It was quiet along the route that morning. Crystal kept looking around, waiting for some wild Pokémon to jump out at them. TD waddled along happily, sniffing at every other patch of grass. After about ten minutes of inane chatter and walking, Gold pulled a sandwich out of his backpack.
"You're hungry already?" asked Crystal.
"A little," he said, mouth half-full. "It's mostly because my mom would get mad if I didn't eat it all. 'I'm a growing boy' and all that." Gold swallowed.
A large patch of wildflowers ahead of them rustled. Gold froze, mid-bite.
"Gold," hissed Crystal, quiet. "Don't move." She put her finger to her lips, looking at TD. He was looking at the grass intently, ready to pounce. Marill looked up at Gold expectantly.
Suddenly, a Rattata sprang out from the wildflowers. It jumped at Gold, who dropped his sandwich in shock. The Rattata quickly picked up the sandwich and scuttered off.
"Marill, use water gun!" Gold cried.
"TD, catch it!" shouted Crystal.
Marill's water gun stopped the Rattata in its tracks. It shuddered from the more powerful Pokémon's attack. TD quickly ran up and swiped the mouse Pokémon's face. The Rattata dropped the sandwich, falling over in shock from the battle.
"Serves you right, you thief!" shouted Gold. Marill jumped up into Gold's arms, chirping happily. "Great job, Marill."
"Great job, TD!" said Crystal, clasping her hands and smiling.
TD waddled back over to the group, triumphantly barking. He then began to eat Gold's sandwich.
"Don't do that! Crystal, stop him!"
"TD retrieved it, Gold, he deserves it. Didn't you say you weren't that hungry?"
Gold sighed and set Marill down. He walked over to TD and crouched down to the Pokémon's level. "Well, if you won't do anything, I'll just take it back myself- HEY!"
Gold retracted his hand quickly. It stung from where TD had bit at it. The big jaw Pokémon ate the rest of Gold's sandwich, and burped happily.
"Gold, you can't just take food away from a Pokémon!"
"He took it away from me…"
When the duo got to Cherrygrove, they saw that only a few people were out that day. Gold waved kindly at the old guide sitting by the town entrance, who smiled at them. The very first time Gold and Crystal were sent on an errand here, to pick up some more potions for Professor Elm, Guide Gent had shown them the way to the Pokémart when they got lost. He even bought them some decent travelling shoes after hearing that they were running errands. Even though Cherrygrove was probably the smallest city in Johto, it was still a lot bigger than New Bark Town.
Now that they were a little older, they usually did errands separately. Today was different.
"Is that a new Pokémon I see?" asked Gent.
"Yep!" beamed Crystal, "This is TD! He's the greatest Pokémon in Johto!"
Gent chuckled, "Oh, I see. I suppose it won't be too long until you kids are ready to take on the gyms."
"You really think so?" asked Gold, "I've seen the fights on TV. I'm not sure Marill's up to that yet."
"Well, your Pokémon will grow more from the journey than the gyms themselves," said Gent. "You see, back when I was a trainer, I challenged the gym in Violet City. Back then, I had a Weedle, a Spinarak, and a Pidgey."
"I didn't know you were a trainer!" said Crystal, "Once we finish up our errands, can we battle?"
TD jumped up and down eagerly.
"Oh, not anymore. That was a long time ago."
TD frowned, and wandered off to smell at the flowers.
"Did you end up getting the badge?" asked Gold.
"Oh, no. But I did get a chance to face the gym leader, Falkner. You see, me and my Pokémon didn't actually learn all that much from the gym- it was really all the training we did, against wild Pokémon and other trainers aiming for the badge, that really caused us to grow."
"But here I am babbling on again! I wish you kids good luck on your errand!"
They thanked Guide Gent and wandered over to the beach to rest their feet from the journey. Since the beginning of summer, a small ice cream stand had been set up on the beach.
"I'm going to go buy some ice cream," said Gold.
"Oo! Could you get me Mt. Mortar flavor?" asked Crystal.
"No way! I consider you equally responsible for losing my lunch, and now I got to go replace it. I'm only sharing with Marill." With a huff, Gold trudged over to the ice cream stand with his proud Pokémon.
Crystal shook her head and crossed her arms. "Ice cream for lunch? That boy is really irresponsible."
TD copied her pose, crossing his arms and nodding.
"Honestly TD, I don't know what to do with him," Crystal looked over at TD. On TD's arm, she could see a bit of redness from a scratch. "Ah! TD! You're hurt!"
TD looked up at Crystal in surprise, and then was scooped up as Crystal rushed him over to the Pokécenter.
Nurse Joy helped out Crystal cheerfully. After she finished, crystal released TD from his Pokéball again.
"I can't believe I missed it from your fight earlier! TD, let me see your arm," said Crystal. TD grunted, crossed his arms, and looked away.
"You know," said Nurse Joy, "It's refreshing to see a trainer bring in a Pokémon that early."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, most of them push themselves and their Pokémon far too hard, and they come in with cuts, broken bones, burns- all sorts of things! And then I just fix them up, remind them to take it easy, and they go out again."
Crystal frowned, "Oh, I hope I'm not doing this wrong. TD, it's okay if you're a little bit more banged up before we come in here."
TD nodded with a grunt.
"Well then, it's settled!" Crystal grinned at TD, and then looked serious. "Let's make a deal TD- I won't pull you out of a fight unless you say it's okay."
TD looked at Crystal suspiciously.
