Step 2: Hawker (Patreon)

Step 2: Hawker

Conventional wisdom states that the start of anyone’s journey involves going to the nearest gym, catching a couple of Pokémon with a type advantage, and subsequently earning your first badge. 

According to that, I was entirely devoid of wisdom.

Moving forward from Cherrygrove, I had entirely bypassed the Violet City gym and parked my camping gear squarely in the middle of route 36.

What was on this route that attracted me to it? Absolutely nothing. 

But it was uniquely positioned between three major towns, Violet, Ecruteak, and Goldenrod city. It was in close proximity to the Ruins of Alph, National Park, Dark Cave, and Mt. Mortar wasn’t far off, either. 

Route 36 was a prime spot for a bazaar, the likes of which Johto hadn’t seen since Goldenrod itself - and I was about to exploit it for all its worth.

My tent was pitched up a little ways away from a body of freshwater, a small fire built in a pit, ready for me to get started on dinner. 

Baloo, my Teddiursa, was piddling at my feet, playing with the ground gem I’d made into a medallion. 

“Come one, come all! Move-tutor in training prepared to help you Pound local gym trainers to the dirt!” I touted my new trade to any passersby. “Don’t have a Heart Scale? No problem! We can barter for other items, or even cash!”

I’d been at this for a week and a half, and needless to say, progress had been slow. But not non-existent. Opening my berry box, I pulled a ripe shuca berry and handed it down to Baloo the Teddiursa, who happily glomped the sweet-spicy fruit. My exchange for teaching a youngster’s Rattata iron tail without resorting to an expensive technical machine.

“Easy, Baloo. I’ve only got a handful more of those.” Shuca berries were used in the games to reduce damage taken from a ground type attack. 

The end goal of Baloo’s training was to turn it into an Ursaluna; hence, growing its ground type affinity was of paramount importance. I’d be using items, berries, as well as anything and everything else to optimize that growth. The same would also go for stats. 

“You just braggin’? Or can you make good on what yer advertisin’?” 

I sprang to attention as a scruffy-looking teenager approached me. “I assure you dear customer, I don’t have the prankster ability.”

She firmly planted a fist on her hip while she eyed me speculatively. Being a pretty brunette with that tomboy charm, I, of course, returned the favour. She was likely two or three years my senior, given her height and general state of development. She wore sports shorts over a pair of dark, mud-stained stockings; a slightly tattered sweatshirt and backpack finished her ensemble. 

Eventually, she sighed and relaxed her posture. “Well, I guess it’s better takin’ a shot with you rather’n flounderin’ around like a beached Magikarp.” 

“Think no further!” Seriously, please don’t. I need the work. I whipped out my Pokedex and watched as her eyes widened in shock. “I’m sponsored. That alone should let you know I’m not full of it.”

“Well, I’ll be.” She scratched the top of her scalp. “You might be worth my time after all.”

“Great! Then let’s get down to business, shall we? What can I help you with?” 

“It’s like this; I’m just startin’ out on my league and it seems I’ve already hit a snag on my first gym.” She unclipped her two Pokeballs from her waist and tossed them out. A Zubat and a Bellsprout. 

The Zubat immediately flew around and perched itself on the trainer’s shoulder. The Bellsprout, however, found Baloo obliviously savouring his berry far more interesting and inched its way over. “Falkner’s my target and Zubi is my only option to defeat him.”

“First stage grass types aren’t going to be able to stand up against competently trained flying types. I’m guessing he blows any powder moves Bellsprout has back at it?” 

“Ya got it. Plus, I just picked Belly up not too long ago so I haven’t really had the time to train ‘im up just yet.” Given that Bellsprout was getting increasingly frustrated as Baloo casually batted away the vines from reaching the berry, I was inclined to believe her. “Zubi is my starter’n I trained her to be fast.” She whistled and Zubat immediately took off, and at an incredibly decent pace, too. “She ain’t got no problem with that fat little Pidgey o’ his, but the Pidgeotto keeps pace far better.”

“I’m guessing he just kites you with flying type special moves?”

“Pretty much.” She smiled as she said it, probably because Baloo relented and handed over the last bits of the shuca berry over to her Bellsprout. “Don’t help none that my Zubi ain’t got the physical power to put a dent in that porky pigeon.” 

It was probably bad for business to ask the obvious question, but I couldn’t help myself. “Think about picking up a Geodude or Mareep? They’re pretty readily available around here.”

She scoffed at the suggestion. “Wouldn’t be able to call myself a poison type specialist if I did.” 

