Birthday Morning

	Jeff awakened on Monday morning, ready to receive his first birthday gift. The best part was that it was his tenth birthday. Today, he would receive his first Pokémon. He sat up in bed, fully awake, in contrast to his normal lethargic mornings. Going to his twin sister’s room, he saw that Jessica was already fully awake and packing her backpack for their imminent journey. Professor Juniper had a trio of elemental Pokémon at her lab. Each of them would get one. Jeff felt a little bad for the one Pokémon who would be left out. Jessica hefted her bag onto her shoulder and exited the room. “You had better get ready Jeff. You do not want to keep the Professor waiting.” Silently agreeing, Jeff returned to his room and scrounged through the pile of clothes on his floor. He heard Jessica marching down the stairs, to shouts of elation from their mother. He rolled his eyes at them. Their mom fawned over his sister, while Jeff took to the shadows. Finishing packing his clothes, he stuffed the Pokedex that he bought just three days ago in his shirt pocket. Then, he went to the kitchen. He saw Jessica sitting at the table with a large plate of chocolate chip soaked with syrup and covered in butter. His mom was staring at her as though there was nothing else in the world more interesting. Glancing at Jeff, she half-heartedly muttered a ‘Happy Birthday.’ “There are no more pancakes. You can help yourself to some of the bagels on the counter.” Jeff walked to the ugly cinnamon raisin bagel near the sink. Banging it on the tabletop, he was surprised the granite did not crack. Knowing that he would get nothing better, he stuffed it in his pocket and walked out the door. “Where do you think you’re going,” his mom asked. “You do not even have your birthday present. I think it will help you on your journey.” She tossed him a crudely wrapped spherical package, and after hopefully ripping open the paper, he held a red and white Pokeball to catch wild Pokémon on his journey. As Jeff turned to thank his mother, Jessica flashed her shiny, new Ultra Ball at him. In anger, he muttered, “Thanks,” and walked out the door. He nibbled on his bagel as he walked to Professor Juniper’s lab and surprisingly did not break a tooth. There, he saw his friend. The professor was more of a mother to him than his actual mom. Greeting him cheerfully, she led him into her lab. “You will have the choice between three Pokémon. They are Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy. Choose well.” They made a left into a side room. There, Pokémon food lined the wall. Standing on a table to the side were his three potential partners. A green snake stood on two legs off to the side, confidently. It’s tail ended with large leaf. Coming from its shoulders were two yellow leaf-like swirls that matched the color of the eyelids. This had to be Snivy. The other two were less impressive. A blue-bodied bipedal creature stood all the way to the left. Its white had two stubby, dark blue horns. It also had a low, brown nose. Reaching to its stomach, Oshawott pulled a seashell off of his fur and waved the scalchop at Jeff. The final Pokémon was in the center, with a determined expression. Unlike the other two, he had four legs. Its body was orange besides for two patches of black. One, near its curly tail, had a shape similar to a diaper. Another one started from its red snout and continued to the back of its head, covering each of its ears. It was broken by a slash of yellow fur up the middle. Tepig cheerfully snorted embers from its nostrils as Jeff looked it over. It was obviously Snivy who was strongest. However, Tepig had the best personality. He felt sorry for Oshawott. The only trainer who would take it would just want a good laugh in a battle. Remembering how much Jessica pined for a Snivy, he made his choice. “Professor. I choose Tepig.” At these words, Oshawott seemed a little crestfallen, but Tepig snorted in happiness. Snivy’s eyes widened a little, because she had rarely seen a Pokémon taken when there was a choice of a Snivy. She regained her composure quickly, knowing the next trainer would quickly pick her over Oshawott. Juniper was also slightly shocked. She handed Jeff Tepig’s Pokeball, and a beam of red light absorbed Tepig into the ball. Professor Juniper knew about his mom’s favoritism towards Jessica and she often gave him amazing birthday presents. “I was planning to get you a Pokedex, but I heard that you had bought your own. So, I got you a set of revives for your journey.” Jeff rolled his eyes happily. “You just can’t keep a secret, can you,” he said as he took the box of diamond shaped, yellow revives. “Thanks Juniper. Bye!” Jeff walked out of the lab waving, ready to begin his journey.

