Notes: Updating slowly...I don't know how people do it regularly. Maybe because of my procrastination it just seems difficult...oh well. Enjoy. I update these stories more then my profile.

Chapter 2: Flaming Determination

Jason was sitting at the dining room table in Simon's house. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on it. He glanced at the digital clock on the counter. It flashed from 5:59 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Jason sighed. "A slacker that wakes up at 5 a.m. Go figure," he said tiredly before yawning. He got up and went to the fridge.

Simon's Bulbasaur, who was let out of the ball, wandered into the kitchen. He leapt into Jason's seat, then leapt back onto the table. Jason came back with can of pop and stood next to the table. Bulbasaur looked up at him earnestly. Jason scratched behind its ears. Bulbasaur looked up, closed its eyes, and growled happily.

"Sorry for kicking your ass little guy," he said sitting down.

Bulbasaur sat down on its belly.

Jason popped his can open and drank some of it. "Why am I going with Simon I have no idea."

Bulbasaur tilted its head in curiosity.

"Eh…maybe it's pity."

Bulbasaur blinked.

"Or maybe it's just an excuse to get back on the road, I gave up on gym challenges two months ago, I wonder if my skills are still sharp," he said leaning back.

Bulbasaur blinked again.

Jason looked up at the ceiling and started to doze off.

At this point, Simon walked in. He was carrying a large thick book with a white cover. He dropped it on the table causing Bulbasaur and Jason to jump three feet in the air, literally and figuratively respectively.

Bulbasaur walked over to it and sniffed it inquisitively.

"Finally found the bastard," Simon said happily.

Jason stood up and walked over to it. "You actually swore?" he asked more amazed at that then the sudden appearance of a book on the table.

"Very funny. My brother mailed this to me in a package and made me swear on my life that I wouldn't open it until I got my first pokemon."

"So what is it?" Jason asked. "It doesn't have a title."

"But it's awesome. It was written by my brother. It has all the information we'll ever need about anything!"

"You're kidding me."

"Nope! I checked it out. It has information 300 types of pokemon and more information on the cities then the AAA."

"You're not supposed to know about the American Auto Association, you're not from Earth."

"Well neither are you."

"True."

Simon excitedly flipped through the pages and stopped at a random page entirely devoted to one pokemon. Simon looked closely at the page.

"Hmmm…Dugtrio…number 51…ground type….2'4"….73.4 lbs……area of distribution: Diglett's Cave...it even has a color picture and everything down to the eating habits and sleeping patterns."

"Damn this stuff is detailed," Jason said looking over his shoulder.

Simon flipped towards the end of the book and came to a detailed map of Pallet Town.

It showed all the key locations that they would ever need to know about, at least in Simon's brother's opinion.

Bulbasaur growled and nudged at Simon. Simon looked down and picked him up.

"Forgot breakfast," he said picking him up and taking him to the kitchen.

Jason took this opportunity to take this opportunity to take a closer look at the book. He saw some really small text at the bottom of the page. It read: Jason you observant bastard I know you're reading this.

Jason twitched and closed the book. He turned around and saw Bulbasaur eating out of the bowl.

"I'll be outside when you're ready," Jason said walking outside.

Simon nodded and looked at his Bulbasaur. "Well…let's take on the world and don't look back."

Bulbasaur growled happily.

Simon smiled and called him back to the pokeball and ran outside. He locked the door behind him and joined Jason outside where they proceeded heading north towards Route 1.

On route 1…

A red haired girl was lying on the grass next to a river. She was in khaki shorts and a red t-shirt. She was fifteen. She had five pokeballs attached to her belt. Her growlithe was drinking out of the river. She sat up to look at him.

"Are you done yet?" she asked. Growlithe looked up, barked, then started to drink out of the river again.

The girl sighed then lied back on the grass. "You always take the longest."

She fingered a pendant around her neck. It was a metal circle with a sapphire the size of a grape embedded in the middle. Around it were a bunch of symbols but were illegible in most places due to the wear and tear it received over the years.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched.

Two guys were watching her from a tree downwind from the growlithe through binoculars. "The boss is going to like this," one whispered under his breath.

Meanwhile, a good distance down the road…

A pidgey flew to the ground. It looked around then pecked at the ground. It looked up again, walked forward and looked around again. It pecked the ground twice then looked towards the tall grass. A pokeball was thrown out of the grass towards the pidgey at lightning speed. It made contact with the pidgey and it was enveloped into the ball in a flash as the ball fell to the ground. The ball twitched on the ground before the locking mechanism kicked in. Simon leapt out of the grass.

