Chapter 2: Friendship is Magic

(DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR NUZLOCKING, NOR DO I CLAIM TO! THIS IS MY ADVENTURE ALONE. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!)

Pokémon: 1

Deaths: 0

While travelling to Route 2, I managed to buy some potions and pokeballs from the local shop, since Route 1 provided no pokémon for me. Which is when I encountered her.

"Okay, Sarah-Jane, this is our first area to find a pokémon, so don't blow it and kill everyone."

"I make no promises..." Sarah said, ready to launch the bubbles on her back. Suddenly, there was a rustling and flapping of wings in the grass.

'Oh no... please don't let it be a fletchling..!' I thought as the pokémon dashed out of the bushes and began to swoop around us.

"Sarah! Get it!" I said as the Froakie began flinging her bubbles, only for the bird pokémon to dodge everyone of them.

"How dare you come across my domain, mortals! I shall turn you all into toads!" cawed the pidgey as she swooped down to tackle my partner.

"Too bad. Sarah-Jane's already a frog!" I remarked as the latter finally landed a bubble attack that stuck the pidgey to the ground. She wrestled around on the ground excitedly for a bit before her eyes grew wide.

"Wow! Lady, are you magic?!" the bird asked, grinning happily and looking completely different than she was before.

"What..?" I said, slightly taken aback at the pidgey's demeanor.

"Are you magic? You must be if you can understand me!" Her wings stuck slightly, but she jumped onto her feet and hopped over towards me. "I've always wanted to work for a witch; I'm a familiar in training. All the stupid Purrloins and Glameows always get to be familiars. Even the Murkrows laugh at me. But I'll work really hard. I'm really good at brewing berries and stuff."

"Well... what can I say to that? Welcome aboard, Kiki..." I said as I tapped the pokeball to her head.

Pokémon: Kiki

Ability: Keen Eye

Nature: Bold, Quick Tempered

"Wow! You caught a pokémon already?!" exclaimed a familiar voice belonging to Shauna. Her and the others were gathered around in the grasslands ahead trying to capture pokémon, Shauna trying to chase after a terrified and catch it in her arms and Trevor and Tierno looking under bushes. "You're amazing, Li'l A! Guess you won't need Calem's help then. Both of his parents are really awesome trainers, so he's teaching me how to catch pokémon."

"Oh really? You're parents were trainers?"

"...Yeah. My mom worked with pokémon contests and my dad used to be the leader of a pokémon gym in Hoenn. But whatever, they've got nothing to do with me. I learned how to do this with my own skill."

Hmmm... I can respect that. He wants to make his own mark, not by the merits of his heritage.

His Chespin tackled a Fletchling before he threw a pokéball at it.

"The key is to weaken it and then strike. Sometimes you need more higher grade pokeball to catch some of the tougher opponents, but usually a more successful catch is if you manage to hit the power point on the pokémon. That's where all their energy is stored. To manage to hit that spot sometimes takes years of practice to locate and hit correctly, but if you manage it, you can capture a pokémon in one shot rather than waiting for the pokeball to settle."

"Wow, Calem, you know so much." Shauna awed, staring at the pokeball in his hand. "So there's really a pokémon INSIDE the pokeball?!"

"Of course there is, Shauna. Your Fennekin is inside its pokeball too..." Calem frowned, a little worried about the brunette's ability to remember. "Anyways, I'll give you two some pokeballs. My parents, for some reason, thought that I was going to need fifty something pokeballs and gave me extras."

"Thanks..." I said, adding them to my stockpile before Shauna clasped her fists.

"Okay! I'm going to catch tons of cute pokémon now!"

I grinned as he went on ahead as Shauna began rustling around in a patch further south. After walking towards the Santalune Forest, a wild Zigzagoon jumped out.

"Okay Kiki, it's level crunching time!" I said as the bird sent a flying tackle at the zigzagoon. It growled, not appreciative of the hit and sent another tackle in Kiki's direction.

"Kiki! Are you okay?!" I yelped, the tackle doing much more damage to her than her to it. I went out and grabbed the bird pokémon before I turned to my other companion.

"Sarah-Jane, finish him off!" The raining speed of her slamming the opponent with bubbles, it was over in seconds. After the battle, I began to spray one of the potions I had on Kiki's wing.

"Wow, Alice, you really are magic... How did you brew these magic potions?" the pidgey asked, examining her healing wounds in wonder.

"She didn't brew them, you idiot; they're not even magic! She bought them from a store. They're medicine for pokémon." Sarah-Jane remarked crossing her arms, causing the newly healed pidgey to jump up angrily.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot! I was just curious how they worked-" she flapped before another wild zigzagoon blindsided her in the side.

"...Here, let me heal you again." I said, giving Kiki another potion as Sarah-Jane pounded the raccoon into submission.

"Says the weak pidgey who keeps needing potions to heal her..." Sarah-Jane smirked, sniffing slightly as Kiki struggled to lift herself up.

"I freakin' hate zigzagoons..." Kiki growled as I finished off the rest of the potion's contents.

...

After some more level crunching and some pidgey versus pidgey battles, we arrived in front of the Santalune forest.

"When two trainers' eyes meet, a battle begins..." said a youngster trainer, stopping us from entering the woods. "Go, Zigzagoon!"

As I was about to send out my froakie, a red flash from Kiki's pokeball illuminated the battlefield, a shadow casting over her eyes. She tilted her head towards Sarah-Jane before were she stared back at the brown and white raccoon.

"Back off, Sarah-Jane. This one's all mine..." she growled, her glare as fearsome as a Spearow's as she struck him with a critical hit, causing the raccoon to serpentine in fear.

"Get back here, you stupid badger! If I was a Pidgeot, I'd eat you for freakin' breakfast and use your tail in one of my potions!" Kiki yelled as she tackled the poor zigzagoon, knocking him back against a tree.

"My zigzagoon...!" the youngster trainer cried as he picked up the broke pokémon and ran back towards Aquacorde Town. "You heartless monster!"

"Sorry!" I called out apologetically as the child sobbed, the pidgey still looking proud of herself.

...

"So this is the Santalune Forest..." I observed, enjoying the calm scenery. "It's kinda of quiet and peaceful in he-"

"ALICE!" yelled an obnoxiously familiar voice.

I shoulda seen that one coming...

"Wait up! Let's walk together!" Shauna said cheerfully.

"Uh... why?"

"Because, I'm sure something MAGICAL will happen if I stick with you!" she replied, her eyes having an almost insane amount of sparkly luster in them.

"Okaaaaay... And why do you expect something, dare I say, 'magical' to happen just because you're walking with me?"

"Because we're friends, silly!" She beamed.

"...So, if something magical happens because you're friends, does that mean that friendship is m-?" Kiki began.

"DON'T EVEN SAY IT." I glared, cutting off the clueless bird pokémon. Last thing I need is my own pokémon making My Little Ponyta references.

"You can't deny that we're friends! I already tattoo'd your name on my back." Shauna said showing the name Alice in black cursive on her lower back.

When did she-!? How did she-!? Why did it HAVE to be a tramp stamp!? I gaped in a blind realization. Suddenly Tierno didn't seem so creepy anymore...

Well... at least she's good for something: a healer, like all the other useless gaming women. I thought, grimacing as she happily chased around and cornered a Pikachu, only to get shocked and still continue after it like nothing happened. But I'm starting to question if it's really worth it...

After a couple of trainer battles, found items, and Shauna kisses/healing later...

"La La La Laaa Laaaaaa, La La La Laaa Laaaaa, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" sang Shauna at the top of her lungs.

If she sings My Little Ponyta ONE more time, I swear to god, I'm going to murder her and make it look like a bad training accident! I need to find a way to ditch this psychopath before she kills me with her needy-ness or her vocal cords!

"EEWWWWWWWWW! ALICE, SAVE ME! IT'S A WEEEEEDLE!" Shauna screeched, hiding behind me as the little worm inched its way out of the grass.

"What the-? Shauna, it's just a little bug. It's not going to hurt you." I said, rolling my eyes in irritation.

"Nooooooooooooooo! That thing is ugly AND GROSS!" she cried, squeamishly holding onto my arm tighter as if the ugliness would go away.

"...I'm gonna catch it." I smirked as I sent out my pokémon. The weedle noticed its opponent and shot string shot at it before

"What?! Why would you ever catch such a thing?!" Shauna asked distressed and slightly disgusted that I would ever catch such a thing.

"Two reasons. One, you hate the thing. Two... Beedrill are badass!" I smirked. "Now, Sarah-Jane, use pound!"

The ninja froakie sent the weedle flying into the ground, but not before it suspended its fall with string shot.

"Go, pokeball!" I threw the red and white orb at the bug before it was enveloped in a white flash, rocking a couple times before it clicked shut. "Sweet! I caught him."

