Pokemon: Way of Life Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. They will use Viridian City as a base for a while, but they will venture to other areas. I have a rough idea of the geography of Kanto, which is much different from the game, obviously, but Pewter City is still located north of Viridian Forest. But they can immediately access Celadon City and other locations by travelling northeast from Viridian City. It's just that it's a long trek, with a couple of weeks of travel on the road to get there.

27th October

After spending the night in a sheltered clearing, they set off the next morning. Everyone's nerves were shredded after their ordeal, so it took them a while to fall asleep. Because Lucas had experience with life-threatening situations and had his mental resistance skill, he was less affected.

Misty abandoned her plans to capture another water-type Pokemon because there was a chance the Gyarados were still hanging around in the vicinity. So they returned to the main road and set a brisk pace towards Viridian City. They could already see the giant walls protecting the city as they got closer, and traffic became much busier on the road.

They slowed as they approached the entrance to the city. Similar to Pallet Town, there was a main entrance for vehicles and a side entrance for people. Shelly was with them, so they needed to enter through the main entrance.

"Security is much tighter here," Faith commented as they waited in line behind other vehicles.

"Why is the Kanto Army performing inspections?" Lucas asked as he watched the soldiers patrol the gate with vigilance. There was at least one Pokemon for every soldier, and they looked strong. In this era, Pokemon were the deterrent, as guns had been outlawed decades ago, at least in Kanto. It was only on the black market that you could find weapons. This is because some criminals still preferred to use them, although they were ineffective against Pokemon above a certain level.

"Every city has soldiers manning the city gates," Misty explained. "It serves a dual purpose. They can keep an eye out for any criminals trying to smuggle goods into the city. In addition, they can respond to any emergency that threatens the city."

Jason looked up from browsing his phone. "It makes sense. The cities are home to the majority of the country's inhabitants. Although our population is quite stable now, it is stagnating due to the effects of blue energy. We cannot afford to lose a large number of people, or else the future generations may be adversely affected."

“Why doesn’t Pallet Town have the same? Are we not important enough?” Lucas said, offended.

It was their turn next, and the soldiers checked their Pokedexes to verify their identity. They had no issues, and they were allowed into the city.

The first thing that was apparent was that Pallet Town had nothing on this city in terms of size. It must have been at least four times the size of his home town. However, this was based on the area of land. In terms of city design, there was one clear difference between the two. The buildings didn't exceed five stories in height here, so no tall skyscrapers loomed over the city like in Pallet Town. The sole exception was the Pokemon Gym, which towered over the city with at its fifteen floors.

The outer districts contained agricultural land and residential areas where most of the people lived. Towards the centre is where you can find all the major companies, services and shopping areas. It was a city with a lot of potential for growth, but they lacked the people to expand it into a mega city such as Celadon and Saffron City.

"Come on," Misty said. "Let's go to the Pokemon Centre first. I know the way."

After following her for fifteen minutes, the group noticed a large building with distinctive red and white, indicating it was a Pokemon Centre. Lucas was confused as the building was three stories tall and extensive, taking up a decent chunk of real estate. Was this really a Pokemon Centre?

Misty noticed the puzzled looks on her companions' faces and grinned. "It also serves as a hostel for trainers and their Pokemon. It's a cheaper alternative to other accommodations."

"I feel like such a country bumpkin right now," Jason said with an embarrassed look.

"You're not the only one," Lucas replied.

Misty pointed at a huge barn-like structure that was attached to the Pokemon Centre. "We can leave Shelly here. They will look after her for a small fee. The trailer should be safe as well."

They entered the structure and met a stable hand at the door. Shelly was led into a spacious stall where there was plenty of room. Lucas unhooked her harness from the trailer and stored it in the corner, so it didn’t get in Shelly’s way. To be safe, they retrieved their most valuable items from the trailer.

Lucas scratched Shelly under the chin, and she growled with pleasure. "Hey, girl. You can have a nice long rest since we'll be here for a while. We owe you a special reward since you saved our lives." He turned to the stable hand waiting for them. "Can we order a special meal for her?"

