Pokemon - To Catch Them All - Exploring and Catching

Story by soni050 on SoFurry

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#12 of Pokemon - To Catch Them All

Leo explores Routes 16, 17 and 18, catching several Pokemon along the way


After restoring my fossils, I knew I needed to head over to Saffron City, where the next gym was located, after all Cinnabar Islands gym was currently closed. "Charizard come on out!" Charizard appeared roaring, breathing flames into the air. "Charizard, can you fly me to Route 8 please?" At that Charizard lowered himself to the ground and gestured for me to climb aboard. Slowly I climbed on Charizard and he gently hovered in the air, to help me get used to the feeling of flying. Eventually I felt comfortable enough and Charizard slowly flew away to Route 8.

Since this was the first time I've ever flown on a Pokemon, I was shocked at the feeling. Flying felt like you were free as a bird, I guess that's the appeal. Charizard continually looked upwards at me, checking to see whether I was still feeling good. Every time I reassured Charizard and so he continued onwards. While flying I was surprised when we were challenged to battles by wild Pidgeotto's and even the occasional Pidgeot. However, Charizard defeated them with Flamethrower forcing the attacking Pokemon to retreat to avoid being burned.

The flight soon ended, when Charizard landed on the familiar Route 8 and I thanked him extensively, Charizard however, wanted to continue flying me around the entire region, he enjoyed it after all. If Charizard had his way, he would have just kept me in the air and continued showing me the sights of the region. I returned Charizard and headed west through to Saffron City, where I healed Charizard up so his stamina would be healed after the long flight here. Before challenging the gym, I wanted to explore the routes that were around the city to ensure I hadn't missed anything previously.

Route 5, I had already thoroughly explored and captured every Pokemon, the same was true for Route 6, Route 8 was where I had come from. When I went through to Route 7, I quickly checked the area and was surprised to see a Porygon floating aimlessly around. I knew that Porygon had been created artificially by people, some even believed that Porygon would reach space one day. Though to my knowledge none have ever breached the atmosphere before. I shook my head, annoyed at myself for losing focus and chose one of my newest partners to battle. "I need your help Kabuto!" Kabuto appeared looking interested in his surroundings and breathing in the new sights and sounds. This was when he realised he was in a battle and felt a strange feeling swell up inside him. Was it confidence or nervousness he wasn't sure.

"Rotom what moves does Kabuto know?" I asked Rotom and it replied, "Kabuto knows the moves, Mud Shot, Ancient Power, Brine and Protect." I thanked Rotom and began the battle against Porygon. "Kabuto use Ancient Power!" Kabuto summoned some rocks that almost looked like fossils and threw them at Porygon. Porygon didn't anticipate the attack and was slammed with the rocks doing some good damage. Porygon shook itself and floated back into the air, not glaring at Kabuto but more wondering what had happened and why. Porygon immediately retaliated by unleashing Thunder Shock.

"Kabuto Protect!" Kabuto created a shield which blocked Thunder Shock. "Kabuto use Brine!" Since Porygon had already taken some damage, Brine was a strong move to use. Seeing that Porygon seemed weaker than before, I threw a Pokeball and watched as it shook, once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. "Porygon has been registered to your Pokedex. Porygon the Virtual Pokemon a Normal Type. In recent years, this species has been very helpful in cyberspace. These Pokemon will go around checking to make sure no suspicious data exists." I released Porygon and healed him up before realising that as an artificial Pokemon, this Porygon seemed to believe me as its automatic master.

I say this because, from the moment it was released from its Pokeball, Porygon immediately awaited commands, he expected commands. I assumed this was because he believed I was his creator or master. I attempted to create a bond between Porygon and myself, by showing that I cared for Porygon just as I would for my other Pokemon as Kabuto tried helping out. It seemed as though Porygon seemed to understand but it still treated me as its master. After that new capture I was now confident I had captured every Pokemon on Route 7 and before I returned to Saffron City, I remembered a Snorlax which previously blocked a route by Celadon City and figuring that some exploration wouldn't hurt I returned to Celadon.

Heading West from Celadon City, I spotted the familiar looking Pokemon blocking the route and grabbed the Poke flute and began to play. The sound quickly awoke the Snorlax who seemed angry at having its sleep interrupted. Couldn't say I blamed the Snorlax, everyone was irritable when their sleep is interrupted. I sent out my own Snorlax, who used Body Slam forcing Snorlax to move out of the way and retreat further down the route. I thanked Snorlax returning him to his Pokeball before I began exploring Route 16.

It didn't take long to find a new Pokemon to catch, that being a Doduo a Normal and Flying type and I sent out my Farfetch'd. "Farfetch'd use Slash on Doduo! Farfetch'd darted towards Doduo, armed with his leek. Doduo panicked its two heads squawking at one another, contemplating on what they needed to do. Eventually they made a decision. Doduo used Uproar and generated a horrendous loud sound, which not only hurt Farfetch'd, it also hurt me as well, as I covered my ears hoping the sound would cease soon. Farfetch'd quickly looked behind him and saw his trainer pain clearly evident on his face.

The sight of seeing his trainer in pain created a feeling of anger and even some fear and so Farfetch'd ignored his own pain and used Slash with a vengeance and struck Doduo. That then caused the shrieking to stop and I could finally uncover my ears. I thanked Farfetch'd immensely, who smiled before he pointed at the weakened Doduo, which reminded me to throw a Pokeball before Doduo recovered. "Pokeball go!" I watched as the Pokeball shook once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. "Doduo has been registered to your Pokedex. Doduo the Twin Bird Pokemon a Normal and Flying Type. Doduo's heads contain completely identical brains. A scientific study reported that on rare occasions, there will be examples of this Pokemon possessing different sets of brains." I quickly healed Farfetch'd and released my newest Pokemon and healed Doduo.

Now that Doduo had been captured, the two heads looked remorseful and used puppy eyes on me as a way of begging for forgiveness. Upon seeing such cuteness I couldn't stay mad at the two headed Pokemon and accepted their apology. To my surprise the two headed Pokemon then wrapped both its heads around me hugging me before they suddenly began arguing about something or other. Using that to my advantage I escaped their grip and looked at Farfetch'd who sighed with a smile on his face.

I returned both of them to their Pokeballs and headed along the route. I did do some training with my new catches though. Porygon had already been proving itself to be quite a powerhouse defeating its opponents with ease, though they were only wild Pokemon, that still showed me Porygon was more than capable of defending itself in battle. Meanwhile, Doduo surprised me after a mere few battles, he suddenly began evolving. "Dodrio has been registered to your Pokedex. Dodrio the Triple Bird Pokemon, a Normal and Flying Type. Apparently, the heads aren't the only parts of the body that Dodrio had three of. It has three sets of hearts and lungs as well, so its capable of running long distances without rest." Some more research revealed that some people believed that each head represented a different emotion. One head represented, joy, the other sadness and the final one represented anger.

My musings were interrupted when three heads tried shoving themselves around me, attempting to get attention from me. If having two heads was difficult enough, then I imagines having three heads would cause me significant trouble as well. I began petting each head the best I could and the heads began squabbling with one another each trying to get more attention than the other. Eventually the three heads settled down and I managed to congratulate them on evolving so quickly after being caught. Realistically that meant they were already close to evolving and would off evolved without my help on their own.

As I continued down the route I was challenged by a Punk who sent out an Onix, whom I countered by sending out Blastoise, whose newly learned Hydro Pump defeated Onix easily. This was followed up with a Muk and I substituted sending out Kadabra, whose Psychic defeated Muk. The next trainer was another Punk who sent out a Arbok and I countered by sending out Mr. Mime whose Psychic defeated the Poison Type. The next Pokemon sent out was a Venusaur and I substituted for my Jynx, whose Ice Beam knocked Fearow out.

The next trainer was a roughneck who challenged me with a Raticate and I sent out my Machoke having him use Vital Throw knocking Raticate out. The next Pokemon sent out was a Rhyhorn and I substituted for my Bellossom whose Giga Drain was super effective. Finally the last Pokemon sent out was a Koffing and I sent out my Hypno, whose Psychic was super effective. Heading south I reached Route 17 and began searching for new Pokemon to catch. I quickly spotted a Ponyta dashing around the route, frolicking around. It seemed rather playful and even approached me.

However, that playfulness soon changed and he showed me a temperamental side, guess he wanted to challenge me to a battle and of course I accepted I wanted to catch him no matter what. "Come on out, Rhyhorn!" Rhyhorn appeared jabbing his horn and clawing the ground as a way of attempting to intimidate Ponyta. However Ponyta remained unfazed even at a type disadvantage and clawed its hooves along the ground returning with its own threat posture. The whole altercation made Rhyhorn grin with confidence and he seemed excited at the prospect of a tough and fun battle.

Before I could even begin, Ponyta attacked first, firing off a Fire Spin which promptly trapped Rhyhorn, but I wasn't fazed and neither was Rhyhorn. "Rhyhorn charge on through that Fire Spin, show them how strong you are!" At that Rhyhorn charged through the Fire Spin, taking hardly any damage, before grinning at Ponyta who seemed slightly concerned but remained calm. "Rhyhorn, now lets show them your moves, use Take Down!" Once more Rhyhorn charged towards Ponyta with unrelenting speed and power, nothing Ponyta did would even faze him. Ponyta however, had one advantage over Rhyhorn and that was speed and furthermore agility. At that last possible moment, Ponyta jumped right over Rhyhorn and as such Rhyhorn was forced to stop shocked at the sudden burst of speed.

"Not bad at all, Rhyhorn use Rock Blast instead!" Since I now knew Ponyta was exceptionally fast, I had Rhyhorn attack repeatedly from a distance, it seemed to be working as Ponyta continued manoeuvring around the incoming rocks and getting distracted ever more. "Rhyhorn once more use Take Down!" Rhyhorn seeing the opportunity that I saw began charging full speed ahead and when Ponyta realised there were no more rocks hurtling his way, he turned confused, before his eyes widened, shock permeating through him. Before he could even attempt to dodge, like he had before, he was struck by a powerful Take Down and was sent plummeting to the ground, trying to stand up but the attack had weakened him enough.

I threw a Pokeball and watched as it shook, once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. "Ponyta has been registered to your Pokedex. Ponyta the Fire Horse Pokemon a Fire Type. If you've been accepted by Ponyta, its burning mane is mysteriously no longer hot to the touch." I thanked Rhyhorn and returned him to his Pokeball before releasing Ponyta to give him some much needed healing. I sprayed him with a potion and he was already bounding around with as much energy as he had before we battled, maybe even more. I congratulated him on giving me such a tough battle and furthermore hoped we would be able to work together to become even stronger in the future. Ponyta seemed to accept this and approached me slowly, seeing if I was concerned.

When I wasn't, Ponyta got close enough and gestured for me, to touch its mane and when I did, I understood what the Pokedex mentioned, the mane of Ponyta was warm, but didn't burn me at all, this then showed me that Ponyta must already trust me. I returned Ponyta before checking my Rotom phone to see what Pokemon lived in the area, other than my new Ponyta. I was surprised to see that on occasion one could find a wild Rapidash somewhere along the route, but I currently had a Ponyta and wasn't really interested in catching one.

What did interest me was the prospect of catching a Eevee, which had been seen around the area, I knew that Eevee were extremely shy Pokemon and rare as well, not easy to find, let alone catch as well. However, I was up for the challenge, but decided some help may be necessary. "I need your help, Ponyta, Pidgeot and Fearow!" I sent out three off my Pokemon for scouting the route. "I need your help to search for this Pokemon, Eevee. They're apparently found on this route, if you find any please let me know." The Pokemon agreed and immediately began communicating with the others.

At that the Pidgeot and Fearow took off and Ponyta charged through the route looking for Eevee, while they searched, I looked around as well, seeing if by chance I would come across one. While looking I did wonder on how many Eevee I should catch for the moment. Eevee had a confirmed number of different evolutions, the current number being, eight. For the moment, I would be able to get a Flareon, Vaporen and Jolteon. With Umbreon and Espeon I'd have to have an extremely strong bond with them to evolve them, one at night the other during the day.

There was Leafeon and Glaceon, however, both evolved into their respective forms when they battled near specific rocks. A mossy rock and icy rock respectively. There was also Sylveon, who evolved based on how affectionate I was with them. Taking everything into consideration, I decided for the moment to catch six Eevee. I would then have a Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon, Umbreon and a Sylveon.

My ponderings were interrupted when Pidgeot flew over to me, squawking at me gesturing for me to follow him. I followed and soon found my first Eevee, it seemed different, confident and with an attitude that's for sure. "Come on out Omanyte!" Omanyte appeared breathing in the new sights and sounds before realising he was in a battle and prepared himself.

Eevee charged towards Omanyte using Tackle, with surprising speed, but not fast enough, unfortunately. "Omanyte Mud Shot!" Omanyte sprayed the ground and Eevee itself with mud, slowing down Eevee making it trip and slip in the mud. "Now Ancient Power!" Omanyte using Eevee's vulnerability attacked with Ancient Power and struck Eevee.

"Pokeball go!" I watched as the Pokeball shook once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. "Eevee has been registered to your Pokedex. Eevee the Evolution Pokemon a Normal Type. Thanks to its unstable genetic makeup, this Pokemon conceals many different possible evolutions." After capturing one Eevee progress increased at a decent pace.

For several hours we explored the route in all its entirety and I must admit I was glad that Ponyta had a good understanding of the route, meaning he knew where Eevee liked to hang around. It was also good to have both Fearow and Pidgeot searching from the air and with all their help, I managed to successfully catch all six Eevee. It was difficult and a long process which required extreme patience form me.

Now that I had six Eevee I began to figure out a fair way to decide which Pokemon would evolve into which forms. I gathered the Eevee's around and showed them my Rotom phone, which had the images of the eeveelutions, minus the Leafeon and Glaceon. The Eevee's seemed to be fine with evolving already which was a pleasant surprise and a helpful one as well.

The first Eevee I caught who had a fiery temperament wanted to evolve into a Flareon, which made sense based on his fiery personality and temperament. "Flareon has been registered to your Pokedex. Flareon the Flame Pokemon, a Fire Type. Once it has stored up enough heat, this Pokemon's body temperature can reach up to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit." As a Flareon, he maintained his fiery passion and enthusiasm for battling and got along well with Charizard. The two often competing as to who had the stronger flame. Occasionally Arcanine and Ninetales joined in on the competion.

The second Eevee I had caught was more laid back, shy and reserved, he preferred the company of my quiet Pokemon, even though I didn't have many like that, apart from my Golduck maybe. Perhaps that's what influenced this Eevee's desires to evolve into the Water Type Vaporeon. "Vaporeon has been registered to your Pokedex. Vaporeon the Bubble Jet Pokemon, a Water Type. Its body's cellular structure is similar to the molecular composition of water. It can melt invisibly in water." Upon evolving Vaporeon showed me he was still laid back, but a fierce battler whenever the opportunity came too.

The third Eevee I caught had a excitable and impatient personality, he was fast to battle and occasionally that may have gotten him into some trouble. Based on that personality I shouldn't have been surprised when he decided to evolve into Jolteon. "Jolteon has been registered to your Pokedex. Jolteon the Lightning Pokemon, an Electric Type. If it is angered or startled, the fur on its body bristles like sharp needles that pierce foes." Jolteon maintained his excitable and lovably personality, rushing off whenever he was out of his Pokeball and sometimes causing me some trouble. He never actually caused any serious trouble for me though.

With the main three acquired, I then began creating bonds which all of them and the Eevee's too. In the daytime, one Eevee would evolve into an Espeon, if we were good friends. Meanwhile, at night time one would become an Umbreon. Finally if we shared an affectionate bond the final Eevee would hopefully become a Sylveon. It would definitely require some patience and time but hopefully one day I would be rewarded.

Moving on through Route 17, I was then challenged by the trainers that awaited me, the first one being a camper who challenged me with two Psyducks, but I used my newest Jolteon and defeated them both with a powerful Spark. The next trainer was a picnicker to challenged me with a Vaporeon and I sent out my Venusaur, whose Seed Bomb knocked out Vaporeon in a single move.

A beauty then challenged me with a Jolteon and I sent out my Rhyhorn and had him use Bulldoze which was super effective and defeated Jolteon. It didn't prove to be easy though, Jolteon being much faster than Rhyhorn allowed him to score a super effective Double Kick. The victory however, granted Rhyhorn the ability to evolve which was wonderful for him.

"Rhydon has been registered to your Pokedex. Rhydon the Drill Pokemon, a Ground and Rock Pokemon. It begins walking on its hind legs after evolution. It can punch holes through boulders with its horn." Rhyhorn was happy about evolving and thanked his trainer the best way he knew. Grabbing me in his new arms was new for him, but it felt wonderful to have the one person who got your strong enough to evolve into your next form. The hug was strong though and eventually I had to gently pat Rhydon's arm to try and get him to release me, which he reluctantly did. This was much too his apparent disappointment but he didn't seem to mind.

