Pokemon Go Adventures

Season 1: Kanto Region

Prologue

[Candidate #17, Kanto Route 22 — GO Challenge Day 10]

Summer was still in its prime, and the path beside Victory Road was brutally hot.

The instant Blanche opened her mouth to issue a command, her opponent's pokemon flicked his ears towards her in nervous anticipation. He had a tiny horn and was a runt compared to the average male nidoran, yet his poison had been surprisingly potent—a sure sign that he was close to evolving. She scowled down at the scrappy little pokemon, then turned a thoroughly disappointed frown toward her own violently trembling pidgey.

The impromptu battle had barely begun and she was already losing badly. Blanche bit her bottom lip hard, frustrated that she'd underestimated her opponent so severely, like some ten year old rookie. Perhaps a Spearow would have been a more practical catch for the short term, but Pidgey has that promising third stage evolution. I mustn't be too harsh, he has potential for greatness.

Far from pleased with his performance, Blanche said nothing as she recalled Pidgey. With her fist still clenched around his pokeball, she glanced up to meet the satisfied smirk of the trainer across the clearing. Judging by her sudden demand for a battle, it seemed likely that she was also a competitor for the "Pokemon Global Organization Challenge," casually known by most candidates as the "Pokemon GO Challenge."

As she took a moment to collect her thoughts, Blanche scanned her opponent for weaknesses. The trainer was deeply tan and a bit taller than Blanche, with short brown hair, a vibrant smile, and catlike amber eyes; her posture was confident and composed, as if she was always ready for anything. Based on the color scheme of her outfit, her personality, and her absurdly strong pokemon, she was obviously aiming for a spot in Team Valor.

Since the first day of the competition, Blanche had yet to meet another Mystic hopeful in her own age group, which meant that she was either significantly ahead or woefully behind her real competition. She exhaled slowly and returned Pidgey's pokeball to her belt; strategizing in the middle of battle was not her strong point whatsoever. Initially, her plan was to feel out the strength of the enemy trainer before showing her own hand, but it seemed this was one who liked to go all out from the very beginning. Her pidgey—a recent catch with little training—was severely outmatched, and had only had time to use one weak move before a single Poison Sting completely crippled it.

"Not that I'm in a hurry, but I hope you come up with a killer strategy soon." The Valor hopeful's smile was friendly, her tone relaxed, her arms crossed over her chest—to Blanche, it was definitely mocking. The nidoran pawed the ground, eagerly mimicking his trainer's natural confidence. "We seriously hate easy battles."

Strong pokemon, smug attitude, and a perpetually cocky expression. She'll go far in Valor. Committing the girl's appearance to memory in case they met again later, Blanche bit the inside of her cheek to keep any rude witticisms from leaving her mouth. It wouldn't do to get riled up, and misrepresent the team she aspired to join.

"Indeed," Blanche replied, her tone clipped. Seconds relentlessly ticked by, but she was still hesitant about her next choice. She fingered one of the pokeballs on her belt, unsure of who to send out next. "I won't repeat my earlier mistake."

Squirtle would be more than a match for this nidoran, and he may even evolve upon victory. But could she risk the blow to his confidence should he lose? No, not when I'm about to challenge Pewter's gym. Finally, Blanche shook her head in an attempt to banish the hesitation from her thoughts, and unclipped a pokeball.

"Your turn, Nidoran." My female nidoran is weaker in level, but her typing and bulk should mitigate that ridiculously strong poison attack well enough. "Let's see what you've learned."

"C'mon Spike, show that cutie what we practiced!" His trainer punched the sky. Immediately, the male nidoran reared up on his stubby back legs, chirped harmlessly, then jabbed upwards as best he could with his front feet. "Focus Energy!"

Blanche stared blankly for a moment, cautiously waiting to see what the move would do, then raised a curious eyebrow. When nothing at all seemed to happen (aside from the nidoran mimicking part of his trainer's exercise routine) she allowed herself a slight smirk of her own.

