Bronze Journey

Route 1 and what?!

Standing at the edge of Route 1, I grinned at Kibbles. The Mudkip was sat on my shoulder like a parrot, and was much more nervous then I was. But I couldn't wait to get going, there were trainers on the route and I was willing to battle them. I took my first step into the grass, relishing in the feeling of being free. But then.....

Encounter music began to ring through my ears, wait what? Must be my brain, I'm known for being a bit koo-koo. But I looked over, a Bunnelby. A Rabbit-like Pokemon, a normal type that wasn't the strongest and I, for one, wasn't interested in it's evolution as it didn't look right, it looked horrible to say the least. But it was great for training on, so I placed Kibbles down in front of me and giggled as I said. "Kibbles, Water Gun!"

The water type gave a nervous nod, whimpering as she opened her mouth and shot her water at the Bunnelby. The rabbit attempted to dodge, but Kibbles shot more and more guns of water that hit harshly. Bunnelby attempted to attack back with Tackle, but Kibbles managed to dodge and use another Water Gun to take out the rabbit.

I grinned, giving a fist bump to the air. "Good work, Kibs!"

She gave a smile and ran back to me, crying out. "Mudkip mud!" she ran up my arm and back to hanging off my shoulder. I grinned, running forward.

But a voice caused me to freeze and turn, a trainer. Cool, I couldn't wait for this. He sent out a Wurmple, easy enough. I think it was level 3, whilst Mudkip had just leveled up to 7. The trainer then call out. "Wurmple, Tackle!"

I don't know what with my opponents and using Tackle, but I decided to do this fast and call out on Kibbles' moves. "Kibbles, use Water Gun!"

Wurmple didn't outspeed, as expected. Which allowed Water Gun to hit harshly, it seemed to do more damage then normal. Critical. With the added damage, it fainted the Wurmple and let Mudkip collect exp. She glowed, indicated a level-up. Level 8, great. She needs to evolve before the first gym though, since it's an electric gym. Mudkip is a pure water type and is thus weak to the type, but it's evolution gains the ground typing and thus gives an immunity.

The second Wurmple came out, this was again a quick victory with Kibbles' boosted stats from the recent level up. Though, this time it didn't cause a level up. I giggled, though. Time for the next one, I ran through the nearby grass patch and another voice called out to me. Another trainer, that was quick......

I turned, the trainer had a Zigzagoon. Must have been level 4, so 4 levels lower then Kibbles. Gonna be simple again, one Water Gun with a critical hit was enough to take it out and level up Kibbles. But then my Pokemon acted a little off, suddenly shooting mud from her mouth. I checked my dex and read it. "Mud-Slap, great. You got a ground move already! Good work, Kibbles!"

"Mud..." she smiled, awkwardly to show how uncomfortable she was with the amount of battles she was doing.

"Just one more, sweetie. Then we can heal up at the next town and you could relax," I responded calmly, I wasn't going to force her much longer. There was a trainer up a small line of steps, so that would be the last one of the route. Both Pokemon of the picnicker were easy to beat, she had a Bunnelby and Pidgey. It was then that I saw an item behind her.

On my way to obtain it, I encountered a Flechling. A flying type, could be quite helpful with all the bug types in the nearby forest. I nodded, smiling at Mudkip. "Okay, we don't want to hurt this one as much. Just a quick tackle," that was enough, Flechling weakly stood before us with low health. I rummaged through my bag and threw one of the 5 empty poke balls. One click, two click. And three, ding! A successful capture. "I caught a Flechling!"

"Mud!" Kibbles join in behind me, she was so adorable. I released my new Pokemon shortly after, he was weak but willing to start his training and soon hit level 8 and gained Quick Attack to his arsenal of moves. The Quick Attack was what gave me the idea for his name: Speedy. Simple, but quite adorable.

Turning, I saw the massive blue gate that lead to Cheshma Town. That would be my next location for sure, I step towards it but then a voice filled my head with a loud ringing that actually hurt a little. Speedy and Kibbles even glared at the boy, Jake (Was there any doubt really), who made the annoying yelling. "Zora, come quick. We need to go back, something terrible has happened! I don't have time to explain, just come!"

Fear filled me, as I followed Jake back to my home town and my worst fears were greeted with fright as I saw the professor outside of my house, my parents nowhere to be found. "Professor Cypress, what happened here?!" I cried, shaking in anxiety and worry. Speedy and Kibbles look very worried for me, as my starter pressed her little hand against my cheek.

He didn't reply instantly, turning to me with clear concern. He eventually spoke, seeing my understandable fright. "I am so glad that you are safe, Zora. I'm sorry to tell you this...... but your parents have abducted from their home in the short time you were exploring Route 1. They were well-known archaeologist in our region and the people, who took them wanted knowledge of the things they were researching. Did they tell you anything about that?"

"No..." I whispered, a line of tears rolling down my cheeks. My parents? Abducted? Without even being allowed to say goodbye. I fumbled with my necklace, a gift from my missing parents that I obtained yesterday. They wanted me to keep it, not sure why though. But for now, it was all I had left from them. "They never said anything, they didn't want me to know.....all I have is this," I saw him the nickname, which my mom called the Bronze Brick.

"So they gave you that, how interesting," he coughed a second later, seemingly hiding his thoughts from me. "Anyway, it's not safe for you here clearly. I would like you to go stay with a friend of mine in Cheshma Town until everything is sorted, their house has a blue roof so it's hard to miss. Be careful out there, Zora and don't go looking for trouble. The world isn't a safe place."

I nodded, deciding to trust him. A friend of the professor, should be nice. Right? I turned to head back to Route 1, solemnly. I had lost my parents.......and only had a lucky escape from capture due to leaving that morning... "Come on, Kibbles, Speedy..." I whispered, looking at the floor with tears in my eyes. But I shook my head, I couldn't be like this. Mom and dad wouldn't want me mopping about, they wanted me to see the world and become a powerful trainer. I reached up, wiped my eyes as my foot reached the grass. "I can't be like this, lets go! We should get going to this friend of the professor."

"Mud!" "Ling!" my two Pokemon cheered, happy that I seemed to be feeling better. Of course, I'm upset. But I can't let it faze me, I wasn't going to see them for a while anyway. I can save them by becoming a strong trainer, I'm sure of it! Picking up speed, I ran back to the entrance to the next town, prepared for my future.