The Journey

	Jeff began on his journey, marching into route one. Glancing at the formidable tall grass in front of him, he decided that he should have company until he was more used being around wild Pokémon. Releasing Tepig from the Pokeball, Jeff realized he did not know any of Tepig’s attacks. “Tepig, show me all of your attacks!” Tepig glanced apprehensively at his trainer before launching flecks of flame from its nostrils over the dry grass, causing it to burst into flames. “AHHHHHHHH! That’s a nice ember Tepig, but you set the whole field on fire. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!!!” Immediately, coming from the direction of Jeff’s town, came a stream of liquid, battling with the flames, causing steam to shoot into the air, sending the chubby Pidoves swerving away from the updraft. Two of them crashed into a nearby tree and slid to the ground, unconscious. Turning to the source of the water, Jeff saw a trainer standing with the Oshawott from the lab. The boy was Epouvantail, Epou for short. Jeff did not know him well, but he knew that Epou turned ten several days earlier, but his overprotective parents refused to let him on his journey. The arguments coming from his had been disturbing the silence of the town for the entire weekend. “Well there are two Pidoves right there and we’re both responsible for knocking them out. Do you want one of them?” Jeff expanded a Pokeball and threw it at the feebly stirring Tiny Pigeon Pokémon. The ball shook once, twice, three times until it wobbled to a stop. Jeff walked to his new partner, who laid besides Epou’s newly captured Pidove. After tossing Epou’s Pokeball to him, Jeff picked up his own and tried to put it in his backpack, which was already dangerously full. Finally, he clipped it onto his belt, and decided to trash some stuff at the next town. Epou, however, looked less than happy. “I finally convinced my parents to let me get Pokémon and what happens? You. You and your sister happen. I wanted Snivy. Then, as I entered the lab, your sister comes out of it with her new Snivy. Tepig would have been my second choice, but of course you have it there. You don’t even know how to keep it. If it wasn’t for me, this whole field would have burned down.” Jeff normally would get angry at a comment such as this and challenge the kid to a fight. Now, he could do so much better. He could battle Epou. “How about a battle Epou. Two on two, as soon as our Pidoves are healed.” Jeff then turned his back before waiting for an answer, and continued on the path to Accumula Town with Tepig at his heels. Once out of eyesight, he started to sprint forward, wanting to scout out the battlefield early for a tactical advantage. Tepig was running as fast as it could besides him, but was falling behind. Jeff turned around as he heard Tepig scream in determination. Its body became cloaked in flames as it charged forward, leaving Jeff in the dust. Tepig continued to use Flame Charge until it slammed into a tree and was knocked out, causing branches to fall all around it. Returning it to the Pokeball, Jeff continued to run until he reached Accumula town, where he entered the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy healed his Pokémon, then he left, to explore the town and find a good spot for his imminent battle. Entering the park, he found a field with white lines, the kind that Pokémon battles are on. Taking his Pokedex out, he decided to find the data of Tepig and Pidove. Jeff was soon overwhelmed by the complex machinery. He started button mashing until an interesting screen popped up. It showed the attacks of nearby Pokémon. Tepig was listed as having the following attacks: Ember, Flame Charge, Tackle, Smog, and Rollout. Pidove had a less than impressive movepool. The only attacks it had were Gust and Leer. Of the two of them, Pidove needed a lot more training. However, it was always great to have a tank back up the team, once your opponent has been weakened, they blow through their teams. Maybe Jeff could use the kind of team that, once the enemy has finally defeated a giant powerhouse, another takes its place. He finally decided on using Pidove first to battle any willing passing trainers. “Pidove. You’re up first.” Noticing a trainer with a Sewaddle on his back, Jeff challenged him to a battle. “Your Sewaddle against my Pidove, how about it?” The two trainers walked to the battlefield, standing on rectangles at either end. Each of their Pokémon stood in front of them and the battle commenced. “Pidove, use Gust!” The Pokémon flapped its wings and created powerful winds that slammed into Sewaddle, buffeting the leaf around its head back. “Sewaddle, fight back with a String Shot!” A sticky substance shot out of Sewaddle’s mouth and hit Pidove’s wing. As the Pokémon continued to fly, the String Shot wrapped around it, hopelessly entangling Pidove in a sticky mess. “Pidove! You need to get out of that!” Jeff could not believe that Pidove might lose its first battle at such a huge type advantage. As Pidove struggled, Sewaddle launched a Razor Leaf, hitting the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon and the string shot, though it did not break it. “Come on Pidove!” Jeff’s Pokémon’s shoulders moved, obviously showing its attempts to flap its wings. Then, the String Shot glowed blue. Pidove stopped struggling and its movements became more deliberate and less of a desperate attempt to escape. Blades shot out from its wings, destroying the String Shot and continuing to Sewaddle, hitting it hard, and knocking it into unconsciousness. “Pidove! You learned Air Cutter! Good job!” Pidove dove through the air, happily cooing in happiness. The other trainer returned Sewaddle, congratulated Jeff, and jogged away in the direction of the Pokémon center. “All right, nice job Pidove. Let’s find another challenger.” At that point a familiar voice called out, “Hey Jeff, how are you doing?” He looked back and saw Jessica walking up to him. “I guess we both had the same idea. How about we have a Pokémon battle?” Jeff nodded enthusiastically. “How many Pokémon  have you caught, bro?” “I only have two,” Jeff responded. “Good, me too,” Jessica responded. “This will be a two-on-two battle.” Tossing a Pokeball into the air, she shouted, “Come on out Lillipup!” A quadrupedal Pokémon popped out, baring its miniscule teeth. Lillipup had a close resemblance to a puppy. It had a brown body except for some tan fur covering its face like a mask. “Mom helped me catch this one. She knocked it out, but I am the one who actually caught it.” Seeing as Jeff had not returned Pidove to its Pokeball, Jessica asked him, “Are you going to be using that Pidove or the Tepig you got from Juniper. Contemplating his choice for a few seconds, Jeff decided to use Pidove at first. “Pidove, you’re up.” Pidove swerved onto the battle feeled and hovered about four feet in the air.  Looking at her Lillipup, Jessica spoke. “Let’s roll.” Jeff commanded Pidove first. “Use gust!” Pidove flapped its wings, creating a whirlwind that surrounded Lillipup. The Puppy Pokémon dug its small claws into the ground to no avail. It was hurled back and hit the ground hard. As it got to its feet, Jessica finally gave it a command. “Use Roar!” Lillipup opened its mouth as far as it could, which was only about two inches and it barked. The noise was accompanied by sound waves that surrounded Pidove. Jeff’s Pokémon was converted into red energy and it returned to its Pokeball. Another one of Jeff’s Pokeballs opened by itself and Tepig came out. Jessica told him how this happened, though he was already well aware of the effects of Roar. “It forces you opponent to switch Pokémon and it sends out a random Pokémon in its place. Since you only had one other Pokémon, it had to be Te-Why are you ignoring me?” This last part came because Jeff seized his opportunity to attack as Jessica spoke. She had stopped talking just in time to see Tepig barrel into Lillipup while using Flame Charge. Lillipup got up, but barely. It was obviously weakened from the attacks of each of Jeff’s Pokémon. Tepig was much faster now after using Flame Charge. “Tepig, finish it with Smog!” Tepig billowed smoke out of its nostrils which surrounded Jessica’s Lillipup. When the air cleared, Lillipup was still standing but something was off on it. It’s face was not its normal color. It was a light purple. “Smog must have poisoned Lillipup,” Jeff stated. Jessica tried to order Lillipup. “Use Tackle!” Lillipup made a desperate surge forward, but after three steps, it collapsed. Returning Lillipup to its Pokeball, Jessica seemed upset. “That was no fair. How was I supposed to win if Lillipup got poisoned. Then you also attacked while I was talking. No fair!” Jessica’s whining angered Jeff. “Mom is not here to make sure you get your way all the time anymore. This is the real world. Sometimes, you might lose.” Jessica was past surprise on this. She was shocked and angry. She thought that her brother was too immature to be handling Pokémon. “I am going to win! Go, Snivy!” The Grass Snake Pokémon from Juniper’s lab came out. “Use Leaf Tornado!” Snivy jumped into the air and began spinning. It looked like an upside-down top because of its large leaf at the bottom and pointy nose at the top of its head. Leaves seemed to generate out of midair as they flew around Snivy’s body. The funnel of foliage flew at Tepig. “Dodge with Rollout.” Tepig somersaulted out of the way and continued to roll, gaining speed and power constantly. The rolling ball that was Tepig turned to the side and headed straight for Snivy. Jessica’s Pokémon flew away as Tepig rammed into it, landing in the small indentation Lillipup created after being hit by Pidove’s gust. “Snivy! Use Leech Seed!” Out of its mouth, Snivy shot a single brown seed at Tepig as it closed in for the kill. It lodged itself into its fur. As Tepig was spinning, the seed hit the ground and sent Tepig flying through the air, though dislodging Leech Seed in the process. Tepig struggled to its feet. Feeling desperate, Jeff shouted at Tepig. “Use Ember! We need to finish this battle!” Jessica was beginning to regain her confidence. “Snivy use Leaf Tornado!” Tepig shot a weak wall of flames as the Leaf Tornado was flying