15 Chapter 15: Hunting

After sending the Pokemons I caught I was happy with my progress for the day, so I decided to follow this process until Nidoran♂ ♂ was at least level 12 before entering Viridian Forest where he will be able to level up more optimally before facing Brock.

While I had that in mind I corroborated Nidoran's♂ ♂ level and noticed that I had already reached level 10 so I already had enough level to fulfill another of my goals, I smiled as I thought that finally the time came to hunt a certain snake.

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My way back to the orphanage felt quite long, in my mind I was anxious at the thought of finally getting rid of that guilt that I have carried since Pidgey's death but what if I am rushing? I felt quite uneasy as I didn't know the level of that Ekans, it must not be very strong since it was in the meadow near the city and did not look particularly big, I doubt that it was born for a long time since it was content to eat a much smaller than average Pidgey without even trying to attack me.

I don't want to put Nidoran♂ at risk but I think that if we go with the right strategy we can beat him without problems, while I was finishing analyzing that I finally arrived at the orphanage, I decided to skip dinner and go straight to sleep, I felt particularly tired because of the missions we finished today but quite satisfied with the progress we have, if we follow this step we will have a lot of money and my Pokemon will become very strong.

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The next day feeling completely refreshed after a good night's sleep I promised to finish my hunt today, I know it's a bit petty to try to finish off Ekans since I was only looking for his food, but unfortunately if I don't solve this before leaving the city I won't be able to feel calm with myself, I'm not a saint so I can't go around forgiving all the beings that harm me or me my loved ones.

With a face shadowed by the resolution I had, I got out of bed to go for my training laps and take a long shower before having the breakfast served in the orphanage cafeteria, while I ate with some reluctance trying to figure out how Nidoran♂ can finish off Ekans I didn't realize that I had someone sitting next to me, I was surprised when Mother Clarisse slipped past me and had her face very close to mine, she had a frown and looked at me with an accusing look.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave Maxwell City," Mother Clarisse said in an inquisitive tone: "Some acquaintances told me they saw you on the outskirts of town and a little bird told me that you completed some catching missions for the Pokemon Center, tell me, do you have anything to tell me?"

Noticing that I couldn't give any excuse good enough to get out of this mess I proceeded to make the biggest puppy-eyed look humanly possible and said, "I'm so sorry Mother Clarisse, I didn't want to ignore your directions but I had to raise funds for my trip and everyone knows that capture missions are the most profitable, I will always make sure I am safe, but you know that as a Trainer I must go out into the world to fulfill my goals," I said the latter in a serious tone, earning an impressed look from Mother Clarisse.

Mother Clarisse watched me for a few minutes before giving a loud sigh and saying: "oh Max, really one of these days you're going to scare me to death" she said the last clutching her forehead disapprovingly: "Okay, I understand that it makes sense what you say, just please don't take too many risks, especially the Viridian Forest is too dangerous for novice Trainers, at least you have to keep a schedule so you should always come back before dark, so you told me you will only leave town when you beat Brock so if you don't get to the orphanage every day before nightfall I promise I will go and find you myself wherever you are."

Seeing her expression I noticed that there was no reason for her to give any objection so I just looked her in the eyes and nodded: "Okay, at least until I leave the city I promise I will return to the orphanage before nightfall" I said with the most serious look I could to give her enough peace of mind to which she replied with a smile and shaking my hair a little and then said: "Perfect Max, it's a promise, now I recommend that you get out once and for all before I regret it and make you spend the rest of the day here," Mother Clarisse said in a playful tone as she nudged me on the back leading me to the door.

Feeling happy about the interaction, I grabbed what little I had left of my breakfast at the last minute and ran out of the orphanage, and being a few meters from the courtyard I stopped suddenly, for a moment I thought that maybe I should talk to Mother Clarisse about what I planned to do, maybe she could help me put this matter behind me, so I took a few steps back before shaking my head and saying to myself, "No, I must do this, this world can be hard so I must be even tougher," I said, renewing my resolve and running straight to the southern exit of the City.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance of the City I let go of Nidoran♂ from his Pokeball, once he was free he jumped a little of joy, apparently he did not like to spend too much time in his Pokeball, he turned to look at me and for a moment his expression changed to a worried gesture.

I felt a little bad for involving Nidoran♂ in my personal revenge but I decided to be honest with him, if we will be together on this journey he must know my intentions and my way of doing things, so after giving a big sigh I bent down to talk to my Pokemon, in a calm way I told him what happened with Pidgey, I told him that although I knew him for a short time I already considered that little bird as my friend, I could see Nidoran's♂ face change expression as the story progressed, at times he put on a somewhat jealous expression, then he even seemed amused to listen to how he played with the Pidgey and at the end put on a somber expression after hearing the sudden death he had.

