The Team Surges Forward

My second morning in Vermilion City was a bit more somber than that first day trying to get aboard the S.S. Anne. I took Douglas out to Diglett’s Cave and said farewell to him. I had high hopes for him, but it wasn’t in the cards. I was comforted that I could at least bring him back to his home and release him back to his Diglett friends and family. It was a better send off than poor Nibbles got back on Mount Moon. We had a good run, Douglas. We beat all those trainers aboard the S.S. Anne together. Farewell, friend.

I filled Douglas’s spot on my team with Royal, the Magikarp I caught down at the Vermilion docks. I decided to take him with me to train in the Vermilion City Gym. I know what you’re thinking! Fox, are you crazy? Why would you train the weakest of all possible water-type Pokémon in a gym dedicated to the raising and training of electric-type Pokémon? It was a calculated risk. Basically, Arnold put everything to sleep. Then Royal would come in and flop around aimlessly for a minute. Then someone else would swoop in and clean up. The only time I didn’t mess around with Royal was when face-to-face with Lt. Surge himself. That was no time for training the weak, but a time to challenge the strong.
Arnold was proving to be my MVP since we met and the Vermilion Gym was no different. The same technique we used against Misty and every other decent challenge proved no less effective against Lt. Surge. His Voltorb fell sound asleep and was chopped down by Arnold’s new “Cut” technique in  three simple slashes. Lt. Surge’s Pikachu resisted the sleep powder at first, but eventually fell into a deep slumber and was cut down. Raichu was the final obstacle between my team and a shiny new badge. Arnold put him to sleep, but he was awake within an instant. Raichu was fast. He hit hard, but the second time Arnold lulled him to sleep would be his last time in our battle. It took a considerable amount of cutting, but Arnold soundly defeated Lt. Surge without any assistance from the rest of the team.

As I emerged victorious from the Vermilion City Gym, it was just after lunch and I was hungry. I headed into town to find some food, but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Reginald across the street. I owed him a great deal of thanks for getting me aboard the S.S. Anne yesterday, but I wasn’t sure I could listen to another minute of him talk about Rapidash. I really hoped he didn’t see me, but no such luck. He came rushing across the street within moments.
“There you are, old sport!” he shouted as he slapped a hand across my back. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You were the talk of the town last night! I can’t believe it. You know, I told everyone that I sponsored you aboard and helped you get into the tournament! I’ve been receiving people at the Fan Club all day long thanks to you! We’ve never had this much exposure! I really owe you a great service, old sport.”
“I thought there was another trainer who did better,” I asked. Chairman Reginald had his arm around me and was now leading me down the street.
“Of course! Of course! There will always be another trainer who does things better or has a stronger team than you. That’s just the way of the Pokémon world, old sport, but let’s not undersell what you did! You only lost one point! It was incredible. Even against that Wolf chap? Everyone had their sights on him and you came out hard to starboard and took him down - sponsored by none other than the Pokémon Fan Club!”
“Yes, I suppose that’s all true,” I offered mildly. I was wondering where he was taking me and if they had food there. We stopped a few blocks away from the Pokémon Center in front of a small building with a discreet little sign claiming to be the Pokémon Fan Club HQ. There was a small crowd gathered outside and each of their faces lit up to see me coming down the street with Reginald.

Official Ponyta & Rapidash Art!

“Now look, I know it isn’t much, but I’d like to offer you a little something for the fantastic advertising you did for the club yesterday. All these people heard we were friends and wanted to meet you, so I have a bit of a proposition! You hang out at the Fan Club for little bit, shake some hands, sign some autographs, show off your badges - OH! You gave Lt. Surge the old lights out,  today? Congratulations. These folks will love it. Anyway, after all that, I’ll hand over my bicycle in exchange. It’s quite sturdy, I assure you, but - you see - I simply don’t have a need for it anymore. Now that my beautiful Rapidash has stopped burning me when I try to touch him, we’ll be galloping through the countryside in no time! Oh, I can’t wait for you to meet my Rapidash.”
So I shook hands. I smiled. I endorsed the Pokémon Fan Club. I listened to at least thirty different stories about Rapidash down to the most meticulous detail. Then when I thought I couldn’t take a minute more, the crowd at the Fan Club HQ dispersed and Reginald saw everyone off. He showed me some pictures of Rapidash that he had in his wallet, then handed me the key to his bike lock. I was exhausted and starving, but I had a new way to cruise around the Kanto region. Was it worth it? Well, I felt a bit like a celebrity in Vermilion City, so yeah - it was worth it. I fell asleep that night smiling.

