Pokemon : The Timeless Journey

Chapter 23 : Heading Deeper into the Wild!

Time passed quickly. Orion kept improving himself, finding more Pokemons for Rhyhorn to battle and gathering herbs to earn some money at the same time. He followed this lifestyle for the next 3 months. He did have a few more close calls, but never got as much injured as he was by that Rattata. During these 3 months, Rhyhorn's level had increased to 13.

Orion analyzed his progress and decided, 'I need to start heading deeper into the wild. I barely encounter 1 Pokemon a day this close to the city. And, the levels of Pokemon are very low as well. I won't be able to level Rhyhorn much nor will I be able to earn enough to support a Pokemon by myself.

Though it'll be riskier, I should be fine as long as I don't go far enough to enter any wild Pokemon colonies.'

These three months had increased Orion's confidence quite a bit. One of the main reasons for it was that Rhyhorn's Smack Down had reached Expert mastery. He could use it even while running around. And, Orion could sense that Bulldoze wasn't that far off either.

Orion left the city and released his Rhyhorn. He climbed on his back and said, "Let's head deeper, Rhyhorn."

"Rhyhorn" Rhyhorn cheerfully said and began running away from the city. Despite moving casually, Rhyhorn was alert and looking out for Wild Pokemons. He loved fighting them far more than just doing the boring training.

The two moved until they were half a kilometre away from the city before they ran into the first wild Pokemon. Orion had his Pokedex ready at all times. Orion thought, 'It looks like finding wild mons here will be much easier. Its level is higher as well at level 8. This should be a good place to grind.'

In front of Orion and Rhyhorn was a Meowth. It looked carefully at the scary-looking Rhyhorn in front of him and the human sitting on his back.

Without wasting any time, Orion said, "Rhyhorn, use Bulldoze."

Rhyhorn lifted his front legs and slammed them on the ground. In an instant, energy began moving through the ground. Meowth felt it and immediately jumped high into the air, allowing the Bulldoze to pass harmlessly.

However, Orion didn't mind as he said, "Rhyhorn, use Smack Down!"

Rhyhorn immediately prepared the attack and fired a golden orb of energy at the aerial Meowth. Meowth understood that it won't be able to dodge. Its hands began glowing orange. Just before the attack reached it, it clapped. A large shockwave of air came due to the clap and hit the golden orb.

Unfortunately, Rhyhorn was a few levels stronger than Meowth. Its innovative use of Fake Out wasn't good enough to stop the attack. It got hit by the orb and slammed down into the ground.

The damage was high enough to make it pass out in an instant. However, it wasn't high enough to kill it. Orion looked at the Meowth and said, "That's enough. Let's move around and find more wild Pokemons."

Rhyhorn nodded and began moving away. Generally, Pokemon trainers had certain protocols. During a war, if they defeated a Pokemon, then they had to either kill or capture it. But during random encounters in the wild, it depended on various factors.

A Pokemon Trainer needed to kill or capture wild Pokemons they defeat unless killing the Pokemon would provoke stronger Pokemons or a colony. As such, Orion should have killed the Meowth.

However, he was only there to level his Rhyhorn. It made little difference whether the Pokemon he defeated died or fainted. As long as it didn't display incredible hostility towards Orion, he would spare it hoping to defeat it again in the future. Of course, a fainted Pokemon surviving in the wild would be extremely difficult as well as other Wild Pokemons could target it. However, that was none of Orion's concern.