Thank you to my new P- atrons: nils, nmv9989, Evan Moss, John Zupke, Jonathan, David pena, Mac, Abct, Dragonarrow20, שני סדרס, Geldsack1, Kevin Price, peter K, Piotr Hennig, Zac Pratt, L H, Astieo, Timothy McCollum, Bliss, Reader 11, Suplely Maple, Alienmatt
-/-
Joey's and Jessie's journey through Viridian Forest progressed steadily. They woke up, fed Happiny, walked for three hours, took a breakfast break for the rest of the team, then walked another three hours.
Usually, Joey would have wanted to take his time, explore the forest and battle its Pokemon and its trainers.
But… It might have been arrogant to say, but he was already way beyond the strength required to beat the Pewter gym at the fifth badge level. He wanted to get there, beat it, potentially fix Rattata's attitude and then take it slow on his way to Cinnabar. Take in the sights, take in the battles.
"I just think we need a team name," Jessie said once again as they traversed the narrow path through the forest. They were now reaching the middle part, which, if one considered that many beginner trainers gave up and returned the way they'd come from, was the least used part of the main path.
"I really don't think so," Joey replied with a roll of his eyes. There was corny, and then there was unnecessary.
"Happ!" the pink Pokemon in Jessie's arms loudly agreed.
"See, even Happiny agrees with me," Joey said. From the corner of his eye, he saw Misdreavus sweep down and expertly hypnotise an incoming Beedrill.
Viridian forest was difficult… for beginners, that was. Joey was a bit beyond that. His Pokemon easily handled whatever wild Pokemon approached with minimum fuss, and his cold rejection easily got them out of losing time with battles against noob trainers who thought they had a chance.
"Happp…" Happiny suddenly struggled out. A seeming rejection of Joey mentioning that they agreed on something.
Joey hid a smile. He understood the Pokemon's trauma, but its contrarian responses were a bit funny.
"She agrees with me now," Jessie said triumphantly, as if having the agreement of a two-day-old Pokemon meant anything.
A few minutes of silence passed, only disturbed by the cracking of the twigs on their path, the wind passing through the thick forest and the occasional buzz of bug Pokemon.
The air smelled fresh, like pine, tree sap and an abundance of oxygen.
"How about team Jejo," the magenta-haired girl eventually suggested.
Joey threw an amused look back over his shoulder. "Why do your initials come first?" he asked jokingly. "You joined my journey, not me yours."
The girl seemed to consider for a second. "Well, in a way, if we accept that everyone is on an individual journey of life, you actually joined mine."
Joey waved her off. "It sounds horrible."
"Team Jossie?"
"Please, no."
"Joje?"
"No."
"Team Strong Fashion?"
Joey grimaced. "Nooooo."
Jessie snarled. "You come up with a name then if it's so easy!" she said loudly, showing her childish side, which was funny, because she was older than Joey, although not really.
The boy hummed thoughtfully, starting to think about stopping for lunch but also sending a few brain cells to think of a team name.
"How about… Team Crushing Despair of Eternal Darkness?" he eventually asked.
Jessie's silence said it all. "..."
"Let me think. Do you like Fangs and Nightmares Galore? Shortname F.A.N.G."
"-_-," Jessie emoted behind him. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it.
"Maybe we don't need a team name," she eventually said with a sigh, sounding sad.
Joey finally made an actual proposal, not wanting to have a depressed travelling partner even if he didn't think that they really needed a team name.
"How about Team Persist," he eventually suggested. "We're both coming from basically nothing, I'd say it's pretty inspirational. Persistence can be the thing we want to awaken in others while also serving as a reminder to ourselves about where we came from, where we want to go and how we can get there."
Jessie mulled it over. "That's a pretty good name," she eventually admitted before sighing. "But maybe we don't really need a team name yet. After all, I don't know what exactly I want to do yet, other than simply travelling. Those contests you mentioned sound interesting. Let's talk about it again in the future."
The trainer shrugged. It wasn't like he'd been the one insisting.
"But you do need a nickname, or a stage name," Jessie suddenly continued.
"Joey sounds pretty good to me."
