Act 2

Chapter 5-Disappointment

Green woke up in a bed, and was so bewildered to find herself as such that she screamed until Nurse Joy came barreling into the room.

"What's the matter? Are you hurt?" Joy asked hurriedly, checking her forehead with a worried expression.

Green finally got some control, and her breathing slowed. "Fine. I'm fine.... how did I end up here?"

Nurse Joy smiled and opened the window in the room. "Your green-haired friend went out to the pond and found you lying on the ground. She brought you here right after."

Green smiled absentmindedly as she reached for her pokeballs. Her belt, which had three pokeballs, had two. Green's smile vanished, and when she looked up to yell at Joy, she was gone already. Green didn't have to let her anger seethe long, because Marta came in, smiling brightly.

"Green! Thank you so much! Professor Elm was so happy!" she said bubbly, plopping in the chair next to the bed.

"What do you mean?" Green shot back, still looking in her clothes for the third pokeball.

"I saw that you captured Totodile, so I sent it back to Professor Elm! Thank you so much for helping me out. I must've overslept this morning." Marta said casually, in a way that made Green's teeth grind.

"So you took the Pokemon I captured and gave it away while I was passed out." Green said, her voice coming out even and hollow.

Marta seemed to notice the edge in Green's voice, and looked apprehensive. "That was what you were going to do, right?" she asked, and Green once again had that bizarre knowledge that though this girl was older, Green was the leader here.

"Sure. Well, thanks for bringing me here anyhow." Green struggled out of the covers, and pulled on her overshirt that was thrown over a nearby chair. She felt like yelling at Marta, but also felt that Marta was the kind of girl who would burst into tears if yelled at. Best to brush her off now. "It was nice meeting you and stuff, but I'm sure we both..."

"Well, I have good news for you!" Marta said, smiling even brighter. "Since you caught Totodile, I'm free to continue on to Pewter City with you! Isn't that great!" She motioned to her pack, which was sitting in the corner looking ready for a trip.

Green's eyes narrowed. This was just annoying now. True this girl did have a nice rack, but she was as dumb as a bag of hammers. Plus, she had cost Green a pokemon already, which annoyed her. For a few minutes Green had thought that nearly half her pokemon team was done, but it turns out things may not be that easy. Green opened her mouth to tell Marta she couldn't come, but instead got another idea.

"Marta? Here, take this." Green handed her the crisp bill pulled from the parcel. "Would you mind doing me a little favor since I caught that Totodile?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course!" Marta said, looking as keen as a newborn puppy. "Whatever you want!"

"Good. Then see how much alcohol you can buy with that. Vodka or rum for preference." Green said, speaking briskly to hopefully overcome the inevitable questions.

Marta looked at the bill and back at Green again. "Um, alcohol?"

"Yes."

Marta hesitated for a few minutes, opening her mouth as if to speak, and then closing it a few different times before she finally smiled again. "Well, I do owe you I suppose. I'll be back in a little while." and with that, she walked out, leaving Green alone again.

Green sat back with a groan. Dammit, it looked like she was stuck with this girl until Pewter City at least. Thinking of Pewter City got her thinking of Viridian City, and Viridian City got her thinking of the parcel. She took it out, and frowned at it. There had been something about this package... something about who it was going to, but it seemed to slip Green's mind entirely now. All she could think was that she'd have to drop off the package before hitting Viridian Forest. With a shrug, she stowed the parcel back in her bag. It would come to her if it was important.

After a half hour, during which Green mostly enjoyed the bed and scratched Charmander on the head, Marta came back, carrying a box in both hands. She looked exhausted. Green sat up, looking curious.

"All they had was vodka, so I bought all they had. Here's your change." Marta said, pouring some coins in Green's open hand.

Green pulled the lid off the box. There were about twenty bottles in the box, and none looked small. "Wow! Thanks Marta! How old are you anyhow?"

"Eighteen. How come?" She asked, looking pleased to see Green happy.

"You don't look it. Want a drink?" Green asked pleasantly, cracking open one of the bottles.

Munchlax's pokeball opened nearly on command, and Green passed over another empty can she'd filled with clear alcohol. Munchlax took it happily, and began sipping at the can with gusto. Green poured a second drink for herself, and took one large swig, making a face as it went down.

"No thank you. I don't drink." Marta said, blushing.

Green snorted in humor, and continued on her glass.

After a drink, Green felt a lot more like getting on the road. She got up and stretched, but looked curiously at the box of alcohol. It'd be too hard to carry all of those bottles on the road. Green walked to the corner of the room, which had a PC sitting on a desk. She turned on the screen, and after a moment it lit up, showing her the words, "Hello Green, which PC would you like to connect with?"

Green skipped "Someone's PC" and went to "Green's PC." She wasn't sure how the computer knew it was her, but she decided to not ask questions. Sure enough, it gave the option to store items. She chose the option, and a box next to the PC, which Green had suspected was an extra hard drive, popped open. "Please place your item in the box." the screen prompted. She slid a bottle into the box, and with a flash it disappeared. The computer pinged, and a small picture of the bottle appeared in her box. Green smiled, and pulled out all the bottles save two. Once put away, Green got up, cracking her back with a pleased sigh.

Marta, who had been sitting quietly at the bed's edge, smiled. "Are you ready to go then?"

"Sure, why not. I've gotta stop off at the gym before we exit town though. I gotta drop off a package."

Green and Marta left the Pokemon center, but not before Nurse Joy double checked her temperature both with her hand and a thermometer. The two were out and approaching the gym before long, however. Green noticed dismally that it was already past noon. She wasn't making nearly the progress she thought she would.

The gym was huge, ominous, and very obviously empty. The windows were black, and high up to discourage anyone looking in. Green walked to the front door, which was plain other than the mail slot. A sign near the front door announced this as the Viridian Gym, but it was covered in dirt, giving it a decidedly forgotten look. Green slid the parcel into the slot, and turned away. "C'mon, this place gives me the creeps."

"It WOULD give you the creeps you chicken." Said a voice that Green had been hoping not to hear yet. She turned with a sigh to see Blue, who was looking up at the gym and smirking. "Nice big gym here. Someone should take this place over to not let it go to waste."

"What do you want, Blue?" Green asked more sharply than he'd intended.

Blue grinned at Green, then noticed Marta for the first time. "Aren't you gonna at least introduce me to your girlfriend?" he mocked with a smile. "She should know who I am so it's no surprise when I beat you."

Marta opened her mouth, but Green cut in. "Her name's Marta. She's charmed." Green pulled out a pokeball. "2 on 2 then?"

Blue smiled and pulled out a pokeball too. "Sounds good to me. You ruined my plans, you know. Red was supposed to get Bulbasaur, but we were supposed to be switched. I was gonna take Charmander. But you just had to mess it up, huh? Well Ill teach you a lesson. Go, Starly!" Blue let the pokeball fly, and it released the bird pokemon. It chirped as it fluttered in mid-air, glaring at Green with its' narrowed eyes.

"Charmander!" Green cried, throwing his own pokeball. Though she didn't show it, the Starly had disturbed her. It was arguably a better pokemon than Pidgey, after all, and it wouldn't be as much a brush off. Even as Green tried to remember what the rest of Blue's team was usually, the information eluded him like it was dodging out of the way. Charmander burs forth, and its' eyes almost immediately found the bird pokemon circling the battlefield.

"Quick attack!" Blue yelled, throwing out a hand.

Charmander yelped as the Starly blurred past it, sending it spinning. "Smokescreen, Charmander!" Green yelled, and Charmander obliged by belching out a thick smoke, which covered it in a cloud.

"Wing attack, Starly! Don't be discouraged!" Blue yelled.

Starly went wheeling back around in midair, and swooped in towards the cloud. It entered, and there were a few whooshing noises. Charmander skid sideways out of the cloud, having dodged this attack.

"Charmander, ember!" Green prompted, and Charmander hit the smoke with a burst of flame. Starly shrieked, and zoomed out of the smoke, its' feathers singed.

"Quick attack! It's out of the smoke!" Blue ordered as Charmander grinned at the Starly's fright. Starly wheeled in midair and shot down like a bullet, hitting Charmander soundly and driving it on its' butt. The Starly stayed in close, flapping its' wings and looking for somewhere to scratch with its' claws.

"Ember it Charmander!" Green said, and Charmander hit the Starly square on with the blast of fire. Starly may have been quite the fireball, but it couldn't take hits well. It struggled, and then fell limp as smoke slowly curled off its' singed body.

Blue slowly reached up and returned Starly. "Not bad. But I'll bet that I'm already a better trainer than you." He threw a pokeball. "I went near the entrance to Indigo Plateau and found this guy! Go, Larvitar!"

The small rock-type pokemon appeared, and glared at Charmander through narrowed eyes. "Sandstorm!" yelled Blue, and Larvitar obliged by throwing its' hands out, and whipping up a stinging cloud of sand. Charmander really seemed to dislike it, but he stood strong and unmoving.

"Charmander, ember!" Green said, but without much conviction. The plume of fire did hit the small figure of larvitar, but the thing hardly flinched. "Where's your Squirtle anyhow?"

"Screech!" Blue commanded simply, and Larvitar let out a high-pitched wail that had Charmander covering its' ears in pain. "Oh, I thought you said 2 on 2." Blue grinned. "I can use him too if you want."

"Smokescreen!" Green ordered, and the sandstorm was suddenly darker. It was hard to see any action inside.

"Finish it with tackle, Larvitar." Blue said, bored. Green could just barely see something leap at Charmander, and not even the smoke made it miss. Charmander slid out of the cloud on its' back, and Green returned it.

"Fine. Let's see how this works. Go Munchlax!" Green threw the pokeball, and Munchlax appeared in the sandstorm. Though she couldn't see it, it did look very confused, and she suspected it still felt the drink from earlier.

"Bite, Larvitar!" Blue commanded, pointing a finger. The blur that was obviously Larvitar jumped at the larger Pokemon, and latched onto Munchlax's arm.

Munchlax went crazy, and began running in circles, trying to throw Larvitar off. "Lick, Munchlax!" Green yelled, and Munchlax stopped his running long enough to drag his tongue slowly along the body. Larvitar stiffened, and suddenly the sandstorm began to die down. Green grinned. Larvitar was paralyzed.