"YEAH!" he yelled in excitement punching the air.

Jason stood up out of the grass. "Wow. You're pretty damn lucky. I'm surprised you didn't break its neck you threw the ball so damn fast."

Simon picked up the pokeball, attached it to his belt and laughed. "Well I was the pitcher of my baseball team back then."

Jason laughed and put his hands in his jacket pockets. "And I always hit your pitches out of the park."

"And they'd always land in Mrs. Ketchum's living room and you'd always have to pay for the glass."

Jason twitched. "Don't remind me."

"So how much longer to Viridian City?"

"Hell if I know. Shouldn't be too much farther," Jason said heading down the path.

"So what's in Viridian?" he said following.

"A decent bed."

"Ummmm…"

"Trust me…sooner or later you'll kill for those."

"Figuratively?"

"Nope."

Simon gulped as he followed down the path.

Back at the river…

The girl looked up again at her drinking growlithe.

"Oh come on," she said moaning and laying back.

She closed her eyes and listened to the breeze. Growlithe took one last sip from the river and looked around happily. Growlithe caught a scent in the air and its expression changed. The girl's stalkers were now upwind from Growlithe. Growlithe turned around and barked repeatedly at the tree.

"Augh! What is it Growlithe?" she said standing up slowly.

She looked at her pokemon curiously then looked in the direction it was looking.

Two guys jumped out of the tree they looked to be in their late teens. Growlithe growled protectively. The two guys rushed at her and they each grabbed her under the arm and lifted her off the ground.

"Damn it! Let me go!" she yelled kicking.

Growlithe ran up and bit one in the leg. The guy howled in pain and his grip on the girl loosened. She elbowed him in the face sending him backwards then punched the other in the face to get herself free, leaving a black-eye. The one she punched stumbled backwards.

The one that Growlithe bit fell to the ground with the fire dog still holding firm. He kicked Growlithe off his leg then ran haphazardly towards her. The girl quickly spun around and kicked him in the side of the head thanks to her flexibility. He fell to the ground.

The other one clutched his eye.

"Bitch!" he yelled.

The girl adopted a fighting stance.

"3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, you messed with the wrong girl."

"Either way, you still can't deal with this," a deep voice said.

The girl turned around in time to see a flash of a pokeball. A machoke appeared and rushed at her. She didn't see the blow. She felt a harsh blow to the back of her head and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Growlithe growled and leapt at the machoke. Machoke karate chopped in the side sending it flying off into the tall grass. Growlithe growled menacingly at them.

The person who sent out the machoke fired a loud sounding cap gun at Growlithe. It barely missed it but it was enough to send Growlithe running off whimpering.

The two punks laughed picking up the girl.

"What should we do with her, Roger?" one asked.

Roger put away his cap gun. "Take her back to the camp."

30 minutes later down the road…

Jason and Simon were still walking down the path. Jason had his hands in his pockets and was staring into empty space in a bored manner. Simon had his pidgey roosted on his shoulder. His hands were around the straps of his backpack. He was looking around earnestly.

"I haven't seen many rattata about," Simon said to break the silence. Jason shrugged.

"Eh…the pokemon haven't been very active today. This happens sometimes. Other times you'll be hiding under rocks to get away from them…only to find that there was something hiding under the rock too."

"Heh...well at least I got Pidgey."

Jason looked over and glanced at the bird calmly roosted on Simon's shoulder.

"Yep. What a catch," he said calmly.

Simon looked up. "What's that over there?" he said pointing ahead of them by a turn in the path.

Jason looked up in surprise. The girl's growlithe was lying on its stomach with a sad look on its face, whimpering slightly.

"Holy crap it's a growlithe," Jason said fumbling through his pockets.

Simon sat down and pulled out his book and flipped through the pages to find the entry for Growlithe. Pidgey flew to his side and looked at the book. Simon looked at it with confusion.

"They only live around Saffron City. What's with this?"

"Hell if I know," Jason said pulling out an Ultra ball. "But it's mine!" he said throwing the ball.

The ball hit Growlithe and simply fell off to the side and plopped open. Growlithe simply ignored it and whimpered more.

Simon stared in confusion.

"Defective ball?" Simon asked.

"It's probably been tagged already."

Simon gave him a confused look.

