Route 1 and Viridian City

It's 8:00 am. I finished breakfast and said my goodbyes to my Mom, I finally made my way to Route 1 on my way to Viridian City. Vivian is currently walking beside me and is enjoying walking next to me.

"Okay, Viv, this route will lead us straight to Viridian City. After that, we'll hit up Route 22, do a little training, capture some more Pokémon, and head onto Pewter City," I told Vivian.

"Eevee!" Vivian replied. I knew from experience that the walk to Viridian City should take me about an hour and a half to two hours to get to Viridian City from Pallet Town. I left about 8:30 am after having breakfast with Mom one last time, so with any luck I will get to Viridian by lunchtime, then we can get to Route 22. We did run into a few wild Pokémon, such as Pidgey, Oddish, and Bellsprout, but I chose not to capture any of them. None of them were Pokémon I wanted to raise, but they're good for my Pokémon to gain experience.

"Hey, kid!" I heard someone shout at me. I looked around and saw a guy about my age, "I challenge you to a battle!"

"Really kid? You look like you don't have that much experience in battle actual trainers," I said.

"I'm going to make sure that you pay for that. This will be a 1 vs 1. Let's go, Rattata!" he said throwing out his Pokéball calling his Rattata.

I sighed, "Alright. Just be prepared to give me your money. Let's do this Vivian!" I shouted.

"Eevee!" Vivian cried out moving to face Rattata.

"Vivian tackle!" I commanded. Vivian charged at Rattata.

"Dodge it, Rattata!" the kid commanded. Rattata barely dodged out of the way of Vivian's attack, "Now use your tackle attack!" Rattata charged and got Vivian with its attack.

"Okay, Vivian. We let this idiot have his free attack. Now, it is time to take him down," I commanded. Vivian understood what I was saying. Vivian charged at the Rattata once again.

"Seriously? That attack didn't work the first time. It's not going to work the second time. Rattata dodge it!" he said, but just as Vivian got close I gave a new command.

"Hyper Voice!" I shouted. Vivian stopped, inhaled some air, and shouted at point-blank range. The Rattata did not stand a chance and immediately fainted.

"Hey! No fair! Eevee can't learn Hyper voice!" the kid complained.

"You're right. Eevees can't learn it naturally, but through a TM, it is possible. Take this as a lesson kid. Always prepare to take on the peak of a Pokémon. Now, my reward please," I said. The kid was unhappy but transferred the funds to me and left to sulk somewhere, "Nicely done, Viv. Looks like all that prep we did last night has paid off and you got your first victory."

"Eevee!" Vivian replied. Without any other distractions, we continued our way to Viridian City.

We finally got to Viridian City about 10:30 am. Our first stop was to stop by the Pokémon Center. The main reason is to register for the Pokémon League. I spoke to Nurse Joy and got registered for the League, I figured it was time for lunch. I headed to the cafeteria and grabbed food and berries for my Pokémon. As we were eating, I heard a group of three trainers talking.

"The Viridian Gym is closed," said one trainer.

"Again? This is the fifth time this month, the League should step in and do something about these closures," the second trainer said.

"Whoever that Gym Leader is must have some deep pockets to stay within the League to have this many gym closures," the third trainer said.

"Yeah, but now we need to find another gym to take on to get their badges," the first trainer said.

Looks like the rumors were true. On some of the Pokémon forums, people were complaining about the Viridian Gym. I didn't want to believe it, but hearing it from trainers who just checked it out confirmed my plans. I would either get lucky with the gym open, or I would need to find another gym to get all the badges I need for the League.

Regardless, after we were done with lunch I headed over to the Pokémart for some supplies. I grabbed a couple of potions and five Pokéballs.

"Excuse me, are you from Pallet Town?" the guy behind the counter asked. I nodded yes, "I have a package for Professor Oak. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you to Pallet Town and deliver this package for me?"

"May I ask why?" I asked.