"Tackle, Munchlax!" Green said airily. Munchlax pulled Larvitar off his body, took a step back, and slammed the other Pokemon with his bulk. Larvitar went skidding back to Blue, where it stiffly tried to get up.

"Don't bother." Blue said coldly to his Larvitar, returning it. He glared at Green for a moment, then his face burst into his traditional casual smirk. "Well, I guess it's lucky for you I didn't use Squirtle. Why not have some more Pokemon next time so we can have a real match?" he turned and walked off, not looking back. "Smell ya later!"

Green and Marta watched as Blue walked away. "Gee, he really wanted to beat you." Marta said conversationally.

Green looked Marta over for a minute, and then apparently decided against using sarcasm. It probably wouldn't work anyhow. "Yes." The two walked off towards the North Entrance of the town, and Viridian Forest. "Did your parents ever say something like, 'thank god you're pretty' or something?"

Marta considered seriously. "I don't think so. Why, do you think I'm pretty?" Marta asked, face turning red.

"Fucking forget it. Let's just go."

Chapter 6-Fucking Forest

Green and Marta had stopped for lunch in the small rest house that lay right in front of the forest. On the ground around them, Charmander, Munchlax and Chikorita snacked at their lunches with gusto. Munchlax had a half-empty can near him, and made less noises than the other two pokemon, though he looked no less pleased.

"Gee, I hope we don't run into a lot of trainers here." Marta said, looking worried as she finished off her sandwich. "I hear there's lots of trainers here, and they like Bug-type pokemon. I hope Chikorita won't run into a lot of problems."

Green shrugged. "Just catch a few more pokemon while you're here. It's not good just to have one, anyhow."

Marta shook her head, and smiled at Green with an exasperated expression. "Oh, I don't just have one Pokemon, Green. That'd be silly."

This was news to Green, who looked up. "Wha? But all I've ever seen you send out is Chikorita."

Marta reached onto her belt, and produced a Pokeball. "I had to get here from Cinnabar Island somehow, right?" She said as she pressed the button.

Luckily there was nobody in the center of the room. It was immediately filled by a huge, coiled serpent. The Gyarados looked furious as it glared around the room, then as it saw Marta it's expression turned up at the corner, and it brought it's head down to eye level, making a deep contented noise. It took a moment before Green realized it was happy, and not just another kind of angry. Marta pet its' head lovingly for a moment, then she reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of the brown pokemon food balls, tossing them casually at the thing. It snapped them out of the air in one deft bite, and chewed happily as Marta returned it.

"His name's Jeffy." Marta said with a smile on her face as she clicked the pokeball back in place.

"Jeffy." Green repeated evenly. She could never understand nicknaming pokemon. It just seemed kinda silly for the most part. Especially if people had pokemon nicknamed Jeffy. How were you supposed to even fight a pokemon like that and not feel just a little embarrassed? And Green felt a little pang of annoyance at Marta's sudden change in pokemon status. She felt that being the one with the better team had been her main sticking point, and suddenly that had been taken away. Well, she'd remedy that here in the forest. There had been a Munchlax on the way to Viridian City, apparently a Larvitar near the Pokemon League entrance, and even a Totodile in Viridian City. Surely there would be decent pokemon here?

The two trainers packed up after their lunch, and left for the woods. Marta, as always, kept up a slow but steady conversation about nothing important. Her chatter was actually good, Green felt, because it means she could really look hard for pokemon because she'd be ignoring Marta so soundly.

Something caught her eye, and she put out an arm to stop Marta. "Woah, what's that?"

something lowered slowly from the tree above. An unmoving, chitinous yellow body that was unmistakably a Kakuna. It turned on a thread to look at the two of them.

"Charmander, ember." Green said with satisfaction. Charmander obliged, shooting a pull of fire that knocked the thing to the ground, smoking. She tossed a pokeball, and the thing was sucked inside, where it only struggled a moment. Green picked up the pokeball and clicked in place on her belt.

Marta clapped furiously as she bounded up to Green. "Yay, good job! I'll try to catch the next one, alright?" she asked, eyes sparkling behind her glasses, and ran ahead, excited now.

Green sighed and followed at a brisk walk. "This isn't a race! Geez!" Green hadn't even really intended to USE the Kakuna or anything. The idea that Blue had more pokemon than her was a bit annoying was all, and she wanted a few more soldiers. Plus, she got a good feeling whenever she caught a new pokemon. More importantly, Beedrill was a giant bee with drills for arms.

It was a few minutes until they found another pokemon. Marta was silent now, scanning the brush in eager anticipation, and she squealed as she caught sight of one. It was halfway up a tree, in front of a crack in a large tree trunk, out of which leaked a deep golden honey. Further up the tree, far out of reach and range of throwing, Combees flew to and away from the tree, bringing pollen and going out for more. The pokemon was a Heracross, which didn't even notice them as it drank heavily from the tree.

Green scowled. Life was fucking unfair.

Marta tossed a pokeball. "Go, Chikorita! Razor Leaf!" Chikorita came bursting out, and with a flick of the head shot out a volley of spinning leaves at the unsuspecting Heracross. It yelped in surprise as the leaves bit into it, and whirled around to see what had attacked it.

Heracross hissed, snapped open its' wings, and zoomed down to Chikorita, horn first. It let out a "Chika!" before it got hit, rolling it away in a painful sprawl. Chikorita got up slowly.

"Chikorita, synthesis!" Marta encouraged, pointing to the sky.

Chikorita arranged its' top leaf so it caught the full sunlight streaming through the trees, and its' wounds vanished as Chikorita let out a satisfied sigh.

Heracross settled for glaring fiercely at the smaller opponent, which unsettled it, but the grass pokemon didn't run.

"Chikorita, tackle! Show him your strength!" Marta exclaimed. Chikorita darted forward, lowering its' head at the much larger bug. The collision knocked it off its' feet, which seemed to surprise it as much as it did Green. Chikorta landed on its' feet as Heracross landed on its' back, and began rocking frantically back and forth. Marta's pokeball caught the thing on the chest, and while it shook violently at first, it wasn't enough to break the hold. The red light dimmed.

Green had been watching the fight with her arms folded, thinking. Marta wasn't too bad at battling. Well, that is to say that against a wild Heracross her Chikorita had performed well. She was kind of pissed that everyone else seemed to be catching the good Pokemon, (except for the Munchlax, but Green brushed that off) but at the same time she was glad her new teammate had a decent team. Still, she'd be damned if the next good Pokemon went to Marta. "Nice job. That Heracross looks like quite a scrapper."

Marta nodded happily as she scooped up her Chikorita. "Great job Chikorita! Now, let's see our new Pokemon!" She placed Chikorita down, picked the pokeball up off the ground and pressed the button. Heracross appeared in a rush of red light, wings spread wide, and stretched wide. Marta smiled down at the beetle. "You can go back to the honey if you'd like, Heracross. We're gonna take a rest here I think." Heracross grinned widely, and bounded back up the tree, where the crack in the bark was still dripping honey slowly.

Green sighed and pulled out her pokeball. Kakuna was released with a rush of red light, but it merely sat there and remained silent. Charmander wandered up to the bug and poked it with a claw. Green sat down and poured herself a drink, and poured a second one for Munchlax even as he let his last pokemon out.

Marta drank slowly from her water bottle, and poured some in a dish for Chikorita. She giggled at Green and Munchlax, who were tipping back their drinks at the same time with nearly the same expression.

Green looked up curiously. "What's so funny?"

Marta smiled. "Oh nothing. Some people and their pokemon start to act alike after a while. You and Munchlax had a moment."

Green stared down at Munchlax as it looked back up to her. The two shrugged and went back to their drinks. "So, Marta. What are you going to do after you get the Boulder Badge anyhow?"

Marta seemed to take the question seriously, chewing her sandwich thoughtfully as she considered. "Well, my plan was going to be to just get the badge because I was in the area and head home. Now I don't know." Marta smiled. "You look so determined that I sort of want to see all the gyms through."

Green smiled back, but she felt conflicted about her new traveling companion. She really hadn't ever counted on bringing anyone with her, and while it did provide some advantages there was always the very real possibility that Marta would turn out to be more of a liability than a help. Green thought about mentioning that it would best if they parted ways after Pewter, but a look into Marta's strangely pink eyes killed the words even before they formed. A part of Green was laughing at the rest, calling it stupid for caring about hurting the feelings of something that was theoretically just a whim of something else's imagination, but there was another part of her that rejected that idea. If she started alienating herself from human contact and began training constantly, she suspected it may start taking a toll on her mental health, especially because when she had to focus on Marta her mind couldn't wander to areas like, 'will I ever get my penis back.'

Green realized she had not spoken back to Marta for at least a few minutes, and Marta looked tense, as if she feared her words had upset Green. Green smiled weakly. "Well, you've already got some great pokemon. I'm sure we'll get all eight, no problem." Marta blushed, looking pleased, and part of Green mentally scolded the rest for its' cowardice.

The two gathered up their belongings and returned their Pokemon. The woods were serenely quiet as they ambled along, Marta admiring the scenery while Green kept alert for any new Pokemon.

There was a crashing in the brush, but instead of a pokemon a young boy burst out of the woods. He looked out of breath, and even younger than Green, but he had a few pokeballs on his belt and grinned when his eyes found theirs. "Hey, you're pokemon trainers, right?" The kid had a net slung across his back, and a large wide-brimmed hat resting on his back, kept steady by a string running around his neck.

Green considered just telling him that they weren't, but Marta spoke up before she could really even consider the lie. "We sure are!"

"Great!" He pulled out a pokeball. "I challenge you to a battle!" He yelled at Green, who was slightly ahead of Marta.

Green sighed and extracted a pokeball of her own. "Fine. Let's get this over with. Munchlax!" Munchlax appeared on the ground in front of Green, looking tired but happy as it swayed on the spot.. It still smelled vaguely of alcohol.

"Ledyba!" The other trainer responded, sending his pokeball flying. It opened in midair and spilled out the six-legged buzzing ladybug. "Safeguard!" he ordered, and Ledyba let out a silver shimmer that stayed in the air.

"Munchlax, use tackle!" Green responded, and Munchlax tucked his head down and sprang at Ledyba. It caught it in mid-air and sent the two crashing to the ground. Munchlax rolled off a furious-looking Ledyba.

