Trials of a Champion - Kanto [Pokemon x OC]

4 The Caterpie of the Day

Shinx and Pikachu rushed to my side. I struggled up on all fours, rubbing my nose. "I'm going to feel that in the morning. Are you alright, Caterpie?" She nodded her head. "I'm sorry about you being scared like that, and about not letting you nap."

Pikachu came over and bowed its head.

"And look at that. Pikachu is apologizing too." Then Pikachu handed me the other half of its Sitrus Berry, gesturing to its nose. "Do you want me to eat this so my nose can get better?" It cheerfully nodded its head. "Thanks, Pikachu. You're sweet." I ate the Sitrus Berry in two big chomps.

Licking my lips, Caterpie gazed at me with big puppy eyes. "Oh, I know. All that excitement must've gotten you hungry, right?" She nodded. "Okay, let's find some food. Maybe the Pokédex knows what kind of food you like to eat."

I took out my Pokédex with one hand, holding Caterpie with the other. "Caterpie's diet mainly consists of leaves and vegetation found high up in trees. As it grows rapidly, it maintains a voracious appetite until it evolves into Metapod as soon as one day later." It showed me a picture of a green cocoon Pokémon: Metapod.

"Okay, let's find you some leaves. Any suggestions?" Pikachu volunteered and ran off.

Following Pikachu, we found it sitting on a tree branch at eye level. There were plenty of leaves all around. I held Caterpie up to the leaves, which were at least twice her size. "Well Caterpie, go ahead." She sniffed a single leaf, and within seconds, devoured five of them.

Caterpie then burped and slumped in my hands. "Hey, you have to eat a lot more or you won't evolve." Caterpie didn't respond. I turned her around and found her asleep. "You can't just take a nap all the time. Snap out of it." Caterpie wouldn't move.

Shinx told me that I would just have to be patient and that Caterpie would evolve at her own pace. "Yeah, you're right. We can let Caterpie sleep while we do something else." I gently placed Caterpie in my bag. "There we go. Now, what should we do next?"

Pikachu stepped in front of me. "Oh, right. Thanks for helping us find some leaves for Caterpie. I appreciate it." It nodded and then pointed at me, saying that it wants to come along with us. "Do you really want to come with us? What about all your friends here?" It lowered its ears, explaining that it isn't originally from this forest, so it lives here alone. "Well, that explains why we found you in the city yesterday. Okay, you can come along."

Pikachu cheered.

"But first we have to battle, and I noticed you seem to be having a little problem with your Thunder Shock attack. Let's see if Shinx and I can't help you out."

It agreed with a head nod and took off.

"Hey! Where are you going?" We chased after it.

★

After a couple of hours following Pikachu, we entered an empty clearing in the forest. The sun started to set. The air smelled clean and fresh here. Shinx barked to grab my attention, pointing off in the distance. Pikachu stood by a small lake, washing its face. "Hey, I didn't think there was a lake this big here."

We went over to Pikachu, where I looked out at the horizon. "It's getting late, so I think this is a good spot to camp out. Pikachu, did you bring us here on purpose?" It nodded, and after taking a sip of water, it hopped over to the other side of the clearing. I laughed. "Then that must mean you want to battle. Am I right?" Pikachu sparked its cheeks. "You're on, Pikachu. I'm going to catch you. Go Shinx!" I stood back to let Shinx step forward.

With the sunset in the background, I felt this was a perfect battling moment. Caterpie popped her head out of my bag to watch. "A battle between two Electric-type Pokémon. This will be fun. Shinx use Spark!" My Shinx sped forward enveloped in sparks.