"The pokemon already has a trainer. The pokeball that its trainer caught it with tagged it and uploaded the data to a server somewhere in space which all pokeballs access. It's a light speed process so my Ultra ball didn't work," Jason said before walking over to it.

Simon put the book away, stood up, and followed Jason. Pidgey flew up onto his shoulder again.

Jason kneeled down in front of Growlithe.

"Come here girl," he said offering his hand in a concerned voice.

Growlithe stood up and rubbed up against Jason.

"How could you tell it was a girl?" Jason asked perplexed.

Jason rubbed Growlithe's back and fed it a bit of generic pokemon food.

"Trust me, I just know."

Growlithe looked in the direction down the path then looked up at Jason.

Jason looked into her eyes. "What is it Growlithe?"

Growlithe nudged Jason and looked down the path and whimpered.

The two boys looked in that direction and saw that it followed the river.

Growlithe ran a little down the path, turned around, then barked at them. Jason and Simon looked at each other, nodded, then walked towards Growlithe.

Growlithe started running down the path and Jason and Simon gave chase. Pidgey decided to fly after its trainer instead.

At Roger's camp…

The girl groaned. She felt a harsh pain on the back of her head.

"W-what happened?" she asked opening her eyes. Why can't I move?

Roger, his machoke, and his two goons were sitting around a campfire cooking the food they found in her pack. One goon was nursing his leg. The other was holding an ice pack to his black eye. Roger was taller then the rest. He was 20 years old and

She tried to get up. "Damn it that's my lunch!" she yelled but realized she was tied to the tree. The ropes were wrapped around her chest, she was sitting on the ground and her legs were free.

The three punks laughed.

"What a catch!" the one with the black eye said examining the pendant in his hand. "This thing will fetch a couple grand easy!"

"Asshole!" the girl yelled. "That's mine!"

The punks laughed again.

The other goon had her five pokeballs in her lap. He reached for an ultra ball and opened it to find it empty.

"What the fuck?! There's nothing in it," he said.

"Damn it!" the girl yelled again. "What did you do to Growlithe?"

Roger laughed. "We sent the whiny bitch running."

His two goons laughed in response.

"Bastard!" she screamed trying to get free.

The trio laughed some more. Roger heard a barking noise from down the road.

Roger looked up to see four figures running toward them in the distance.

"Growlithe!" the girl yelled happily.

Roger stood up. "I'll deal with these brats. Come on Machoke," Roger said as walked towards the newcomers.

Jason and Simon stopped several feet away from Roger and saw the whole situation. Jason reached for a Great ball in his jacket pocket.

"What the hell's going on here?!" he exclaimed.

Roger laughed. "None of your damn business."

"That girl is tied up!" Simon said defensively as his Pidgey flew to his shoulder again.

"Still none of you punks business. Time to feel my wrath. Machoke!"

Machoke yelled in anticipation as it ran towards Jason. Simon stepped back a little. Growlithe hid behind Jason. Jason didn't flinch. He held the Great ball in front of him.

"Haunter!" he said as the pokeball opened and Haunter appeared.

Roger pointed at the ghost pokemon. "Karate chop!"

Machoke brought his arm down on Haunter which turned out to be fruitless as it went through the ghost. Haunter laughed.

"Shadow punch!" Jason ordered.

Haunter threw a very fast punch at Machoke which connected and sent Machoke backwards on its back.

"This isn't over punk," Roger said clenching his fist.

Machoke stood up and dusted itself off.

Simon took this opportunity to disappear and run towards the tree. The good nursing his leg stood up slowly, putting the girl's pokeballs in a sack..

"Not today you little snot! Mankey!" he yelled as he threw his pokeball at the ground. Mankey appeared in a flash as growled.

Simon pointed at Mankey. "Pidgey, let's go!"

Pidgey flew off his shoulder and to the ground. It opened its wings and chirped.

"You think you can take me punk?! Low kick!"

Mankey ran towards Pidgey and did a sweeping kick at Pidgey's talons. Pidgey flew into the air just in time to avoid the attack.

"Pidgey, gust!" Simon ordered.

Pidgey chirped more and flapped its wings faster, creating a small tornado. Mankey got caught in it and it was lifted off the ground in the swirling vortex. Pidgey kept flapping faster adding fuel to the tornado. Mankey was raised higher and higher. Pidgey then stopped and landed to the ground. The tornado dispersed and the unfortunate Mankey fell to the ground hard, rendering it unconscious.