On my third day in Vermilion City, I ventured out to Route 11 to begin training Royal earnestly. Kiwi had done a lot of great work for me, but I sent him over to Bill’s Storage and brought out Shakespear to keep him up to speed. My plan was to have Lucky put wild Pokémon to sleep and then let Royal flop around while it was safe to do so. Then Shakespear would come in and clean up. Everyone would get some decent training in. As I was riding through the tall grass, I spotted something rare and special. For the first time in a long time it wasn’t a Pidgey or a Rattata. I spotted a Drowzee. He would be a formidable addition to my small team.
Royal had developed a newly awakened knack for tackling his opponents as opposed to flopping around aimlessly, and he did exactly what I needed him to do. Lucky managed to put Drowzee to sleep before he could do the same to my entire team. Royal weakened him significantly without causing him to faint and within a few minutes, Dustin was destined to be my new rising star. There was a huge sigh of relief when that Poké Ball snapped shut on the Drowsee and Dustin was now my newest friend. I would happily - eagerly! - bench Vesper for Dustin because Vesper hadn’t helped me in any fight ever, honestly. Sorry, Vesper, but it’s true. No amount of training could help make Vesper as formidable as a single member of my new and improved roster. Things were definitely looking up in Kanto, now.

Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.




Bill's Storage: Kiwi (Pidgeotto) & Vesper (Zubat)

Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)

A Tremendous Chop to the Team

That tournament aboard the S.S. Anne went well into the evening and I remained undefeated. Between matches, I wandered the promenade deck sizing up the competition. The entire ship was buzzing about a rising star trainer aboard the ship. He was competing in a higher bracket than mine, so we wouldn’t face each other here, but I really wanted to see one of his matches. Unfortunately, we never crossed paths but I would be on the lookout for this trainer named Red. It wasn’t terribly surprising when I stumbled into Wolf. I assumed he wouldn’t miss a chance to show off for a crowd of Pokémon enthusiasts. I caught sight of him just as he was soundly defeating an opponent in a few decisive seconds after the match had started. I quickly checked to see which bracket he was in because I relished the idea of soundly defeating him in front of spectators. And as luck would have it, the next time I trounced Wolf would be in front of a live audience.
When our numbers were finally called, Wolf was calm and collected as he stood across from me. We both had the confidence of a trainer who hadn’t lost a single point yet. We exchanged casual, semi-friendly greetings and then chose our first Pokémon to battle. I opened with Douglas and he opened with his Pidgeotto. It was a predictable move. My tiny, ground-type Pokémon was at a disadvantage, but Douglas needed the training and I was over-confident. I let Douglas intimidate his opponent with fierce growls, but as soon as Pidgeotto landed a small hit, I withdrew Douglas and tossed out my own Pidgeotto, Kiwi.
“We’ve done this dance before,” Wolf said across the arena.
“How did that work out for you?” I said with a sneer. Kiwi began kicking up dust and dirt. It was our traditional opening move, but it was much harder to pull off on a freshly swabbed deck. As Kiwi continued to harass the accuracy of his opponent, he took quite a few hits from Wolf’s Pidgeotto. Restorative items were not prohibited in the tournament, so a Super Potion ensured Kiwi would be able to stay in the fight. Wolf looked annoyed, but he made no objection. As his Pidgeotto continued to flounder and land only the luckiest and lightest of attacks on Kiwi, Kiwi was able to swiftly put an end to Wolf’s Pidgeotto. The crowd cheered.
Wolf tossed out his Raticate and I withdrew Kiwi and replaced him with Lucky who hadn’t seen much action aboard the S.S. Anne. The Raticate was naturally faster and landed some quick attacks on Lucky. When it moved in close, Lucky showered the Raticate with a comforting sleep powder from its wings and it was lulled into a deep sleep. Lucky took a second point from Wolf when he used a psychic assault to knock out the Raticate without ever waking it up. The crowd was slightly less impressed with this boring victory, but Wolf was frowning. That was just as good for my morale as a cheering crowd.