"It's not included in the standard fee," the man said, "but we do take requests as long as you have the Pokedollars."

"Alright," Lucas said, turning back to Shelly. "You will be able to enjoy your favourite meal tonight."

The team left the building and entered the Pokemon Centre. They approached the counter where a Pokemon nurse was waiting. This one was different from the one in Terracotta Town, which was no surprise. He had already gotten over his disappointment that there weren't hundreds of Nurse Joy clones running all the Pokemon Centres.

"Hello, I'm Nurse Paine. Your Pokemon don't seem to be in bad condition, so it will take about an hour to heal all of them."

Lucas was starting to sense a theme here. Nurse Agonee was in Terracotta Town, and now Nurse Paine. What was next? Nurse Malady? Nurse Misery?

There was an open doorway that led to the hostel, so they settled in to wait for their Pokemon. There was also a canteen there, with a good range of food on display, but they decided to wait for their Pokemon before having some lunch.

Lucas spotted the row of video phones in the corner and decided to call his parents to get the ball rolling on hiring a manager. Only his mother was home, so he spent some time chatting with her before he got to the point of his call.

"I need a manager," Lucas said. "There are so many things I need to handle, but I don't have the time or desire to handle them all myself. Is there anyone in Viridian City who fits that role?"

“One moment,” Sophia disappeared and returned shortly after, carrying a folder in her hands. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. “I keep information on potential employees, and this one I was interested in hiring, but he is expensive. His name is Alfred, an older gentleman who moved here from the Hoenn region a few months ago. Previously, he held the position of manager of a famous actress and singer for more than ten years."

"Wow, that's a long time. Why did he move here if he had such a great job?"

"The actress retired, but I'm not sure why he moved here. But his reputation is impeccable. Are you interested?"

"Yeah, but I want to meet him first," Lucas said. "I better make sure we can work together."

"You never know," Sophia teased. "He may turn you down. It would be a downgrade from working with a famous actress."

Lucas rolled his eyes, "just give me his number, please."

Lucas said goodbye and ended the call. He returned to his teammates and sat down. The three of them were in a lively discussion about something. "What are you talking about?"

"We were talking about the gym here in Viridian City," Faith said, thumbing through a city guide.

"The gym is a normal type, which means there will be Pokemon with plenty of move variety," Misty said. "Junior trainers have to ascend to the fourth floor, where they have to face one of the gym leaders' apprentices."

"Is there a theme to the gym?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Of course," Jason leaned forward eagerly. "Apparently, the entire gym is themed after a real apocalypse. On each floor, you must overcome obstacles, such as a street with crumbling buildings. The set design is insane. You must find the trainer on the floor and battle him for the keycard, which unlocks the next floor."

The Pokemon Gyms in this world were much more involved and depending on the gym leader, could get really elaborate in terms of the challenge they presented.

"That doesn't seem so hard," Lucas said with disappointment.

"I'm not finished," Jason said. "You are not allowed to take healing items into the gym, but you can search the area for them. However, each floor has a time limit. If you don't reach the next floor in time, then you fail the gym challenge. You'll have to reschedule and pay a fee to challenge it again. Additionally, depending on the difficulty you choose, the trainer on each floor can be more challenging."

"Okay, that sounds cool," Lucas answered, already full of anticipation. "What's the highest difficulty?"

With the Trainers Adventurer Mode in effect from the Gods' Decree, he would be forced to choose the hardest difficulty anyway, so he wasn't interested in the lower difficulties.

"It depends on the number of gym badges you have obtained. Since you don't have any, you will be facing trainers with two level-ten Pokemon," Faith said. The apprentice you must fight for the gym badge will have three Pokemon that are between the levels of ten and twelve."

Lucas hummed. This was going to be more challenging than he first imagined. He had only three Pokemon that were battle ready, so he needed to bring Duke up to speed fast. Additionally, he wanted to get them all to level ten and possibly learn a few more moves. It looked like he would be spending quite a bit of time here, but that was okay. He would be exploring Viridian forest for a Scyther anyway, so he could run into plenty of wild encounters to earn experience. If he found the Pokemon before his gym battle, then he would use the same method as Misty. He would hire a service to keep the Scyther until he obtained the next trainer level.

