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// First Battle Jitters 
// Story: Pokémon Turquoise Johto Adventures 
// by foxmaster 
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A week has gone by since Turquoise won the grand festival and right now she and Fluttershy are in a forest outside of Ecruteak City stopping for lunch.

“So remind me, how are we getting to Mt. Silver again?” Fluttershy asked.

“According to the map, we need to backtrack to New Bark Town and then head towards the base of Mt. Silver,” Turquoise said. Suddenly Sprigatito was pawing at Turquoise’s legs like she wanted something and Turquoise knew exactly what it was. “I know you want to start battling but now is not the right time.

“Do you even intend to battle with Sprigatito?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course I do but we need the right opponent first and the rest of our pokemon are too powerful for a practice battle,” Turquoise said. Suddenly a girl who looked around the same age as Turquoise with short white hair with red streaks in it wearing a black top with a black plaid skirt with a few patches on it and a matching black lace shrug entered their area with her Eevee.

“Excuse me but might you two be pokemon trainers?” She asked.

“We are,” Turquoise said.

“Then would any of you be interested in having a battle?” she asked.

“That depends, how many pokemon do you have and how strong are they?” Turquoise asked.

“All I have is my Eevee and we just started our journey a week ago,” The girl said.

“In that case I accept your challenge,” Turquoise said. Before any battling could begin fluttershy suggested everyone eat first since she finished making lunch. All three of them sat down at the table. “I’m Turquoise by the way.

“And I'm Fluttershy,” Fluttershy said.

“Nice to meet you two, I’m Anko, “Anko said.

“So Anko, where are you from?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m from Goldenrod City, “Anko said.

“Neat, and how strong would you say your Eevee is?” Turquoise asked before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

“Not a lot since we just started our journey and we don’t have a lot of battle experience, “Anko said.

“In that case you might be just what I'm looking for,” Turquoise said before explaining. “You see I too have a pokemon that has little to no battle experience. so your Eevee might be a perfect opponent for her to train with.

“Cool, so which one is it?” Anko asked.

“My Sprigatito of course,” Turquoise said, directing Anko’s attention to her.

“Wow i never seen one before,” Anko said before pulling out her pokedex which Turquoise recognized as a standard action when seeing a new pokemon for the first time. After the girls finished lunch Turquoise and Anko got into position with their pokemon at the ready. Fluttershy took her spot as the ref for this battle.

“The battle between Turquoise and Anko will now begin, both sides will use one pokemon and there will be no substitutions,” Fluttershy said with both sides in agreement. Before they started Turquoise checked what moves Sprigatito currently has and then the battle began.

“Eevee use Tackle. Eevee rushed at Sprigatito who was looking at Turquoise for orders.

“Dodge and use Scratch. Sprigatito tried to do what Meowscarada did but instead ended up getting nailed for some damage. “Not like that.

“Now Eevee use Sand Attack. Eevee turned around before using its hind legs to kick sand at Sprigatito.

“Use Leafage. Sprigatito summoned a bunch of leaves but before she could fire them she was hit by the sand which lowered her accuracy and caused her to miss entirely.

“Now use Tackle. Eevee charged at Sprigatito again.

“Sprigatito use Scratch. Sprigatito tried to land a hit but missed before being nailed again and fainting.

“Sprigatito is unable to battle, Eevee is the winner which means Anko wins the match,” Fluttershy said before pointing her left arm at Anko.

“That was a good battle, “Anko said.

“Sure was,” Turquoise said. While Turquoise was in her good mood Sprigatito was hurting because she lost her very first battle and it felt like she failed. Suddenly Sprigatito ran away into the forest while crying. “Wait Sprigatito, what’s wrong?

“Do you think this is my fault?” Anko asked.

“It’s not your fault, I think I know what’s wrong,” Fluttershy said before continuing. “This was Sprigatito’s first battle and when she lost she felt like she failed and I bet she is thinking she is not cut out for battle, contest or otherwise.

“Right now I see, I'll go talk to her when we find her,” Turquoise said.

“Eevee and I will help,” Anko said.

“Thank you,” Turquoise said before the three of them went in the direction Sprigatito ran.