"It's a bit common," Jessie critiqued.
"That's the point," Joey retorted, a bit salty. It was his name after all. "Also, what matters isn't the name, but the skills. If a Joey becomes champion, people will associate Joey with strength. If Timothy becomes champion, people will name their kids Timothy."
"I don't know," Jessie replied. "I like your last name more. Joestar. It's basically Joey, but with an added star. You could even go with Jojo!"
Joey pulled a face. "Jojo sounds like the nickname of a 5-year-old that eats crayons."
"But it is unique."
"Sure," Joey agreed with a roll of his eyes. "It's certainly unique."
That was the point when another fenced in clearing finally came into view, signalling that it was time for a lunch break. Good, because Happiny was starting to get more and more fussy. It was time for her milkiny.
Joey cringed and was happy he'd made that horrible joke in the privacy of his own mind.
Otherwise, he'd probably never live it down.
-/-
There was nothing inherently dangerous about Viridian Forest when you stuck to the main path. After all, it was a forest mostly traversed by 0-badge trainers, containing primarily bug-type Pokemon, Rattata and Pidgey. The occasional Pikachu.
As if that wasn't enough, Viridian Forest and Mt. Moon were some of the most heavily patrolled and regulated parts of Kanto. The rangers did good work. Joey didn't know what he would have encountered had he gone off-trail, but the main path was something that he could imagine a normal 12-year-old with just one Pokemon traversing with relative ease. Their biggest problem would likely be failing to bring enough food or screwing up in setting up the tent.
The occasional poisoning happened, but the huts along the way were stocked up with antidotes for exactly this reason. You'd survive even if you failed to read ahead and bring any.
In the worst-case scenario, a distress signal would summon a ranger on a Pidgeot to come crashing down to your location in a rescue operation within the minute.
The trainer's journey, for all that it was supposed to prove independence and be a ritual of growth, was a heavily curated and guided experience. Sanitised, almost. If you stuck to the main roads, of course.
That made sense, of course; if that wasn't the case, it would be hard to justify sending literal children to do it.
Regardless, on their third evening in the forest, Team Persist, or Team JeJo, depending on who you asked, finally saw the signs telling them that they were slowly exiting the forest.
The forest was growing sparse, and the number of curious bug Pokemon Misdreavus had to hypnotise had let down. In addition to that, there were literal signs along the way saying that they were now "Exiting Viridian forest" and "Pewter one hour ahead."
"I need a shower," Jessie complained sullenly. She'd been stuck washing herself with a bucket of water from Joey's spatial water storage device. The long two and a half day hike hadn't helped either, making them both sweaty and tired.
Joey had to admit that Happiny was a champ for pushing through despite being a literal baby. Although to be fair, she'd been carried the whole way. Additionally, being born three days ago meant that every new environment, new Pokemon, or even a falling leaf in one case, were a fascinating new sensory experience.
"We can register you for a trainer license at the Pokecentre, then your stay is free. They have hot showers," Joey muttered, before frowning as he saw a large green crescent sitting on the side of the road.
It was taller than he was and vaguely resembled a Metapod. But… Metapod couldn't get that big, right? How large would the Butterfree be if it evolved from such a large Metapod? Even Joey's Metapod, who'd had her evolution delayed for almost a year now, only reached up to his navel.
As they cautiously approached the weird Pokemon it suddenly grew by another few feet, almost alarming Misdreavus into hypnotising it.
"Don't, Misdreavus!" Joey shouted cautiously as he saw two jeans-clad human legs extend from the bottom of what he now realised was a Metapod costume.
The Metapod Mascot stepped forward to block the path of the dynamic duo.
Joey had refused all battles on their way through Viridian Forest, but this was just weird enough to catch his attention. He called back Misdraevus to his side and narrowed his eyes at the person blocking their path.
"Hark ye, fellow man of culture," a human voice resounded from the Metapod costume.
Joey could now see that there was a small slit through which a pair of eyes were looking at him. Something niggled at the back of his mind.
"Fellow man of culture?" Joey asked.
"It not be ye who also walketh the harshest path, the most glorious path?" the man asked.