"Is there any reward for completing the hardest difficulty?" Lucas enquired.

"Five hundred trainer points," Misty said with an excited expression. "The lowest difficulty award is only one hundred points."

So obtaining the gym badge would mean he advanced to the next trainer level automatically. Alright, so he had a game plan in mind, but he still needed to take care of other details outside of training as well. He was going to be extremely busy for the foreseeable future.

Lucas took out his phone and checked his dialled the number that his mother had given him.

"Hello. This is Alfred Pennyworth. How can I help you?"

He could tell from the sound of his voice that he was stiff and proper. "Hi, my name is Lucas Walker. I need to hire a manager, and you came highly recommended. Are you currently available?"

"I haven't had a job since my last major role," Alfred chuckled. "I have heard your name in passing. What would my duties be if I took the job?"

"A bit of everything," Lucas replied wryly. "I have several irons in the fire, so you will be kept on your toes."

"I don't come cheap."

"I'm well aware. Can we meet up to see if we can work together? I would rather have a manager sooner rather than later, but I'm not willing to force it if we are not compatible."

"A sensible young man," Alfred approved. "I'm free tomorrow if that is suitable."

"It is. Just name a time and place."

"I'm partial to the scones at a local bakery that is close to my home. I will text you the location. Say nine o'clock tomorrow morning?"

"That's fine. I'll see you there," Lucas replied before hanging up. The others stared at him curiously.

“What?”

"Look at you, Mr VIP," Jason smirked.

"Bugger off," Lucas told him. He accessied the browser on his phone. His next step was to access the website where he could register his company. Lucas quickly began filling out his details, but when it came time to choose a name, he could not come up with one.

"Guys, what's a good name for a company?" Lucas asked.

Jason rubbed his hands with glee, "finally, it's my time to shine. Let me dazzle with my superior naming skills."

"Come on, I'm drawing a blank here," Lucas told the girls, completely ignoring Jason.

"First, you have to think about your company's goals. What do you want to achieve?" Faith questioned. She leaned her head on his shoulder and looked at the screen.

"Er...," Lucas stumbled momentarily. "Well, the company mainly serves the island. I want to build a resort that attracts a lot of tourists."

"Well, it is called Cinnabar Island. Maybe name it after that?" Misty said.

"Cinnabar Island Resort Incorporated," Jason suggested. "It has a catchy abbreviation. Ciri.”

"No, that's way too long," Lucas shook his head.

"What about something simple involving your name?" Faith mused. "Like Walker Enterprises."

"That sounds cool," Lucas thought about it for a second. "That's definitely a possibility. However, my dad uses his last name for his gyms, so I'm unsure whether that will confuse people."

"It can be a name completely unrelated to anything," Misty said.

"Uncharted Ventures," Faith tapped the table in excitement.

"That sounds cool," Misty said, exchanging a high-five with Faith.

"Yes, it does," Lucas grinned and entered the name into the phone. He finalised the registration by scanning his Pokedex with his phone to confirm his identification and paid the fee.

As soon as their Pokemon were healed, they had lunch in the canteen. After that, they went their separate ways to do their own things. Jason wanted to explore the town. Misty was taking her Pokemon to do some training at a nearby facility, and Faith stayed indoors to practise her alchemy skills.

Lucas planned to spend the rest of the day with his Pokemon as tomorrow would be more focused on business. He examined his team and decided to spend the AP that three of his Pokemon had received as a result of the tournament.

For Dante, he spent five AP each on his special attack and speed. Imara got all ten points placed in for her special attack, and Max got a boost to his speed.

"Okay, we're about to kick training into high gear," Lucas said as he looked at his team sitting on the floor. He focused on his oldest partner first. So far, he hadn't made much progress towards his evolution. If it continued like this, he was liable to fall far short of achieving perfect evolution.

