Pokémon Voyages Red-Blue (5)

To recap: Joshua received an official Trainer's license from Red as well as a jacket identical to his, and is ready to really begin as a Pokémon Trainer!


Obviously, step one was telling my mom where I was going. She got tears in her eyes like was remembering the day Red went out. 

The next day, I packed a bag to go. My mom gave me a hug, and I set off.

First I stopped at the Poké Mart. I had the money to buy some potions, pokèballs, and a revive. But as I brought them to the counter, a familiar face caught my eye.

Drake strode right up to the counter with a bunch of supplies similar to the stuff I’m getting. He turned around and caught my eye.

“Oh, hello, champ,” he said, not at all friendly. “I don’t suppose you have one of these?” He flashes his own license in my face. “I got endorsed by Brock, you know. I don’t suppose you’ve got one of your own?” His cocky smirk dissipated as I pulled out my own license. Then it returned.

“Alright then, we’ve got ourselves a competition here, yeah?” he asked. “How about this: whoever makes it to the Indigo League…” He smiled. “Wins.”

“Give me more than that,” I said. “I want detailed rules.”

“Alright, let’s take a seat, then,” Drake smirked. 

“First, as I mentioned: whoever makes it to the Indigo League first, wins.”

“Whoever gets further into the Elite Four,” I clarified. “Wins.”

“Fine,” Drake said. “Whoever has the most badges is ahead then.”

“If we meet on the road, we have to battle,” I said. “Loser has to turn back to the town or city he’d came from.”

“Sure. Lastly: if we make it an equal amount into the Elite Four, pokèdex is the tiebreaker.”

“Deal,” we said at the same time. And shook on it. “Rivals.”

“This does not mean we’re friends,” Drake said. 

“Same here,” I returned. 

I headed out to Route One as the sun had just risen, dawn light spilling across the grass.