On Route 1

Luke had hardly finished stuffing Professor Oak’s gifts into his bag when he reached the fringes of Route 1. He looked into the rucksack and over his gifts; five Pokéballs, ready to expand his collection, and five Oran Berries in a bag, which would no doubt come in handy. A town map was folded up in the corner of the bag, ready for use later. He’d been to Pewter City before and knew the way, but he was sure it would be helpful. Most treasured though, were the final two gifts: a Red, folding, Pokédex, and a sixth Pokéball, this one a little larger than the others.

Luke placed the bag on the floor, and held the Pokéball up in front of him, tapping the central button and watching in awe as it expands, pops open, and releases a flood of red light onto the ground which forms into an Abra. His Abra.

Aaaaab-raaaa

Luke looked at it –him- as his stomach rose and fell slightly, seemingly asleep. He was bigger than Luke had expected; perhaps half his height if it was to stand up, but for now it was lying down peacefully. Luke could feel himself getting attached to the Psychic-type, but wanted to know more. He unclipped his Pokédex and aimed it at Abra.

”Abra, the Psi Pokémon

Using its psychic power is such a strain on its brain that it needs to sleep for 18 hours a day . Even when awake, it teleports itself while remaining seated.”

Luke looked up towards Abra and saw that it had gone. He moved to scratch his head in confusion, only to find his hand coming into contact with flesh which was not his, causing him to jump about five feet in the air, sending Abra tumbling from off his head into his arms. LC only just managed to catch his new Pokémon, but the Psychic-type giggled a little at his prank, before falling back asleep.

LC smiled and patted the small Pokémon on the head.

“I’ll call you Grigori, you little devil.” He said, softly, as he walked on down the path carrying his new partner.

Luke blinked once or twice, taking in the multiple events of the last few moments.

...”glomped”?

He decided it was best not to ask, and looked up at the girl and her Bulbasaur. The seedling Pokémon was agitating to battle, much to the bemusement of his own Pokémon, Grigori the Abra, who seemed to have decided to have a bit of a nap. Luke smiled slightly at his Pokémon, and reopened his Pokédex to check his attacks.

“Just a second please.” Luke muttered under his breath.

Luke’s PokéDex scanned Abra and the screen flashed, forming the letters as Luke’s eyes flicked across them.

Abra
Type: Psychic

Attacks:
Teleport (Psychic)

Luke thought about Teleport, a helpful move to keep opponents on their toes and one he’d already seen Grigori demonstrate. A good start certainly, he thought, scrolling down to find a useful counter attacking method. The screen didn’t move.

“Oh, this is strange, my PokéDex appears to have frozen.” He mused aloud, interrupted by a cry from Abra

Ab-bra! Grigori had woken up and seen Bulbasaur, who was approaching with caution. Luke snapped his Pokédex shut and called out to his Pokémon:

“Grigori! Let’s do this the old fashioned way! Teleport a few feet above it and let gravity help out with a supercharged Headbutt! Hit it hard.”

Still frantically scrolling down, although with the beginnings of realization dawning over him in the manner of a piece of plankton realizing his refreshing change of scenery appears to have disappointingly turned into the intestines of a Basking Shark, Luke watched the beginnings of the battle unfold. Abra’s unconventional tactics appeared to be relatively successful, so why not carry on carry on?

Noting Alicia’s name in his head, and that Bubasaur didn’t seem to be the brightest button in the box, he planned his orders. Momentarily though, he realised that little Grigori seemed to have managed to fall asleep. Still, Abra spent most of their time asleep and the small Pokémon could probably still hear him somehow, at least he hoped.

“Grigori! Teleport in front of a tree, or a stone, or something of that ilk. Then Teleport away again as it dives in for the tackle, let him bump his head.”

Luke watched the battle unfold with interest, proud of Grigori’s efforts but increasingly concerned by his seeming lack of directly aggressive moves: the little Abra was flagging and it seemed as though it would be a close run thing between Abra’s energy and the Grass-type’s will to battle running out, even if Alicia didn’t wise up to his evasive tactics and fight a more conservative battle. There was hope though, in the glowing left hand of Grigori; something seemed to have unlocked within the brain of the psychic type, and Luke thought he knew exactly what it was.

Gazing up a worried looking Alicia, he called out to his Pokémon in the hope that his gut feel was correct:

“Grigori, now is the time to attack: hit it with a Fire Punch if you can, and follow up with another if it works for you!”

Luke crosses his fingers, hoping that the young Pokémon would grasp the basic mechanics of its ancestral move quickly enough to turn the tide of his first battle.