A Journey of Two, a Pokemon Story

Alright, I'm going to call the vote here. Looks like you're training your mons and calling your parents.

As for whether you travel to Cerulean City or not, I'm realizing now that the way I made the vote means there wasn't exactly an option to not do that, and choosing a vote threshold for that is going to be arbitrary no matter what I do. As a result, I'll be redoing the vote in the next update, which should hopefully be out tomorrow morning.

Surprised at having a signal in the woods, Violet wondered what to do with it before using the fact it was now evening to sit by the fire and communicate with her family. Pressing the number for her home, she waited through the ringing tone for a few seconds before her parents picked up on the third ring.

Her dad picked up the call, "Violet, how are you? Anything we need to worry about?"

Shaking her head no, she flushed red as she realized her dad couldn't see her. "No, things are going well."

Holding the phone a little lower, she placed it on speaker so Dratini could chirp into it, conveying his agreement with her words. Pineco simply watched the proceedings, having little desire to intervene.

"I saw your pictures of Saffron City," her dad continued, sounding a little worried, "are you still there?"

"I-I'm on Route 5," Violet explained, a bit of her shyness making itself apparent as she hadn't realized her dad would be asking this many questions.

"Well, if you do go back to the city, be careful, did you know Team Rocket attacked Silph Co again?"

"Yes," Violet said simply.

"Make sure to stay away from that company," her dad began, "there's no telling how many attacks need to happen before they increase security."

"I, uh, I caught a Pineco," Violet changed the subject, hoping she wouldn't have to explain she saw the attack happening in person.

Holding the phone towards the Bagworm Pokemon, Pineco gave a soft call of "Pineco" giving a nonchalant greeting to her dad.

"Hello Pineco, make sure to keep my daughter safe," he replied, "Violet, your mother wants to talk to you."

"Hi, mom." Violet greeted as she heard the phone switch hands.

"Violet," her mom greeted simply, "do you have everything you need for camp? I can bring more supplies if you're running low."

"It's fine," Violet explained, "I have everything I need."

"If you ever need something, let me know." Switching topics, her mother segwayed into a field Violet always hated talking about. "Have you made any new friends yet?"

She never liked how worried her parents would sound when she almost always answered no. It was frustrating, giving the same answer over and over again, only for the same look of sadness to be on them. It almost seemed worse that she had a different answer today, for she knew her parents would be surprised. "I made two." She glanced over at Pineco who looked rather satisfied.

"Really?" Came the expected surprise, "That's fantastic dear, who did you make friends with?"

"A trainer named Willow," Violet explained more for the sake of explanation than actually wanting to, "she's … energetic."

"You seem to have a type," her mom sounded amused, clearly thinking about her relationship with Tetsuya, someone who was also rather energetic. "How did you meet?"

"I battled her on the way to Saffron City, she's about to challenge Erika right now." Switching to her texts, she looked at the latest message from Willow, who said she had a battle scheduled early tomorrow morning. "I beat her, and she said we're rivals now."

Her parents laughed at that, "We'll have to meet her one of these days." Her dad said over the phone, "Stay safe Violet."

"I will," she replied before hanging up. Letting out a breath, she looked over at the fire, adding a few more pieces of wood to it before sleeping through the night.

When she woke up the next morning, she noticed texts from her parents, Willow, and Tetsuya. Her parents had sent her multiple maps of Route 5, comprising a good portion of the area she was in, which would help her find her way to Cerulean or Saffron City. Tetsuya had been busy sending her pictures of the journey through the mountains, with him estimating that it'd take him 3 weeks to arrive at Pewter City. Lastly, Willow had sent her a very excited text proclaiming she had won against all odds sending a video of her battle alongside the exclamation.

Staryu had managed to defeat a Bellsprout, taking one major hit in the process, before managing a mutual hit on an Oddish before fainting. Then Willow sent out an Eevee she had found abandoned in Celadon City whose repeated use of sand attack allowed it to barely eke out a victory. Violet herself was rather surprised by it, having expected a battle against a grass gym to have easily led to Staryu's defeat. It was a little unfortunate she hadn't managed to do the same against Erika, but the gym leader was a notable step up from her attendants.

As she began to prepare a training period for her own Pokemon, using some of what Willow had sent as a guide, she had to decide on where she would go during the next few days.

[] Head to Cerulean City - A city she will need to go to at some point if only to face Gym Leader Misty May and catch a Chansey, she is halfway to it already.
[] Head to Saffron City - There is much to do still in Saffron City, and even if the gym doesn't have a team for a one-badge fight, it may still make for a good experience.

Looks like that was a fairly unanimous vote. So travelling to Cerulean City it is.

Violet hummed a little tune to herself as she set up camp early in the day. Having decided to head to take advantage of how far her trip to catch a Pineco had taken her, she elected to continue onwards to Cerulean City, taking the time to train up her Pokemon.

The first day of training was simple for Violet, focusing on teaching Dratini a new move. Sending out her two Pokemon to spar, Violet called out moves for each of them to perform, being careful not to exhaust or injure either one.

