The battle against Misty started at three in the afternoon. I walked out of the gym at four-thirty feeling like a squeezed lemon. Stress and tension had taken their toll.
Bran with Poliwhirl and Lilly with Bulbasaur were already waiting for me outside the gym.
"Congratulations, Patrik!" Bran called out, not forgetting to give me a wink. "It was a great match."
"Congratulations," Lilly added with a smile. "Shall we go celebrate?"
"Thanks," I returned her smile, but shook my head. "I need to take Houndoom and Wartortle to the center."
I released Haunter from the Pokéball on my necklace, followed by Abra, whom I hoisted onto my shoulders behind my neck. She immediately snuggled against me with her entire body, placing her paws on my chest.
"We won the match," I announced to them as well.
"Haunt," Haunter nodded, as if the outcome had been obvious from the start.
Instead of an answer, Abra simply stroked my neck with her right hand.
"Haunter, please hide in the shadows. I don't want to get fined," I spoke directly to him, then turned to the others. "Let's head to the Pokémon Center."
I started walking toward our Pokémon Center, and the others followed.
"We could go for a beer later," Bran chimed in, picking up on Lilly's suggestion.
"I don't really feel like drinking alcohol," I declined. "This battle showed me that I don't have time to slack off. We need to get stronger, as soon as possible. So if anything, I'll just have sparkling water tonight."
"What do you mean?" Bran asked. "How did it show you that you need to get stronger? You won completely without an issue... with two Pokémon, and Houndoom was a bad first pick. He was at a disadvantage."
"Some things never change," Lilly shrugged with a smirk. "Even back at the orphanage, he was like that—either a total victory, or nothing... And since both Wartortle and Houndoom were injured and need healing, he probably views it as a failure."
"My dear friends," I shook my head. "That was a match against Misty, who was extremely restricted in her power and Pokémon training. Besides, those Pokémon weren't even part of her main team—they belonged to the gym. I don't want to be just an ordinary trainer. I want to defeat trainers at their absolute best... and for that, I need a seriously strong team."
"Well, that's going to take you years," Bran stated.
"If I spend my time getting wasted and ignoring proper training, then definitely," I nodded with a smile. "But I have several advantages that allow us to get stronger much faster."
"Oh yeah? What are they?" Lilly asked curiously.
"Bulba?" her Grass-type Pokémon chimed in.
"First of all, I'm still practically at the beginning of my journey. I have six Pokémon with high potential, most of them abnormally large and aurically powerful. So I can train my final team right from the start." I paused for a moment. "Statistically, I'm at the absolute top in win-loss ratio, and my Pokémon are still growing very quickly. Our training is thoroughly planned, and every single hour of practice—whether physical or auric—yields improvement. And finally, there's the most important reason of all."
I paused for effect.
Bran, Poliwhirl, Lilly, and Bulbasaur were looking at me almost breathlessly. With a satisfied smirk, I finished:
"We want to be the strongest."
"Seriously?" Lilly asked dryly.
"Completely serious. I want to be the strongest, and in our world, the grind is the most important thing," I shrugged, grinning cheerfully.
"Patrik's got sunstroke," Bran said.
"A serious case of sunstroke," Lilly joined in with a smile.
"Bulba!"
"Anyway, what about you, Lilly? Do you want to stay here and try to win a badge? Or shall we keep moving, and you can come back here later?" I asked curiously. "Once Abra evolves, I know she'll be strong enough to teleport you whenever needed."
My little Abra stroked my neck again. She was clearly pleased by my faith in her abilities.
"Well, I know I couldn't manage it right now..." Lilly began. "Even though Bulbasaur, as a Grass-type, is great against Water-types, I'm sure that Starmie you defeated knows Ice-type moves too. He's close to evolving, but I don't want to risk him unnecessarily. And Slowpoke is still barely trained... So if anything, I'd rather keep going with you, build up my team, and maybe come back later."
"In that case, I'd restock our supplies, buy a few other necessary things, and head out... tomorrow or the day after. What do you say?" I asked them both.
"Works for me," Bran nodded. "I've seen everything I wanted to see, except for Cerulean Cave, which is a shame."
He tried to convince me to go there, but even though there might have been interesting and powerful Pokémon inside... I respected caves enough to stay away from them. It was far too easy for a Pokémon to disturb the rocks, bring down part of the ceiling, or cause a tunnel collapse. And frankly, I definitely didn't want to go in just for the view. Maybe one day, if we get significantly stronger.
"All right, so count on leaving tomorrow morning, okay?"
They both nodded, so I continued:
"I'll drop off Wartortle and Houndoom and go shopping. I need new weapons, grooming gear, and then supplies. Anyone want to tag along?"
"I'll go with you," Lilly announced.
"Not me. I'm going to call my girlfriend and then head straight to get supplies," Bran shook his head. "See you guys at dinner then?"
"Sure, sounds good," I nodded.
We were just walking into the Pokémon Center, so while Lilly headed to the reception counter with me, Bran waved goodbye and went upstairs to the rooms.
I was glad I didn't have to wait at all and got served right away. I pulled out two Pokéballs and placed them on the counter.
