Chapter 108. The First Pokémon Journey
"Squirtle…"
"Shh~"
Crouching in a bush, Sirin hurriedly covered Squirtle's mouth, motioning for it to stay quiet.
With its mouth covered, Squirtle could only nod lightly to show it understood.
In front of them, the buzzing of wings droned on and on.
Sirin's road to becoming a Pokémon Master had suffered a setback before it even began.
She had just stepped into a thicket when she spotted a little bug crawling up and down a tree.
Catching sight of that bit of yellow, Sirin got excited, thinking she had run into a shiny Caterpie, and, without hesitation, ordered Squirtle to attack.
The result? She really did poke a hornet's nest.
That was not a shiny Caterpie at all, but Weedle—the juvenile form of Beedrill.
Beedrill swarms are fiercely territorial, and Sirin had the gall to attack first.
A piercing buzz instantly filled the whole forest as a dense cloud of Beedrill—each more than half a person tall—burst forth, their sharp stingers thrusting straight at Sirin and Squirtle.
There was no helping it.
Sirin chose the best of the Thirty-Six Stratagems—retreat.
Tumbling and scrambling, she dove into a bush, trembling as she listened to the Beedrill still buzzing overhead, all while the chat mocked her mercilessly.
At last, when the Beedrill could not find Sirin, they withdrew together into the depths of the woods.
Sirin finally relaxed and crawled out of the bushes.
She straightened her messy, grass-stained clothes caked with dirt and wiped her grimy little face.
The muddy taste lingering in her mouth made her take out her water bottle and rinse for ages.
When she finally got herself in order, her eyes fell on the chat feed that was rolling like crazy, and she got flustered at once.
"You—what do you even know? This was a strategic withdrawal.
How could that be chickening out?
There were so many big bees with levels way higher than Squirtle's—how am I supposed to fight that!!"
Then she started in on hard-to-understand lines like "The Art of War" and "retreat isn't running away," which set everyone laughing and filled the stream with a lively mood.
Time ticked by, and dusk slowly settled.
"Squirtle squirt~"
Watching her turtle gesture animatedly at a big tree while babbling who-knows-what, Sirin's face went dark with exasperation, and she could not help flicking its little head with her hand.
"Take off those shades!"
"Squirtle~"
Hearing its Trainer's order, Squirtle reluctantly took off the cool sunglasses.
When it realized it had been talking to a tree, it scratched its head with a goofy grin, sending the whole stream into stitches.
[Pufferfish, let Squirtle stream from now on.
It's way funnier than you.]
[Seconded!]
[+1]
[+1]
...
The scene left Sirin both annoyed and amused, but in the end she said nothing, bending down with a smile to rub Squirtle's head.
Just then, Squirtle suddenly became alert.
It darted behind a big tree and beckoned to Sirin.
"Squirtle~"
Sirin hurried over behind it and followed the direction indicated by its little paw.
That way led to a small stream.
Sirin tapped the glasses at her temple and called up the binoculars function.
At once, the scene by the bank filled her view.
A gentle brook flowed by, water so clear she could see the bottom at a glance.
On the bank, a light-green kitten was lowering its head to drink.
It soon raised its head.
On its cute feline face was a deep-green pattern of four overlapping leaves, and this Pokémon's info popped up before Sirin's eyes.
"Sprigatito, Grass type, Grass Cat Pokémon…"
At the sight of the name, Sirin's breathing instantly quickened, and the chat exploded.
[Oh my—what luck is this? Sirin actually ran into something this rare??]
[I'm numb.
Not only can't I play it, now I have to watch an RNG goddess flex?
Is there no justice?
Is there no law?]
[This makes no sense!!!]
Sprigatito is one of a region's starter Pokémon.
Do not be fooled by the free starter at the beginning—these starters are actually quite rare, and the odds of encountering them in the wild are insanely low.
And this one was only level 2.
It was a great chance to catch it.
She could not be bothered with the sour comments anymore.
Staring at the adorable kitten, Sirin had only one thought now: go all out and add it to her team.
Her Squirtle, already up to level 6, gave her huge confidence.
"Squirtle!"
"Squirtle!"
They exchanged a look, and Squirtle nodded knowingly.
Taking advantage of the fact that Sprigatito had not noticed them yet, Sirin and Squirtle crept around to its back, hiding in the nearest patch of shadow.
They held their breath, both staring tensely ahead.
When Sprigatito lowered its head again to drink, Sirin's eyes sharpened.
She raised her hand and called, "Squirtle, rush in with Tackle!"
Water is weak to Grass, so of course Sirin would not use the Water Gun Squirtle had just learned that afternoon.
"Squirtle!!"
Pressing all four paws to the ground, Squirtle charged straight at Sprigatito and, before it could react, rammed squarely into its butt.
Boom!
A huge splash shot up from the surface.
Even though it was just headset-simulated effects, the near-real picture still made her raise her arm on reflex to shield herself.
On the other side, ambushed from behind, Sprigatito was knocked clear across to the opposite bank.
Its eyes were spinning in circles, looking just about out cold.
Now.
To make absolutely sure, Sirin pulled out the Great Ball she had prepared long ago and hurled it straight at Sprigatito.
Thud.
Sprigatito was drawn into the Poké Ball, which landed on the ground and began to wobble left and right.
Every second felt like an eternity.
Sirin prayed nervously.
Soon, the Poké Ball stilled, and three stars popped from the shell.
"Yes!!!!"
At last, Sirin let out the cheer she had been holding back, rushing up in delight to scoop the Poké Ball into her arms.
"Squirtle!!"
At some point, Squirtle had put its sunglasses back on.
Hands on its hips, it strutted over for credit—only, it seemed to be facing the wrong way again.
Seeing it turned toward the tree beside her, Sirin did not say much this time.
Instead, she cheerfully patted its head.
The turtle was the hero of the hour, and heroes deserve special treatment.
Just as she was about to release Sprigatito to have a proper look, a chill crawled up her back.
She turned her head on instinct.
In the dimming dusk, a bipedal, pale-green Pokémon wearing a four-cornered magic mask stood not far behind her.
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