Joey sweat-dropped. "Don't tell me…"
"It is I, MetapodMasterRace (Verified Trainer)," the man finally introduced himself. "Long have I analysed thy battles and much have I learned. But now we must battle and determine who is the true Metapod Maestro." A fist enclosing an enlarged Pokeball suddenly punched through the side of the mascot costume. "1v1". Another hand burst out from the other side of the costume, this time holding a Pokenav.
A challenge request pinged on Joey's device, and he raised it to see the request. No wager, on the spot where the Pokedollars would usually indicate an amount, Metapodman had simply written 'honour.'
Joey's eyebrow twitched when he saw that the guy had zero badges.
Seemingly noticing Joey's opinion dropping, Ben raised his hands to defend himself. "Hey, bug-type moves aren't very effective against rock, it's been hard, ok," he muttered defensively, dropping his weird dialect.
"Just go to Celadon then," Joey murmured.
Metapodman hmmphed. "Are we battling or not?"
Joey rolled his eyes and accepted the request. The sun was setting, but they were only an hour away from Pewter. He could do at least one battle in Viridian Forest before returning to the gym. Also, this was too weird to pass up on. Who knew, maybe he'd even learn something.
The countdown started blaring from the Pokenav, and Metapodman suddenly jumped back, doing a triple handstand backflip until he landed a great distance away from Joey.
"Isn't that a bit far away for a battle?" Jessie whispered next to Joey.
"I have no idea what's going on, to be honest," Joey admitted as he clutched Metapod's Pokeball in his hand.
When the countdown reached zero, both trainers threw their Pokeballs high into the air.
Joey's Metapod was large for her species. Almost double the size, in fact.
Metapodman's Metapod dwarfed her by a magnitude of five.
Joey blankly looked up at the gigantic monstrosity. It was as tall as a truck, and almost as wide. He couldn't even begin to guess how it was managing to balance on the top of its crescent. Two large eyes blinked at him.
"I've had Gigantus for ten years," Metapodman said coldly. "In that time, we've deepened our bond more than you can imagine. Faced challenges harsher than you could conceive. If you want my crown, you'll have to take it from my cold, dead body," he said dramatically. "Metapodrically, of course."
"Did he just…" Jessied muttered behind Joey, but the battle had already started.
"Iron Defence," Joey ordered coldly.
"Gigantus, show them what a real Iron Defence looks like!" Ben shouted immediately after.
Both Metapod gleamed metallicly under the setting sun. However, Gigantus gleamed more brightly. Joey could tell with a glance that it had absolutely mastered the move.
An Iron Defence battle wouldn't work out in his favour, then, his opponent's defence would gradually outpace theirs.
"Change of tactics, reel in and Bug Bite," Joey ordered. Even if the Gigantus had once known how to move with String Shot, it likely couldn't anymore due to being too large.
Just as his Metapod attached its String Shot to the giant's torso and reeled herself forward, Joey's eyes widened as the opposing Metapod opened its mouth, still gleaming, and spat out its own String Shot.
But, rather than a String Shot, it was a wide net, each segment as thick as a finger. Metapod was unceremoniously captured midair.
Gigantus was still gleaming. Iron Defence was still being activated.
Joey suddenly realised that he'd underestimated Metapodman. He'd been a trainer for ten years, during that time, focusing on only one Pokemon. He'd reached a level usually reserved for Elites, even if only with one Pokemon and potentially only with one move.
Once you absolutely mastered a move, like Gigantus obviously had with Iron Defence, you could activate another move at the same time if your mastery of it was also very high.
Metapod was suddenly reeled in towards Gigantus' mouth with a snap. The fastest reel-in Joey had ever seen.
But still, there was something he could do to defend himself.
"Electroweb," he ordered calmly as Metapod approached Gigantus' mouth, which was thankfully not big enough to swallow Metapod whole.
Metapod suddenly lit up with electric energy.
Gigantus, however, completed a manoeuvre that left Joey absolutely stunned.
"Drop and catch!" Metapodman shouted.