"I would have asked my courier to deliver for me, but he has called in sick and I need this package to get to the Professor today, and if you do that I'll give you the money that I would have given to the courier for the job, deal?" he asked.

-Outskirts of Pallet Town-

As I was walking back down Route 1, Vivian was glaring at me.

"Don't give me that look, Viv," I said.

"Vee, vee, Eevee," she annoyingly said.

"Look I know you're annoyed. I'm also a little mad about this situation, but it's better to be on the Pokémart's good side than their bad side," I stated. Vivian didn't seem to understand, "All of these Pokémarts are connected. I have read stories from the forums about trainers getting on their bad sides and getting banned from one of these stores and they get banned from all of the stores. It's worse in the regions where the Pokémarts and Pokémon Centers are in the same building, meaning no access to free healing for their Pokémon or a free safe place to rest."

Without access to Pokémon Centers, a trainer's life becomes very expensive and dangerous. The Centers offer free healing and bedrooms for trainers, and I don't want to deal with that. Even though I did have a large amount of money in my accounts thanks to my Dad's company, I wanted to use that money on something other than a place to sleep.

"Hey Professor, I got a package for you!" I shouted as I entered the lab.

"Lucas and Vivian? This is a surprise. I wasn't expecting you back so soon and with a package," Professor Oak said.

"Yeah, the Pokémart couldn't get their courier to deliver it, so they asked me to deliver this package to you," I said.

"Well, I'm happy to see you again and to receive this package, but Lucas you need to be a little selfish at times," he said.

"I know, but it's my nature to help others, and I don't want to be banned from the stores," I said.

"I guess that is fair," he said opening up the package and confirming its contents before moving it back to his desk, "There is one thing I would like to share with you."

"What's that Professor?" I asked.

"I've heard that my grandson is currently on Route 22 training up his Pokémon. I think he is planning on challenging you once more," he said.

"I welcome the challenge, but it will be a repeat of yesterday with his defeat and him running off somewhere," I said.

"I figured he lost to you yesterday. He came in here demanding that I heal his Pokémon without explanation, and he ran off after I was done healing his Pokémon. Anyway, just be careful out there. You two aren't little kids anymore, and he could be planning something," he said.

"Thanks for the warning, Professor. I'll be careful and if he does something, I'll put Gary back into his place," I said.

After that, we said our goodbyes and returned to Viridian City. It was about 3:45 pm when I arrived in Viridian City again. Well, this day has been wasted. So, I just called it a day and got a room at the Pokémon Center. I decided to text Amber.

"How are you doing?" L

"Doing good. I'm in the Viridian Forest right now. There are plenty of Bug catchers here, but Fuecoco is making it easy to deal with them. How about you?" A

"I have to travel back to Pallet to deliver a package for Professor from the Pokémart." L

"Don't they have couriers for that?" A

"Yeah, but for whatever reason they could not contact them. Don't want to get banned by the stores." L

"Rough. Hope you can catch up." A

"Don't worry. I have it all planned out, and I will catch you." L

"Bring it on!" A

Author's Notes: Hey Readers, Delta here. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. As you know from reading the story, Lucas' team consists of a Charmander, Sprigatito, and an Eevee, but for you Pokémon players out there, here is a closer view of the team.

Charmander (Cinder): Lvl: 7 EVs: +252 Sp. Atk, +252 Speed, +4 HP, Timid nature, 0 Atk IVs, moves as of now: Sunny Day, Weather Ball, Scratch, Ember.

Eevee (Vivian): Lvl: 7 EVs: +252 Sp. Atk, +252 Speed, +4 HP, Modest nature, moves as of now: Tackle, Hyper Voice, Alluring Voice, Shadow Ball.

Sprigatito (Sage): Lvl: 6 EVs: +252 Atk, +252 Speed, +4 HP, Jolly nature, moves as of now: U-turn, Scratch, Leafage, Tail Whip

Now a question for all of you, which Pokémon do you think Lucas will add to this team?