Sprigatito was running through the forest crying. She was running so fast she failed to notice the giant spider web ahead of her and was caught in it. Suddenly a group of Ariados began crawling near her which caused her to scream loudly.





On the path Turquoise heard the sound of Sprigatito screaming and ran towards it alone. Sometime later she found Sprigatito caught in a web with a bunch of Ariados crawling towards her like she was a fly caught in their web.

“Espeon use Swift. Espeon came out and used Swift to free Sprigatito and destroy the web. Sprigatito ran towards Turquoise before hiding behind her due to how angry the Ariados were. Espeon made quick work of them and once the danger was over Turquoise and Sprigatito sat on a nearby stump to talk. “Listen I know you're upset you lost your first battle but that’s ok. Sprigatito looked confused since she was expecting Turquoise to be angry with her for losing. “Nothing goes right on the first try but it’s important to never give up and learn from your mistakes. Sprigatito considered what Turquoise said and felt better. “Now let's go find the others and then it’s time for some training. Sometime later Turquoise found the others and they all returned to the campsite.

“Sprigatito seems to feel better, what did you say to her?” Fluttershy asked.

“I told her it's important to never give up especially after the first try,” Turquoise said.

“In any case are you up for a rematch?” Anko asked.

“I am but not today, I need time to train Sprigatito a little,” Turquoise said.

“I understand,” Anko said. Luckily there was a clearing nearby that was wide enough for training. Turquoise and Sprigatito left for the clearing to begin. Turquoise called out Espeon before explaining what they would be working on first.

“First off we need to work on your dodging,” Turquoise said before explaining. “The way Meowscarada moves is the result of months of practice plus the fact that Meowscarada is a biped allows her to do it with ease. You need to learn to dodge in a way that works for you. Espeon spammed swift and Sprigatito tried to dodge it. First Sprigatito tried to get a sense for where the stars would be coming from and then dodge accordingly. After some time Sprigatito found her style of dodging which involved somersaulting in the air. “Now let's work on improving your attacks. Espeon kept using swift while Sprigatito used her attacks on the stars. Sprigatito improved with each attempt and was now confident in her own abilities.





At the same time Anko was doing some training with her Eevee since she wanted to keep things interesting for the rematch. Eevee trained against many wild pokemon and managed to improve its speed and power.





The next day turquoise and Anko were ready for their rematch. Fluttershy assumed her place as ref for the battle.

“The rules are the same as last time,” Fluttershy said before declaring the start of the battle.

“Eevee use Tackle. Eevee moved faster than before which took both Turquoise and Sprigatito by surprise for a moment.

“Dodge it and use leafage. Sprigatito was able to dodge Eevee’s tackle and then summon a bunch of leaves that hit eevee for some decent damage.

“Not bad,” Anko said before continuing. “Eevee use sand Attack. Eevee unleashed a sand attack and managed to land it.

“Sprigatito use Scratch. Despite having her accuracy lowered she managed to get in a lucky hit which was the final blow to Eevee.

“Eevee is unable to battle, Sprigatito is the winner which means Turquoise wins the match, “Fluttershy said while pointing her right arm at Turquoise.

“You did it Sprigatito,” Turquoise said happily with Sprigatito also happy.

“Not bad, “Anko said.

“So what’s the plan now?” Turquoise asked.

“Eevee and Sprigatito need time to rest so let’s leave tomorrow, “Fluttershy said.

“Sounds good,” Turquoise said. The rest of the day went by fast and when night came Turquoise and Anko were looking up at the stars in the clearing.

“So what do you see?” Anko asked.

“That cluster right there looks like an Espeon,” Turquoise said, pointing to the cluster she saw.

“Now I see it, “Anko said.

“How about you?” Turquoise asked.

“Right there is the Tauros constellation, “Anko said pointing to it. The two of them pointed out various star clusters and constellations until they went to sleep.





The next day the camp was all packed and Turquoise and Fluttershy said goodbye to Anko before continuing on the road to their next destination. Where will our heroes go next? Stay tuned as the journey continues.

TO BE CONTINUED