at it, whistling through the air. The fire that Tepig shot helped, however. It disintegrated the leaves, but could not even reach Snivy. “Tepig return, you did well,” Jeff said, returning Tepig to its Pokeball. “Come on out Pidove!” Jessica growled. “Don’t let Pidove hit you Snivy! Use Leaf Tornado to stop it!” Jeff ordered Pidove. “Dodge until you see an opening, then use Air Cutter.” Snivy’s attack came quickly, but Pidove spiraled through the air, deftly dodging everything shot at it. Once directly above Snivy, it could not be hit. There it launched its Air Cutter. Circular blades of air that looked similar to what might be found on a saw rushed downward, striking Snivy, and plowing it into the ground and earning Jeff a win. “Nice job Pidove!” Jessica, however, was not happy. “Get away Jeff. I should have won. Your Pokémon are weak, but you won by pure luck. I’m beating you next time.” At the comment ‘Your Pokémon are weak,’ Pidove began twittering in agitation. Jeff watched in silence as his sister walked away. “Don’t mind her,” he said to his Pokémon. She is used to having everything she wants. That spoiled brat is not worth any trouble. Return.” As a red beam recalled Pidove into its Pokeball, Jeff decided that he had enough of Accumula Town. Striaton City was next and there was a Pokémon gym there. That would be the best spot to make his Pokémon team more powerful. Leaving the park, he waved at the Sewaddle trainer who was battling with a wild Venipede. He must be bug trainer, though Jeff. At the gate near the entrance to the route, a woman stood behind a desk, reading one of Rick Riordan’s books. “Oh Percy, you should know weasels scare basilisks away,” she said absentmindedly. “Sorry. I just love these books.” Jeff exited the gate and saw a small grass field bordered by trees. A few trainers were walking by. Several asked Jeff to battle. “Sorry. I would like to get to Striaton City. I am going to have a gym battle there and I want it as soon as possible,” he answered every time they wanted to battle. Funny, Jeff thought. I feel as if I should not be able to refuse their challenges. Good thing I can. That would be annoying. The thought of trainers that were impossible to escape was not very intimidating to Jeff. It would simple irritate everyone who had to get somewhere quickly. As two fences started on either side of him, the trees began to thin. A green shape about the size of toddler lunged out of the thinning trees on his right. Though it seemed that it was attacking at first, Jeff soon realized it was running away. The Pokémon was monkey-like with a crown of broccoli on its head. It hit the ground in front of Jeff and attempted to leap into the woods on the left. Unfortunately, its foot slammed into the fence and the Pokémon’s face slammed into the dirt. Three red Pokémon landed and quickly formed a triangle around the fallen monkey Pokémon. They were similar in shape, but they did not have the broccoli on their heads. Instead a swirl of fur rested on its forehead. Jeff acted quickly. As one of the fire monkeys launched a fireball at the green monkey on the ground, Tepig materialized in the way. The fireball exploded Tepig, but did not do much damage. Embers shot in all directions, but Tepig stopped them from hitting the green monkey. “Tepig, use Rollout!” Tepig jumped into the air and threw its body forward, slamming into the fire monkey that launched the fireball. As Tepig fell to the ground, it began spinning and gaining momentum. Making a sharp turn, it made its course point to one of the cronies. The monkey launched a stream of flames at Tepig, but they did not stop it. Instead, they were absorbed into the Rollout attack and coated Tepig’s body. Tepig slammed into the monkey for maximum damage and it went down, immediately unconscious. Tepig continued to circle the green monkey, creating a flaming wall between it and its attackers. Knowing that Tepig would do its job well, Jeff sent out Pidove. The Tiny Pigeon  Pokémon came out of the Pokeball and took the scene in before it. The leader of the red monkeys got to its feet and leaped at Tepig, but could not break the wall of flames. “Pidove! Use Gust and blow those red monkeys back into the forest. Winds roared from Pidove’s wings and hit the red monkeys, ignoring Tepig and the monkey it was protecting. The unconscious one blew away quickly. The one that had not been hit at all stood its ground, sometimes blowing back several feet. At one of these points, it hit its head on the fence and lost its balance. It blew into the woods, hit a tree, and kept going into the darkness. The leader, though weakened refused to give in. Its feet created ruts in the ground, but it eventually succumbed to Pidove’s Gust and went into the woods with its cronies. “Tepig, you can stop now. Tepig halted its spinning and the flames died. Returning each of his Pokémon to his Pokeballs, Jeff pulled out his Pokedex. Scanning over the broccoli monkey, a name appeared. PANSAGE-Attacks: Bullet Seed, Scratch, Fury Swipes, Bite, Dig. “Very powerful,” Jeff muttered. “It’s pointless being so strong when it is three on one.”