At the order, Gigantus detached the String Shot from its mouth, letting Metapod hover in the air in solitude for a second, letting it waste its relatively weak electricity, before suddenly shooting out a second String Shot to connect to the cocooned Metapod and start the reeling in process again.
They'd been too close for Metapod to recover enough to use another Electroweb. Rather than them going in for a Bug Bite, it was Gigantus who landed the first Bug Bite on Metapod. Its mouth gleamed with yellowish green energy and smashed down ruthlessly on Metapod.
Joey still had something he could do, but this battle was getting ridiculous. "Poison it!" He shouted.
He saw Gigantus recoil as Metapod did as ordered, spitting toxin down its throat, one danger of bringing someone to your mouth.
Metapodman remained undisturbed. "Spit it right back up!" he shouted.
Gigantus reeled back, as if gathering a loogie of epic proportions, Metapod still in its mouth, trying to bite through the string incapacitating it.
A second later, Metapod was shot out, as if from a cannon, from Metapod's mouth by a bright purple ball of string the size of a basketball.
Metapod and the ball traversed the airspace in a second before crashing into the ground in front of Joey. Upon impact, the impromptu Toxic Thread basketball splattered across Metapod and stuck it firmly to the ground.
Gigantus gleamed, for once not metallically, but purple. Then, a second later, the purple colour disappeared and was once again replaced by Iron Defence.
"Fool, do you think nobody has tried that before?" Metapodman called from the other side of the field. "Gigantus' Shed Skin has reached a level beyond legendary. Status effects have no effect on him at all!" He then punched his arm in the air. "Gigantus, finish it. Hyper String Lance."
"Bite through the string and reel out," Joey said to Metapod, who was struggling in her position, stuck to the ground.
Gigantus meanwhile reeled back again, seemingly collecting something in its mouth.
Metapod desperately bit through layer and layer of string. But it was too late.
A hardened lance of String Shot shot out of Gigantus' mouth and almost broke the sound barrier, heading for Metapod.
Joey just had the time to shout his next command. "Iron Defence!"
The lance hit Metapod.
A loud bang shattered the peace of the forest, completely leaving behind a deadly silence.
Joey looked down at his Metapod with wide eyes.
His girl was knocked out.
Gigantus looked barely winded.
Numbly recalling Metapod Joey could only listen to the ping of his Pokenav signalling his defeat.
"Holy shit," Jessie muttered.
Metapodman recalled Gigantus and approached Joey while holding out a hand.
Joey numbly extended his hand for a handshake.
The thoughts running through his mind were diverse. Where am I? When am I? Who am I?
"You have a lot to learn," Metapodman said in a firm voice. "But I believe you have potential. If you ever want to help Metapod unlock her full power… You know where to find me." He turned around dramatically towards the forest. "This lonely path of mine. Perhaps it will not be so lonely much longer," he said in a low voice before sprinting off with his arms trailing behind him in the air and quickly disappearing behind the bushes and trees of Viridian Forest.
Joey numbly started walking again, as if in a trance, across the hole in the ground caused by the Hyper String Lance and towards Pewter.
Jessie followed silently behind him for a few minutes before commenting. "People would pay to see that battle."
"I got my ass beat, I wouldn't post that shit even if I had recorded it," Joey muttered.
"Is it that hard to get the first badge?" Jessie asked curiously, likely referring to how Joey had four, but Metapodman had kicked his ass while having zero.
"Flint isn't the best choice for a bug-trainer. Onix just digs him to death," Joey quickly analysed. "It's hard to defend an underground opponent with a Metapod."
"What a weird battle," Jessie continued, carrying Happiny with one hand and tapping her chin with the pointer finger of another.
Joey suddenly stopped in his tracks and gave her a confused look.
"What battle?" he asked.
-/-
Joey jealously watched as nurse Joy happily and quickly registered Jessie as a trainer.
No tests, no questions, just a quick read of the personal ID and the certificate of having finished nursing school and the process was done.
No suspicion, no nothing. Five minutes.
It seemed that it was quite common for graduates of the nursing school to complete a one-year journey with their Happiny or Chansey after getting their diploma.