The next trainer was a lass who sent out a Flareon and I sent out my Lapras and had him unleash his Hydro Pump which knocked Flareon out with a super effective hit. The next trainer was an ace trainer who first sent out a Wartortle and I sent out my Raichu and had him use Thunderbolt which defeated Wartortle in a single hit. The second Pokemon sent out was a Magneton and I substituted for my Flareon, whose Fire Fang made short work of Magneton. Finally the ace trainer sent out a Marowak and I substituted for my Vaporeon, whose Muddy Water knocked out Marowak.

A punk then challenged me with a Primeape and I sent out my Fearow whose Drill Peck knocked Primeape out. This was followed by a Graveler and I substituted for my Vileplume whose Giga Drain was super effective defeating Graveler. The next trainer was a coach trainer who battled firstly with a Fearow and I sent out my Jynx, whose Ice Beam defeated Fearow while dodging the incoming Drill Peck. The next Pokemon sent out was a Beedrill and I substituted for my Rhydon, whose powered up Rock Blast defeated Beedrill. The final Pokemon sent out was a Sandslash and I substituted for my Blastoise whose Hydro Pump defeated Sandslash.

A beauty then challenged me with a Weepinbell and I sent out my Ninetales whose Flamethrower defeated Weepinbell. Next was a gentlemen who sent out a Persian and I sent out my Primeape whose Karate Chop defeated Persian. Next was an ace trainer who first sent out a Exeggutor and I chose my Arcanine who used Flamethrower which defeated Exeggutor. Next was a Ninetales and I substituted for my Kingler, whose Bubble Beam defeated Ninetales. The final Pokemon sent out was a Starmie and I substituted for my Kangaskhan who used Crunch which was super effective against Starmie winning the battle.

Finally I was challenged by a picnicker who first sent out a Vulpix and I sent out my Onix, whose Rock Tomb defeated Vulpix. The second Pokemon sent out was a Ivysaur and I sent out Dewgong, which may have been a risky move, but I thought he could handle himself. On land Dewgong may have been restricted in movement but his Aurora Beam still powered through Ivysaur defeating it. The last Pokemon sent out was a Wigglytuff and I substituted to my Arbok whose Sludge Bomb defeated Wigglytuff.

The final Route before I ended up returning to Fuchsia City was Route 18 which had no new Pokemon available to catch, but it was a good place to do some more training, which never hurt. The first trainer that battled me was a bird keeper, who sent out a Fearow and I sent out my Shellder, At first, Fearow seemed to have the advantage dodging Shellder's attacks without much effort, but eventually Shellder powered through and with sheer determination, he unleashed a rather powerful Ice Beam which defeated Fearow. The next Pokemon sent out was a Dodrio and I substituted for my Staryu, who may have not had an ice move, but did know a rock move. A few well placed Power Gems defeated Dodrio as well.

I was then challenged by a second bird keeper who sent out a Pidgeot and I sent out my Golbat for an air to air battle. Pidgeot had a powerful Air Slash but Golbat seemed to effortlessly glide around the air and dodge them. Golbat seemed to dance around Pidgeot repeatedly using Bite every time he got the opportunity to do so and eventually Pidgeot collapsed from exhaustion earning him the win. Golbat happily hugged me glad he had defeated such a powerful Flying Type.

It was a welcome surprise though, when Golbat began glowing and so he released me from his hug and began to change shape. "Crobat has been registered to your Pokedex. Crobat the Bat Pokemon, a Poison and Flying Type. Both of its legs have turned into wings. Without a sound, Crobat flies swiftly toward its prey and sinks its fangs into the nape of its targets neck." Crobat happily engulfed me with his new four wings excited about having reached his final form. I had believed he would evolve in the Johto Region but it was a welcome surprise seeing him evolve while I was going through Kanto.

The final bird keeper challenged me with three Farfetchd's and I chose to battle with my Raticate for the first one, whose Hyper Fang defeated the first one. The second one fell to my Clefable's Moonblast and the final one was defeated by Persian's Slash. After that battle I returned briefly to Fuchsia City and healed my Pokemon before having Charizard return me to Saffron City as I now believed I was properly prepared for a good battle against the gym there.