We were about to go to Route 102, but there was a guy stopping us from going through. He says, "I found some footprints and they must be from a rare Pokemon. I should sketch it!"

Considering that he's blocking the way, we can't move until he leaves. So in the end, we decide to head to Route 103, which is north of Oldale Town.

When we head to Route 103, we find Brendan there, and he says, "Okay, so it's this one and that one that lives on Route 103..."

He then notices us and says, "Hey, it's Ash, Alice, and May! ...Oh, yeah, Dad gave you a Pokémon. Since we're here, how about a little battle? I'll teach you what being a Trainer's about!"

I say, "May, why don't you try out the battle with Brendan?"

"Me? But... can I really do it?" May is nervous, and Brendan says, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Then he sends out Mudkip, and Alice says, "May, remember that Torchic is a Fire Type and is weak to Mudkip, but you can still win if you know how to plan strategy."

May nods as she just asks Torchic to use Ember, but Mudkip just dodges the attack with ease and uses Water Gun.

"Torchic! Dodge it!" May yells, and much to her delight, Torchic dodges the attack and goes for Scratch. Before they can continue, Team Rocket shows up once more and traps both Pokemon in the nets.

"Not those guys again!" May says.

Brendan says, "What's with those guys' deal?"

"They're Team Rocket obviously." I say back. Then we have to battle with their Arbok and Weezing, but thanks to Espeon's Psychic attack, they are sent flying and the two Pokemon are saved.

"Huh, May, you're not too shabby. I think I get it. I think I see why my dad has his eye out for you now. Look, your Pokémon already likes you, even though you just got it. May, I get the feeling that you could befriend any Pokémon with ease. We should head back to the Lab."

"But I'm not trying to be friends with Pokemon... I just want to travel..." May mutters in a low tone. I heard it but decided not to say anything.

In the lab, we greet Professor Birch again, and he says, "Brendan's been helping with my research for a long time, so he has an extensive history as a Trainer already. Here, May, I ordered this for my research, but I think you should have something. Can you please lend me your Rotom Phone?"

May nods as she gives him the Rotom Phone, and he adds the Pokedex inside. "The Pokédex function is a high-tech tool that automatically makes a record of any Pokémon you meet or catch. My kid, Brendan, goes everywhere with it. Whenever my kid catches a rare Pokémon and records its data in the Pokédex, why, Brendan looks for me while I'm out doing fieldwork, and shows me."

"Indeed. It will be very helpful if you have the Pokedex." Alice says.

"The Pokemon and people you will meet... And the great expanse of nature that lies before you! Experience them both while you fill in your Pokedex. I'd love it if your world seemed wider than ever! Though I'd love it even more if you came back from time to time to show me what progress you've made. Arghhh! I'm getting the itch to get out and do fieldwork again!"

Brendan says, "Huh... So you got a Pokédex, too, May. Well then here. Have some Poké Balls on me."

Then May finally gets her own empty Pokeballs, Brendan says, "You can use them to catch wild Pokémon. If you catch a Pokémon in the wild and battle together with it for a while, it will grow stronger for you! Take that as a bit of advice from a more experienced Trainer like me! I'm going to get ready to head out from Littleroot soon. It's like...I don't know... It really gets you pumped up, right? We've both gotta give it our all out there, guys!"

Then we bid farewell to the Professor and Brendan as we walk on Route 101 again. May says, "Now with the Pokeballs, I can have more Pokemon in the team."

"Yeah, and what's wrong with not making friends with them?" I decide to say. "Let's start finding some Pokemon around the area. So what can you see in the Pokedex?"

May says, "Well, it seems that the Pokedex can tell us about the Pokemon living in each area and that kind of stuff..."

"You're right. This is something that doesn't appear in Kanto or Johto Pokedex. Every Professor has their own way of organizing the Pokedex I see." Alice says.

I say, "So May, let me show you how to catch a Pokemon."

Then we notice a tail sticking out of the grass, and I say, "There is a Pokemon hiding there! And if you use the Pokedex in Rotom Phone..."

I use it and then a Poochyena silhouette appears on the screen. "And it seems that this Pokemon knows a pretty rare move! And it's a Fire Fang!"

"Seriously?" Alice gasps.

"So how are you going to catch it?" May asks.

I decided to get closer real nice and slow, then we tiptopped until I yelled, "Pikachu! Quick Attack!"

Pikachu then jumps and attacks the Poochyena, I say, "Now it's my chance!" Then I throw the Pokeball, capturing the Poochyena.

Poochyena: The Bite Pokemon: Dark Type. Poochyena are omnivores - they will eat anything. A distinguishing feature is how large their fangs are compared to their bodies. This Pokémon tries to intimidate its foes by making the hair on its tail bristle out.

"So that's how you capture a Pokemon." May says.

"Of course." I say. "Our goal is to capture all the Pokemon and be friends with them. That also includes rare and mysterious Pokemon."

