Day 1: CATCH... and release

In my previous post, I forgot to mention what I named the Snivy I was given.  I chose the only appropriate name: Charmander.  Now, when I do battle, I can loudly (and proudly) proclaim that my Charmander is the only one who can EASILY defeat those pesky water Pokemon.  Hahaha! Take that!

Having receive the gift of Charmander into my life, I set off for Route 19.  In this, I caught only the first pokemon I saw: A male Purrloin who I promptly named Saliva.  Cats are weird. Their first battle was against a mighty Patrat.  Weakening the Patrat significantly, Saliva then tapped out so that Charmander could feel better about himself and bring the battle to a close.  The next fight was against another Purrloin, and Saliva did so well that he gained clear knowledge, increasing his ability to fight and defend against further Pokemon, and learning to Growl for the first time.

Battling my way through Route 19, I cross into Floccesy City.  After a quick pit stop at the PokeCenter, I crossed into Route 20, where I befriended a Patrat: Gophrbroke.  He was a weak runt of a pokemon, but he chose to tag along, for the time being.  Facing off against other trainers, I made my way to the Ranch to the North, where I encountered a wild Mareep.  I made that Pokemon into lambchops before it even knew how to react.  By that, I mean I literally named the Mareep "Lambchops."  I now have electricity at my disposal!  With Lambchops in hand, I face off against Gary, my Rival.  His Tepig quickly succumbs to a Thunder Wave, and then is tackled by my fearsome sheep.  The ability to control lightening continues to grow, LC learns to attack with a Thundershock as a result of the battle.

About this time, Gophrbroke seems clearly distraught to be in close proximity to the new powerhouse that is Lambchop.  I made my way back to Floccesy city, and release him back into the wild of Route 20 to be with his family.

For now, my lineup consists of:

1. Charmander (Grass)
2. Saliva           (Normal)
3. Lambchop    (Electric)

EDIT: Upon exploring the ranch where Lambchop was found, I stumbled upon a Team Plasma member who was in the process of stealing a Herdier.  I drove them off, and returned the poorkemon to its rightful owner.  I was then directed back to Aspertia City to fight my first gym leader!  I breezed past the first two fights, dashing their Patrats and other pitiful Pokemon against my mighty team.  Lambchop proved especially helpful, as their electric charged and paralyzed enemies.  Cheren, however, proved more difficult.  

Gyms are hard, yo.

Leading with Lambchop, We repeated our Thundershocks, as before.  Cheren pulled no punches, and with a lucky shot, critical hit on a tackle, sending Lambchop to the grave before taking out a single one of his Pokemon.  Charmander mopped up quickly behind the late Lambchop.  Then, I switched to Saliva for the final fight.  Saliva proceeded to throw dirt in their face, reducing their feeble attempts to connect to near-zero.  Unfortunately, near-zero was not good enough, and while Saliva did manage to deal some small amount of damage, eventually they connected with a single blow.  Because they had been Worked Up, that single blow was enough.  Backed into a corner, I threw Charmander back out into the fight.  In a failed attempt to bind my opponent, Charmander was also hit by a tackle, reducing their hit points to a single one.  Gulping, Charmander let loose with a Vine Whip.  CRITICAL HIT!  The foe went down and Charmander saved the day.  My team survived by the skin of their teeth; 1 HP away from permanent death.

New lineup, resulting from fight: Charmander (Grass).  Looks like I'm going to need to catch more Pokemon.