After getting Jessie's license, collecting her first-year trainer stipend and checking in Metapod and themselves into a double bedroom, the two went to eat lunch in the cafeteria.
They were serving a good curry, and Joey filled up his plate to the brim while also taking three boiled eggs.
Jessie ate half as much as he did, saying she needed to take care of her figure.
Happiny guzzled her Moomoo Milk.
"So what now?" Jessie asked after they'd ravenously finished their meals. It was good to finally eat something that they hadn't had to cook themselves.
"We could go check out the gym. It's possible that they're still open," Joey commented. The sun was down, but it was only 7 pm. During the season, gym leaders usually worked a lot depending on their position in the traditional challenge chain. Pewter was probably swamped in the first three months, requiring long work hours, before having a more relaxed schedule for the next seven months. The opposite for Viridian, although Viridian Gym likely benefited from the fact that most trainers never went beyond three badges.
"You have to schedule a battle, right?" Jessie asked before shaking her head as Joey stood up. "You go on your own. I'll put Happiny to rest." She frowned. "I'm tired as well. I've never walked this much in my life." She sighed. "I hope my leg muscles don't become too big."
Joey rolled his eyes. "Stay away from steroids and you won't have to worry about that," he muttered quietly before heading off with a wave over his shoulder.
As he'd thought, Pewter was a city that was slowly filling up with arriving trainers. The streets weren't bursting yet as the season had only started three days ago, but it would likely become unbearable by next week.
He just hoped they could leave by then.
In comparison, Cinnabar and Fuschia would be relatively abandoned when he finally arrived there due to the timing. Although with Blaine taking over the gym leadership position on the volcano island, the gym would probably soar in popularity.
Hadn't the old man hidden his gym due to receiving too many trainers in the anime?
Joey suddenly heard a wild cheer and looked up. His feet had carried him towards the Pewter gym, which was just like he'd imagined it. A building that looked like a large brown rock with sliding doors in the front.
There seemed to be quite an audience gathered inside, going by the sounds. Joey cracked his neck as he entered, eyebrow twitching as he saw the queue of trainers in front of the reception desk.
He saw through another glass door leading to the stands that the arena was completely full. Pewter citizens and visiting trainers filled the stands to the brim, excitedly watching a Geodude deliver the beatdown of a lifetime on a Sandshrew.
Thankfully, the queue moved efficiently, and Joey quickly found himself standing in front of the desk looking at a younger version of Brock, who seemed to be about his age. Brown t-shirt, beige pants, squinted eyes. He was typing on a keyboard with one hand while cradling a baby in the other.
Joey winced. The kid looked tired to all hells, but despite that, a smile effortlessly found its way onto the boy's face as he looked up at Joey.
"First badge?" he asked.
"Fifth," Joey responded and pushed forward his trainer ID.
Brock's eyes widened before he grinned. "We don't get enough exciting matches around here," he said as he took the ID and started inputting the registration number into his system. "Dad keeps complaining that he's not getting challenged enough. We keep a few prime slots for exactly this reason. How about tomorrow at 8 pm? Last battle of the day, crazy crowd?"
Joey nodded in satisfaction; it seemed he wouldn't have to spend as much time in Pewter as he'd feared.
Nothing of interest had happened in the Viridian forest. A completely boring journey of no significance. A gym battle sounded like just the right thing to get his blood pumping.
"Do it," Joey said. "And tell your dad to bring his diaper."
He'd never liked Flint. It was hard for anyone who'd watched the anime even once to have a good opinion on the man.
Well, it just so happened that Joey had some frustration to shake off, and he had an absolutely pent-up Rattata raring to go along with it.
Brock seemed stunned that the trash talk was already happening now, but nodded regardless.
"See you tomorrow at 8 pm then, Mr. Joestar," he said in a less friendly voice.
Joey didn't care and left.
He wasn't here to make friends.
He was here to destroy an old man's ambitions once and for all.
-/-
AN: I'm not here to make friends, buddy. I'm not your buddy, pal. I'm not your pal, friend. I'm not your friend, buddy. Read ahead up to 12 chapters on P- atreon (around 50k words)
Themes and such.