"Comet punch!" the kid that Green couldn't help but think of as a bug trainer yelled. His Ledyba sprang up with glowing fists and walloped Munchlax four times with sharp, wicked blows.

Munchlax growled, and without prompting from Green rammed the thing again with a full body tackle that sent the lighter pokemon soaring. It skid along the ground and lay still.

The boy returned the bug and pulled out another pokeball. "Fine. That's a tough pokemon you got there. Go, Weedle!" The next pokeball let out out the small bug, who reared its' head to face Muchlax. The point at its' end gleamed dully in the light.

Munchlax narrowed his eyes at the poised Pokemon, and the two had a moment of silence pass between them. Finally, Weedle lunged with a shrill cry, and for a moment Green thought Munchlax was in trouble. Munchlax's arm shot out and caught Weedle right below the head before it could make contact. Weedle went from looking fierce to looking confused, and then Munchlax crushed by simply falling forward, pinning the thing under his body. Munchlax rolled off with a smile, and wandered over to Green with a pleased expression on its' face. Green, who knew what he was after, gave him the rest of the first bottle. There was still a second one after all.

The other trainer looked disappointed as he returned his Weedle. "Well. That hurt my self esteem a bit."

Green patted Munchlax, who was slurring "Muuunch..." as he paused from his slide into alcoholism. "Well, I'm sure that... you'll do fine." Green said slowly, knowing that she'd never see this guy again. "Bye!"

The other trainer nodded vaguely. "Yeah. I guess. Well, watch out. There's some tough trainer who came through here a while ago with an Ivysaur. I dunno if he's still around. He kept talking about being the best trainer ever and stuff."

Green narrowed her eyes. "Oh did he."

In the silence that followed, the other trainer started looking more and more uncomfortable. Finally, he pointed vaguely towards Viridian City. "Well... leaving."

Marta bounded up to Green, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "Good job! Your Munchlax is really strong! You hardly have to tell it what to do!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure it only knows two attacks..." Green muttered as she returned Munchlax.

Marta looked puzzled, and Green quickly added, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's just going for that reward. But he's certainly determined."

Marta smiled warmly at Green and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're being too modest. You always fight with such passion. It's like losing never crossed your mind."

It took Green a moment to analyze Marta's expression, and it embarrassed her to discover it was admiration. That was just great. Why in the name of God had she been latched onto some hyper touchy-feely emotions girl who apparently had the self-esteem of a limp noodle. Sure Marta had her charms, but the cynic that was Rudolph deep inside Green put it like this. She's a goddamn handicap. In more ways than one. Sure, she can get you alcohol but you can tell she doesn't like it. And secondly, not to put too fine a point on it, she's a pretty hot girl with a great set of tits and I am in the body of an 11 year old girl. It's like having a delicious fruit just out of reach. And it's not like I'm gonna let some guy ram me or anything. That would just feel... gay. At some level, for me, it would feel straighter and much hotter to just go ahead and...

Marta shook Green, looking worried as Green suddenly came to, looking around wildly. "What's wrong? You've been doing that a lot. Going all silent after little compliments like that."

Green nodded slowly. "Yes. Well. I have a lot to think about. Sorry if I'm coming off cold, it's not you. Let's keep going! I wanna try hitting Pewter City by dark."

Marta smiled and walked along behind Green, who was glad her back was to Marta. Being in this body was going to take a bit of trial-and-error, she felt. Marta didn't bring up the point of her silent lapses again, which pleased Green.

The next pokemon they came across was a Caterpie. Green didn't even bother sending out a Pokemon, but instead just tossed a pokeball at the thing. It caught it without much of a fuss, and the two continued without hardly a pause in their small talk. There was also another couple of trainers, which the two girls took turns fighting. Marta mostly used her new Heracross, as the bugs the trainers in the forest used were usually strong against Grass types. Green used her Charmander, and the bug users hardly stood a chance. Deep down she felt it was unfair to defeat trainer after trainer with the phrase "Charmander, ember" ad nauseam. Marta caught a Wurmple of her own with a casually tossed pokeball, and the two were in high spirits as they neared the end of the forest.

Green sighed in relief as she saw a sign reading 'Pewter City Rest House, 1/2 Mile' on the side of the path. Her legs were starting to ache. "Why don't we stop for a minute. Not much longer now."

The two had a light snack as Green flicked food balls to Charmander, who snatched them deftly out of the air with appreciative noises. Things were peacefully quiet, and the two enjoyed the atmosphere of the forest.

A crunching came slowly through the underbrush. The two froze, and Charmander perked up and swung his head. Out of the forest came a short, yellow and green ball with two mini legs. The smell of food must have alerted it, because it sniffed the air eagerly.

Green grinned. A Shroomish, how grand! "Charmander, scratch! Shoot to wound!" Charmander whipped forward and caught the Shroomish with two swift scratches that made it tumble backwards, yelping. Figuring that was enough, she tossed a pokeball. Charmander looked quite smug as the red light dimmed without much fuss. "Nice job Charmander! Wow, I wasn't expecting a Shroomish. Hehe, is great!"

Marta looked pleased. "Good for you! You needed a grass type, right?"

Green nodded happily. "Yup, and I've got a pokemon to help me with Brock's Gym now!"

Charmander, completely unexpectedly, looked crushed. He looked to Green with sudden hurt-filled eyes that made her feel horrible even before she knew what happened. Charmander turned its' back to Green.

Green shot a panicked glance to Marta, bewildered. "Um, what happened?"

Marta looked serious. "I think he thinks you think he's unreliable."

Green puzzled over the sentence for a minute, then realized what she must've meant. Green reached out and picked up Charmander, who resisted for a moment with an annoyed expression on its' face until Green said, "I thought it was understood I had total faith in you already. I already knew you were gonna help me with Brock's gym. I just think Munchlax might have a hard time, what with them being rocks."

Charmander hesitated for a moment, but smiled up at Green with a pleased expression. It accepted the head scratching, and no more was said as they all packed up to leave.

As the two turned a final bend in the path, they could see the rest house down a straight shot. Green looked pleased as they neared it, but around 200 feet from the building two figures stepped out into their path with grins that made green groan inside. These guys had 'thug' written all over them and she suspected she knew what they were.

"Hey, there's a fee to enter the rest house now, girls." Said the man on the right, who dressed nearly the same as the man on the left, with large trench coats and black hats. The only difference was the hair color, it seemed.

Green pulled out a pokeball. "Let's not mess around guys. If you're trying to shake us down you need to get moving."

Marta, who had looked puzzled, pulled out a pokeball as well, looking determined.

Both men hesitated, and the man on the left gave his partner a look that said, "maybe we should wait for the next pair." There was a long pause.

The other man snarled in anger and pulled out a pokeball of his own. "You little punks. The fee was just gonna be your money, but now it's gonna be your pokemon too!"

Both men threw out two pokeballs. A Pineco and Drowzee appeared in front of the left trainer, and in front of the right trainer a Tauros and a Spearow appeared. Both men were grinning wickedly.

Green threw out Kakuna, which appeared next to Charmander. "I'll take the one on the left. If you need help just say so."

"Green? Are these men Team Rocket?" Marta asked as she threw out her pokeballs, sending out Heracross and Chikorita with a flick of the wrist.

The words triggered something in Green. A repressed memory? So many things had been stirred by the words, but it was all confusing nonsense. Something about Mt. Moon though. No doubt about it, Mt. Moon. But what or why about Mt. Moon remained a mystery to Green. She certainly knew who Team Rocket was though. "I'd say yes."

Green leaned down and whispered something to Charmander. She pointed to Pineco, then to Drowzee, then to Kakuna. Charmander nodded.

The man on the left scowled. "Hey! No planning! Drowzee, confusion! Pineco, Rapid Spin!" The Drowzee went and closed its' eyes right away, and Charmander was outlined in a pale blue glow that looked as if it hurt. Pineco started spinning quickly on the spot, and it zoomed towards Kakuna, bouncing along the ground.

"Kakuna, harden!" Green yelled, and Kakuna shone white for a moment as it strengthened its' armor. Pineco rammed into it, but Kakuna held its' ground. "Charmander, ember!"

Charmander turned his head, ignoring the blue pain, and fired a stream of fire at Pineco, whom it caught completely unaware. It bounced away from Kakuna, who had not been damaged by Charmander's well aimed flame.

"Drowzee, Disable!" The man yelled, and Drowzee opened his eyes, which shone green. The blue glow disappeared from Charmander, to be replaced by a green one. Charmander's fire stopped, an he looked nonplussed. "Pineco, take down!" The pine cone, who already looked worse for the wear, launched itself at Kakuna with a desperate tackle.

Kakuna shone white again, and the blow that should have at least shook it didn't seem to budge him at all. Pineco looked as if he took more damage from the move, in fact.

"Charmander, smoke screen!" Green yelled, who was sure she knew what was going to happen next. Charmander spewed out smoke in Drowzee's direction, and she could see the Drowzee squinting through the smoke, having trouble making out the battle now. "Kakuna, harden!" Suddenly, as if on some unspoken order, Charmander sprinted at Pineco.

The man smirked. "Gotcha, kid. Pineco, Selfdestruct!" The Pineco, in command, began to glow with a quickly intensifying white light.

Charmander, who had already been rushing to Pineco, picked it up and hurled it towards Drowzee with all the might it could muster. It hid behind Kakuna then, trying to squeeze as much of itself behind Kakuna as possible.

Pineco exploded, and the blast cleared the smoke for the most part. Drowzee sat in the middle, looking dazed and hurt as it looked around for a clue of what was happening. Pineco lay smoking nearby. As Drowzee got to its' feet, it saw without registering it much a white glow in front of it. Kakuna, who had protected Charmander with its' body, was suddenly changing shape. Pointed arms folded out from the body, as well as wings and a real head as well. The Beedrill flexed its' wings and turned to glare at Drowzee.

"Fury Attack, Beedrill!" Green encouraged, and Beedrill rushed the psychic pokemon. It got five swift blows in with its' new arms, which proved too much for the Drowzee, who fell backwards with a thud.

The other trainer returned both pokemon. "How did you know I'd use that move?! Geez that's so unfair!" The guy looked to his partner, who's Spearow had fainted under Marta's assault. Tauros was still up, but the double-team of Chikorita and Heracross was obviously going to win. "Hey, we're out of here! Screw these kids!" The man ran off towards Viridian City then with a sudden rush, staying far away from their pokemon and not looking back to see if his partner was coming.

The other man returned his Tauros, but as he tried to follow his partner he found Beedrill in his way, brandishing his two menacing points. the man looked around, and realized he was surrounded by pokemon. A bead of sweat traveled down his face as he saw Charmander, flames sparking from his mouth as he growled at the man. "Look... look, what do you kids what? You don't need to hurt me, just... tell me what I gotta do."

Green scowled at the man. "Throw us your wallet."

The man hesitated for a moment, but as Heracross butted him in the back with his horn, the man scrambled in his pocket and threw Green the wallet.

Green picked it up and pocketed it without a word. "Now, tell us. You're Team Rocket, right?"

The man scowled, and his expression was still for a moment as he considered. Finally, he spoke slowly. "If you know that then you better let me go kid. We don't like it when people mess with our organiz..."

"Toss me your pokeballs." Green interrupted, glaring angrily at the man.

"What?" He asked, blinking in surprise at the demand.

"Give me your pokemon now, or I'm burning off your fucking clothes and dragging your ass to the police station in Pewter City. Toss me your fucking pokeballs and leave RIGHT NOW."

The man scowled, and looked down to his pokeballs with a pouty expression. "But, I stole these from..."

"Charmander!" Green intoned, and Charmander hit the man at the bottom of his trench-coat with a stream of fire. It took the screaming man a moment to put out the edge of the coat.

"Fine, fine, you crazy little hellspawn!" He tossed his pokeballs on the ground, and ran off towards Viridian City as fast as his legs could take him. The pokemon let him go, and the footsteps rattled down the path. He stopped for a moment once he was nearly out of earshot, and turned to speak. "Don't worry. We'll have our revenge at Mt. Moon." With that he grinned and rounded a band in the path, and soon they couldn't even make him out through the trees.

Green walked over and picked up the two pokeballs, dropping them in her left pocket. "We'll turn these in at the police station. We can do that, right?"

Marta nodded at Green with admiration in her eyes. "Yes, that's fine! Green, you really took care of that guy! That was amazing!"

Green smiled back. "I didn't do much. Really I just stole from a thief which is no big deal."

Marts shook her head. "But you disarmed him of his Pokemon, and now they'll be sent to a proper Pokemon ranch, plus you got his wallet so we can give it to the authorities!"

Green blinked. "Authorities? Oh, right. We can do that." She took the wallet out and pulled the money free from it. "Really, I was just wanting him to buy us a nice dinner." She had also been worrying about the mention of Mt. Moon. Of course, if they wanted the next badge they'd have to go there. She knew that, but she still felt it would just be trouble.

Marta giggled as the two walked towards the Pewter Rest House, the sun already pink in the distance.

Chapter 7-The New Brock

It was later on that night, and Green opened the door to their hotel room with a weary groan. Marta came in behind her, yawning as she placed her pack down and shut the door. Both looked exhausted. It had been about an hour over at the Pewter City Police Department, where Green had met with a blue-haired Officer Jenny (which confused Green, as they weren't in the games, or at least as far as she could remember) and told her about their encounter with the Team Rocket members. The officer was very kind and understanding, but she also insisted on the two remaining at the station until she had gotten the full story, as well as their names and a scan of their pokedexes. The pokemon were taken and transferred at once to a Pokemon ranch, and the wallet sealed in a plastic bag once an inventory had been taken of its' contents. Officer Jenny had thanked the two of them profusely for their assistance, and even as Green and Marta went to find a hotel two officers were deployed to the forest on a sidecar motorcycle. They had rented a hotel with some of the money they had gotten off the Rocket member, and the rest went to a large meal that was delivered up to the room.

After they had eaten their fill, Green excused herself to the bathroom to take a shower, realizing that she technically hadn't bathed since entering this body. Readying a change of clothing, she ran the shower and got dressed slowly and methodically. Stepping out of the last bit of clothes and tossing them in a heap in the corner, Green took a moment to look herself over in the mirror. She hadn't technically seen herself fully naked yet either, come to think of it. If she took a step back, so to speak, and looked at herself objectively then she was quite attractive. She looked away and got into the shower, letting her tense muscles relax in the hot water.

When she was finished, spending longer than normal perhaps because of all the new novelties, she toweled herself off and got dressed in some light clothing obviously meant to be slept in.

Marta was sitting on her bed as Green entered the room, scribbling happily in a notebook. She closed it and gathered a towel and some clothes. "Whew, good timing. I was just finished. It'll feel so nice to take a nice long shower after all that walking." still stretching with a smile, she wandered into the bathroom and shut the door.

There was a small device in the closet that looked like a washing machine that Green shoved her clothes into. From the look of the settings on the device, it also doubled as a drier, which was convenient if not exactly understandable. As the shower started up in the bathroom, Green settled on her bed. She reached down to her bag and took a drag from the bottle in there, as a nightcap, replacing it gently before settling back again. Everything was quiet as the shower hissed in the next room, and Green found her eyes closing slowly even as she wondered if she should even bother getting under the covers.

The next morning, Green woke with a snort as she felt the sting of sunlight on her eyelids. She groaned and turned slowly from the window, smacking her lips as she thought about getting more shuteye.

"Good morning!" Marta said cheerfully as she saw Green's eyes flutter. "I got breakfast!"

The smell of food coaxed Green's eyes open, and she sat up in bed with a groan, slipping a pair of socks on before sliding up to the pair of ham and egg sandwiches Marta had sitting on the table, along with a few bottles of some sort of juice. From the way Marta was bustling around she must be a morning person, which annoyed Green a bit, who was certainly not a willing one. Green grabbed and ate her sandwich slowly and mechanically.

Marta hummed as she ate her own breakfast, flipping leisurely through a magazine she has obviously procured during the sandwich trip. It had the eight badges of the Kanto Pokemon League on the front, with "Battling Digest" emblazoned across the top.

"Trying to read up on the League, eh?" Green asked, once she got food in her stomach and some juice to wash it down.

Marta nodded seriously. "I never thought I'd even think about getting all of the badges. Looks like we're going to have to go across all of Kanto!"

Green nodded vaguely as she finished off her bottle of juice, and picked another one up off the table. She carefully evened the level out in the full and empty bottles, making two half-bottles. Turning to her bag, she casually drew out the bottle and added vodka in equal measures, topping the bottles off. Releasing Munchlax, who yawned and stretched in the morning light, she sipped hers even as she passed him one. Munchlax took it gratefully, and slowly drank at the thing with his eyes closed.

Marta eventually put away her magazine with a satisfied noise. "Well, are you ready to go?"

Green tossed the remainder of her sandwich to Munchlax, who ate it as Green finished off her juice. "Sure, just gotta get dressed." Green yawned and wandered into the bathroom with her change of clothes and toothbrush. While in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, Green considered. On the one hand, she was ready to take on the gym challenge. On the other hand, who knew what kind of changes had been made to the rock gym. Shroomish was the best change she had on this gym, and she hadn't even let him out of his pokeball yet.

As Green walked out of the bathroom, straightening her hat, she decided that going for it now would be the best bet. Asking Marta to train first would be a good idea, but there was a part of her that wouldn't allow her to do that. She had a reputation she needed to keep up, if not for Marta then at least to beat Blue and Red along the way. She looked to Marta. "Let's roll."

On the way to the gym, the two passed a Pokemon Mart, and Marta snapped her fingers. "Right, I need some more pokeballs! Let's go inside for a minute."

Green nodded vaguely. She thought she only had two or three more pokeballs from the stock Professor Oak had given her, so restocking now couldn't hurt. She followed, and smiled as she saw the small, familiar pokemon center. Marta had walked right up to the counter, and was asking for pokeballs.

"Pokedex, please." the woman behind the counter said pleasantly, holding out her hand. Marta handed it over, and the woman plugged it into a console behind the counter. The woman scanned her screen for a moment, and smiled. "What can I get for you?"

"Six pokeballs, please. Oh, and four antidotes." she said with a smile. Marta looked to Green as the woman retrieved her order. "What's on your mind?"

Green wondered internally what was sold on the shelves if the important things were all behind the counter, and scanned a shelf. Energy bars, a magazine rack, and other small traveling amenities littered the shelves. She turned to Marta. "Nothing, just don't know what to get."

Marta got her order, thanked the girl behind the register and walked to the magazine rack, where she scanned it curiously while Green walked up to the counter.

Green handed over her pokedex, and the woman behind the counter plugged it in. The pokedex turned on and showed Green a total of her money. She looked at it for a moment, and glanced at a list of available pokeballs. She perked up when she noticed not just pokeballs, but great balls, ultra balls and even net balls, heal balls, luxury balls and dusk balls. She only had enough money for a couple of the good pokeballs, so she calculated her order in her mind to give herself at least a little bit of spending money after should the need arise. "I'll take four pokeballs, one ultra ball, and two dusk balls." Green felt confident with the order, knowing that the best pokemon were usually in caves, and Mt. Moon was coming up after all. Green waited a few minutes, and her order was delivered. Green's total on her pokedex dropped noticeably, and the girl behind the counter disconnected the pokedex with a pull of the cord.

"Have a great day!" the woman said cheerfully, waving at Green and Marta as the two emptied their orders from the paper bags into their bags.

Ten minutes later they were standing in front of the gym's front doors. It was eerily quiet here, and the high cold windows around the building from the outside looked dead and foreboding, so like the Viridian Gym. The only difference here was a sign out front, detailing this place as the Pewter Gym, run by Gym Leader Brock and specializing in rock type Pokemon.

Green reached out and pushed the left door open slowly, the huge wooden plank creaking as it revealed the gym's interior. Inside the ground was made of smooth hewn rock, up until the main battling ring, which looked like a quarry yard. Soft hanging fluorescent lights lit the gym evenly and professionally, and the circle of high windows from the inside left a brilliant view of the high forest to one side, and a mountain that must have been Mt. Moon to the other. A man sat patiently on a flat rock near the center of the room, reading a book before he looked up at his new guests.

Before anyone could move, a man next to the door grinned at the both of them. "Hey there, champ-to-be! I'll let you in on a secret about..."

"Shut up!" Green snapped, annoyed. The man back off, holding his hands up to show surrender.