“Fair enough. Why don’t you tell me what we have to work with; moveset?” I dropped my enquiry and made the wise decision to get to work.

“Standard fair for the species.” She shrugged, “been more focused on her stats than moves.”

I scanned the Zubat with my dex to get an accurate reading. Absorb, Supersonic, Poison Sting, Bite, Leech Life, and Wing Attack. “You weren’t kidding.” Not much, but I already had a good idea of what to do. 

“That’s why I came up to you, ain’t it? Never did get your name by the by.”

“Oh! It’s clear I’ve forgotten my manners. I’m Uki’Uki - just Uki is fine.” I extended my hand for a shake. She immediately clasped it and returned.

“No biggie, I barely remembered mine either. Call me Ivy. Strange name. You ain’t from ‘round here, are ya?”

“My family’s from Alola.” I explained.

“Alrighty then. So, what’s the verdict? Think ya can help me out?”

I crossed my arms and nodded sagely. “I’m confident that I can teach your Zubat a move that not only will damage the other ‘mon, but will also debuff its attack capacity.”

She whistled in appreciation. “Move like that can’t come cheap. I don’t think I can affor-“ 

“2000 pokedollars. Less if you trade a few items I’m looking for.” I interrupted her.

“... Yer yankin’ my tail.” 

“Watchog’s honour.” I reassured her. “My name’s too fresh to charge normal move tutor prices.”

“What kinda stuff’re we talkin’ about here? Other’n the clothes on my back, I ain’t got much.” 

I relaxed a little at that. She was hooked, now all we needed to do was to agree on a price. “Nothing fancy, rare, or expensive - so you don’t gotta worry there. I’m mostly looking for uncommon berries, type gems, and even apricorns. I’ll give you a fair discount for each of those you can provide.”

“Oh! F’real? I got me some of those kickin’ round in my knapsack. How much are we talkin’?”

“I’ll Knock Off 50 poké for each apricorn, and 100 poké for each type gem. Berries vary.” I explained my pricing structure.

Ivy hurriedly shucked off her bag, kneeled down and rummaged through. Before long, there was a small pile of assorted items for me to peruse through. “You got yerself a deal! Take yer pick of the loot and lemme know the damage.”

She had three gem type stones I wanted immediately; a burgundy coloured fighting gem, an orange fire type gem, and lastly a brown rock gem. She had a handful of apricorns, a red, and two of yellow and blue each. The berries were mostly a bust, nothing beyond a couple of oran, pecha, and cheri berries. “I’ll take the gems and apris off your hands. That’ll take 550 poké off my asking price, so you only owe me 1450 poké total. Sound good?” 

“Like Heal Bell to my ears!” She fisted a hastily counted roll of bills and stuffed them into my hands after I had taken my collected items. 

I straightened out the crumpled notes, arranged them by denomination, rolled them up and put them away in my pocket. 

“Well, now that that’s outta the way,” she said while dusting her hands in satisfaction, “What’s the move for my Zubi?”

I packed up my storefront - by which I meant I just walked away from my spot and ushered us over to my campsite. Baloo rushed to his feet and trotted alongside me while my most recent customer followed alongside. “Snarl.”

“Huh….” She thought about it for a moment, “that’ll work… yea, that’ll work real good. I’ll teach that birdbrain what kitin’ really is. By the end, those little gusts of his Pidgeotto won’t be able to put out a candle!” She psyched herself up. She hopped over to me and slung her arm around my shoulder. “I’d ask how yer gonna teach it, but I doubt ya’d tell me yer little secrets.”

I shrugged. “I can tell you if you want.” I continued walking ahead, but her arm fell away. I pointed to a spot a few feet from my tent. “This’ll take me at least a night or two, so you can pitch up here.” 

She suddenly grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Ya shouldn’t do that! Don’t tell none yer tricks; how’re ya gonna feed yerself if everyone knows how ya do what ya do?” 

She was really quite emphatic on her alarm, erroneously assuming I was a naïve child throwing away his advantage. I laughed and gently patted her arms to get her to stop her localized Earthquake. “Just cuz you’ve got the seeds, doesn’t mean you can grow the crop.” Was my attempt at farm humour.

She gaped, and then suddenly laughed. “I should take ya to see my pa! He’d love that line!”

“A bit early for a proposal, don’t you think? We’ve only just met five minutes ago.” 

“Don’t be teasin’ me. C’mon slick, I’m all ears.”

We began putting up her tent as I discussed my theories on Pokémon training. “I consider four aspects important when teaching a Pokémon any move; their natural aura affinity, aka typing. Their physiology, their natural habitat, and their diet.” This wasn’t entirely true, it was actually even simpler - I only cared about their physiology and aura exposure. The three parameters were just an easy way of explaining my reasoning without straying into mad scientist territory.