I waited a few minutes for my partner to digest everything I told him, it really doesn't stop surprising me, the intelligence of the Pokemons almost feels like talking to a person since I could see that Nidoran♂ understood perfectly everything I said and somehow showed some empathy for the situation.

For a moment I thought that if Nidoran♂ didn't agree with my idea of hunting that Ekans I was definitely going to give up, I would interpret it as a divine sign to leave that behind and focus on what is to come, for my good or bad luck Nidoran♂ as the little warrior that he is just turned to look me in the eyes and with a determined look nodded to me, implying that you will accompany me and agree with the decisions you make.

Almost with tears in my eyes I felt really grateful to have such a good partner, the Pokemon here do not blindly follow the decisions of the Trainers, there have been cases where a Pokemon abandons its Trainer because their moral compasses are not in the same direction, I was happy to know that Nidoran♂ will follow me on the path I decide to take, Although I honestly prefer to do the right things, I am fully aware that sometimes we have to get our hands dirty to achieve our goals.

Now that my partner joined my cause we decided to go directly to the meadow where everything happened, it took us a short time to get there but when I managed to see the berry bushes I couldn't help but feel nervous, this place was the witness of my worst mistake so far in this new world so a wave of insecurity invaded me for fear that something like this would be repeated, I was almost on the verge of backing away until I felt a slight blow on my leg, at which I turned to look and saw Nidoran♂ with a determined expression, almost encouraging me to go on our way.

When I saw my friend's intentions I could only smile and said in a low voice: "Listen, that snake is very stealthy and elusive but it doesn't count on your sense of hearing, so what we will do is I will collect the Berrys while you stay close to me and listen carefully to anything that comes near us, if you ever hear something, I want you to respond with a Double Kick straight to his head, understand?" Nidoran,♂ like the good Pokemon it is, just nodded and closed its eyes while constantly wiggling its ears, trying to hear everything in the area.

While Nidoran♂ was trying to locate Ekans I took out of my pocket the red handkerchief that came with the PokeNav, quickly approached the bushes and started collecting as many Oran Berrys as I could, surreptitiously while Nidoran♂ was concentrating on his task I tried to bite one of the Berrys I grabbed but it was quite hard for such a small Berry, I had to make a lot of effort but I finally managed to tear off a piece of it and taste one of the delicacies of this world, it reminded me a lot of a tangerine but less critical and a little sweeter, personally I enjoyed its flavor a lot so I could add it to my meals for its invigorating effect.

I put aside those thoughts and continued with the collection, I didn't want to saturate my backpack so I took about 20 Berrys and put them in the handkerchief, once well tied I put it in the backpack, I discovered that this way it only takes up a space in the backpack which was quite convenient for me.

After I finished collecting I sat down next to the concentrated Nidoran♂, really his dedication is quite commendable since at no time did he move and he kept his eyes closed only with his ears moving, giving away that he was still awake to my surprise.

A few hours went by, during that time Nidoran♂ and I ate a few Oran Berrys for lunch which quickly became our favorites, I think if I grind them and mix them with another fruit I could make an excellent jam, leaving aside our meals Nidoran♂ at most noticed a few Pokemons that went into the bushes to collect a few Berrys but they had no intention We decided to leave them alone to save Nidoran's♂ energy in case we were lucky enough to find that elusive Ekans.

We were almost about to surrender when suddenly Nidoran♂ gave an alarmed cry, "Raaan!" I just looked at him and quickly started looking for the source of Nidoran♂'s distress which was difficult since at most there were only a few blurry movements in the bushes that were heading towards us, so Nidoran♂ bravely stood in front of me and I saw how he prepared to fight with his Focus Energy.

The strange thing that moved from the bushes quickly took out its head which was purple and with some characteristic yellow rings, it didn't take me long to recognize that it was that damn Ekans, Nidoran♂ without even having to remember my indication quickly jumped and with its hind legs shone with a faint orange light that I identified as Fighting Energy quickly gave two consecutive legs to the enemy Ekans that seemed to have not been there. He took a lot of damage but did shake a little from such a surprise attack.

I think that because they were attacks to the head or because they could be considered critical attacks due to the previous use of Focus energy, the Ekans seemed a little confused after receiving that attack since he immediately finished getting up and opened his mouth with all the intention of swallowing Nidoran♂ , throwing himself towards where he was, but missing a little and ending up biting the ground to the side of him.

Both Nidoran♂ and I were amazed by the speed that Ekans had because if it wasn't for his confusion he would have definitely swallowed Nidoran♂ without much effort, as soon as I had finished reasoning that when I started to feel the worry that the events would repeat themselves and I shouted to Nidoran♂: "Quick, use Peck while still confused!" Nidoran♂ barely finished listening to my instruction when he leaped with his shining horn to attack, but was quickly repelled when the Ekan made use of his agility turned his body to hit him with his tail sending him a few meters away from him.