Brock flipped his book closed. "Ah, welcome! This is the Pewter City Gym. I'm Brock. I take it you lovely ladies are here to battle for the Boulder Badge?" Brock stood up, put his book in his pocket, and crossed his hands across his chest. A confident smirk stood out on his face, even if his eyes looked closed to slits.

"Yes sir, we are." Marta responded, entering the gym first. Green pulled the door shut behind her and followed. "Yes, I'm Marta, and this is Green. We are indeed here to challenge you." She spoke timidly, as if this was costing her every ounce of courage she had.

Brock smiled encouragingly. "Of course. Then the two of you should decide who will fight first, and who second. This will be a 2 on 2 pokemon battle for the both of you. And I'm sure you'll do fine." The last part was thrown to Marta as Brock took the opportunity to step in closer.

Marta blushed, and Green stepped in between the two of them, scowling at Brock. She was sure that on the job he was supposed to be acting professional. "I'm sure she will. I'll go first, if it's all the same to you."

Brock grinned, and took two pokeballs off his belt with a pair of clicks. "Fine by me. Are you ready?"

Marta began to back up off the field, and Green gulped. This was it. Time to go for the gold. "Shroomish, go." Shroomish appeared, and hopped in place a few times, making little chirping noises.

Brock tossed his first pokeball. "Nosepass, go!" The little rock man with the large nose appeared in front of Brock, and tilted its' head around the room for a moment before pointing its' nose at Shroomish.

"Stun spore, Shroomish!" Green commanded, and Shroomish seemed to deflate a bit as it held in a deep breath. It spewed out a cloud of spores at Nosepass, and the rock pokemon didn't dodge out of the cloud quite in time. Its' movements because suddenly much more stiff.

"Nosepass, Rock Throw!" Brock pointed at a likely stone, and Nosepass grabbed it, and managed to hurl the rock with surprising speed. It hit Shroomish on the head, and it staggered back a few steps, looking dazed.

"Shroomish, Absorb!" Shroomish breathed in and concentrated, eyes fixed on Nosepass. There was a noticeable stream of something, energy probably, going from one pokemon to the other. Nosepass looked exhausted, but still stood.

"Nosepass, rock throw!" Brock intoned again, and the Nosepass, still moving slowly like a stop motion film, grabbed another rock and chucked it at Shroomish. It hit straight on, and Shroomish went tumbling back. That rock had hit it pretty hard, and Shroomish didn't look like it wanted to get up right now. Green returned her Shroomish as Brock chuckled. "I do allow rematches, you know."

Green ground her teeth together, and threw out the next pokeball. Charmander came out with a flash of red light, and flashed its' claws.

"Nosepass, rock throw!" Brock said, pointing to a fresh rock. Nosepass was reaching slowly to it, but the stun spores suddenly made it freeze, hand inches from the stone. Green fancied that the frozen Nosepass' eyes flickered to Charmander nervously.

"Charmander, Metal Claw!" Green commanded, and Charmander rushed forward, claws suddenly flashing in the light and sun. As it closed in, Nosepass looked more and more frantic in his reach for the rock. Right when it was just about to touch it, Charmander slashed quickly at the thing once. It slashed through rock easily, and Nosepass fell back with a crash.

Brock returned his Nosepass with a scowl. "Well, This battle isn't over..." even as Brock pulled out his second pokeball, he stopped his speech. Charmander was glowing, and letting out a low "Chaaaaaaar...." that was getting slowly deeper.

Charmeleon finished the evolution process, and brandished its' claws at Brock, who looked impressed. "Well, congratulations! Of course there's still round 2." He threw his next pokeball, and it opened to reveal Onix. It swung its' head to glare at Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, smokescreen!" Green yelled, pointing at the rock snake's head. Charmeleon spewed a stream of smoke at the Onix, covering the area around its' head in thick black smoke.

"Onix, bind!" Onix swiped its' tail out in a vicious curl, but Charmeleon ducked out of the way.

"Charmeleon, Metal Claw!" Charmeleon sprang on the rock serpent's tail, and from there to the thing's upper back. It slashed viciously with its' claws, sending rock chunks flying.

Brock's Onix went crazy, swinging itself violently to shake Charmeleon off, but the lizard stayed on, gripping with claws that gleamed like a sword. "Onix, smash it against a rock!" Brock commanded, and Onix whipped its' head at a rock viciously.

Charmeleon fell off Onix, and the thing smashed its' head into a stone with an audible crack. It pulled out of the rock slowly, the rock spike atop its' head noticeably chipped. It groaned softly. Charmeleon took a deep breath, and sprayed it in the face with a white hot flame even as Green yelled, "Dragon Rage!"

Onix fell to the ground, and didn't get up. Brock returned it, and when he looked up to Green she was surprised to see him smiling at her. "Wow, I shouldn't have even joked. You made me look positively foolish out there. You've earned the Boulder Badge. Here." Brock flipped Green the badge, which she caught easily. The badge was surprisingly small, and it reminded her of a large collectible pin. She pocketed the thing with a grin.

"Thanks. You weren't so bad, squinty." Green responded with a jovial smile.

Marta ran forward, clapping her hands excitedly as Brock looked a bit sulky. "Oh, congratulations Green! You were brilliant! And Charmeleon, you were great too!" she said to the lizard, scratching its' head. Charmeleon eagerly accepted the praise and scratching, looking pleased with itself.

Green nodded faintly. "Yeah, thanks. But it's your turn now, Marta." she didn't want to make too much of a fuss about her win because she didn't want to stay here long, already thinking that they could probably get to Cerulean City tonight if they hustled.

Marta got up, smiling. "Right! We'll save the celebration for after." She turned to face Brock. "Sir, I hereby issue an official request for battle!" she said swiftly, holding up a pokeball in slightly trembling fingers.

Brock took a pokeball off his belt. "Of course! Say, you wouldn't happen to want to add another condition to this fight, eh?" he asked with a smile.

"What's that?" Marta asked, looking puzzled.

"If I win, I get to take you on a date." Brock said quickly, and Green had an idea that this had been in his mind a while.

Marta blinked, and then suddenly looked completely serious, almost angry. She spoke in a slow, chilling voice. "No, I would not enjoy those terms. My boyfriend wouldn't either."

Brock's smile turned slowly to putty under the heat of Marta's gaze. Green had never seen her so upset. Brock threw out his pokeball, apparently in hopes that a battle now would stop this awkward moment. "Oh. Well, we um, don't have to use those terms. Geodude!" A Geodude appeared, and stretched its' arms wide.

"Chikorita." Marta said somberly, and her loyal leaf pokemon appeared. "Magical Leaf." Chikorita flicked her head at the Geodude, and it fell back under the sudden assault of multicolored leaves, got swept up and crashed into a boulder. It slumped to the ground.

Green and Brock exchanged a glance. Green shrugged in sympathy. Who'd have guessed Marta would get so upset at anything this much? Brock returned his Geodude with a sigh, and sent out his next pokemon, a Sudowoodo.

"Low kick!" Brock said, his voice trying to be forceful but coming out half-hearted. It was obvious that part of him just wanted this to be over.

Sudowoodo lashed out at Chikorita, catching it and sending it sprawling back.

"Magical Leaf!" Marta commanded, and as Chikorita got up it caused another rain of multicolored leaves. This threw Sudowoodo back, and used its' arms to block its' face.

"Mimic, Sudowoodo!" Brock encouraged, and when Sudowoodo moved this time, it fired a volley of multicolored leaves back at Chikorita.

Chikorita looked cut up, but not nearly done yet. "Razor leaf!" Marta yelled, and Chikorta sent out four quick, spinning leaves. They all hit Sudowoodo, and the larger rock pokemon fell with a crash onto its' back.

Marta cheered, and rushed up to Chikorita, but stopped as it began to glow. Chikorita grew larger, and the nubs around its' neck became more pronounced. It stretched as the glow died, leaving Bayleef in the place of Chikorita. Marta hugged it and smiled. "Great job, Bayleef! We won our first gym match!"

Brock looked humbled as he took out another Boulder Badge and tossed it to Marta without a word. His cheeks were red.

Marta caught the badge, looked at it, and then walked up to Brock. She held out her hand, and Brock shook it. "Oh, I'm not angry anymore, Mr. Brock. It's just that in the future maybe gym battles aren't the best place to ask for a date."

Brock nodded, and rubbed the back of his neck as he laughed nervously. "Well, I certainly agree with you there. You both did excellent in your battles. I hope to see both of you another day in the future. If you'd ever like a rematch, let me know. I'm glad be giving you your first badges, your first step to becoming Pokemon Masters."

Green piped up from where she was sitting on a rock as the two let go of each others hand. "Hey, you didn't see a guy with a Wartortle and another guy with an Ivysaur come through here, huh?"

Brock nodded glumly. "I take it all three of you were from Oak. Not that I'd expect any less, he always sends out good students." he smiled warmly at Green, who couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, thanks man. We'll stop in sometime!" Green promised as she went for the exit doors to the gym, waving at Brock as Charmeleon ran behind her, protective as a mother hen.

Marta bowed quickly, and hurried to catch up with her eager companion as she returned Bayleef. "Goodbye!"

Brock just waved until the door to his gym closed. He took the book out of his pocket, titled 'Dating & You,' and crossed out the line 'surprise them shortly after you meet them with a swift and sincere request for a date!'

"Well, that was a failure I think." Brock commented dryly.

"That's for sure!" agreed the man next to the front door.

As Green and Marta left the Gym and began talking happily about their wins, something watched them go, and used a gutter pipe along one edge of the building to get down and follow silently.

Chapter 8-Mt. Moon Blues

It was late that night when they got to the Pokemon Center outside of Mt. Moon. They had battled a handful of trainers on the way, and had given Shroomish, Munchlax and Heracross a chance to try their hand out on the kids. Most of the kids had used Rattattas, Sentrets or Bidoofs mostly, with a few Taillows, Pidgeys and Spearows thrown in to make things interesting. One kid even had a Treecko, which gave Heracross a run for its' money.

Green walked gratefully through the air-conditioned front sliding doors of the Pokemon Center. The place wasn't crowded, but there were a good amount of people sitting around on the ample floor, at least twelve. Most were in groups of two or three, but a couple of solitary people were here too, mostly sitting on the large circular couches that reminded Green on hotel lobby couches. The people on the floor either had sleeping bags, or in the case of two young girls who looked to be sisters, a tent propped into a corner. There was plenty of room in the middle of the room for walking, so they didn't disturb anyone as they walked up to the counter and gave their pokeballs to a smiling Nurse Joy, who assured them their pokemon would be healed post-haste.

Green sighed in relief as she plopped down on the couch, then opened her eyes and scanned the room for a concessions table. She spotted it, a large and low table, being restocked by a happily singing Chansey. Like the Viridian City table, it was covered with fruits, wrapped snack bars and the like, but also sandwiches, water, coffee, juice, and what looked like three covered hot dishes. There was even a number of baskets under the table full of Pokemon food, and Green noticed a Vulpix and an Aron eating from two different baskets under the table. A Tangela wandered up and started eating from a third. Green frowned at this, and turned to Marta. "Say, something bothered me back at Viridian City. Who pays for all the food on the concessions table?"

Marta thought seriously about it. "I'm pretty sure it's from the same place that pays for the Pokemon Centers. The Elite Four Fund."

Green looked bewildered. "Wait, how does that work? The Elite Four pays for everything?"

"No, not just like that. The Elite Four ends up with a lot of money, after all. Every year trainers from all over come and try to face them. They also defeat a lot of trainers. Getting half of a couple trainers' money adds up." Marta observed, eyeing the covered dishes.

Green followed Marta to the table, and got a few sandwiches as Marta got a baked sweet potato from one covered plate, and what looked like baked fish from another. "But, we don't get money from those little trainer battles we do out there. The Elite Four does?"

Marta sat down, and ate a few bites as she smiled at Green with an, 'oh you're so silly' expression on her face. "Of course we do! The pokedex deals with it all."

Green stopped halfway through her sandwich and flipped open her Pokedex. She hadn't even stopped and looked at it, come to think of it. Hardly even opened it since leaving the lab, in fact. After some searching though, she found there was, in fact, a running credit total. She blinked at it. "So... why do some people have paper money then?"

Marta finished her bite of sweet potato before speaking. "Well, people don't always keep all their money in their pokedex account. It's good to have walking around money after all."

Green felt weird as she looked at the total amount. It'd be so easy to cheat the system. Just take all they money out, and fight with no fear of losing cash. At the same time, she wondered if it was breaking some kind of rule. Plus, there didn't seem to be a need to walk around with huge amounts of cash. That was just inviting trouble.

As Green was looking at her pokedex, a man came sauntering up with a salesman's grin on his face, a pokeball in hand. "Excuse me, I just heard you ran into some money, young lady! Well, it just so happens..."

"Get outta here!" Green barked, not wanting to deal with the Magikarp man.

The two continued to eat in silence as the man walked off dejectedly until Green asked, in a low voice, "So, why did you get so upset at Brock anyhow? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Marta hesitated, and from her expression this was the question she was hoping would have been overlooked. She put her plate on her knees. "I don't know if I have a boyfriend now."

Green considered those words, and opened her mouth hesitantly to speak, but Marta kept talking, and this time she said it all in a rush. "Me and Francis were dating for like two years you see and we both decided to go on a Pokemon journey together and so we signed up to get starters but then the day before the starters showed up he said that maybe we should go our separate ways not break up but have a trial separation sort of thing so that when we meet back up absence will have made our feelings stronger."

Green considered these words even longer. She felt deep down that she wasn't built for all this emotional stuff just yet. The hormones were probably there, but the motivation wasn't. Plus, it sounded like this dude wanted his cake and to eat it too, while eating out a couple other cakes as well. Maybe it wasn't fair to jump to such conclusions, but she felt she knew enough about the male mind to know what some 18-year-old was thinking when he suggested a few months time apart, so that he has a piece of ass to come back home to while feeling free to literally walk across the region and not feel bad about hooking up with any poke-slut that walked across his path. What she said was, "Look Marta, I can't tell you what to do with this guy. I do know that you probably shouldn't hold your breath for a guy who wanted to take a life-altering journey across a land full of interesting without you, even though he claims he has feelings for you."

Marta was silent at those words, and the two finished their meals quietly. Green gathered up the dishes, and brought them to a window, where another Chansey took them and began washing them with a happy little song. By the time she wandered back to the couch, Marta was writing in her journal, and her eyes were red.

Green sat down next to Marta, and was silent as the writing went on. A Blissey wandered up with a tray of pokeballs, which Green accepted with a smile. Finally, Marta finished writing, and closed her book. She looked down at Green's offered handful of pokeballs and took them slowly. "Look, Marta, I'm sorry if what I said made you..."

"No, I'm not angry at you." She sniffed. "I'm angry at myself right now. Maybe him a little. Maybe you're right, after all. If he didn't even want to come n this journey with me, what does that make him? It means he doesn't wanna share this with me, and that's not right."

Green nodded slowly. This was getting a bit more personal than she wanted to deal with. She got up and walked to the concessions table, coming back with three cups and a container of what looked to be orange juice. Pouring three glasses half full, she filled them the rest of the way with the remainder of her bottle. She released Munchlax, who accepted his cup gratefully as he sat down and drank heavily.

Marta hesitated when Green offered one. "I don't know... I just,"

Green shook her head and offered it again more forcefully. "No, we're gonna drink and forget about what's-his-face tonight. Marta, you got your first gym badge today! Let's live a little bit, what do you say?"

Marta accepted her glass this time, hesitating for a long moment before tasting it slowly. She smacked her lips a bit, then drank deeper. "It's not too bad I suppose."

Green beamed, and started on her drink as well. After the first round, Green stopped by the PC in the corner to pick up a couple bottles, and made another round as things quieted down in the main room.

The drinks were a lot stronger than last time, and halfway through the round Marta put her cup down slowly and steadily, with the slow preciseness of someone a bit sloshed. "I'll be right back Green. I've gotta go use the ladiesh' room."

Green laid her head back as Marta left. Things were peaceful in the main room as people slowly began drifting off to sleep. When someone sat down next to Green she thought it was Marta, but instead she saw a girl closer to her own age with purple hair cut short and loose fitting black clothes. Green admired the hair for a moment, close-cut but still long enough to make sure the viewer knew knew she was female.

The new girl crossed her legs and smiled at Green. "Sorry if I'm interrupting. I saw the two of you having a good time, so I decided to join. Do you mind?" Green shook her head, and smiled as she poured her a drink. The new girl took it gratefully. "Thanks. I'm Janine, by the way."

Green searched her mind. The name was so damn familiar. Try as she might, she couldn't connect it with anything however.

"Thanks. I don't drink much, but being my age you get it when you can." She grinned at her joke, and drank from her cup again.

"Green's my name. I just get my friend to buy it for me." she didn't feel like this was the best small talk, but mentally dismissed the concerns. Janine seemed happy enough as she drank her first drink in silence, and handed Green her cup with a smile. Green filled hers up, and Janine took it graciously. Green estimated the girl to be around 15.

"Well, thank you. It really takes the edge off." Janine looked around. "Hey, would you like to come have a smoke with me?" she asked Green, flashing her teeth in a smile.

Green considered for a few moments, and nodded. She reached into her bag, pulled out a small notepad, and scribbled a note about stepping out for a few moments. Bringing the rest of the bottle, the two left the building.

Once outside, Janine brought them around to the back of the Pokemon Center, and up a rocky outcrop so they could easily leap to the roof. Once there, the two sat against the rim of the roof, and Janine pulled two cigars out of the front of her shirt. She also produced a lighter, and lit hers before passing it off to Green.

Green had never smoked a cigar, but Rudolph had a few times in his years. Though the first few puffs made her mouth dry up, it didn't make her gag. Once the thing had a good cherry going, Green turned to Janine. "So. What made you walk up to me in there anyhow?"

Janine studied the end of her cigar as she took the bottle from Green's fingers and drank from it slowly. "You were the only person who looked interesting in the place."

"And the only one with alcohol?" Green asked sarcastically.

Janine giggled. Green noticed she had a nice laugh, and as she took a drink noticed she had a nice body too. Underneath those loose black clothes was a taut and slim young girl, with nice breasts. "Well, it didn't hurt that you had this. I was talking about you being an interesting trainer." Janine grinned at Green. "I've been following you since Pewter City and you're pretty good. Your friend's alright, but you can tell her inspiration comes from you."

Green wanted to be flattered, but one point stood out in the story. "Wait, what do you mean you've been following us since Pewter?!"

Janine held up her hands defensively, the cigar held between two fingers. "Now hold on. I was there to battle Brock, same as you. When I saw the guy before me win, he told Brock he had to get stronger to bear her." Janine took a puff and looked back to the sky. "I was curious who 'her' was."

Green thought about this for a minute. "Kid with a Wartortle?"

Janine nodded. "That's the one. Intense guy. Never smiled once. Seemed like he has quite a grudge against you."

Green snorted. "Fuck him, he's small potatoes."

Janine laughed, and passed Green the bottle, who took a long pull. Green sat looking at her cigar a moment before Janine spoke up. "I stole them from my old man."

Green turned her head to look at Janine, who was smiling back. "From your dad? Won't he notice? And why cigars, you don't really seem like the cigar type? The drinking I can write off. Everyone drinks."

Janine shook her head. "I doubt it, he hardly ever has a cigar anymore. They were a gift from an old friend of his." She puffed the thing a few times appreciatively. "I kind of started smoking them at first because he didn't want me to so much, but then I just kinda kept doing it because they were good cigars and someone should. My dad never has a cigar anymore. They're in an old box he got as a gift from a friend of his. He wouldn't notice if half the box went missing."

"But even if he would notice you wouldn't care, huh?" Green asked seriously.

"That's right." Janine scowled. "You know, my dad says I'm not good enough to follow in his footsteps. He's always been saying that because I'm not a boy. I'm gonna show him though. My aunt Aya is a lot worse at battling than me, but he still won't even consider me as a successor. That's why I'm trying to complete the league challenge."

Green smoked her cigar slowly. Once the bottle was done and the cigars were nearing the bottom, the two of them pitched the stubs into the darkness of the rooftop. Janine got up and stretched, popping her back audibly. "Well, I guess we'd better go back to your friend."

Green smiled up at Janine. "I think your dad was crazy for not seeing something special in you." she got up and dusted off her pants.