"Ah ha ha... Okay. You've had your fun. Now release him before someone gets hurt." Shauna laughed awkwardly before she hid further behind my arm again, even though the weedle was inside the pokeball.

"What? Why would I do that? Besides, he's not hurting anybody being here."

"...You're not seriously going to keep him, are you?" she deadpanned.

"Why not? He looks like he could become a potential powerhouse."

"But he's so ugly! I hate ugly things!" Shauna recoiled. "...If you're keeping him, I am leaving right now."

It was then that I put on my most serious face and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Shauna... he's staying. End of story."

"...Well fine! Guess you don't need my help getting through this forest. So much for your friendship..." she sniffed, angrily swinging her fists back before she pouted and took off into the forest.

"Don't let the forest floor hit you on the way out!" I called out irritably before I sent out the little weedle. Safety, thy name is Weedle!

"Yay! FOOD!" Kiki exclaimed as she hungrily dove for the cringing bug type.

"NO, KIKI! We don't eat teammates!" I cried out, stopping the bird in midflight with my arm.

"Awww..." the pidgey whined before she fluttered back down onto the ground.

"It's okay, little guy. You can come out." I said, trying to goad the little critter out from hiding.

"I w-wasn't scared! I-I could've taken you on!" said the weedle, stretching his body so that he could be taller and puff out his invisible chest. "I've been training here for forever with all the other bug pokémon and no one holds a candle towards me."

"Or the damage you cause." Sarah-Jane, noting the damage his fight had caused, strings of bug goop hanging off a dented tree branch.

"That's because I love to fight. It's in my blood, I'm telling you! I was born to be a fighter!"

"Huh... I like the little sprout's spunk." Sarah Jane remarked, grinning at the weedle's confidence.

"Hmm... well, welcome to the team, Ralph." I grinned as I held out my hand, the weedle crawling up my arm and onto my shoulder.

Pokémon: Ralph

Ability: Swarm

Nature: Careful, Loves to Fight

After wandering the forest floor, a rustling yellow pokémon popped out of the grass.

"Oh my god, it's a Pikachu!" I exclaimed happily before my grin started to fade. "Oh my god... it's a Pikachu!"

Pikachu were not only extremely fast, but thundershock was the first move they could learn, and all I had on my team were types that were susceptible to electricity! And this one... was MALE, and he had seen us.

'I could let SJ take one hit, but she'd be too weak to stay in battle to last another one, no matter how many times I could heal her, and just sending out Kiki while I healed her...? It would finish her off in a heartbeat!'

"Alice, put me in!" Ralph said, poking his stinger at my head to get my attention.

Oh right! I now had Ralph! But... he was a level 2 when I got him. He may not be strong enough to fight off a Pikachu.

"Are you sure, Ralph? You haven't trained all that much."

"I've got this one, boss." Ralph said as he jumped into battle and puffed out his chest. "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

The Pikachu began its first attack, trying to launch a thundershock attack, but barely missing him. Ralph then countered with a string shot attack that started to slow the Pikachu down, but couldn't keep it at bay forever.

"Ralph, use Poison Sting attack!" I commanded, raining poison darts onto the electric mouse pokémon, but the pokémon was still moving. He countered with another thundershock, this time hitting his target, but not hitting Ralph hard enough as he fired back with another Poison sting, landing a critical hit and poisoning him.

"You've got him, Ralph!" I cheered. "Now finish him off with one last Poison Sting!"

Ralph spat out more stingers from his horn before I healed him the next round, the Pikachu deciding to use Play Nice, instead of thundershock, to lower Ralph's attack. But it was already too late. The poison finally set in and made the iconic mouse fall over in exhaustion.

"Nice going, Ralph! You showed that rat who's boss!" Kiki cheered.

"You did good, kid." Sarah-Jane nodded at the little weedle, who was beaming so proudly he looked like he was shining. Actually... he WAS shining! Ralph was evolving!

Ralph began to be encased by a white light, the metamorphosis already taking place before the white light left his body, revealing him to be... exactly the same!

"I'll evolve a little bit later... Right now, I want to leave this forest and train with you guys."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I grinned, suddenly noticing that someone with ginger hair was crouched down in the grass in front of me.

"Hey! It's Trevor!" I smiled before I noticed the chubby kid next to him. "And... Tierno."

A loud brunette was barking at another trainer near the tall grass.

"-And Shauna, as well." Sarah-Jane said as the she-devil started talking with Calem. "Looks like she found Calem, all right."

Damn... I thought she got lost in the woods...