"Hello, I'd like to have Wartortle and Houndoom checked and healed after a battle with Misty," I said with a smile, handing her my ID at the same time.
"Hello, congratulations on the win!" she returned the smile, quickly scanned the card, took the Pokéballs off the reception counter, and placed them underneath.
She typed on her keyboard for a moment and then nodded with satisfaction.
"We'll heal your Pokémon. The scanner showed no serious or internal injuries, so the treatment should go smoothly. Within a few hours, you'll receive a notification that they are ready for pickup." She worked on the computer for a little longer, then nodded to herself and turned back to me. "You also have your Pokédex linked in our system, so you'll receive the notification directly there."
"Awesome, thank you very much." I gave her a smile. "See you later."
Lilly and I headed out, heading straight downtown to do some shopping.
Since Bran wasn't with us, I could also address Lilly's gear issue right away. When we were by the sea, she didn't have a tent, so she slept in mine with me. Totally innocently, of course.
I'd noticed she was missing a lot of basic equipment too. Which I naturally understood after that unfortunate accident.
Slowly, day by day, she was replacing some of the essential things she lacked.
During the previous week, Lilly and I had spent most of our time battling other trainers. She'd won more matches than she lost, so while she made some money, she still had a lot of catching up to do.
It helped that Bulbasaur was a real fighter, and despite her handicap, Lilly was still an exceptionally attractive woman. So... some trainers were practically throwing money at her.
It seemed to me that a few of them even had a weird thing for a one-armed woman, but honestly, I didn't care.
Anyway, back to the point. She still didn't have a tent—not that she needed one in the city. She was still missing a few camping basics, and though she'd bought herself one extra set of clothes, she was still living hand-to-mouth, spending whatever she earned immediately on necessities.
Plus, I'd just received eight thousand Poké Dollars from Misty, bringing my account balance to almost eighty thousand. And honestly, I had more than enough money for my needs right now. I felt no urge to waste it on stupid stuff or useless luxuries.
So I made up my mind. In front of the shopping mall, I led her over to an empty bench, and we sat down.
"Listen, Lilly. Something important," I started in a serious tone.
"Yeah?" She looked at me confusedly with her blue eyes.
"I'm not blind. I can see you're struggling with money because of the accident... I'm doing well right now and have plenty. And since we're friends, I just want to help you out."
She frowned at me and was about to cut in, so I raised my hand and continued in a firm tone:
"There's no point in stressing over a few dollars or going without essential gear just out of pride. I'll give you the money now, and once we get stronger, it'll be nothing more than pocket change to you... At a higher level, we'll be able to earn huge sums in a single day if we want to."
Lilly lowered her gaze, absentmindedly tapping the toe of her shoe against the ground. She remained silent, so I continued.
"We really are friends. I'll give you ten thousand, and it'll be fine... If something like that ever happened to me, I know you'd help me too."
"Lend," she murmured softly.
"Sorry?" For a moment, I thought I'd misheard her.
"You'll lend it to me. And I'll pay back every single Pokédollar of those ten thousand," Lilly said firmly. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she met my gaze, her eyes glistening.
"All right then, I'll lend it to you. Just so you don't have to struggle unnecessarily..." I shrugged.
In the end, she gave an agreeing nod, and we quickly sorted out the details. I transferred ten thousand Poké Dollars to her bank account via my Pokédex, and that was that.
"Shall we split up?" I suggested as we walked into the shopping center.
"Why? You could help me pick out clothes," Lilly smirked at me.
I burst out laughing, shook my head, and replied: "I like you, Lilly, but not that much!"
Before she could try to convince me, I picked up my pace. With Abra perched on my shoulders, I went my own way. I definitely had no intention of spending hours in a store waiting for Lilly to choose clothes...
First, I headed to the supermarket to buy standard weekly supplies for myself and my team. Raw meat, side dishes, quality convenience foods, vegetables, and fruit. I didn't forget basic packed sandwiches for quick bites on the road either.
I completely avoided chocolates, sugary drinks, and other junk food. This body wasn't used to them, so resisting was effortless.
The whole grocery run came to exactly 331 Poké Dollars, which seemed like quite a bit at first glance. However, Poké-food had technologically advanced preservation methods, so even if we didn't finish everything in a week, it would easily last a month. It was a pretty good investment.
After the purchase, my account balance stood at 69,319 Poké Dollars.
Next up was another shop—PokéCoat Care. They sold various combs, brushes, and grooming products for different species of Pokémon.
As soon as I stepped inside, I realized I was completely out of my depth. All the brushes, combs, and various products looked similar, and frankly, I had no idea what I actually needed. So I headed straight for the shop assistant.
She was a slightly chubby woman in her thirties with a wide smile and dimples. She had thick, wavy dark brown hair. At first glance, she seemed friendly enough.
"Hello, could you help me, please?"
"Of course, sweetheart," she smiled at me. "What do you need?"
"A comb, I guess, and something to clean fur?"
She let out an amused snort, smirked at me, and shook her head.