The black-clad girl blushed, and smiled as she looked away. "That's very kind of you for saying."

Green got up, the alcohol spurring her to a speech. "Seriously, if he's thinking of not considering you just because you're a girl, then screw him. You sound like you're determined, and " Green thought the whole speech was a bit bullshit, because after all she'd never even seen Janine battle. The name didn't even ring a bell in her mind, but it did make her think of the Safari Zone for some strange reason. Green also hoped Janine didn't catch the comment about 'this place.'

The two of them went to the edge of the roof to leave, when a sudden noise from the mountain caught both of their attention. It sounded like a dull explosion, but one silenced by a lot of earth. From the mountain there was a flash of brilliant light, and they could see and hear rock pieces showering into the forest. It was over with so suddenly that Green doubted for a moment it even happened, though the rock dust floating in the air all around the mountain like a cloud put to rest any doubts.

"Um, some Team Rocket guy said there would be something happening at the mountain." Green said in a surprisingly casual tone.

With a look, both girls rushed down to the ground, climbing swiftly over the rocky cliff side along the building. When they reached the ground they rushed inside, each running for their packs. All around the room there were people who were either going back to bed, looking around for the source of the noise, or getting dressed and packing their things.

Green reached her pack and saw Marta, who was thankfully awake and petting her Bayleef as Munchlax snoozed next to her. She looked up as Green neared, and smiled. "Oh, hey! What's wrong? That sound scare you too? It scared Bayleef, didn't it?"

Green shook her head wildly. "No, no, we need to go. I have a bad feeling. Remember what that Team Rocket guy said?"

Marta smiled at her in a confused sort of way. "No."

Green stared back. Marta was swaying a bit on the spot, and looked happy. Dammit. "Look, Team Rocket just set off a bomb or something, and we're gonna go into Mt. Moon tonight it looks like. We need to go! It may be important!"

Marta focused at once, or more accurately got serious if not sober. "Oh. I'll get ready right away then." Marta tried to pull herself together, packing things away with a slow deliberate hand that made Green regret giving her so much alcohol. At least Munchlax had finished off most of her second drink, so there was at least that.

Janine walked up to the pair of them, the pack slung across her back secured with two straps so it wouldn't move around much and interfere with movement. Something about her really nagged at something in Green, but it still turned up just the confusing image of the Safari Zone. "Excuse me, but are you two ready to go? We should probably get going quick if we want to see what happened."

Green nodded, and walked to the concessions bar to get more sandwiches for the road. She came back and offered one to Marta, who accepted gratefully. "Thanks, Green!"

"Green?" came a voice from across the room. In one of the tents, next to what she had assumed was part of a larger group, Red poked his head out. He had hair sticking up everywhere, as if he'd just woken up. "Hey, Green! Good to see you! What's been going on?"

Green silently cursed. He hated Red's perky attitude. "Hey, Red. Explosion at the mountain."

Red got up, ramming his hat on his head. "Oh no! Are the Pokemon in danger?"

"Probably."

"Oh no!"

Green sighed at Red's earnest expression. There was no way he could turn down Red, especially because he could be useful. "Fine, let's just go."

Red grinned and packed his things up as fast as he could.

While they waited, Green went up to Nurse Joy and explained what she thought was happening, and saying that if she wanted to call the authorities it may be the thing to do in this case. By the time she had gotten back to the group, everyone was ready to go. Everyone followed Green as she left the Pokemon Center and began walking up to the mountain. A soft rain of dust was still falling all about, but as they entered through the cave mouth, the air got clear and unmoving. There were noises deep in the cave, like indistinct voices mixed with the twanging of water drops.

"Koffing, go!" Janine let a pokeball go, letting loose the floating purple ball. "Flash!" It turned white, and emitted a soft, constant glow that lit the way ahead well. "Let's go. If you're right this could be terrible."

They all headed off into the mountain. There was a noticeable lack of pokemon in the place as they went deeper into the cave, but the sound of voices got louder. Suddenly, the voices stopped, and there was an eerie silence in the halls, save for the sound of feet clattering on stone. Then, a noise like something industrial starting up, and an ear-splitting sound like something trying to bore through stone filled the halls, forcing everyone to stop and clap their hands over their ears. There was a rush overhead, and Green looked up to see Zubats, soaring past towards the exit. The sound must have been confusing them, because they were crashing into each other and the walls in their haste to escape.

One Zubat, battered and hit by all his fellows, fell towards the ground after it crashed head-first into . Green hit it with a pokeball, feeling bad for taking advantage of the situation, but also figuring it was better than letting it crash into the ground. The noise eventually died away, and the sound of the Zubat's screeches died away after a moment. The sound of indistinct voices started up again, and they were close enough now to at least recognize them as being argumentative voices. The four of them continued down the corridor, Green scooping up the pokeball containing her Zubat as she ran.

The next winding corridor opened onto light , and a large hole to the outside of the mountain. It looked like something crashed through the outside of the mountain and crashed inwards, leaving a swath of destruction in its' wake. There were Team Rocket members all over the place, standing around a huge machine with a steaming drill on one end. They all wore masks that covered their mouths, but this seemed to be for the dust floating around more than for a desire to hide their identities. Some wore the hats Green recognized as being the hats Team Rocket wore in the game, and others simply let their hair out. The voices were coming from two Rocket members, each with a gas mask-like device over their faces, yelling and pointing at the drill. Green didn't understand much, but there seemed to be an issue with the drill overheating, and one of the two didn't care about an overheating drill, only about getting into the room past the rock wall. It looked like jumping down would be impossible, because while their corridor looked out upon this scene, it looked upon it from a 30-foot drop.

"Hmm. This isn't very good." Green commented. She looked back to her companions. "Well, we have two choices. We can go down there, or..."

There was a sound like, "Muuuurk!" and there was a voice from below. "Hey, Murkrow sees some people up there! You guys, go after them!"

"Dammit," Green muttered, backing up from the entrance. "Well, alright then. Let's go."

The four of them turned and ran down the corridor, finding a side tunnel they passed earlier and trying a few tunnels in frustrating silence before entering a large, stalagmite-filled room that had a soft orange glow at the opposite end. Before they could go far into the room, the sound of the drill went screaming through the corridors again. This time no Zubats went by, but a Geodude who had been unseen by the door uprooted itself, and rolled away with a pained look on its' face. Eventually the sound died, and a man in a rocket hat poked his head around the corner. "Here they are! Four kids!"

The man came into the room with two other rocket members. These guys all wore the hats and masks across the eyes, and looked for all the world like The Beagle Boys from Ducktails to Rudolph, deep inside Green. This made her giggle, and all three of the Rockets turned to glare at her. "What's so funny? We're gonna crush you little brats and take your Pokemon!"

"Right. Isn't there also more of us?" Green asked casually. "And we do possess large monsters intended for fighting, if you forgot."

The men considered those words as Green threw out a pokeball, releasing Charmeleon. Janine and Red threw out pokeballs as well, releasing a Skorupi and a Pikachu respectively. Green looked to Red with an exasperated look. "Really?" Marta released her Bayleef a few moments later, and took a moment to sit down. Green passed her a water bottle and patted her on the shoulder.

The three Rockets threw out pokeballs as well, releasing a Grimer, Ekans, Croagunk and Poochyena. One of the rockets, who had sent out two pokemon, glared at the others. "I'm the only one with two?!"

"Pikachu, thundershock!" Red sheered, and the rat surged a line of electricity at the Croagunk, making it spasm.

"Skorupi, acupressure Charmeleon!" Janine pointed, and Skorupi whipped its' tail around to stab Charmeleon in the back. Green nearly cried out in alarm, until she realize it had broke the skin, but so minorly a drop of blood didn't even leave the wound. Charmeleon didn't seem to notice, but suddenly his snarls became more intense, as if he'd been injected with adrenaline.

"Charmeleon, Fire Fang!" Green commanded, and Charmeleon zoomed at the just-recovering Croagunk, and put it down with a chomp full of billowing orange flames.

The Grimer and Ekans backed away from the Charmeleon, but the Poocheyena snarled and leapt forward. "Yeah, bite 'em, boy!" one of the rockets encouraged.

Bayleef took the thing out of the air with a flying tackle. Charmeleon turned around to see Bayleef at his back, and smirked.

Green sighed. "Look, not that I don't love these fights but these guys are criminals! Let's just mop up!" She threw out the rest of her Pokemon, and Green's Beedrill, Munchlax, Shroomish, Zubat and Caterpie appeared. "Do whatever moves you guys want at those two pokemon!" Green said, pointing at Ekans and Grimer, who looked very nervous. The five pokemon turned, and bumrushed the other two. Even Caterpie got in closer and reared up to spray sticky stuff at the Ekans as it tried to get away. It was enough to bring a tear to Green's eye.

The Rockets returned their pokemon. "Damn, this isn't good." One said, backing towards the door. "Let's just get the boss!" They all exited out the far side of the room without looking back.

Everyone else looked at Green, who returned all of the pokemon in rapid succession. She looked up and scowled. "Well, it's true. We don't need to waste time on the scrubs. Let's just go."

Following the footsteps and voices, they finally entered the drill room properly. The way that black smoke was rising from the drill, Green guessed it had overheated. All available rocket members were under a large stone overhang where they were apparently safe from what the rest were doing. Suddenly they too ran, and Green could clearly see three Electrodes. They were all flashing violently. She turned to everyone else. "Back down the hall!"

They all made it a few steps before the explosion knocked them to the ground. It didn't quite shake the place like earlier, and the sounds died away in a few seconds, but as they all got up there was a constant rain of dust all around them that turned the room into a choking mess. Green took a shirt from her bag and tied it over her mouth, if only to cut down on dust entering her lungs. Janine simply pulled part of her overlarge shirt's collar over her face, and Green realized as it stayed there like a mask that Janine's shirt was designed to be pulled up that way. Janine looked vaguely sinister this way, the only thing of color showing being her purple hair and wooden shoes. Red and Marta were following Green's example and tying clothes over their mouths.

"Those jerks!" Red said as he got up off the ground, a sweatshirt tied over the lower half of his face. "We need to stop them!" he rushed past Green, an intense expression on his face as he ran right into the the next room. Green mumbled something about idiots, and followed Red down the hall at a run, her two companions on her heels.

Green entered the large room again, and saw a man in a suit being brushed down by two rocket grunts standing out prominently in the middle of the room. A Persian brushed itself against his leg and looked at the other trainers with feline uncaring before going in for more head scratching. The man smiled at Red, and to the rest of the girls in turn. "Ah, the pests. I'm afraid you're too late. We've already blown a path down to the pokemon slumbering up under the mountain. The Zubats and Clefairies were a nice touch..." he motioned a hand to a hopper being loaded full of pokeballs by a couple more rocket grunts and went on. "A couple of new members for my organization would be better though. What do you say? I hear from my associates here how they were positively embarrassed by you four. I would enjoy more competent trainers." he smiled, even as the grunts packing the balls into the hopper paused and glared at their bosses' back.

"We'd never join an organization of criminals like you!" Red shot back at once. He went on, "Anyone who hurts pokemon for their own gains and steals doesn't understand what it means to be a trainer!"

Green rolled her eyes. The man in the suit seemed to catch the movement, and said softly, "You know, the offer will of course be open to you young lady. I've heard of you, believe it or not. Quite the hellfire they say."

Green looked surprised, and glanced up at the man in the suit. He smiled slowly as he pet his Persian gently. Green was about to speak when, from the hole at the side of the mountain, there came the faint noise of sirens. The man scowled. "Damn!" he glanced to one of the grunts brushing him. "Stop these children and help the others down below. I must attend to business."

The grunt saluted, and both grunts got up quickly as they extracted pokeballs from pockets. The man in the suit was already releasing a Claydol as he returned his Persian. He didn't look back as he placed a hand on its' side. The thing teleported away, bringing the man with it.

"You kids are in for a pounding." the first rocket grunt said with a grin. "We're not like those pansies you battled earlier!" He threw out his pokeball, releasing a Golbat.

Green began to take out a pokeball, but Red shook his head at her. "No, you need to save the pokemon they're trying to capture! I'll beat these guys and rescue those others pokemon they captured. They're just gonna sell them if they get away with this." Red threw out a pokeball, and Pikachu came out with a hiss.

The second rocket grunt threw out a pokeball of his own, revealing a Graveler. Red began to pull out his second pokeball when Marta sent out Bayleef.

Marta smiled at Green. "I don't think I'll be much help if I have to jump down a lot." she said in a weak little voice.

Green felt horrible. "I'm sorry for... helping you forget and stuff." she mumbled, feeling like it was a stupid apology in the circumstance. Marta looked pale, and about to puke.

Marta took a deep breath. "At least it worked, right?" she smiled, and turned back to the battle, which had already been joined between Pikachu and Golbat. Graveler started at Pikachu, but Bayleef suddenly shot out a vine whip, restraining the thing.

Green glanced to Janine, who nodded back. The two dashed for the hole in the corner of the room, where a blackened ring outlined a quickly darkening rock slope. Green reached it first, and started carefully down the rocks, choosing footholds carefully. Janine came down past her, easily hopping from rock to rock as Koffing floated along behind, glowing softly to illuminate the darkness. Green grumbled and tried to speed up.

Once they both reached the bottom, they could see that this room has strange, bump-like markings all over the wall. They seemed to start from the left of the room, which had a mural of three statue-like figures, and went all the way to the right of the room, which faded into blackness. There were faint noises down that corridor, however, and Green thought she could hear battling noises.

Janine looked the mural up and down in fascination. "Wow, this is amazing! Look at these paintings, they must be hundreds of..."

"Look, we can talk about this in a bit! Come on!" Green said as she ran off down the passage. The sounds of fighting were coming more and more in focus, and as Green turned the corner, she saw a large, domed cavern. There was indeed a battle going on, between three Team Rocket members, and what was undoubtedly a Regirock. It was fighting an Arbok, a Seviper, and a Drowzee, and the triple assault was making the thing groan like a rock slide. Drowzee was constantly humming, and channeling what looked like soundwaves into Regirock. It was making Regirock slow and woozy, and the huge punches it threw at the two huge snakes were easily dodged. Regirock was getting pummeled by the two snakes, even though it looked as if they were mostly chipping at it.

"Charmeleon, go!" Green yelled, releasing the lizard with a quick throw. "Fire fang that Arbok!" Charmeleon appeared in a rush of red light, and it pounded into the room, past one of the Rocket members with a shock of white hair and leapt at Arbok, snarling. Arbok looked up in panic as Charmeleon bore down on it, biting into its' side with a mouth full of fire.

"Dammit, we have company!" the rocket member with the white hair shouted, pulling out a pokeball. "Go, Mightyena!" he called, throwing the pokeball so it landed between the battle against Regirock. The large dog pokemon appeared, snarling at Green menacingly.

Janine rounded the corner, and threw a pokeball out. "Nidorina!" it appeared between Green and Mightyena, growling at the larger dog. They leapt at each other and began rolling on the ground, biting at each other.

The other two rocket members, one a girl with blue hair and the other a muscular guy with long blond hair, looked over and scowled at the further interruption. The girl flipped hair out of her face. "Gutman! We need to deal with those damn kids!" she yeled at the muscular guy, who looked annoyed at being treated like an idiot.

"I know that Cairo! Dammit!" Yelled the large man as he whipped out a pokeball along with the girl. "Makuhita!"

"Sneasel!" The girl aparrently named Cairo said gleefully.

The two Rocket pokemon appeared in front of Green, who frowned. She pulled out another pokeball to send out Munchlax, while Janine threw out her Skorupi. The Pokemon began scrapping, but while Munchlax and Skorupi were holding their own against the other unevolved pokemon, Nidorina was being outclassed a bit by Mightyena. With a bite, it champed down heavily on Nidorina's left side. Nidorina squealed in pain, and Green hurled out Shroomish desperately. "Shroomish, help Nidorina!"

Leaving the battle behind as the other pokemon kept busy, Green rushed up into the room to check on Charmeleon. It looked hurt, and while it looked hurt, so did the two snakes he was fighting against. Regirock also seemed to realize that Charmeleon was on his side, because even as she watched, Regirock stopped short of hitting Charmeleon, preferring to wait for a blow at Seviper, who still dodged the clumsy drowsy pokemon. Green pulled out the pokeball for Beedrill, her last dependable pokemon here. "Beedrill, go! Twinneedle that Drowzee!" Beedrill appeared and zoomed across the clearing at Drowzee, who was so engrossed in keeping the Regirock tired that it didn't even look up as Beedrill rammed right into it.

The moment the Regirock had full control of its' actions, it snarled in rage and swung a fist at Seviper. Seviper was caught off guard, and went crashing across the room. Regirock then picked up a rock, and threw it at the prone snake, who jerked under the blow. Cairo returned her pokemon with a grunt.

"Arbok, Glare!" Gutman commanded, and Arbok stared at Regirock with sharp, piercing eyes. Regirock paused inches from it, staring back at it with its' strange multiple eyes. The two stayed motionless, glaring at each other. Charmander leapt at Arbok then, bringing it down with a white stream of flame. Gutman roared in anger. "Cook, I think we're done for!"

The rocket with the white hair scowled. "Fine..." he threw another pokeball. "Horsea! Smokescreen!" Green barely saw the little blue pokemon for only a second before smoke filled the small contained space. There were the sounds of footsteps in the dark, and Green felt someone shove past her.

"Zubat, try to blow this away!" Green coughed out, releasing the bat, who flapped as hard as it could. It seemed to only be moving the smoke around for new smoke at first, but soon the air began to clear, and Green could make out the form of Zubat beating its' wings. There enemies and their pokemon had disappeared, leaving only their own pokemon and the Regirock, who was still glaring at the place Arbok had been. There was a few minutes silence as Green considered the thing, then realized it was staying still because Arbok had used glare. It was paralyzed!

Green slowly reached into her bag and pulled out a Dusk Ball. As Janine and Charmeleon watched, she casually tossed the ball at the thing. It bounced off its' head, and the Regirock got sucked into the ball. It shook a few moments before the light dimmed.

Janine looked a bit angry. "Wha... you captured it!"

Green looked surprised as the ball disappeared, and looked Janine in the eye. "Yeah, so?"

Janine frowned. "Well, we did just save it you know."

Green shrugged. "Look, Team Rocket knows where it was now. Do you think if they tried this hard they wouldn't try again to get it?"

Janine frowned, and pondered it. "Well... you do have a point there. Fine, I see your point."

"Hey, is there anyone down there?!" a voice yelled down the hole, barely audible down the passage.

"Yeah! We're coming out!" Green yelled back, and began to walk back down the corridor. She looked to Janine. "By the way, you were a lifesaver back there. I'm glad I had you backing me up." she said, peeling off her makeshift facemask.

Janine blushed in the limited light as she pulled down her mask. "Thank you. You were the amazing one though. You're very confident in battle."

Green smiled back as they reached the rock slide. Up above, men with lights on their helmets looked down into the hole. They had the look of officials. "You two ok?!" the man up top yelled down.

"Fine. We're coming right up!" Green yelled up as they scrambled up the rocks.

Once up in the large room, Green could see the room had at least ten people in official looking police outfits, lights pinned to hats in the dark. The drill machine still sat in the middle of the room, and two rocket grunts were now handcuffed next to the hopper of pokeballs, but the three rocket members assaulting Regirock were gone. Red was talking to one of the officers very excitedly, while Marta sat on the ground nearby, dozing against a rock with the blanket around her shoulders.

"Thankfully you trainers were nearby." said a familiar voice, and Green turned to see Officer Jenny. Green smiled as the officer walked up to the two of them. "What was Team Rocket after anyhow?"

Green shrugged. "Beats me. Some ruins are down there, maybe whatever it was is in there."

Jenny nodded to two officers, who nodded back and started down the hole. "Well, I have to thank you for your help. I've arranged a guide that will bring you kids the swiftest way to Cerulean City. There, I've arranged for some nice rooms at the local motel. We can't thank you enough for saving the Pokemon here."

The two of them walked towards Red, who looked excited. "Green! We did it! We held them off! We saved the pokemon!"

Green smiled at Red as she sat down heavily on the ground next to Marta. Janine plopped down on Green's other side, looking just as weary. Green leaned her head against Janine's shoulder with a sigh, and even as she told herself she should wait for the guide, she fell herself falling into a slow sleep.