"The way pokemon move... it's just incredible! I want to show off some of that spirit when I dance!

"Tierno, Could you think about something besides hitting on girls or how pokemon move for once?"

"Don't throw off my groove, Trevs. I'm in the zone!" Tierno said, dancing and spinning into the grass like a top.

"Well, I'm off to go collect data. The professor did ask us to complete the pokedex, after all. And further more, different pokémon prefer living in different places. To put it another way, it's a chance to find different pokémon than the ones in the forest." Trevor said before he started wandering off ahead.

"I'll bet different pokémon will use different moves. I sure want to see lots of moves~" Tierno grinned at me before Sarah-Jane punched him in the stomach.

"What are you gonna do, Calem?" Shauna asked, Tierno clutching his stomach in pain.

"I'm going to go to Santalune city's gym and take on the gym leader. I want to test my strength against the gym leader there."

"Which gym leader's in Santalune City, again?" I asked, still trying to recall my knowledge from training school.

"Viola. She's a bug type user, so I'm training as much as I can to take her on."

"But who's going to teach me more about pokémon?" Shauna whined before Calem slapped a large stack of paper in her hands and shoved it into her chest.

"There! That's all the adventure rules you need to know in order to become a pokémon trainer. If that doesn't teach you how to become a trainer, I don't know what will." Calem sighed before he turned towards the dirt path. "Well, see you guys later."

"...So Alice, you wanna practice some moves-?" Tierno began.

"No!" I yelled, holding out my hand to stop him. Alice used Run Away.

...

"Oh thank GOD, I got away from those freaks..." I huffed before I accidental stepped on something squishy.

"Ow-!" yelped a small voice. "Got away from who, ma'am?" I looked down to see a small Azurill curling his tail around his body, trying to lick the bump away.

"Oh! Sorry if I stepped on you." I apologized.

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm just glad you didn't step on the flowers." he said in relief, bounding towards the patch to my left before jumping off his tail to water them with his water gun.

"You're the one who's been caring for all the flowers here?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise, hardly believing that one little pokémon could care for this huge field of flowers.

"Well... I can hardly claim complete credit for all of these; I just watered 'em a little. You should see the flowers the Flabébé take care of on Route 4." "But it's not just the flowers I care for. It's the grass and trees and even some of the pokémon around here."

"Wow... you're a regular pokémon ranger, aren't you?"

"I wish I could be as great as a pokemon ranger. I envy all the work that they do with their human partners. They help so many people and pokémon, they must have wicked amounts of good karma."

"Karma?"

"You remember the story? Of how pokémon and humans were once like two peas in a pod? Well, my momma told me that if a pokémon does enough good deeds, when they die, they're reincarnated into a human. Karma can be good or bad, but once it's tallied up, it will determine what you will be in the next life."

"Wow... that's a really positive mindset..." I blinked. "I didn't even know pokemon had their own religion..."

"Of course we do. You think you humans are the only ones that believe in a higher power? No siree, ma'am. We critters come from all different walks of life have different ways of thinkin', just like ya'll do."

"I like to believe that if you give a little, good things happen to you. So that's why I care for all of these flowers, but I can only do so much for someone my age."

"So brings ya'll here? Are you a Pokémon Ranger?" he asked. I shook my head. "...a trainer then, perhaps?"

"Yes. There, you would be right."

"Do ya mind if I come along with 'cha? I've done about all I can here, and I can't quite explain it, but something tells me that going with you is the best decision right now."

"I'd be happy to have you. Always good to have a Fairy type on the team. What's your name?"

"Oh! Pardon me for my manners..." the Azurill bowed its head like a hat tip. "...My name is Rick."

"You're a polite little pokémon, aren't cha?" Kiki grinned, moving a little too close to Rick's face for comfort.

"J-Just the way I've been taught, ma'am." he stuttered, leaning backwards a bit on his tail.

"Huh... Ranger Rick. I like it. Welcome aboard, Rick." I grinned thoughtfully, patting the top of his squishy blue head.

Pokémon: Rick

Ability: Huge Power

Nature: Gentle, Capable of Taking Hits

"Before I go, mind if I ask what y'all were running from?" he turned his head up at me. "If it was a wild pokémon, would you not battle them?"

"Trust me, honey. It wasn't the wild pokémon we couldn't deal with." Sarah-Jane said, crossing her arms.

"Then wha-?"

"Just some crazies I'd rather forget." I interrupted before I splashed my face with stream water and smacking my cheeks. "Alright... Santalune City, here we come!"