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[Pre-Evolution Stage] (Duration: One month) [Potential Unlocked: 1%] Energy Capacity: (108/10000)

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"Dante, you are going to train your potential and increase your energy. I'm planning to search for a psychic stone from which you can absorb the stone's energy, increasing your efficiency. Still, even with that, it will be a lot of work."

'Which means a lot more meditation.' Dante sighed.

"That's right. As for your potential, I will send you home to train with Poliwrath every day for a few hours."

Training potential during the pre-evolution stage didn't actually increase stats. However, it did affect how much stats he received when he evolved and entered the second stage.

'Why me?' Dante slumped to the floor in despair.

"After you have trained with him, you will meditate for five to six hours. I know it's a lot, but as an incentive, we will start training you to learn Teleport soon."

Dante's excitement was obvious when he heard that, and Lucas understood why. Teleport allowed him to return to places he had already visited. In terms of how far he could travel, it depended on how much aura Dante possessed, so it wasn't particularly useful in the early stages. Furthermore, it wasn't much use in battle, as it took too long to activate, but that was a small disappointment considering its convenience. Of course, if he wanted to return to a town or city, he had to use the designated areas the government set aside and it was illegal to use it anywhere else, unless you had special permission to use your home as an arrival point.

“However, you won’t be alone,” Lucas turned to Duke and grinned evilly. “You will be joining Dante to train with Poliwrath."

Duke hadn't met Poliwrath yet as he had only been sent home briefly when he was first captured, so he didn't understand what he was getting into. The others knew, however, and the rest of the group revelled in his misfortune as they themselves suffered under the tyrant Poliwrath.

Lucas sent off a text to his mother, letting her know that he was returning Dante and Duke home to train with Poliwrath. He retrieved their Pokeball and sent them off.

Lucas turned to his two remaining team members.

Imara still lacks the requirements to learn Weather Ball. It was mainly her dragon-type energy that needed a lot of work. As stated in the requirement, she needed two affinities at fifty, but she already had the fire affinity above that target. He may have seemed a bit obsessed with learning the move, but it meshes well with her other moves and abilities. The requirements were something she was already going to be working towards anyway.

"Imara, I want you to stay close to Faith and train your dragon-type affinity."

'I want to fight.' Imara huffed.

"Don't worry; I will take you out the day after next to fight some wild Pokemon, but if you want to learn a new kick-ass move, you will need to increase your dragon-type affinity."

Lucas handed her some incense to help her, and she wandered outside to join Faith's Pokemon who were training outside. Faith kept an eye on them through the window as she set up her alchemy tools.

"Max, we will be going out to battle some wild Pokemon," Lucas said.

'Yes,' Max cheered, raising his arms in the air.

He would like to get Max to level ten while exploring the outer edges of the Viridian forest. It was an interesting place with multiple danger zones. Thankfully, they were clearly defined. The further you ventured inside, the more dangerous it became, with the centre of the forest being a red danger zone. The forest was so massive, though, that you would have to travel for a week on foot to reach it.

"We are going to do some shopping first," Lucas said. "I need to look for a psychic stone for Dante."

Lucas could find one in the catalogue, but it would be expensive, so he would search in the city first. He had promised himself that he would be more careful with his Pokedollars after all. Come to think of it; he should grab an electric stone for Max at the same time. Imara already had a fire stone, which was almost at capacity, as she kept it at her side at all times. He wasn't sure of the exact requirements for them to enter the pre-evolution stage, but it was wise to be prepared. Maybe he should research it. All three Pokemon evolving close to each other would be awesome.

He filled his backpack with supplies for the trip into the forest. It was necessary to have food, water, and a variety of healing items available. They were going to be in the forest for a while.

Lucas and Max stepped outside. He consulted the guide to find a store selling evolution stones. There was actually a department store that catered specifically to trainers, similar to the one in Celadon City in the games. It made sense that there would be one in every major city, as they were more densely populated.

It was located further towards the centre of the city, so he began walking down the busy streets to his destination. The hustle and bustle of the city was a lot more prominent than in Pallet Town, as he had to navigate around crowds of people swarming the sidewalks. Max kept close, a bit intimidated by the volume of people that kept bumping into them. Lucas made sure to keep an eye on him in case he got too nervous and shocked someone by accident. That would be a disaster.