"That sure sounds like a big goal." May says.

The next Pokemon we find is a Zigzagoon, and we also notice a person wearing a Zigzagoon suit who wants to capture the Zigzagoon. He tells us that he is called Nicholai the Knickerbocker, and he explains that they are Trainers who thrive on communing with nature while exposing their knees.

"So why are you wearing a Zigzagoon costume?" I ask, and he says, "Dressing up as a Pokemon allows me to become one with them, so I can understand their inner feelings. I want to capture a Zigzagoon before I can challenge the Petalburg Gym."

I notice that May tenses a little when he mentions the Petalburg Gym, and then we decide to work together to find the Zigzagoon. We try using the fruit, and we are in awe at how Nicholai manages to lure the Zigzagoon to a tree and give them the fruits to eat.

However, happy times are interrupted as Team Rocket appears and grabs Nicholai's Mudkip. We try to attack them, but they have a satellite to deflect our attacks. We see Nicholai change his costume to Aipom and climb the hill. The Zigzagoon are also willing to help us and create a pitfall trap using Dig.

Nicholai changes into a Gligar costume and jumps off a cliff. He flies towards the balloon and snatches away the cage that Mudkip is in, and I have Butterfree use Air Slash to slash their balloon, causing them to fall into the pitfall trap. As the trio emerges from the crash, they find themselves surrounded by us and the wild Zigzagoon. They climb out of the pitfall before Jessie and James call out Arbok and Weezing respectively. Arbok uses Poison Sting and Weezing follows with Sludge, but Pikachu dodges everything and hits back with Quick Attack. Finally, Pikachu sends Team Rocket flying with Thunder.

Then in the end, we all capture our own Zigzagoon and May starts to appreciate Pokemon, which is a good start.

Zigzagoon: The Tiny Racoon Pokemon: Normal Type. Zigzagoon restlessly wanders everywhere at all times. This Pokémon does so because it is very curious. It becomes interested in anything that it happens to see.

Then as we continue forward, we see three Wurmple suddenly drop down in front of May, and she screams. Alice asks, "What's wrong, May?"

"Yeah, something just landed on my face, and there they are!" We notice the Wurmple and I say, "Wrumple! I'm pretty sure that they evolve into either a Beautifly or a Dustox."

"A Beautifly sounds cute! I'm going to catch it!" May says as we decide to chase after the three Wurmple. On our way, we see some Bellosom dancing, though it is interrupted as we see Team Rocket running away from the Beedrills and we are forced to join their escape.

"How did we get tangled with this..." Alice mutters.

When the annoying trio is starting their motto, we ignore them and chase after the three Wurmple. And of course, they want the Wurmples for themselves and they try to stop us with Arbok and Weezing. But fortunately, we send them flying again, and unfortunately, the Wurmple is gone once more.

And just when we find and capture the Wurmple, those three are back really fast this time and they steal the Pokeballs from us. But we manage to break their balloon and get the Wurmple back.

They try to go for one more round, and May says, "So what can Wurmple do?"

"Wurmple can use Poison Sting and String Shot!" I say back.

Then we use String Shot to bind both Arbok and Weezing, then we have Pikachu and Torchic send them flying in the end.

Wurmple: The Worm Pokemon: Bug Type. Using the spikes on its rear end, Wurmple peels the bark off trees and feeds on the sap that oozes out. This Pokémon's feet are tipped with suction pads that allow it to cling to glass without slipping.

"So how do we know if Wurmple evolved into Silcoon or Cascoon?" Alice asks me, and I say, "That is a good question. Wurmple evolves into either Silcoon or Cascoon depending on the personality value. Obviously, we just have to wish the Wurmple that we caught is going to evolve into the one that we want..."

And then we headed to Route 103, and I decided to capture a Wingull. I use Pikachu to battle the Wingull because he has the type advantage, and Wingull does use Water Pulse to make Pikachu confused, but Pikachu uses Electro Ball to defeat it.

Wingull: The Seagull Pokemon: Water and Flying Type. Wingull have the habit of carrying prey and valuables in their beaks and hiding them in all sorts of locations. This Pokémon rides the winds and flies as if it were skating across the sky.

Then we go to Route 102, and we find the man who was looking at the footprints when we arrived there, and he says, "I thought I was sketching some rare Pokemon prints... It turned out they were my own footprints!"

"Are you serious?" We are dumbfounded by what the man just said, so we decided to ignore him and head to Route 102, hoping to capture more Pokemon.

Here is a new chapter, and since it is going to be like the game, it will be a while for Max to join the group. And I decided to let May capture Wurmple early because why not? Wurmple can be found in Route 101 after all. I hope you like this chapter and the next one will be Route 102.

Ash + Alice's Pokemon:

Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Lapras, Meganium, Espeon, Steelix (Crystal), Mantine, Torchic, Poochyena, Zigzagoon, Wurmple x2, Wingull

May's Pokemon:

Torchic, Wurmple