Wolf called out Kadabra next. We were both underwhelmed by Abra’s performance in our last match, so I had no doubt that Wolf had been training him into an impressive Kadabra since we last battled. I didn’t quite know what to expect from this creature, so I went with my current powerhouse, Rascal Jr. A solid hyper fang instantly downed the Kadabra and all my worries instantly disappeared. The crowd went wild at this turn of events as Kadabra was apparently the star member of Wolf’s team today.
I knew what was next and I knew how to handle it. I knew the crowd was more excited by tremendously powerful, fast-paced biting Raticates, but I was here to win. Wolf tossed out a Pokéball that released his Wartortle into the arena. I withdrew Rascal Jr. and brought out Arnold. He took a solid headbutt from the Wartortle, but managed to burst a puff of sleep spores into its face.  Then Arnold proceeded to absorb Wartortle’s energy, replenishing its own, until Wartortle was forced to submit.
Wolf actually looked impressed. “Well, I made it this far undefeated. I thought I had a chance this time. I guess you’re still one step ahead of me,” he said casually. He crossed the arena and extended a hand toward me. I felt a sneer crawl across my face as I took his hand and shook it in front of the cheering crowd. “You’re still too serious, man,” he laughed, cocking his head at me. “But I guess your seriousness is paying off. Until next time, Fox.” Wolf waved one last time to the crowd overhead and then disappeared into the crowd around us.

After my very public victory over Wolf, I felt like I was living in a dream. Since knocking him down a few pegs, I was leading the tournament at our amateur level. It felt incredible. I battled well into the night and maintained my undefeated status. The talk of Red faded away and now there was a buzz around the young out-of-towner named Fox! Basking in these successes, I felt a deeper connection to the world of Pokémon training and competitive battling. The pride I felt I shared with my Pokémon and in return they fought harder for me.

Unfortunately, this euphoria was not going to last the night. My final match aboard the S.S. Anne was against a member of the crew. He was just a few points behind me, meaning he’d only let two of his team faint throughout the day. I knew the risks using Douglas against a sailor, but so far Douglas had grown considerably stronger and faster with our in-and-out techniques to get potshots on our opponents. This time, however, the sailor opened with a Machop. This small fighting-type Pokémon was not the typical water-type that sailors usually carried around. It should have been no problem for Douglas to get in a quick hit and then rest, but Machop was not fooling around. A critical Karate Chop came down on Douglas’s head and Douglas was completely done.
As good as I had been feeling all day was instantly shattered. I had only known Douglas for 24-hours but he was going to be my ace in the hole against Lt.Surge tomorrow. I’d been meticulously training him and keeping him going all day and now in the final showdown it was all over, all for nothing. It felt like that critical chop went straight to my heart. Kiwi easily took care of the rest of the sailor’s Pokémon - and I went on to win this level of the tournament. I graciously accepted access to the Hidden Machine which taught Arnold how to slice through excessive overgrowth, but inside I was deeply wounded that I had failed yet another Pokémon.

Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.



Bill's Storage: Shakespear (Spearow) & Royal (Magikarp)

Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)

All Aboard the S.S. Anne!