Soon he could see the huge department store in the distance. It was significantly taller than its neighbouring buildings, with five floors in total, and it was primarily built out of glass and stone in earthy colours.

They walked through the automatic door onto the ground floor. The floor was dedicated to trainer clothes and accessories. There was also a kiosk with a directory that explained the layout of the store. Lucas browsed it and found that the stones were located on the fourth floor, so he accessed one of the elevators and rode it to the third floor.

'Woah.' Max exclaimed as he felt the sensation of riding an elevator for the first time.

On the fourth floor, Lucas looked around but couldn't find any stones displayed on the shelves, so he stepped up to the counter. "Where are the evolution stones?"

"We do not display them in-store for a couple of reasons," the cashier explained. "One, they are very valuable, and so we do not want to tempt thieves into attempting to steal them. Secondly, they are potentially volatile, depending on their capacity. We don't keep any stones that are filled to capacity, but it's better to be cautious."

"Do you have a comprehensive range of stones?" Lucas asked.

"It depends on what the local area can offer. For example, we have a lot of Leaf Stones because we are located next to the Viridian Forest. They tend to manifest in abundance. We are located near the sea, so there are a lot of water stones as well. What are you looking for?"

"A psychic stone and a thunderstone," Lucas said.

"Let me have a look," the cashier said, stepping through a door located behind the counter.

Max was browsing the wares on the shelf. This floor also sold Hold Items and stuffed Poke Dolls. Lucas was interested in the former, so he browsed through them, looking for a Twisted Spoon. Luckily, there was still one left on the shelf, so he grabbed it.

The cashier returned, but he only had a thunderstone in his arms. "Sorry, sir, but we don't have any psychic stones. They are very rare. May I suggest that you try the trainer market? It's two streets over near Memorial Park."

"Okay, thank you," Lucas said, disappointed. "I will take the thunderstone and the twisted spoon. Is the thunderstone the most valuable one you have?"

The cashier nodded, "yes, but it means that it is a lot more expensive."

"That's okay." He wasn't planning to be frugal when it came to his Pokemon.

'Lucas, I want this.'

Lucas looked down and saw Max holding up an Elekid PokeDoll. He was captivated by the appeal in his partner's eyes.

"And the Poke Doll," Lucas said. It was very cheap compared to the stone.

'Alright.' Max cheered, hugging the doll to his chest.

"Yes, sir," the cashier added up his purchases, and it came up to seventeen thousand Pokedollars, with the stone causing the majority of the damage. Lucas winced at the price but paid without protest. The prices in the department store were fixed, so there was no use trying to use his bartering perk. Maybe he should have started with the market.

Lucas visited the trainer market next, but after searching the stalls thoroughly, he came up empty-handed. Deciding to give up for the moment, he led Max to the outskirts of the city to get some training started.

A military barracks was located next to the northern gate, along with a Ranger station. It made sense since the forest lay just beyond the walls. Lucas stepped outside and saw that the forest edges were less than a kilometre away. There were a number of trainers with their Pokemon making their way to and from the forest, with some of them looking worn out as they returned from the forest.

"Max, we need to be careful," Lucas said. "Since we are by ourselves."

'Okay.'

They stepped into the forest. There were no man-made trails, but the trees were spaced out enough that there was plenty of room to move. Lucas searched the area, but there were no Pokemon in the vicinity. He opened the map function and changed it to display it as a mini-map. With his current perception, the map displayed a significant portion of the surrounding area. Additionally, it updated in real-time any areas of interest, including which plants could be harvested. For now, he decided not to harvest, as they were common ingredients and not worth much, but he could return later if necessary.

They moved deeper inside, and the sounds of Pokemon chattering could be heard in the distance. Lucas pushed through the dense shrubbery blocking their path and caught sight of his first wild Pokemon.

Oddish ~ Level 5 ~ HP 100/100 ~ Aura ~ 110/110

"Take care of it, Max," Lucas ordered.

