be found. And these several amounts of trees before us was exactly the location of the Spearow nests.

However, I am not like Ash who would get worked over for not catching a single Pokemon, only to throw a rock at the next Pokemon they come across only for it to lash out at him in anger.

And boy did Ash choose the wrong target that time. He not only called out the leader, but the whole flock too, including several Fearow to chase him, effectively running through this whole string of trees and fleeing away on Misty's bike.

But we aren't in that situation thankfully. We could approach this area normally. As our feet shuffled through the tall grass that slowly reached past our ankles, we heard some movement in the grass.

Shake. Rustle.

"Spear?", a voice called out. In the next moment, a small figure emerged, tilting its head out and turned toward us. Spearow then flipped its wings.

"Spearow!", Spearow yelled out, taking flight. It flapped its wings strongly at us, creating a strong gust of wind. It launched right at us, causing Serena to yell out in surprise.

""Ah!"

As for Lillie, she tried to hang onto her clothes as its strong gust went past us. Before we realized it, Spearow fled.

So my first Pokemon encounter I couldn't even approach it and it fled on me, eh? Well, first as in my first encounter since my journey started. I have encountered plenty of wild Pokemon during my stay in Alola. I wouldn't get scared so easily just by this.

"Serena, Lillie, quickly we need to go after Spearow. It seems to be flying further in so we may find our target. Be mindful of your footsteps too!"

"Okay!", "Alright.", the two acknowledged, getting their bearings

We then proceeded further inside, and the trees started to get thicker. Surprisingly this was close to the main path and further beyond these trees was the opening that led to a grassy field. We couldn't see well from here but beyond that field, the main path connected to Viridian City.

Looking upward the Spearow flew fast, causing other Spearow to join it. Rustling sounds grew louder, and this led us to veer off the path a but, heading off yo the right. Before long a single tree appeared surrounded by thick grass and several other trees in a ring pattern. The several Spearow flew into the big tree and hid away from sight.

Guess that's their nest huh? This makes it perfect. I signaled Serena and Lillie to stop, which they already did seeing we've arrived here. We could feel many stares now, assuming their were many Spearow now lurking.

"Come on out, Raph. Let's gain the advantage. Flush him out with Water Gun. Aim for the top of the tree!", Giving out my first move, I toss Raphael's Pokeball.

"Squirtle!"

Squirtle came out in the air, and while still midair, Squirtle acknowledged me and gathered water energy inside his mouth. After a moment, a large rush of water escaped from Squirtle's mouth at a fast pace. It found its target, and struck the tree. It caused the tree to shake, dropping down several berries in the process.

Looks like this was a Berry Tree. I could see why Spearow would make their nest here. They could monopolize most of the berries around here by doing so. And just with that single Water Gun, woke up a rowdy bunch.

"Spear!", "Spearow!", several voices echoed around us. We could even hear a Fearow or two. The Berry Tree caused several rustle sounds while a single shadow quickly rushed out of it.

"Spearow!", the one Spearow yelled out in anger. It was quickly able to locate Squirtle. The other members of its flock held off seeing their leader take action, which I presume was in front of us now.

I didn't decide to mince words with it, since if I said anything this Spearow would just ignore me.

""Let's not waste time,. Raph, blast it again with Water Gun!"

"Squirtle!", Squirtle yelled out. Another rush of water came from his mouth at a fast pace.

Seeing this rush of water rush at it. The Spearow quickly took action.

"Spear!", Spearow yelled out, raising its wings. It started to glow white, which caused me to get surprised.

'Steel wing?', I asked to myself, though that thought was quickly dispersed. The winds suddenly got knocked up around Spearow as it yelled out again.

"Tailwind...", I uttered to myself. Serena and Lillie retreated a ways seeing the battle start to unfold. I had already entered battle so quickly, but that was the plan.

Riding the tailwind Spearow created as if it just entered aerial parkour, it was able to easily rotate and swerve around Squirtle's Water Gun. Squirtle tried its best to hit Spearow but Spearow easily made its way closer to him.

'Even though it's only been a couple moments, I'm liking this Spearow more and more. It's fast. I know it's Raph's first battle, so let's see if he can hold up to a good opponent.', I thought to myself.

'If Squirtle played it defensive here, his shell would take a pretty strong impact seeing Spearow' speed increasing.'

"Squirtle, hide in your shell and try to counter Spearow's speed with Aqua Jet!", I yelled out.

"Squirtle!", acknowledging me, Squirtle just had enough time to plop back inside his shell when he touched the ground. His shell started to spin. Gushes of water started pouring out of his shell sockets while his body hid away. It actually acted very similar to Squirtle using Hydro Pump.

But instead of the gushes of water extending further outward, Squirtle started to rotate, letting the water wrap around his shell. He became a geyser himself and shot in the air aiming right at the maneuvering Spearow. During the air his rotations stopped after the water around Squirtle was spinning fast enough.

Aqua Jet was a priority move in the games, so it often acts first before another Pokemon could move. And the same could be seen here.

Spearow actually couldn't react quickly enough and swerve away with the tailwind before Squirtle collided head on with it. Boom!

"Ooh! The attack connected!", Serena said excitedly, watching the ongoing fast paced battle.

