Chapter Text
First Catch
The pair decided to head south to Route 9, a mix of rocky and grassy terrain at the base of the nearby mountain and leading to Rock Tunnel, the path through said mountain. The mountain itself was small and had no name, but plenty of trainers crossed either through or over it on their journeys. Ultimately, the decision of where to go was left to Sophia, with Misty laying out their options and offering suggestions. ”It's your adventure, so you're in charge.” she had said. Sophia wasn't sure she was qualified to take charge in this situation, but her friend wouldn't hear it.
The original plan had been to circle back around to Cerulean so she could earn the gym badge, but Misty pointed out that, as the gym leader, they could technically battle for it at any time and it would be official. With that in mind, she chose a route that would require minimal backtracking. Their first stop would be Lavender Town, then they planned to cut through the nearby cities so she could get more experience before taking her up on that.
It would also give her a chance to build a proper team.
She'd never caught a Pokémon before, and she was both excited and nervous about the prospect. Felicity had been a gift from her mother when she decided to go into nursing as part of a family tradition, and she'd never had a reason to interact with wild Pokémon outside of the rescues trainers would occasionally bring in. Sure, there were wild Pokémon in the cities, but they were all quite friendly after living among humans for so long, so this would be her first time interacting with Pokémon that could truly be called wild.
“Most Pokémon won't bother you unless you actively engage with them.” Misty explained as they walked through the winding roads of the route. “And even then, unless you're trying to hurt them, they'll stay pretty calm.”
“Does that include battling them?” That was another thing Sophia had no experience with. She'd spectated plenty of battles, even refereed a few, but she'd had no cause to participate herself.
“Well… sometimes?” Misty didn't seem sure how to answer that, which was surprising. “Plenty of Pokémon are more than happy to battle with trainers. It helps them grow stronger, too. But it's a little complicated. If you just went around throwing Felicity at every wild Pokémon you saw without warning, they'd start to resent you for it.”
Sophia certainly hadn't planned on doing such a thing - it felt unconscionable - but she understood the point. “So, how do you know when it's okay to battle?”
“You just ask!” Misty answered like it was obvious, while managing to simultaneously not sound like she was talking down to her friend for not knowing. “Wild Pokémon can understand human speech, too, to an extent, so they'll know what you mean. And sometimes they might challenge you, instead.”
That made sense. If it helped them grow, then of course they would seek out battles themselves. Armed with more knowledge on the subject, Sophia found herself feeling more confident. If what Misty said was true, then surely it wouldn't be too hard to find a new Pokémon.
“Do you have any thoughts about what kind of Pokémon you wanna catch?”
“Not really.” Sophia admitted. She hadn't given it as much thought as she probably should have. “I was planning on just seeing what catches my eye. Let it happen naturally, you know?”
Misty let out a laugh. “That's pretty surprising coming from you.”
“What do you mean?” She cocked her head as she looked towards her friend.
“Just that you're usually not very… spontaneous.”
Sophia huffed. She was right, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it. “I just wanted to go into this without too many expectations. If I planned out every Pokémon I wanted to catch and tried to maximize my team's efficiency, it'd take some of the fun out of it.”
The whole point of this trip was a break from the monotony of everyday life, and that meant accepting the randomness - to an extent at least. Sophia was certainly one for excessive planning, but this was a rare thing that couldn't be planned to the fullest. That would go against the spirit of things.
They continued on, their Pokémon playing with each other as they walked. It was sweet to see them getting along. They were staying in eyesight, so neither of them were too worried.
The sun had just begun to set by the time they reached the treeline closer to the boundary of Route 10. There had been a few Pokémon here and there running about whatever business they had, but they were more plentiful in this area. They couldn't see too many - there was plenty of brush and foliage for them to hide amongst - but there was enough variety to draw attention. Namely, bug types. It was fortunate that Misty had mostly grown out of her fear of them as time passed, otherwise, Sophia imagined, she might have begun hustling the group along.
For her part, Sophia watched them all crawl and flit around the trees. It was mostly Weedles and Caterpies running around, but she noticed the odd Butterfree and Beedrill, and even a Combee at one point.
“Huh. I didn't expect to see so many outside Viridian Forest.” Misty remarked, with only a slight hint of displeasure in her voice. Most bug types could be found just about anywhere, but it was true they tended to prefer heavily forested areas. “You, uh, thinking of catching any?”
Sophia nodded with determination. “I think so, yeah. I saw a Combee flying around that caught my attention. They aren't too common around here.”
