After obtaining his first Pokémon, Zayn decided to officially begin his journey together with his Gible Redux.
At least, that was the plan at first—but then Zayn realized something. It seemed Diego had forgotten to give him basic starter equipment such as Poké Balls, Potions, and other supplies. Because of that, his first destination became the Poké Mart.
"Seriously, that professor is such a pain. How could he forget to give me starter supplies?" Zayn muttered in annoyance.
Zayn entered the Poké Mart, where he immediately checked the list of items he needed:
Poké Ball ×10
Fresh Water ×5
Revive ×5
Sitrus Berry ×5
Leppa Berry ×5
Lum Berry ×10
After that, Zayn asked Gible to help him gather the items. To be fair, Gible did manage to help collect several of them. However, when Zayn looked at the shopping basket, he realized that Gible had picked up items that weren't on the list.
"Alright, you brought the items I asked for, Gible," Zayn said.
"Gii-ble!" Gible replied enthusiastically.
"Okay, there are Sitrus Berries, Lum Berries, and Leppa Berries… but why are there so many Figy Berries here? One… two… three… there are ten Figy Berries!"
"Gible… ble… ble… Gible," Gible replied while gesturing to explain why it took them.
"I don't understand what you're saying," Zayn sighed, "but I get that you like spicy food since Figy Berries are spicy. Honestly, I prefer sweet food over spicy."
Zayn then decided to return the Figy Berries to the berry shelf—but it wasn't that simple. The moment he tried to put them back, Gible suddenly bit his hand. Instinctively, Zayn swung his arm hard to shake Gible off, but surprisingly, the bite wouldn't loosen even after that.
"Seriously, you're nothing but trouble!" Zayn snapped.
"Giii-bleee!" Gible snapped back angrily.
Since the Poké Mart was crowded and Zayn didn't want to cause a scene, he reluctantly gave in to Gible's demand and decided to buy the Figy Berries.
"Fine, you win, Gible. I don't want to make a scene here," Zayn said as they lined up at the cashier.
"Hi-hi! Gible!" Gible cheered happily.
When it was finally their turn, Zayn paid using his Pokédex, which was already linked to his Trainer ID. The moment he received the receipt, he froze in shock.
10 Poké Balls = ₽2000
5 Fresh Water = ₽250
5 Revives = ₽3750
5 Sitrus Berries = ₽75
5 Leppa Berries = ₽50
5 Lum Berries = ₽100
10 Figy Berries = ₽200
Total: ₽6,425
"Whaaat?! No way! It's only my first day and I've already spent ₽6,425! That's almost a third of the balance I topped up yesterday!" Zayn exclaimed.
He immediately checked the balance on his Trainer ID app.
"₽13,575 left…" Zayn said in shock, unable to believe how wasteful he had been.
Gible then grabbed Zayn and dragged him out of the Poké Mart. Gible was the one feeling embarrassed now, seeing his trainer standing in shock in front of the cashier.
Several people who had been waiting in line behind them saw the whole scene. They didn't look at Zayn and Gible strangely—instead, they were reminded of their own early days as Pokémon Trainers, when they too were shocked by how expensive equipment and supplies were.
After that, Gible brought Zayn back to the plaza. Without warning, Gible suddenly used Aqua Jet, crashing straight into Zayn and sending him flying into the fountain at the center of the park. That impact finally snapped Zayn out of his shock.
"B-blugh—hey! Why did you throw me in here, Gible?!" Zayn shouted angrily.
"Gible, Gible, Gible," Gible replied while mimicking Zayn's earlier behavior.
"Oh… so that's how I looked just now," Zayn said. "I guess I'm pretty troublesome too."
But then Zayn suddenly panicked.
"Wait a second… I feel like we forgot something," Zayn said, trying hard to remember.
Gible also froze, realizing the same thing.