As a result when Spearow hit its head with Raph's shell head on, it caused a loud boom to echo, knocking up a bunch of dust. Boom!

Immediately after, a shadow swiftly fell to the ground, hard. Likely as a result of two fast frictions colliding each other. I could see Raph fall down too but he was able to pop out, and land on his feet.

"Squirtle.", Squirtle said, seeing his attack connect.

As for Spearow, it regained itself before long, but some damage could be seen on its body. This obviously angered the Spearow and it yelled out, almost starting to glow red.

"Spearow!!!", Spearow yelled out in anger. I could see its body get enveloped in a fierce aura. We could hear several rustling noises all around us but the other Pokemon didn't take action.

"Don't tell me...", I uttered again. "Is Spearow using Rage!?", Seeing its body envelope in anger. Rage worked in mysterious ways and can be quite powerful if played right. Since Squirtle caused physical contact with such damage, Spearow may power up quite a bit from this.

"Raph, let's end this before Spearow can finish its next move. Use Water Gun and create a slide in front of you. Use the gliding speed to hit it with a fast Tackle!"

"Squirtle!", Raphael yelled out. A stream of water escaped from his mouth, gushing out in front. The grass got easily soaked, making it easy for Raphael to glide on it. With enough movement his speed increased, and he engaged a Tackle.

"Spear!", Spearow yelled out.

Flapping a bit, Spearow's wings actually started to glow red.

Red...?

"Red wings?", Lillie uttered in confusion.

"Raph, use another stream of Water Gun and swerve off to the side, and hit Spearow from the back!"

"Squirtle!", Squirtle yelled out, unleashing another Water gun. A new path unfolded before him. As it did, we felt the temperature rise on the air.

"Spearow!", Spearow yelled out, furiously flapping its wings. As it did, the air started to spark and suddenly ignited in flames.

Seeing this Serena's eyes turned wide in surprise as well.

"Is that Heatwave!?", Serena yelled out.

Thankfully Raphael was able to dodge the incoming fire in time. Seeing its attack miss, Spearow looked around but it was too late. Or should I say, he was too slow?

Raphael successfully used the water and propelled him forward, unleashing a nasty Tackle. Another loud boom echoed around us. Bang!

Spearow's figure was sent flying a bit. Squirtle was able to use the tailwind to help him too, and it petered out as he did. Spearow's body crashed not yo far away. I could feel many eyes on me still but I ignored them.

"Raph, do you need to use Life Dew?", I asked Raph as he firmly landed back on the ground.

"Squirt.", Squirtle replied me, denying it. He then walked back to me and waited.

"Good. You did well for your first battle. Being selected by the league sure created an good result so far.", I smiled back at him.

"Squirtle!", Squirtle happily replied.

As for Spearow, it was in pretty bad shape now. The Heatwave from earlier seemed to have caused se backfire as Squirtle hit it directly into the line of fire. Some of its feathers could be singed now, on top of its damaged body.

Spearow tried to stand up on its legs, but struggled. All of a sudden, Spearow was struck with a flash of red energy, halting its movement. Pain appeared in its eyes.

"Spearow...", Spearow called out.

Seeing this, I hesitated for a moment, before deciding to approach it. Spearow saw me approach and glared at me.

"Spear.", It said, as if it told me to not come closer to it.

I didn't, which caused it to look at me. Instead I spoke out to Spearow.

"Spearow, that was a good match. It's clear you can't continue I've seen what you can do and not many Spearow can do what you do. Your growth will be limited if you remain cooped up here. I plan to journey amongst the strongest Trainers of the world. You want to be strong, don't you?", Revealing a bit of myself to Spearow, I asked him that.

Spearow remained silent as it listened to me.

"Spearow.", Spearow answered with determination.

"Then join me. The road may be long but I can let you grow stronger. You will be among the first Pokemon I catch."

Saying that, Spearow turned quiet again as it looked at me. I saw it regain a bit of energy, only for it to struggle to stand up. Surprisingly, it turned around. I was half expecting it to fly away as I saw this but it didn't. Instead, Spearow let out a loud yell, directing its voice to the large Berry Tree.

"Spearow!", Spearow yelled out, as if it was calling out to the others.

All of the sudden, we all saw the tree shake for a while before several shadows flew upward, landing on several of its visible tree branches. Many Spearow and Fearow could be seen now, looking down at the Spearow not too far from me. I could even see a couple shiny variants among that flock, but I wouldn't want to take any chances seeing this many.

I then saw Spearow slowly turn back to me and spoke out.

"Spear.", Spearow said with determination. I did not see it back away to rejoin its flock.

Seeing this, I smiled.

"You won't regret this moment, Spearow.", I said. with a smile. Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed a Pokeball.

Thankfully Professor Oak gave me some to start my journey, just as any other trainer would receive. But once a trainer ran out, it was up to them to purchase more.

I toss my Pokeball, letting it hit Spearow. It did not resist and got sucked into it.

The Pokeball landed on the ground and started its capture.

Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle. Ding!

*

How did you guys like the battle?

Next stop, registering for the Kanto Conference!

Maybe Itsuki will meet a certain redhead tomboy along the way?

Don't forget to drop your power stones. We were able to reach 500!