First Time Out

Sam had reached the harbour of Sunsail Island finally, it took him a whole day to reach it and one very uncomfortable sleep at that, it did not help that he had Rattata’s and Weedle’s bothering him as he was trying to drift off to sleep with Growly beside him, it was simply a minor setback as the curiosity of what Typhoon Island beheld caused Sam’s energy level to stay at the brim. Sam walked down the harbour, passing several people along the way, parents saying goodbye to their children, other trainers talking in groups about what they hope will happen to them in the future and staff members of the harbour chatting amongst themselves as they made sure that all of the boats were where they needed to be at certain times during the day. Growly stuck close to Sam’s feet, causing him to almost trip over him several times, but he could understand why Growly was acting like this, he probably has not seen so many people in one small place like this before, the crowds of people probably scared him, but Sam continued to reassure him that it was all going to be fine.

Sam approached the counter and bought one ticket as Growly leapt onto his shoulder. The woman on the other side happily punched his ticket as she smiled at Growly’s action, she typed something into her computer and handed Sam the ticket, he left the counter and headed to the boat just after the staff member said “You two have a nice time” in a cheery voice, someone was obviously enjoying themselves today. Sam noticed a large region map plastered along a wall, a great insight as to where the different cities were throughout the region, and a sign of the different towns and cities he would have to meet in order to capture all of his badges required to face the Elite Four. Sam stood still as he studied the map, a small girl who had veered away from her parents sight for a few moments stood alongside him and stared at Growly who was still perched up on his shoulder. Sam noticed the small girl in the corner of his eye, he turned to her and smiled and she smiled back, Sam then leaned down so his shoulders where on her level, “Go ahead, pet him” he said, the little girls eyes lit up, the thought must have been running through her mind, but she probably didn’t expect him to actually let her. She slowly leaned out as Growly watched her hand intently, Growly closed his eyes as her hand drew closer, she finally dropped it down onto his head and slowly stroked his red and grey fur, Growly seemed ok with the whole situation, and by the look on the girls face, she was enjoying it too, this made Sam feel slightly warm inside, this event could cause her to want to become a Pokémon trainer one day, and the thought of that made Sam feel like what he was doing actually made a difference to others. A security guard walked by them and noticed the Growlithe on the lads shoulder, he approached them and said “Excuse me son, he won’t be allowed out of his Pokéball throughout the duration of the boat trip, can you please put him away?” he asked it as a question, but Sam could tell it was more of an order, he looked back down to the girl and said “Say goodbye” he pulled out an empty Pokéball from his belt as the small girl said goodbye, Sam held the ball out at arms-length and aimed the ball towards Growly, without any words spoken, the ball opened and brought Growly inside, when he disappeared, so did the little girl, Sam grabbed a free region map and made his way towards the ship, he could hear the little girl explaining the whole story to her parents as if it was a life changing experience.

Sam had never been on a boat before so this was quite the occasion for him, he was born on an island, raised on an island and had lived on the same island all of his life, and he was now leaving said island for the first time in his life, it made him feel slightly homesick to be honest, but it was too late to turn back. Sam walked to the side of the deck and looked out across the see towards the rest of the Ares Region, the boat was pretty busy, with trainers mixed alongside regular passengers, battles were also prohibited whilst on the boat which was disappointing, but some Pokémon can cause serious damage, or so Sam heard, so it was understandable. He continued to watch the sun gleam in the air and listened to the sound of waves hitting the side of the boat, and with those waves also came the chirping of Wingulls above him and Goldeen’s splashing though the water below him, this is what being a Pokémon trainer feels like, the freedom to explore wherever you want and enjoy the sights and sounds along the way, it was only his second day of being a trainer, but Sam knew he would enjoy it for the rest of his life.

The boat docked and the passengers left in an orderly fashion, there was no reason to charge off aimlessly, if you did that, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the sights of Typhoon Island. Some younger passengers would wait until they were off the boat before running into the forest with no disregard for their safety in the attempt to capture and see more Pokémon. Sam simply stepped off and called out his Growlithe to venture alongside him, the more time they spent together, the stronger the bond between them would be and that is what Sam wanted the most. The first place Sam visited was the popular Typhoon Beach, already surrounded by pedestrians and Pokémon trainers already battling one another, Sam dodged those however, he wanted some time alone from the masses and found his own quite spot on the beach, he laid down and Growly laid on top of him, clearly preferring the safety of his chest over the sand, Growly had faced sand before and it did not work out for him, it seemed like he still did not trust it. Sam sat up and held Growly close to him, he was enjoying the shimmering waves of the sea until something shot out from it and straight up into the air, what was it?

He leaped out of the water, his scales glimmering in the salt water spray. He opened his maw going straight for his target, the pokemon laying on the human, it didn't like any pokemon that would surrender its will to another being. It was through your own will that you become strong, that was his motto. He was going to teach the pathetic pokemon that lessons even if he had to bite it into him.

Sam had trouble seeing whatever it was that was coming towards them as it flew straight up into the air, it wasn't until it eclipsed the sun when Sam noticed it was heading right for them. He clasped onto Growly and quickly rolled to the right, the Pokémon skimmed his right arm as he was in the middle of rolling, Sam checked his shirt to see it was slightly ripped, what just happened? What happened was that a random, and seemingly extremely aggressive Carvanha decided to exit the ocean and try to walk on land, the fact that it was on its own was a suprise, they usually travel in packs, and it was lucky that Sam managed to dodge it, they have teeth that can cut through boat hulls.