Suddenly, both of them remembered—the items they bought were still at the Poké Mart counter, completely uncollected. Without wasting time, Zayn and Gible sprinted back to the Poké Mart.
Zayn arrived first and immediately rushed to the cashier to retrieve his items—but they were gone.
Panicking, Zayn and Gible searched everywhere, running all around the city. Zayn didn't want to buy everything again. They ran so much that Zayn's clothes, which had been soaking wet earlier, were now completely dry.
Still, there was no trace of the items.
Eventually, they returned to the plaza—where Zayn saw Gible happily devouring Figy Berries.
Only then did Zayn realize that his Gible Redux had been mischievous from the very beginning.
"So it was you who took them!" Zayn said, slightly annoyed. "But wait… how is that possible? We ran back to the Poké Mart together, and you helped me search the whole city. How could you be here eating berries?"
Suddenly, the Gible standing beside Zayn vanished.
That meant the Gible who helped him search earlier had only been an illusion.
"Okay… the Gible helping me was an illusion," Zayn muttered, growing even more confused. "But then how did you carry all those items without being seen?"
In response, Gible used Shadow Sneak, slipping into the shadows. He then placed a Sitrus Berry into Zayn's shadow—and astonishingly, it stayed there.
Only then did Zayn realize that shadows could be used as storage.
Immediately, Zayn took out his Pokédex and began writing notes about Gible Redux.
Gible Redux:
[ A Water/Ghost-type Pokémon that is cunning and mischievous. It has the ability to access the darkness within shadows to attack or store objects, and it wields dangerous water-based power ]
Based on what had happened earlier—especially the bite—Zayn guessed that Gible Redux's nature was Adamant.
Next, he opened the move menu and recorded the moves Gible Redux could currently use:
• Aqua Jet
• Shadow Sneak
• Double Team
After that, Zayn opened the full stat menu.
Name: Gible Redux
Level: 5
HP: 21
Attack: 18
Defense: 10
Special Attack: 8
Special Defense: 13
Speed: 12
Nature: Adamant (+Attack, −Special Attack)
Ability:
• Hyper Aggressive
• Speed Boost
• Strong Jaw
Moves:
• Aqua Jet (Water)
• Shadow Sneak (Ghost)
• Double Team (Normal)
"Honestly, you're pretty strong—as long as you don't get hit by physical attacks," Zayn said.
After that, Zayn checked the time.
It was already 12:00 PM, and they hadn't made any real progress aside from shopping. Because of that, he came up with an idea—to head to Route 6, a great place to look for beginner Pokémon.
"Hey, Gible, how about we go to Route 6?" Zayn said.
Gible tilted its head slightly.
"Giible?"
It clearly sounded like: What does that have to do with me?
"You know, you're my Pokémon. Of course you have to come with me," Zayn replied confidently.
"Giiible! Gible gible!"
As if saying: Who made that rule? There's no such rule!
Zayn paused.
He realized… Gible was right. There was no rule like that.
"Well… it's an unwritten rule," Zayn said, trying to justify himself.
Gible stared at him with an unconvinced expression.
"Gible."
And somehow, Zayn could tell it meant: I'm not convinced.
Left with no choice, Zayn tried a more forceful method.
"Fine then. Get back into your Poké Ball," he said, attempting to return Gible Redux into the Poké Ball.
But nothing happened.
The recall signal was rejected.
"How is that possible?! It wasn't like this in the game!" Zayn exclaimed in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Gible casually continued eating the berries from Zayn's bag.
At this point, Zayn was running out of options.
If he forced it, Gible would probably escape using Shadow Sneak.
Trying to return it to the Poké Ball clearly wouldn't work.
And bribing it with food would only drain his money.
So he decided to use his backup plan.
"Alright then! If you don't want to do this the normal way, I'll give you a challenge. How about we race to the wild area of Route 6?" Zayn said confidently.
Gible's eyes lit up.
A challenge?
That was something it liked.
And of course—
Gible immediately agreed.