"Looks like it failed. My turn, then." Bright green eyes narrowed at her target. "Double kick, now!"

With a fiercely determined expression, Nidoran obediently sprinted forward, her back legs kicking up tiny clouds of dust. Blanche analyzed her every move. They'd practiced this together dozens of times: just before she would have tackled him bodily, Nidoran twisted around and landed two solid, simultaneous kicks on the enemy. The male staggered backwards, moderately damaged, and Blanche shouted some mildly enthusiastic praise.

"Excellent work!" The female simply held her head high, gracefully poised, and prepared for the next set of instructions. Blanche smiled proudly. "Now, while he's recovering—"

"We aren't finished just yet!" The other trainer was grinning even more widely than before. She posed dramatically, one hand on her hip, the other pointing down at Blanche's pokemon. "Spike, let's demonstrate a real Double Kick."

"That won't do much damage," Blanche muttered quietly, watching intently as the male bolted energetically towards her own partner, who also watched it warily. "According to the Pokedex, females have much higher defensive statistics."

Blanche's mouth dropped open as Nidoran was thrown into the nearby pond with a small splash. She'd fainted instantly. Shoulders drooping slightly, Blanche stepped forward into into the water and gathered the unconscious pokemon in her arms.

"You did well," she said, sinking to her knees in a patch of short grass. Cradling her nidoran carefully, she looked up to see a serious expression on her opponent's face. "I concede."

"See Spike!? I knew you could do it!" The enemy nidoran hopped about excitedly, practically blushing at the generic praise. The trainer turned to her with a lopsided grin. "One day of training and he's already fitting in with the rest of the group."

Once Nidoran was safely stored away, Blanche leveled a suspicious glare at her opponent. She was approaching where Blanche was still knelt in the dirt.

"You are surprisingly competent." Blanche allowed a wry smile to cross her face, and took the hand that was offered with a small shrug. "I underestimated you."

"'Every loss is a lesson' and all that jazz." The other trainer pulled her to her feet and gripped her hand with surprising strength, smiling genuinely. "I'm Candela, by the way."

"Blanche." She studied the other girl again, this time with less pride coloring her perspective. She was standing across from her, still tightly grasping her hand. Blanche reached into her pocket to give the other trainer her winnings. As she began to compliment how well trained Candela's "Spike" was, a sudden crash behind her made her spin around.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Candela had already pushed past Blanche to help the young man—a blonde teen around their age who seemed to have just had a serious cycling accident on the path beside them—to his feet. "That looks pretty bad."

"Nah, I'm fine," he said, brushing off the knees of his pants and shaking out his wrists. After rummaging through his backpack for a moment, he rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "I got bored biking back and forth from here to Cerulean trying to hatch some eggs, so I was trying out some SICK TRICKS to spice the trip up a bit, and then I saw you guys—did you just have a battle?"

"Indeed," Blanche said dryly. "If you can call it that."

"That's awesome, can I fight whoever won?" He was beaming with innocent excitement.

"That'd be me." Candela immediately took a serious battle stance—the fire in her eyes looked dangerous. Blanche took a step back. "My name's Candela, you look like you'd put up an interesting fight. Three pokemon each okay?"

"Sweet, I just bought this amazing Pokemon from a guy for like five bucks." Candela was halfway through an 'eh, never mind then' when the newcomer dramatically threw a pokeball towards the shallow pond. "I'm Spark, and this is VICIOUS KILLER! Show me what ya got!"

A strange orange fish flopped into the pond with a weak splish. It seemed to be struggling just to breathe.

Blanche stared in amazement. Candela's determination faltered for a moment before she burst into laughter.

"No offense, but I think you got ripped off," Candela managed between snickers. "I forfeit. Can't possibly win against something like that."

"Call an Officer Jenny," Blanche added, nodding seriously. "This kind of fraud can probably be penalized with steep fines."

"Pfft, he's already getting stronger!" Spark recalled his weird fish with a grin and casual shrug. "By the way, I think some of my eggs are close to hatching. Either of you guys want one?"