My first morning in Vermilion City, I found myself down at the docks pushing my way through the crowds. Vermilion Port was easily the busiest place I’d ever been in my life up to that point. The sheer number of ships and trucks moving goods in and out of the Kanto region was overwhelming. Even still, the S.S. Anne stood out of the crowd as a majestic ocean liner built for luxurious and excessive lifestyles. It’s glorious, gleaming white hull was a beacon you could see almost anywhere in Vermilion City. I’d had my eye on her since I came into town the night before and I had no trouble finding my way to the pier at which she was docked. Getting on to that pier without a ticket or an invitation to the tournament was a trial all its own. I spent most of the morning looking for a way past security.
The story of how I got aboard the S.S. Anne is a story of chance encounters and dumb luck. The first of which was a man fishing off the end of an unused pier. I was attempting to get a better vantage point of the S.S. Anne at the time, but I was also curious about the old fisherman. I sat with him a moment and he showed me how he supported himself just fishing up Pokémon out of the Vermilion Bay. After spending perhaps half an hour watching and listening to his old fish tales, he offered me one of his old rods that he wasn’t too attached to. I was surprised at his generosity and thanked him graciously. He said the old rod wasn’t great at pulling up any big catches, but it was a good starter rod to learn how to handle myself. I was eager to try it out.
There didn’t seem to be any restrictions posted on where you were allowed to fish in Vermilion Port, so I plopped myself down right at the edge of the S.S.Anne pier. I cast my line into the waters and waited. Patiently. For a long time. As I sat there on the edge of the dock, I could hear battles going on the deck above me. I could hear the whoops and cheers of the gathered crowds as local trainers, decadent cruise passengers, and members of the crew fought for fun and money. I knew that as long as there were trainers ready to battle, the registration for this exhibition would be open, but I had to get aboard soon.
There was a tug on the line! A new type of Pokémon battle had begun. It was my strength and determination against that of whatever was on the other end of that line. I struggled for several minutes, worried that this old rod would snap clear in half at the tension on the line. Finally, a red scaled fish Pokémon lurched out of the water and flopped on to the pier. I frowned slightly. It was a Magikarp. I should have known. It was too weak to weaken, so I had Arnold put it to sleep and I carefully tried to get it into a Pokéball. The damn thing casually slapped 4 of my balls into the ocean in its fitful slumber before finally being secured in the 5th ball. I named him Royal, and although he was weak now, I had some big dreams for Royal in the distant future.
I had no idea at the time, but the entire Magikarp episode was being watched by a gentleman nearby. I called out Royal to get a good look at him and size up his potential - which admittedly was limited right now. As I was gazing down at him, a firm hand clasped my shoulder.
“I say, good show, old sport. Good show.”
“Thank you,” I managed to sputter in sudden confusion.
“Oh, I daresay, where are my manners? My name is Reginald and I’m the Chairman of the Pokémon Fan Club. We are headquartered right here in Vermilion City! I have personally collected over 100 Pokémon and I’m very fussy when it comes to Pokémon. I see you are less fussy and I admire your spirit, old sport.” He motioned to Royal. “I could never bother myself with Pokémon like that, but there is something special about you. Come now, join me aboard the S.S. Anne, would you? I can see you are itching to join the tournament. Meanwhile, let me tell you all about my favorite Pokémon, Rapidash. It is the most spectacular and ravishing of all the Pokémon, don’t you agree?”
All I really heard was “join me aboard the S.S. Anne” and I was packing up my belongings as quickly as I could. While Chairman Reginald prattled on and on about Rapidash, my attention was mainly focused on shoving the old rod into my backpack, and making sure my Boulder and Cascade Badges were clearly visible. I wanted everyone to know how far I’d come as we made our way on board the cruise ship.