As pollinators, Combee and Vespiquen tended to populate areas with more flowers. To find even one Combee in an area with so few was uncommon. It might have gotten separated from its hive or ventured out on its own. Both were possible, though typically the latter only happened with female Combee nearing evolution and getting ready to start their own colony.
Misty smiled and took a step back. “I'll, uh, let you handle it.” She might have grown past her fear of bugs, but she still didn't like being around them, it seemed. “Try talking to it first, see if it's open to battling you. And be careful with the Beedrills. They can be temperamental.”
Sophia nodded again and tightened the fingerless glove on her left hand. “Let's go make a friend, Felicity.”
The Chansey saluted and waddled along after her trainer. The trees were a lot denser than they looked on the outside, but it still didn't compare to a proper forest. Sophia suspected that was due to the damage done to the environment in the area. It would likely fill out as more time passed. It worked out in their favor, though, as they managed to find the Combee pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, that also meant a Beedrill could find it, too.
Sophia and Felicity arrived just in time to see the Combee dodge an incoming attack from the Beedrill that had it cornered, its twin stingers boring holes into a tree. It quickly turned back around and launched another attack. In retaliation, the Combee flapped its wings and launched a Gust attack. The Beedrill dodged, striking the Combee head on with its stingers and knocking it down.
Sophia readied herself for action. Sure, she wanted to catch the Combee herself, but it also didn't feel right watching the poor thing get beaten up. A quick look at Felicity showed she was ready to jump in, too. Exchanging a quick nod, she turned back to the fight in front of them. Luckily, she'd taken the time to see what moves Felicity knew beforehand.
“Disarming Voice!” She called out.
Felicity took in a deep breath before screeching, sending a wave of pink sound at the Beedrill as it began descending on its fallen foe. It hurt Sophia's ears a little, but it did much more than that to its target, who was caught off guard and thrown backwards. The Combee took advantage of the attack and righted itself, flying over to Felicity's side. It gave her a look of gratitude before facing its opponent once again.
“One more time, Felicity!” Sophia said again.
This time, the Combee combined Felicity's attack with another Gust, the two attacks flying at the Beedrill just as it recovered from the previous assault. They struck true, knocking it into the tree where it slumped to the ground, down for the count.
Sophia stood shocked. She'd done it. They'd done it together, actually. They'd won their first battle.
“We did it!” She couldn't hold back her joy as she ran over and hugged Felicity, bouncing up and down as she did so. “Our first battle, and we won! Good job, girl, oh, I'm so proud of you!”
Felicity shared in her triumph, chanting away in victory. They continued like this for just a moment longer before Sophia remembered that the Combee had been injured. She let go and quickly walked over to it.
“You okay, little one?” She asked, looking it over. It buzzed in the affirmative, and she could see that its injuries weren't severe. Nothing a potion or a rest wouldn't fix.
“Well,” she continued, pulling out a potion. “I was gonna see if you wanted to battle with me, but it looks like you've had enough of that. So instead I'll ask if you'd like to join my team.”
The Combee seemed confused by the offer, so she elaborated. “I'm a Pokémon trainer. Or, trying to be one, anyway. And you seem like a tough one. I'd be glad to have you by my side, if you want.”
It looked over to Felicity, who nodded in confirmation and seemed to add some words of encouragement. Looking back at Sophia, its three faces smiled at her and it let out a happy buzz. She smiled back at it.
“Welcome aboard!” With that out of the way, she applied the potion, watching its scrapes and bruises instantly begin healing, followed up with a Pokéball that she gently booped against its side. The Combee dissolved into light and was sucked inside, and with a click, the catch was confirmed.
Once again, Sophia jumped for joy. “I caught my first Pokémon!” She exclaimed, clutching the ball tightly. Felicity patted her on the back, and the two quickly ran out to rejoin Misty, who had a grin on her face.
“Someone's having a good day.” She remarked. “I could hear you shouting all the way out here.”
“Sorry, sorry, I'm just really excited! We won our first battle and I caught my first Pokémon all in one go!” Sophia was beaming. She felt a little childish, but she didn't care. It was a big step in her journey, and she wouldn't dull her pride in the achievement.
“Congratulations.” Misty said. “Now you're officially a Pokémon trainer! How's it feel?”
“It feels… right.” She answered, looking down at the Pokéball in her hand. “Just… right.”
It was a small victory to be sure, but Sophia was certain it would just be the first of many. It felt as though her journey had begun in earnest, and she couldn't wait to see what happened next.