There was zero suspense, as Oddish couldn't even hit Max, and the fight ended quickly. While the experience was pitiful, plenty of wild Pokemon were present. He had plenty of supplies to top up Max's health and aura, so they would be here for a while.

Lucas knew that he could do some trainer battles, as the experience was better and wasn't restricted like wild Pokemon were. However, if you factor in the time it took to find trainers to battle, and defeat them, as opposed to fighting wild Pokemon, then there was hardly any difference in the experience gained. Furthermore, he would be grinding Max's move masteries a lot faster. Finally, there was the chance he would encounter a Scyther, although the chances were very slim at the outer edges of the forest.

It was slightly risky only having Max with him, but he had enough tools to survive a crisis as long as a high-level Pokemon didn't wander into the yellow zone.

They left the fainted Oddish on the ground and proceeded forward. Lucas felt slightly guilty about bullying the Pokemon, but he soon got over the unrealistic emotion. Oddish would not hesitate to kill him if it was stronger than Max and him.

They continued encountering wild Pokemon, and Max had no trouble dispatching them. Most of his opponents were bug-type, and Pidgeys, with the occasional Oddish and Bellsprout thrown in as well.

It occurred to him as he was exploring that he should acquire one of the skills he learned at the Pokemon Camp. He accessed his skill bank and selected the Tracking skill.

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[Tracking] (Active) [Lv:1] (Next:1%) [Cost:3 Aura]

Description: Tracking is the act of following something or someone with the help of sensory clues in order to find their location. As the skill level increases, so does the ability to notice finer details and to differentiate between species that are similar in nature.

⦁ + 1% to identify the entity or object based on visual evidence it leaves behind.

⦁ + 1% ability to follow older faded tracks.

⦁ + 1% to identify something from smell alone.

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Lucas wrinkled his nose at the last bit of information. Identify by smell? Did that mean getting on his knees and sniffing the Pokemon’s scat. Now way in hell.

Half an hour later, Max had battled over twenty wild Pokemon and had accumulated enough experience in his cache to reach level nine, so Lucas spent it immediately. Max had already been close to levelling, so that had been an easy accomplishment. They would have to battle a lot of Pokemon for the next level, however.

Lucas put the five AP into Max's speed and continued moving forwards through the forest. After travelling for a few more minutes, Lucas noticed a small stream intersecting his path, but it was too shallow to hold any water Pokemon. However, if he followed it in either direction, he may find Pokemon drinking from it or even a much larger body of water.

He could have obtained a map of the forest with some key locations, but he decided against it. He wanted the sense of adventure he got from exploring on his own and discovering secrets. Furthermore, no other map could match his Map function for its granular detail and potential to uncover hidden treasures or secrets.

"Let's head west," Lucas said to Max, and they walked along the stream.

They encountered a few Pokemon along the way, which Max soundly defeated.

'This is no fun. They are too easy.' Max complained.

"We are going to have a long talk about how fun and addictive grinding is," Lucas said, his eyes gleaming with the fervour of a gamer who had grinded the hell out of his favourite role-playing games in the past. Max looked unconvinced.

A few minutes later, Lucas spotted some plants at the bottom of the stream that he hadn't seen before, so he harvested them and put them in his pack. As he was placing it back on his shoulders, he suddenly heard a person scream. His head jerked up and looked to the north, locating the direction that it had come from instantly.

'What was that?' Max asked.

"I don't know," Lucas said. "But I only have you with me, so I'm not planning to get involved."

At that moment, an urgent notification appeared in front of him.

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New Quest received!

Save the family!

Description: A family has entered the forest to help train their oldest son's new Pokemon. However, they have run into a potentially fatal situation. Did I forget to mention the little girl?

Objective: Save the family.

Time Remaining: Five minutes.

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"Damn you, Arceus. You just had to make it more real. A little girl? Why would the family bring her into the forest? Yeah, there's no way I can ignore it now."

SoSo, what do you think? Viridian Forest is huge in this story and becomes a lot more dangerous the further inside you venture. The team won't use the direct route to Pewter City unless they find another way through.

Thanks for reading.