Once aboard, I listened to Chairmain Reginald talk about Rapidash for what felt like an eternity a polite amount of time considering the great favor he’d just done for me. Eventually I excused myself and I found my way to the registration desk. I showed off my two badges and was put into a mid-level bracket. The tournament was scored on a point system where trainers lost the most points when their Pokémon fainted, and since I was determined not to allow them to faint I was sure to score very highly in the preliminary matches.
All the matches were happening along the promenade deck with spectators above able to look down into most of the arenas that were setup. As I stood along the promenade, it was crowded and difficult to see much, but I managed to push my way toward my first match-up near the aft of the ship. I was going to face off against an older gentlemen who happened to be a passenger aboard the cruise wanting to test his skill against the Kanto trainers. I was nervous, but also excited. He opened with a Growlithe - a Pokémon I’d never seen before. It was obviously a fire-type and so Douglas was the right choice. He needed the battle experience, as well.
Growlithe was faster than I anticipated! He landed a desperate attack on Douglas’s head which nearly incapacitated him. I was shocked. I’d almost lost a Pokémon due to my overconfidence in type match-ups. I switched out Douglas for Rascal Jr. hoping to get the edge in speed. My swap paid off because Rascal Jr. landed a monstrous hyper fang on this Growlithe and knocked it completely out. The crowd went wild at this turn around and I remember how uplifting it made me feel. I couldn’t help from smiling like a fool.
The passenger tossed out another Growlithe who met the same OHKO fate to the power of Rascal Jr. To punctuate just how amazing Rascal’s victory over the Growlithe duo actually was, Rascal Jr. evolved into a Raticate in front of the entire crowd. It generated some hushed awe from the spectators, but I was just ecstatic to see Rascal Jr. grow in power. Rascal and I were victorious in our first match, but there were still several more ahead of us before we’d meet with the captain.

Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.

Bill's Storage: Shakespear (Spearow) & Royal (Magikarp)

Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)

Kanto Underground

During my visit with Poké Maniac Bill, he mentioned a Pokémon tournament that was being hosted in Vermilion City. He had been invited to attend, but his illness was currently preventing him from traveling. He’d given his tickets to some other trainers, but assured me that if I made it in time they would consider me a contender with two gym badges. So after acquiring the Cascade Badge from Misty, I decided my next destination in Kanto would be Vermilion City. The tournament was held aboard a luxury cruise ship named the S.S. Anne where it was being hosted to entertain passengers with displays of Kanto Pokémon and its trainers. Local trainers were organized into tiers and allowed to battle the crew, interested passengers, and each other for various prizes. Key among the prizes was a Hidden Machine, a secret technical machine, that allowed certain Pokémon the ability to learn useful skills that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. This one in particular was owned by the captain of the S.S. Anne and was able to teach lucky Pokémon how to adeptly cut through overgrowth. I was interested to say the least.
Just south of Cerulean City lived a kind old man in a secluded homestead offering a Pokémon Daycare service. This kind of small business is a lot more widespread nowadays, but back then it was a bit of a novelty. He allowed any trainer registered within the Indigo League of Kanto to leave one Pokémon in his care for a nominal fee. I had never heard of anything like this at the time, but after our brief conversation, I used Bill’s transfer system to bring Charlie out of storage and into the old man’s care. At the daycare, he would get lots of exercise and activity and be allowed to play and train with other Pokémon instead of just waiting in storage. It seemed like a really good way to get him some extra training in case anything unspeakable ever happened to Kiwi. The old man assured me that he’d been doing this for a long time now and Charlie was in good hands.
I was attacked by some wild Pidgey on Route 5, but I decided to save my Pokéballs for better options since I had Kiwi and Charlie as members of Team Fox. It didn’t seem prudent to waste the resources on a third fighting Pidgey. It was during this time between Cerulean and Vermilion that I was starting to think about the future battles. I had to be careful with upcoming Gym Leaders and at the Indigo Plateau and I had to plan accordingly. After passing on acquiring a new Pidgey on Route 5, I made an effort to avoid more wild encounters in the future unless I was ready to add a potential candidate to my team. The way I was training my Pokémon meant that every new capture had to be strategic going forward. An army of Pidgey weren’t going to win me the rest of my battles.