Carvanha was a water type Pokémon with no legs, meaning it could do not do much on land other than flop back to the sea. It appears the Carvanha took a one time shot and missed, now it would need to regroup back in the ocean. "I may not get another chance to get a water Pokémon... Now is the best time to catch it, but I will need to weaken it first" Sam thought, he looked down to Growly with a smile and a nod "Time to get you a new friend, buddy... First use Growl to give it a scare!" Growly took a small step back and let out a loud roar, sending small particles of sand away from it, the Carvanha seemed to pick up some speed back to the ocean, it looked like it really regretted its decision to surface, "Ok Growly, try and get in there with a Bite!" Growly darted forward, heading straight for the Carvanha and hoping for a direct hit.

His foe approached to attack him, but he was ready, he used his leer attack to attempt to frighten it and with a massive effort flung itself up into the air and over the water. Throwing up sand as it did so. He sunk into the safety of the water and swam just above if waiting for its chance to strike again.

Growly slowed his pace down slightly, as if it was starting to get scared of the Carvanha, it is a water Pokémon and he was a fire Pokémon, it was clear to Sam why he was acting like this. Growly's change of pace gave the Carvanha enough time to shoot up into the air again, this time going from land to sea, it splashed into the ocean and resurfaced again, watching Growly with its eyes just above the sea level.

Every scenario that Sam came up with in his mind came out with the Carvanha winning the bout, he had the clear type advantage and Sam could only think of one thing that had a slight chance of making a difference, but it might have been risky, it was his only choice though. Sam shot out a pointed finger, pointing towards the Carvanha and yelled "Growly, try heating the water around the Carvanha with your Ember attack!" Growly took in a deep breath, one that probably had some sand in it too, and started firing small fireballs into the water around the Carvanha, it was not a direct attack, it wasn't supposed to be, but Sam hoped that it would become so hot in there that it would force the Carvanha to do something.

He saw his opening as the Growlithe began spitting fire into the water. He dived down and swam to the left. He took his time aiming and when he knew his shot was in the mark, swam as fast as he could, once again flying out of the water and attempting to bite his foe. He would not stand to suffer the humiliation of defeat to a pokemon that surrendered its will to a human.

"Growly look out!" Sam yelled as quickly as possibly, but slow enough that Growly could still understand what he was saying. Growly fired one more fireball into the water before realizing the Carvanha was heading towards him from another direction, Growly dropped low into the sand as the Carvanha flew just a whisker over the top of him, the teeth cut off small pieces of fur in the process.

The Carvanha had taken another risk, sure of its abilities to get the job done this time, but the risk did not pay off again, this time coming extremely close to hitting Growly instead of Sam. The Carvanha landed in the sand once more and began shimmying its way back to the sea through the sand, it was clear that Carvanha on land was pretty much powerless, all of its power came from being in the water, so Sam intended on it staying that way. "Growly, Bite it on the tail and throw it into the cliff face now!" Growly pushed himself out of the sand and shook it off, it leaped forward and landed behind it, it opened its jaw and clenched down on the tail of the helpless Carvanha, then with a large feat of strength, it span, lifting the water Pokémon out of the sand in the process and let go, sending it through the air, the fins on both sides of it's body made for better aerodynamics, causing it to keep the exact same speed throughout and again, there was nothing it could do. The Carvanha slammed into the cliff face with a thud and dropped to the ground, it was motionless for a few seconds, perhaps it had been knocked out from the impact, this made for the best time for capture. Sam sprinted forward, trudging through the deep sand under his feet, he pulled a vacant Pokéball from his belt and enlarged it, he pulled back and launched the ball towards the Carvanha in hopes that he could capture his second ever Pokémon.

The pokeball struck him and he was forced inside. The ball shook once, twice, three times before he escaped. He was upright hurt and unable to move but he wouldn't give up. He would keep fighting till he couldn't anymore. The pokeball that was thrown at him returned to th humans hand as he waited for the next attack. Even if he lost he wouldn't make it easy for them to capture him.

"The Carvanha escaped?! What a stubborn Pokémon! Just get in the ball!" Sam thought, he was losing his patience with this Pokémon and he was beginning to wonder whether there was any point to actually catching this Pokémon anymore, it was both physically and mentally straining for the pair of them.

"Fine... If you won't give up now, you sure will later... Growly, grab it by the tail and throw it into the cliff face a few more times!" Growly leaned down and bit the Carvanha on the tail again with his sharp teeth, the bite must have hurt just as much as the cliff face... almost. Growly swang a few more times, sending the helpless Pokémon into the cliff wall again and again, a few more times and it would probably cause it to start cracking. The Carvanha fell to the sand once more, clearly more damaged from the onslaught of attacks from Growly, "How about now!" Sam yelled as he propelled a Pokéball back to the Carvanha, how many times would he have to do it to capture this thing?

The pokeball struck it again. This time the pokeball shook one, two, three, four, five, and finally six times before stopping.

Congratulations

Caravanha Lv 5
Ability: Rough Skin
Adamant Nature

Attacks:
Leer
Bite

"Finally!" Sam yelled out with happiness and relief. He walked over to the newly caught Pokémon and picked up the wall, it certainly was a determined one Sam gave him that, and a Pokémon with that attitude can give a big morale boost to the trainer if they are in need of it, although this Carvanha clearly did not like them if it was the one that started the battle first. Sam clipped the new member of the team to his belt and he returned to his previous sitting spot, he sat down cross legged as a tired Growly joined him on his lap, he laid down and panted as Sam stoked him from above, "Good job Growly, you did great considering it was a water Pokémon, if we keep fighting like that. we will do great in the future." Sam looked out to the ocean and stared as it sparkled back to him, it appeared that you are not always safe from being attacked from a wild Pokémon no matter where you are, something that makes being a Pokémon trainer even more exciting.

After a relaxing rest of the day on Typhoon Island, Sam had seen everything he wanted to see. When he thought that he was just going to the Island to see what it looked like, he thought it was an added bonus that he was walking away with a second Pokemon, and he felt happy about that.