"Pinky promise?" Crystal extended her pinky to the Pokémon. TD, a little confused, shook it. Crystal smiled broadly, "Then it's settled! A pinky promise is for life, don't you know?"
TD barked happily. Nurse Joy sighed, resigned to her fate.
Crystal rejoined Gold outside as he was finishing up his ice cream. Once he got to the cone, he gave it to Marill who happily began nibbling on it.
"What happened?" asked Gold.
"I think TD got a scrape during that fight with the Rattata. We got it checked out, though, so we're all good to go." Crystal checked the time. It was already ten AM.
"Yeah, I guess we shouldn't hang around town all day," said Gold, sighing. Marill finished up the ice cream, and the group headed off.
At the mouth of Route 30, Crystal's PokéGear began ringing.
"Oh! That must be the professor!" said Gold.
Crystal pressed the answer button on her PokéGear and Professor Elm's face popped up on the small screen.
"How's it going professor?"
"Oh, it's going well here. I just wanted to remind you to make sure to rest your Pokémon, this is the first time 'TD' has been out in the wild since we caught him."
"Oh, yes, I just brought him to the Pokécenter. You know, he and Marill fought off a Rattata? My TD's unstoppable."
"What?! You were already in a fight? Well, make sure to use the potion if you need to. AH! I forgot to give you the potion! You need to come back-" Crystal suddenly heard his assistant speaking, but the words weren't clear. "Oh! Well, thank you. Yes, Crystal, make sure you two use your potions if you need to."
"We will, professor!"
"Oh, and have Totodile spend some time in the water at Cherrygrove, it's good for water types. Oh! But watch out for water pokemon!"
"Professor-"
"Really, there can be some powerful Pokemon in the water. And if you need more potions, just stop by the PokeMart, have them put it on my credit line if you don't have enough money with you. And-"
Crystal hung up the phone. She grimaced at Gold. "Really, some adults can be so overbearing."
TD cocked his head at Crystal, narrowing his eyes.
They continued along the route without much more fuss from Professor Elm. However, it wasn't too long until they came across a wild Weedle. The Weedle was aggressive, snarling at them.
TD charged at the Weedle.
"Yeah!" shouted Crystal, "Scratch him! And look out for his poison sting!"
Crystal had pored over enough Pokémon magazines and guidebooks to see this as an easy win for her Totodile.
TD scratched the Weedle before it had a chance to respond. The Weedle reared back, then hit the larger Pokémon with its tail. TD barely staggered from the blow, and knocked out the Weedle with two more swipes.
"Hey, not bad!" said Gold. "Marill didn't even need to help out!" Marill was chirping at a few Pidgey hanging out near the road.
"I mean," said Crystal, "You certainly COULD have helped out a little instead of just watching."
"Well, TD needs the battle experience. And yeah, I got distracted."
TD barked happily, trotting over to Crystal. He staggered a little, holding his head.
"What's wrong?" asked Crystal, bending down to look at TD.
"Oh, he might be poisoned," said Gold, "Maybe we should head back to the PokeCenter."
TD grunted and shook his head.
"You want to keep going?" asked Crystal. TD nodded.
"Well then, it's settled!"
"Wait," said Gold, "You know that poison can only get worse over time, right?"
"Of course! But I promised TD not to coddle him."
"Well, okay," said Gold, "But Marill and I won't slow down for you guys."
"Ha!" Crystal buffed her fingers on her chest and turned her chin up, "TD's the toughest Pokémon in Johto! Maybe you guys need help keeping up with us."
TD barked happily, jumping up and down. He staggered a little, almost falling over, but regained his balance.
They were coming up to a lone house along the trail when TD toppled over.
"TD?" asked Crystal, her voice getting higher with worry.
TD grumbled a little, slowly standing up and wobbling. Crystal took TD up in her arms. He struggled a little, but was too tired to squirm about too much.
"We should really go back to Cherrygrove," said Gold.
"Well, we're almost half way there," said Crystal. She bit her lip, "But maybe we should rest a little."
A man came out of the house, carrying a basket. He suddenly noticed the kids, and walked over. He peered down at TD. "I think your Totodile is poisoned. Here, I have just the thing."
"Who are you?" asked Gold.
The man handed a large berry to Crystal. She fed it to TD, who was happy for the extra food. He blinked a little bit, and then grinned.
"That's a poison-cure berry," said the man, "You can't get that at a PokeMart! You kids should look around for more berries, they're useful if you get too far from a Pokecenter."
"Or we could use an antidote," said Gold, "Or just walk fifteen minutes back to the Pokecenter."
"Well, yes, that's true," said the man. "I've got a lot of berry bushes near my house, so feel free to take some if you need any. In the summer, they replenish practically every day!" The man happily headed off to a patch of bushes near his home, and began collecting the berries.
Crystal set TD down, but he was still light headed. "Um, how about I use a potion? We never made any promises about that…"
TD shrugged in defeat, and accepted the potion. After a few moments, he was jumping and running around happily, full of energy again.
"Ok, let's get going," said Gold.
The grass got a lot thicker along the Route, as they had to turn off the main trail to get to Mr. Pokémon's house. A trio of Pidgeys pestered them for a little bit, but Marill joined in and they easily continued without dire injury.
Finally, they arrived in a clearing, and saw Mr. Pokémon's house.
Teams and Levels:
Crystal: TD (Totodile) 7
Gold: Marill 9
Silver: None