I was pretty oblivious to this at the time, but the region of Kanto was in a bit of upheaval the first time I was there. As I mentioned, I wasn’t really aware of Team Rocket much before my unfortunate encounter with them at Mount Moon. I didn’t realize what a hold they had on the region. I also didn’t realize that things were changing rapidly since their operation at Mount Moon crumbled. For a long time the organization moved in the shadows, acquiring Pokémon and using them for illegal activities without drawing much attention to themselves, but things were now changing since two local trainers had them riled up. I mention it now because typically moving south from Cerulean, you would end up in Saffron City before heading to Vermilion City, but Saffron was under a bit of a lock-down thanks to Team Rocket activities. Police sentries were posted on all sides of the city and were not allowing anyone in or out of the city. They tried to explain the situation to me the best they could, but I really didn’t understand the gravity of it and they got impatient trying to explain to me why I needed to get to Vermilion another way.
This other way was an underground passage originally intended to be developed into a subway system to and from Saffron City. It’s development had been abandoned due to escalating economic tension between the local government and Team Rocket. It now served as a convenient, although shady, underpass between Cerulean and Vermilion, as well as Lavender Town and Celadon City. You could bypass Saffron City entirely this way. The path was reasonably lit and maintained by local volunteers. Pokémon battles were prohibited and efforts were made to repel Pokémon from infiltrating the path as long as it was needed. Apparently Saffron had been cut off from the world for some time in order for this to have been as well established as it was, but again I was ignorant of the state of affairs in Kanto at that time. I merely enjoyed an uninterupted stroll underground, picking up various shiny objects I happened upon.

I arrived in Vermilion City sometime in the evening. I managed to secure a place to sleep for a few nights and then set out to learn what I could about the local Pokémon scene. I could see the S.S. Anne to the south all lit up like an angry Electrode. Tomorrow I would have to find a way to get into the tournament aboard and hopefully earn my access to that Hidden Machine, but I did have a few other concerns. The gym leader in Vermilion was not a push-over and he favored electric attacks above all else. It earned him his nickname as Lt. Surge. As it stood, my team consisted mostly of flying Pokémon who would easily be burst out of the sky by a well placed thunderbolt. Kiwi, Lucky, Vesper and Shakespear were all going to be huge liabilities in the Vermilion Gym. Arnold had recently evolved on his way south through Route 5 and 6, but I wasn’t sure that my powerful Gloom could stand up to the kind of voltage Lt. Surge was known to put out. It seemed clear that Arnold and Rascal Jr. Simply weren’t going to be enough to ensure a victory here in Vermilion. If I were going to get a new Pokémon, then the battles aboard the S.S. Anne would be a great training ground for them, so I set out that evening to add one more friend to my roster.
Vermilion City is the busiest port in the Kanto region and naturally surrounded mostly by water. Water-based Pokémon weren’t going to stand a chance against Lt. Surge when I went to face him, so I had to look somewhere else. I had overheard that just beyond the city limits was a small rock tunnel the locals called Diglett’s Cave, because it had been dug out by a large colony of Diglett and Dugtrio. Though it was a bit unsettling to crawl into their nest, I knew a Diglett or a Dugtrio would be the perfect addition to the team and the perfect counter to Lt. Surge. Their ground affinity would make them immune to any electric attacks Lt. Surge could throw at them. So despite my apprehension and the apparent dangers of crawling into a Diglett tunnel at night, I felt I had no choice.

Almost instantly I was assaulted by a Diglett who did not like me mucking around in his home. He was a quick! It was tricky to pin him down with my team. Lucky was able to put him to sleep with the powder off his wings, and it took a few balls to snag him without causing him to faint. Fortunately, we captured Douglas before any reinforcements could arrive and we made a hastey retreat from Diglett’s Cave. Douglas replaced Shakespear on my team since official Pokémon League rules only allowed a trainer to carry a maximum of 6 Pokémon. Shakespear would rest comfortably in Bill’s Storage System while Douglas stayed with me to train up for the Vermilion Gym. I slept easy that night knowing that Douglas would secure my victory against Lt. Surge and all I had to do now was get aboard the S.S. Anne to do some intensive training - and get my hands on that Hidden Machine.

Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.



Bill's Storage: Shakespear (Spearow)

Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)