Simon cheered as he called Pidgey back to its pokeball. The goon called Mankey back and stepped back.

Roger laughed at Jason. "You think you can win with just a ghost?! Machoke, foresight."

Machoke stood on one knee and scratched its head as it observed Haunter and saw its weak points.

Jason sighed. "Well I guess I'll have to end it quickly then. Psychic!"

Haunter raised both its hands and laughed menacingly as a flash of psychic energy was shot at Machoke. Machoke fell over backwards in a daze before Roger called it back and reached for another pokeball.

The goon with the black eye stood up.

"God damn it man. You always sucked. Go Krabby," he said throwing his pokeball to the ground and Krabby appeared in a flash. It chomped its pincers to show that it was ready.

Simon smiled. "Too easy. Go Bulbasaur," he said calling it out. Bulbasaur appeared and growled excitedly.

The goon pointed at Bulbasaur. "Krabby, vicegrip attack."

Krabby walked towards Bulbasaur.

Simon pointed at Krabby. "Vine whip."

Two vines came out from under its bulb and flew out and whipped Krabby across the face knocking it over.

"Damn it!" the goon yelled as he called his pokemon back.

Roger swore under his breath. "No way will a punk like you beat me. Go Weezing!"

Weezing appeared in a flash and bellowed a little smoke as it hovered in the air.

Jason laughed. "Way to easy. Psychic."

Haunter repeated the attack and it was obviously too much for Weezing to handle as it fell to the ground in a daze. Jason called Haunter back.

Roger swore and called Weezing back. "Damn it! Let's scram guys."

Roger broke into a run down the path. The two goons soon followed, running off with the sack. Simon ran towards the girl, pulled out a Swiss army knife to cut the ropes off.

Jason took a few steps forward. "Oh no you don't," he said reaching for a pokeball.

"Arbok!" he yelled as he threw a pokeball to the ground. The snake pokemon appeared in a flash and hissed.

"Get him," Jason ordered calmly.

Arbok slithered across the ground faster then what one would expect from a snake and wrapped around the goon with the sack's hurting leg causing him to trip and drop the sack. Arbok took the sack in its jaw, let the goon go and slithered back to Jason.

The goon stood up and ran again with a slight limp this time.

Simon finished cutting the girl free and before she could get up, Growlithe ran over to her and licked her face happily causing her to giggle and hug it tightly in both happiness and relief.

Jason picked up the sack and saw the pokeballs inside. He walked over to them. Simon and the girl stood up. The girl took the sack in one hand while holding Growlithe in the other hand.

"I can't thank you two enough," she said happily.

Simon smiled. "What else would we have done?"

Jason scratched behind his head. "It was nothing really."

Growlithe barked happily and wagged its tail as it panted.

"I'm Nina Eldier," the girl said. "I'm from Cinnabar Island."

"I'm Jason Connolly," Jason replied. "I'm from Saffron."

Simon stood next to Jason. "I'm Simon Espenson. I'm from Pallet Town."

"Well it's nice to meet you both," Nina said smiling feeling her neck. She sighed.

"They took my pendant."

Arbok slithered up to Jason and he put his hand on its head. "I can find em."

Nina sighed again. "It's no big deal. I found it in the sand on the Seafoam Islands. I could ask a jeweler to make another one."

Jason called back Arbok. "What a shame. So what will you do now?"

Nina called Growlithe back. "I'm still on my gym challenge journey. I want to enter the indigo tournament."

"I watched re-runs of last year's tournament last night!" Simon said happily. "My brother lost in the 5th round though," he added sadly.

"That makes him one of the top 16 in Kanto," Nina said happily.

Jason patted him on the back. "Don't fret too much."

"Guess you're right," Simon said happily.

"Why don't you come with us Nina?" Jason asked.

"Me? Why?" she asked curiously.

"Simon and I are both shooting for the same thing. I have a couple gyms to knock off since I only have five badges. Simon literally got his first pokemon yesterday."

"That's cool. I only have 3 so far. And I won't be attacked like that again if I'm in a group. I'll be happy to come with."

"Yay!" Simon exclaimed.

Jason offered his hand and Nina shook it.

"Welcome aboard Nina," Jason said.

Simon pointed north up the path. "Not to far from town, let's go! I can't wait."

Simon sprinted down the path.

Jason let go of Nina's hand. "Wait up Simon!" he said before running after him.

Nina simply laughed and gave chase.