“That sounds a whole lot easier’n I was expectin’. Although I don’t figure how diet works into it.” She mulled.

I nodded, “you’re right. In theory, it’s nothing so complicated. In fact, I’m sure there're loads of trainers out there who’ve already figured this out. But it usually takes them time and experience on the circuit you don’t have yet.” 

Even my specific brand of aura exposure training, I’m sure, has been figured out by some hidden masters somewhere. It’s why there are Rhydons and Pikachus out there that know Surf. “As for diet, let’s take your Zubat as an example. After knowing my thought process, how do you think it applies to the moves she already knows?”

“Hmm…. Well, Zubi’s got Poison Sting cuz she’s poison type, and she’s also flyin’ type, so Wing Attack.” She began working through the problem.

“Don’t forget, it’s also because Zubats have wings, otherwise they might’ve been able to use Peck if it was just typing that mattered.”

“So then it can learn Bite cuz it’s got fangs…. And because they’re usually found in dark places or at night?” She correctly guessed.

“Precisely! Zubats learn Supersonic for similair reasons. They have strong vocal chords necessary for echolocation and night hunting.”

“Alright, slick. I get typing, body parts, and habitat. Still don’t explain diet, though.”

“Doesn’t it? Wouldn’t Absorb and Leech Life do it?”

“The Zubat line’s got the power to intake aura as life energy.” She shrugged, “what about it?”

“Sure, but why those two moves specifically?” I pressed. “Why not Roost from the get go? Why a bug type and grass type move? Diet!”

“I dunno….” She remained unsure.

“Ok. What’s Zubat normally eat?” I asked.

“I make her pokéblocks.”

“In the wild, I mean. Left to itself, what does Zubat hunt?”

She took off her cap and scratched her head. “I caught her in Ilex Forest, so bugs mostly. She likes Weedles more’n any other, but she looks out for Paras here and there too - oh!” And it finally clicked. 

“Bug poison, and bug grass coupled with its physiology….”

“Absorb and Leech Life. Well, if I ain’t a Mankey’s uncle.”

Ivy finished settling her tent as I gauged how much sunlight we had left. I gazed up and squinted.

“We’ve got around three hours of light before we can start training.” I called out to her. “I’m thinking of dinner first.”

She popped her head out. “Don’t ‘spect much from me unless you like burnt poffins.”

I waved her off. “I’ve got it covered. Don’t worry about it.”

“Much obliged!” She exclaimed and disappeared back inside.

“C’mon Baloo, let’s get cooking.” 

Though this world and the games shared a host of similarities, there were glaring differences. Mostly to do with limits. In the games you were relegated to the rules that were coded in, yet in this reality, it was apparent those constraints didn’t exist to such a degree. 

IVs and natures weren’t a thing. A Pokémon’s potential wasn’t determined by a set of arbitrary RNG values. 

Base stats did exist, and are carefully catalogued in the dex, however they displayed a Pokémon species’ observed rate of growth for a specific stat rather than the maximum potential for it.

EVs, in a way, were the most important stat qualifiers. These were the most observable qualities a Pokémon could exhibit - though in a fairly roundabout way; usually through measuring attack power, attack resistance, and agility through physical tests, rather than a set of numbers. But unlike the games, EVs weren’t capped to 252 points per stat or 508 points in total. EVs could theoretically go on forever. 

What all this babble amounts to is that any trainer is free to develop any Pokémon any way they wish to, without worrying about meta builds or game limits. 

So technically, if I was so inclined, I could turn a lumbering Pokémon like Avalugg into a speed demon like Eiscue. It would just take an inordinate, and likely prohibitive, amount of time, effort, and resources that would likely be better spent elsewhere. All of which, if I invested in an inherently speedy species like Eiscue, would push it much, much further than Avalugg.

In theory, every Pokémon was a pseudo-legendary. Ash’s Pikachu, in this realm, made perfect sense. 

Legendaries; true Legendaries were in an entirely different realm of their own.

They were each and all the very forces of nature created by Arceus to control the laws of this universe. The few that trainers have caught and trained were actually descendants the real legendaries had with compatible Pokémon - they were just exceedingly rare and unbreedable hybrids. Sort of like mules and ligers. 

Why did this matter when dinner was concerned? Because even a meal was a valuable opportunity to EV train - not to mention develop aura affinities.

It was time to make my ‘Bulky Barboach Boat Noodle.’