"Every Pokémon has different fur, sweetheart. An Eevee has thick but extremely soft fur. A Pikachu's is similar, but it builds up static electricity, so you need a special brush and comb... Not to mention a Manectric. That one has a full-on mane." She paused for a moment. "Which Pokémon do you need gear for, anyway? And for what purpose?"
"Houndoom... well, I probably need to brush him, and something to help get rid of blood more easily?" I paused for a moment, and when Abra stroked my neck, I continued, "And maybe something for Abra too."
"Well, Abra is easy. A simple soft comb is enough. Houndoom needs a comb with wide, sturdy teeth, preferably heat-resistant. Also a pH-neutral shampoo, just for removing regular dirt."
While explaining, she guided me through the aisles, tossing various combs and brushes into a basket she had grabbed along the way. We also stopped by a wall of grooming products, where every item featured a picture of a different Pokémon alongside detailed information.
She quickly picked out a few more items for Houndoom, and with a full basket, we headed to the register.
I genuinely started panicking about whether I really needed so much stuff. I definitely hadn't come prepared to spend money on useless extras like these.
She must have noticed my expression, because she smirked and began unloading items onto the counter, sorting them as she went.
"Don't worry... we'll just go over what you actually need for Houndoom," she winked at me and began sorting items into small piles. Combs, brushes, cleansers, conditioners, nourishing formulas, colorful nonsense...
"I don't want to ruin your fun, but I really just need a basic cleaner and decent combs."
"Even a battling Pokémon should look immaculate during a match!" she argued, still smiling. "Lance himself said that the better and more attractive a Pokémon feels, the better it performs."
I just gave a vague hum in response and waited for her to finish sorting.
"All done!" she announced with a smile. "You can bring out Houndoom now!"
"Houndoom is currently being treated," I replied dryly.
The brunette's shoulders slumped, her smile froze, and all that came out was a quiet, "Oh."
She'd probably believed she could talk my Pokémon into it, who would then persuade me. Hah.
"Yeah, oh." I smirked at her. "So I'll just take the basics, like I said. A comb for Houndoom, some dirt-cleaning shampoo, and a comb for Abra."
The shop assistant finally nodded with slumping shoulders, pulling two combs and one bottle of shampoo from the piles.
"This larger one is heat-resistant and anti-static, with wide teeth designed for larger feline or canine Pokémon. It'll be ideal for Houndoom to quickly and comfortably remove dirt. This smaller one is suited for Abra. It has finer teeth since her coat is softer. It doesn't need any special features because her fur doesn't build up static or get exposed to high heat. The shampoo is a multi-purpose formula against dirt, fragrance-free, and pH-neutral, so it won't irritate the fur."
"I'll take those three, please. And if it's not enough, I'll stop by another time with Houndoom," I requested with a smile.
Preferably with Lilly, I added in my head. She'd definitely know her way around combs and grooming products way better than I did.
As soon as the clerk scanned the smaller comb and handed it to me, Abra immediately lifted it telekinetically and pulled it toward herself. I could still feel her paws around my neck, so I assumed she was brushing herself using her psychic power.
Great practice, I thought with a smile.
Finally, she scanned the larger comb and shampoo. Altogether I paid 55 Poké Dollars—not a small sum, but I trusted I was buying good-quality gear.
All that was left on my shopping list was a new sword and a reliable dagger. But I definitely didn't plan on buying those in a shopping mall...
While most weapons there were usable, they were mass-produced, one-size-fits-all pieces. For traveling through the wilderness and battling dangerous Pokémon, I needed something higher quality—crafted by the hands of someone who genuinely mastered their trade.
If Argus from Pallet Town saw me with cheap weapons from a regular store, his blacksmith's hammer would probably make it crystal clear what he thought of such gear.
"Abra, do you sense Lilly anywhere?" I asked.
After a moment's wait, Abra grabbed the hair on the left side of my head and gave a gentle tug.
"Thanks," I said, heading off in the direction she pulled. "We'll find Lilly, and then we'll head over to an industrial area to look for a skilled blacksmith," I spoke to Abra as well as Haunter, who was hiding in my shadow.
***
Author's note:
That takes care of Lilly! She got the money she needed, so now she can buy whatever she's missing. A group is only as strong as its weakest link... and if a crisis suddenly hits, she needs to be properly equipped too.
I don't know about you guys, but Abra is really starting to grow on me.
What kind of weapon would you choose for yourself? Personally, I'm Team Sharp—a sword, a dagger, or a greatsword. Maybe even a shield... if this weren't the Pokémon world. :D
***
Step into the Restricted Section
The shadows are shifting, and the story goes much deeper... If you can't wait for the next update, Advanced Chapters are already waiting for you.
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Upcoming Chapters – Already Written(15):
51. Borelli's Forge
52. Two Badges and a Persian
53. Steel, Silence, and Whispers
54. Steel and Blood
55. The Spoils of War
56. The Price of Survival
57. A Heavy Debt
58. Into the Dark
59. Where Dragons Feed
60. Heart of a Dragon
61. Time for a Training Arc
62. Shadows in the Thunder
63. Forging Champions
64. Avenge Me
65. High Voltage
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