At first, it began slowly, with everyone simply trying to get a better understanding of the others. Pineco favored a reactive style, which their slow speed made a necessity. Carefully analyzing her opponent, she would often time her use of Protect for just the right moment, something Violet only made even better. If an opponent tried to close in, then a Tackle was at the ready. And should something desperate be needed, well, there was always Self Destruct.

In contrast, Dratini was more flexible. While he preferred to use Wrap and dominate his opponents physically, he also was more than capable of standing back and using Water Gun at range. With a skill of evasion beyond what was normally expected, he could easily make both styles work against most opponents. The only thing holding him back were Pokemon resistant to tight binds at close range, and Pokemon resistant to water-type moves at range.

Understandably, Violet had pointed this out, and then showed a video of Twister, a Dragon-type move. Dratini was embarrassed at the realization he hadn't tried to use the move before, it seemed like it would have been easier to learn than Water Gun. That was until he tried it, where the situation grew more complicated. Learning it was simple, but practicing it and his other four moves was a bit of a challenge. It was certainly doable, unrefined as they were, but it would likely be a challenge to ensure all his moves were refined. Nonetheless, after a day or so of refinement, Dratini could safely use Twister, if to a lesser extent.

*Dratini learned Twister (D++).*

GM Note: In actuality, he learned this at C--, but to preserve the four Pokemon moves that add to the strategy, a rule I'll be setting is that Pokemon can only have 4 moves in that tier. So there can be 4 moves with a skill level in the Cs which Dratini is at. Additionally, while you didn't get any choices on how to train your Pokemon this time, as you get better as a trainer, you'll be able to pick and choose what benefits they get from training.

The next day was spent on Pineco, and while Violet wanted to teach her Bug Bite, Pineco had other ideas. She had insisted on shoring up what she viewed as the necessities, a strong solid defense and a hardy body. As a result, the day was spent on a rather exhaustive training for Pineco, with a large amount of calisthenics and short-range spars with Dratini, almost all of which she lost. While Violet was certainly a little worried about her Pokemon, after a day or so of somewhat exhausting practice, they had all grown in their own ways.

*Pineco upgrades Special Defense to D--*
*Pineco upgrades Health to D+*
*Pineco upgrades Stamina to D+*
*Pineco makes progress towards Speed and Evasion*

*Dratini upgrades Defense to D++*
*Dratini upgrades Stamina to D+*

The last day was spent solely on polishing Pineco and Dratini's movesets. While Violet wasn't willing to have Pineco repeatedly use Self Destruct, a combination of Wraps, Tackles, and Protects was enough to somewhat improve their usage of various moves.

*Dratini upgrades Attack to C++*
*Dratini makes progress towards improving Wrap*

*Pineco upgrades Protect to C+*

At the end of the day, Violet found herself greeted by the blue streets of Cerulean City. Briefly pausing to see what was available, she then began to plan out her week.

The Fourth Week, Pick 2

Pokemon Actions

[] Catch a third Pokemon - With four routes branching from Cerulean City, there are dozens of different Pokemon you could catch ranging from Pidgy to Oddish to Houndour.
[] Fish for Pokemon - Cerulean city does have several fishing spots nearby, heading to one to try and catch Pokemon could be useful.
[] Seek out a Chansey - Chanseys are located mainly within Cerulean Cave, a locale where you are most definitely ill-qualified for. However, there are a few branches of the cave which are accessible to you.
[] Train with Dratini and Pineco - Both of your Pokemon are good in a battle, Dratini having grown through their playdates, and Pineco being rather perceptive herself. Training for a few days would help them grow.

Battling Actions

[] Challenge a New Trainer - Pokemon battles were something Violet had little experience in, she should try and find a trainer to challenge.
[] Challenge an Experienced Trainer - The other option to seek out a Pokemon battle would be to go to the Cerulean Gym and challenge one of the attendants there. You may even win.
[] Explore Unorthodox Locations - Exploring parts of Cerulean City most people don't will be an interesting experience. Surely nothing can go wrong?
[-] Challenge the Cerulean City Gym - You have to challenge one of the Cerulean City attendants first before winning the right to face the gym itself.

Traveling Actions (Can Take 1 of These Only)

[] See the sights in Cerulean City - While certainly smaller than Saffron City, there are still a number of sites to see such as the bike store and parts of the caves.
[] Travel to Mt. Moon - The cave system leading to Pewter City, heading towards the mountain to travel through will allow Violet to begin an adventure within.
[] Travel to the Power Plant - A large power plant that produces much of Kanto's electricity, it is home to a number of electric-type Pokemon.
[] Travel to Write-in - There are many locations in Kanto one could take a direct route towards.

Social Actions (For socials, it's assumed you keep up a basic level of contact through text, choosing a social means I write it up)

[] Call up your parents - Your parents would appreciate a call just to tell them what you've been up to.
[] Call Tetsuya - An old childhood friend of yours, the two of you drifted off recently. He is currently in the mountains on the way to Pewter City.
[] Call Willow - The trainer you recently defeated, she seems fun if exhausting. She just defeated an experienced trainer and caught an Eevee.