Seeing that I started to feel even more nervous and prepared two Pokeballs in my hands, one is the Nidoran♂ to be able to return it if things get ugly and the other is to throw it at Ekans to take advantage of his attempt to escape from the Pokeball to escape as fast as we could.

The Ekans seeing that he had the advantage over the fight quickly moved towards Nidoran♂ who was just trying to stand up and coiled around him as I squeezed him, I recognized the move as Wrap, it reminded me a bit of the move that Brock's Steelix used but to a lesser extent so while I was killing my neurons to know what to do I yelled at Nidoran♂ : "You can Nidoran♂ use Leer to scare him!" Nidoran,♂ still squeezed by Ekans' attack, obeyed and looked directly at the Ekans who had him surrounded by his piercing red eyes.

The Ekans stopped squeezing and stared back at my Nidoran♂ also with frightening red eyes, so I saw he was trying to attack back and they stayed like that for a few seconds with Ekans surrounding Nidoran♂ without squeezing him while they both stared menacingly.

Noticing that maybe this could be an opportunity and that if I didn't do anything, Nidoran♂ would definitely lose after their staring contest ended, I decided to pick up one of the rocks that were on the ground and threw it directly at the head of the Ekans who, because I was focused on his competition, did not notice the rock that hit him.

It was only a matter of seconds, but Nidoran♂ gave him enough time to be able to wriggle away from the distracted Ekans and leap backwards as he ducked his legs and prepared himself with his Focus Energy.

The Ekans angry at losing his prey only opened his mouth wide and let out a kind of snort that made both Nidoran♂ and I tremble our legs, in an act of courage I shouted at Nidoran♂ almost furiously: "It's stronger than I thought, please Nidoran♂ focus! Use Peck straight on his eye!" For a moment I thought that Nidoran♂ would have qualms about using an attack that could be considered as mean, but I think he still noticed the seriousness of the situation because he didn't hesitate and lunged with his horn glowing in white light and hit the angry Ekans right in the eye.

Only a stream of blood came out of Ekans' eye and the snake began to wallow in pain before looking at both Nidoran♂ and me, to which I, with the loudest voice I could and with the rage that I felt when I was in front of that snake, shouted to Nidoran♂ with great emotion: "Nidoran♂ is time, take down that damn snake with a Peck right down its throat!" Nidoran♂ just nodded and prepared himself with his horn shining ready to pierce it, but the Ekans who heard my command opened his now only eye wide and seeing that Nidoran♂ intended to obey me decided that the smartest thing to do is to escape since with his tail he lifted the earth that was around and with an incredible speed began to crawl south of where we were.

Both Nidoran♂ and I turned to look at each other and without saying anything we started to run after Ekans, for all the excitement of the fight we barely noticed that it was already getting dark so due to the lack of clear light it was very difficult to follow him since on the ground Ekans looked like a black spot that was moving at full speed towards Viridian Forest.

While we were chasing that snake I could only click my tongue as Nidoran♂ didn't know any ranged attacks, I promised myself that I would plan things better when we returned to the city, we were running after Ekans until we reached the entrance of Viridian Forest, already there I could see in frustration how Ekans blended among the trees and disappeared, Realizing that I lost what was perhaps my only chance to finish off that bastard, I could only kneel down and hit the ground hard, I think I was so angry that I felt almost electricity in my head accompanied by a pain that I ignored as I kept hitting over and over again until tears started running down my cheeks.

Nidoran♂ , who only saw me sadly, huddled close to me to give me comfort, to which I responded by picking him up and giving him a hug, I think that if it was a little earlier I would have stayed there waiting to see if Ekans came out again but as it was not long before nightfall I decided to turn around and return to the City while there was still some light.

I was walking heavily with Nidoran♂ in my arms when I heard a loud sound coming from the forest, it was a woman's cry that was very familiar to me: "MAAAXWEEELL" I opened my eyes wide when I realized that it was the voice of Mother Clarisse, for a moment I thought it would be impossible until I remembered that she herself had warned me that she would come to get me so in complete panic I began to run towards me. "Please I hope you're okay Mother Clarisse," I said quietly as I raced into the depths of Viridian Forest with my heart beating so hard it was ringing in my ears.

Trainer License

Trainer: Maxwell Jones

Hometown: Pewter City

Sponsorship: None

Money: $5,500 Pokedodollars

Badges: None

Bag

5 Potions – POCKET FULL

3 Rage Candy Bar

10 Pokéballs

1 Great Ball

1 Escape Rope

1 Red handkerchief (With 20 Oran Berrys)

-14 Spaces Available-

Pokemon

Nidoran♂

Gender: Male

Level: 10

Movements: Leer, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick.