Ch 12. Pokemon breeder

Having left Mt. Moon behind and adding a new family member to his party, Ares was once again on his way towards Cerulean City. For now, he was taking it easy and enjoying the sights around him. He didn't have to hurry for anything and it felt nice to just enjoy the scenery and the things around him. The way to Cerulean City was made up of hills with forests on the side. It would be a good place to find some pokemon. Not necessarily to catch, but more to observe their way of life and habits. Professor Oak would surely be interested.

Lucario seemed to enjoy himself as well, as he happily waved a stick through the air, as if he was marching on a tune only he could hear. It was nice to see his pokemon were enjoying themselves as much as he was.

He had to say though, there were a lot of trainers moving about here. Every now and then he could see trainers battling each other. Most of them were bug catchers as the forest around here had a lot of bug pokemon. Supposedly there were even Scyther sightings in the forest.

"Hey, you! Want to have a battle?"

Another trainer yelled, though this one came running towards Ares. Unlike the bug catchers that were mostly around here, this trainer seemed much less inclined to use only bug types, if only it was because he didn't carry a bug catchers net.

The boy stopped in front of Ares as he reached out his hand in greeting.

"My name is Willie. I'm a pokemon breeder."

"Ares, nice to meet you."

Ares shook Willie's hand. He was a bit interested in battling Willie, as his Clefairy needed some experience. He had trained it a little in the morning and evening, but not enough for it to gain a battle sense of its own.

"So, Ares. Want to have a battle? I have a few little ones that need the experience."

"How odd, so do mine. A two on two fine by you?"

"Yeah sure."

Ares and Willie each took a their spot on a decently sized clearing after deciding what the prize money would be.

"I'll go first. Go Ponyta!"

Willie took out his pokeball and released a Ponyta. It seemed a bit young, the flames of his mane still small and low in heat, but so was his Clefairy, so it should be a good opportunity.

Ares released Clefairy. Clefairy looked around and noticed Ponyta. She looked at Ares once more and was a bit scared. This was her first battle. Would she do fine?

"Don't worry Clefairy and just do your best."

Ares comforted her, which made Clefairy a bit more relaxed. She looked back at the Ponyta with as much courage as she could. Ares chuckled at the bravado his little Clefairy showed and couldn't wait to begin.

"Wow, you caught a Clefairy? They are really rare. Be careful in the city. There are pokemon thieves active lately."

Ares chuckled, taking the advice to heart.

"Thanks to the advice. I'll be careful."

The breeder nodded and got back to the battle they were about to start.

"Ready? Then let's begin. Ponyta, use Ember"

Ponyta's flames flickered and brightened before a small flame was shot towards Clefairy. The heat coming from it was not that hot, but it would give some damage to Clefairy if the attack connected.

"Clefairy, dodge it and use Sing."

Clefairy watched at the Ember coming her way and dodged it, though she was a bit clumsy. She felt the heat pass by her and was glad it hadn't hit her. Having succesfully dodged the attack, Clefairy seemed a bit more confident in herself as she began to sing. She danced around happily like she did with the moon stone rock, mesmerizing the Ponyta that watched and listened. The tone was gentle and soft, much like a lullaby.

Ponyta was too close to Clefairy and bore the brunt of it, hearing the tones crystal clear. Its eyes began to flutter, opening and closing slowly. Pontya slumped to the ground following that, fast asleep. Clefairy happily jumped up and down, cheering at how well her attack worked.

"Good job Clefairy, now use Metronome."

It was a bit of a gamble, but Ares wanted to see what Clefairy would pull out. Metronome could manifest any attack, from a useless Splash attack to a powerfull attack like Hyper beam. Ares had faith in his luck and hoped for a good attack. If it didn't, he could always let Clefairy use Pound. Clefairy smiled brightly, as she seemed to like this move the most.

Clefairy happily began to wiggle around her little fingers that began to glow in white light. The movements were almost hypnotic as it gathered an unknown energy.

"Clefairy~ Clefairy~ Clefairy~"

Chanting the same thing over and over, the light on her little finger became brighter.

When her fingers stopped wiggling, a glowing white orb began to appear in front of Clefairy.

"Ancient power!"

Ares was a bit surprised and happy. But most of all he was relieved. Fortunately it wasn't a splash attack. Clefairy swung the orb around in joy, throwing it in full speed towards Ponyta. The orb wasn't big, but it would still give a lot of damage to Ponyta, who lay defenseless on the ground. It may even be worse, as Ancient power could raise all the pokemons stats, if the odds were in their favor. But it seems like this time it wasn't happening.

"Ponyta, wake up!"

Willie called out, but Ponyta couldn't hear him. The Ancient power hit Ponyta on the chest, making it fly backwards through the sheer force of the attack. Ponyta struggled a bit, having finally woken up from the attack, but Clefairy seemed to know what Ares wanted her to do, as she used a Pound attack. She ran forward, slamming her small hand on top of the Ponyta's head. As Ponyta was still young and didn't have that good of a defence in general, Ponyta was seen lying fainted on the ground after taking that attack right on the head. A critical hit!

Willie sighed. He should have let Ponyta move around and let it keep its distance. Maybe hit and run tactics could have worked, but it was still a bit too early for Ponyta to become that adept at battling, so this was a good opportunity.

"Your Clefairy is strong. It must've been very difficult to get it."

Willie said, returning Ponyta to the pokeball.

"A Clefable entrusted her to me."

Willie seemed a bit surprised, but that was all as he called out his next Pokemon, a Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur looked back at Willie with trusting eyes. It looked well cared for as well as it was in tip top shape, its bulb as healthy and well grown as it could be.

Ares "Oh wow, a Bulbasaur. It seems pretty healthy too."

Ares said after observing the Bulbasaur.

"He was a gift from my parents. He's fairly young, but he's a powerhouse. I assure you, he will be a strong opponent to face." Willie seemed very proud of Bulbasaur.

Ares returned Clefairy to her pokeball, thanking her for her work and released Pidgey.

Ares grinned as he looked forward to the battle between these two. He was happy Willie had asked him for a battle. He needed his pokemon to become stronger and the best way, besides training, would be battles.

"I look forward to it. Pidgey, fly up and use gust."

Pidgey nodded, flying up at a fast pace and started to use gust. Bulbasaur looked bothered by it, but that was all. If Ares didn't know better he would have thought Bulbasaur was just shrugging it off, but he knew Bulbasaur was taking damage, just not a much as he had thought.

"Bulbasaur, bring it down with Vine whip."

Growing from Bulbasaurs bulb came two long vines, each looking strong as they swept towards Pidgey. Pidgey saw them coming and stopped using Gust, increasing his speed to dodge the attacks. Yet the attacks still managed to graze Pidgey every now and then, making Pidgey angry at his lack of speed. A glow spread on his body as he used Agility, making himself even faster.

"Bulbasaur, used Stun spore on your Vine whip."

Bulbasaur nodded as a yellow powder was released on the Vine whip, making the attack even more annoying to deal with. As it was Bulbasaur's own attack, the Stun spore didn't appear to have as much effect on itself. That wasn't the case for Pidgey though. If Pidgey was hit even once he would become paralyzed, making the battle even harder than it could be.

"Pidgey, Wing attack."

Flying between the attacks of Vine whip, Pidgey's wings began to glow in white light as it rushed towards Bulbasaur. Pidgey was fast, dodging all the Stun spore Vine whips like an acrobat. Pidgey increased his speed even more and was almost upon Bulbasaur when Willie called out.

"Now Bulbasaur, Razor leaf!"

Pidgey was right in front of Bulbasaur and was unable to dodge when the latter used Razor leaf at point blank range. Glowing green petals were released and aimed straight at Pidgey. It hit Pidgey straight in the face, making it crash down to the ground.

Landing hard, Pidgey slid a few meters across the ground, all the while tucking in his wings closely to protect them. While Pidgey managed to limit the damage to his wings, he still had difficulty standing up.

"Pidgey, can you go on?"

Ares had full trust in Pidgey and Pidgey knew his limits. Pidgey looked at Ares and a trace of unwillingness flickered through his eyes. He knew he was in bad shape, that Bulbasaur was more experienced than he was, stronger than he was, but he wanted to continue! He wanted to beat that walking tulip bulb known as a Bulbasaur! He didn't want to lose in his first real battle with his trainer. That would be a black stain on his reputation he would never rid himself off! It would be a disgrace for himself and he would be a dissapointment for his trainer. Not to mention that it meant that all his training hadn't helped one bit. How humiliating.

Forcing himself up, Pidgey spread his wings in defiance as he once again flew into the air, this time a completely different glow coming from him. His size grew and his wings enlargened. A colorful plumage appeared on his tail and a tuft of red feathers grew from his head. The light faded and flying throught the air was not a Pidgey. It was a Pidgeotto.

"Nice, you evolved!"

Ares yelled, happy for Pidgeotto. The latter called out his agreement, happy as well with this development. He was stronger than he had ever been. He could still feel the damage he had taken, but it was bearable now. If it was in this form, he could beat Bulbasaur. He could win! No, he would win!

"Go finish this. Wing attack once more."

Pidgeotto need not be told twice. His wings glowed brightly as it dove down once more, yet this time it was more nimble and flexible, dodging when Bulbasaur tried the same attack again. The Wing attack hit home and gave Bulbasaur a lot of damage. Flying type moves were Pidgeotto's speciality and he knew it.

Flying above his opponent, Pidgeotto watched Bulbasaur struggle to stand up. It tried and tried but eventually fainted. Pidgeotto was stronger, so were his flying type attacks which were very effective on his opponent. Even if Bulbasaur could stand up again, Pidgeotto wasn't planning to let the fight go on longer, so he was happy Bulbasaur fainted then and there. It would safe Bulbasaur from a lot of pain, as would it safe himself from bearing with the pain he himself already had.

Willie seemed sad but also happy for his pokemon, because even though they had lost, they had gained a little bit more experience. Ponyta would have a clue in which way it could train and Bulbasaur now had a feeling against fighting against a pokemon that had a type advantage over him. A win-win situation, even if this was his loss.

"Thanks for the battle."

Willie said, as he took out his phone. Using it, a trainer could transfer the money they lost through a battle. A pokedex worked as well, but not all trainers had one. They would need to get their pokemon from a professor, as well as decide to help him in his work.

"But we didn't agree about this amount, it is way too much."

Ares mumbled. He was more than happy that his pokemon evolved. Besides, he still had the money professor Oak had prepared for him, even if he didn't know how much it was. It surely was enough, as he had enough to buy things in the black market, where the price was that small.

"No, I lost, so it is only fair if I pay a little bit more, especially since I gained so much from this exchange alone. It always helps when raising pokemon."

Agreeing with that, Ares received the prize money and Willie and him went separate ways. Willie went to Mt. Moon to get himself a new pokemon, while Ares was well on his way to Cerulean city.