Chapter two

The defeat was humiliating. I rushed Nightmare to the Pokemon center, hoping nothing was fatal. Nurse Joy asked me what happened after stablizing him, so I told her all about the strange man.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" she asked herself

"You mean this has happened before?" I asked

"I don't think so." she said as she looked at Nightmare "But I've heard strange stories." she glanced around as though to make sure no one was around to here what she was saying. "In three weeks and four days head over to Vermilion. Wait for a ship called Hoenn and find a worker named 'Steven'. Tell him a lady he gave water stone to needs him to tell you the story of Ilex Forrest."

"Where's that at?"

"I find know." she told me "And I'm not supposed to. You never heard this from me, or anyone else. Do you understand?" I just nodded

Nightmare was let out of the emergency room shortly after midnight. I didn't plan on getting any sleep, so I washed my clothes. We set out early the next morning, still sour about losing so easily. We were heading towards Mount Moon, eager to catch two more pokemon. I already knew which ones I wanted, so with five pokeballs and a greatball, I was ready to go.

It didn't take long for us to come to a cliff. We would have just gone around it, if some new trainer hadn't jumped off of it. Her clothes were torn and bloody.

"What happened?" I asked as I ran to her.

"They took him!" she was tired and pale, but she still had enough energy to try to stand. "They took my Bulbasaur!" she tried to run towards Cerulian, but she was too weak.

I caught her as she fell. "Who did?" I asked as I helped her walk

"Team Rocket."

People rushed to help her as soon as we got to the city. Officers asked questions while she was given medical treatment. Apparently Team Rocket was in Mount Moon, stealing from new trainers as they passed through. Police were sent to investigate, but I couldn't stop thinking about catching pokemon.

"Who steals pokemon from a new trainer?" I asked myself the next morning

"People who can get away with it." the girl said "By the way, I'm Verde."

I had gotten us a private room so that she could help her as she healed. My pokemon and I slept on the floor and gave the girl the bed. Nightmare had been very helpful, looking after her when I went out to be her something to eat and some new clothes. They were cheap, but at least they weren't torn and bloody. It was a simple tee shirt and a pair of pants. I wanted to get her a backpack, but I had run out of money.

"I'm Li." I told her. Nightmare make more of his noises. "That's Nightmare." I said, assuming he was trying to introduce himself. He made more happy noises.

Verde grinned and looked down at her feet. "I should have given him a name." she said "I just called him Bulbasaur, but I should have named him."

"Was he your only pokemon?" I asked.

She nodded, still not looking at either of us. "Red and Blue got a charmander and a squirtle. Our parents were friends, so they gave us matching names; we were all named after colors. We got starters to match our names. I went on to the Pewter gym, but Blue stayed behind to find Red. Knowing him he went to the pokemon league. I bet they've both caught a few pokemon by now. I hope Team Rocket gets caught before they pass through."

Nightmare took my hand as a look of determination flashed across my face. I looked at him, knowing he was on my side. "Get some rest, Verde." I said as we left the room.

"You're both leaving me?" she asked

"We'll be back." I assured her.

I wanted to go towards Mount Moon, but there was police tape blocking the way, so we went south. Nightmare looked around eagerly, wanting to battle again. It didn't take long for us to find a pidgey. Nightmare ran ahead into battle as a took a pokeball out of my pocket. I pressed the button and waited for the best time to throw it. Nightmare used double slap, the pidgey pecked him, then Nightmare used pound. The wild pokemon kicked sand into his eyes. Nightmare, clearly uncomfortable, backed up and tried to wiped to sand out of his eyes.

"Nightmare, confusion!" I called as the bird tried to fly away. With Nightmare holding it in place, I was able to throw the pokeball at it. I walked slowly to the ball on the ground, expecting the pokemon to escape like I had heard of happening. I picked it up and put it in my back pocket.

"Let's try to find another one." I said as Nightmare started heading back to Cerulian. He made a few irritated noises, but we continued searching. After capturing a nidoran male, we went back to the Pokemon center. Nightmare got Verde while Nurse Joy healed the new pokemon.

"What's the emergency?" Verde rushed down despite the stitches in her legs. Had she not escaped from Team Rocket, she likely would have been killed.

"Your new pokemon." I said proudly

"New pokemon?" she sounded so suprised

" The police haven't found your Bulbasaur yet, so I caught a couple pokemon for you." As though on cue, they both rushed into the room, with the pidgey angrily chasing the nidoran

"You caught them for me?" she asked as Nurse Joy handed the pokeballs to her.

"You can't be a trainer without any pokemon." I told her with a hint of sarcasm

"Li... Thank you." She named the pidgey Daydream and the nidoran Prince.

Nightmare and I snuck out shortly after she fell asleep and headed to Mount Moon. We still had reservations for a few nights, but I thought it was best to let Verde and her pokemon have the room to themselves. She could clearly walk on her own, and since I had already paid for the room Nurse Joy wouldn't kick her out until she had more time to heal. There weren't any police in sight, but the tape was still up.

"Well this is great." I said sarcastically "We'll have to go anyways."

We quickly made our way to the cliff Verde had jumped from. "This looks like an emergency" I said, hoping Nightmare would understand what I was suggesting. He took me by the hand and used his psychic powers to lift us up onto the cliff. There were enough blood drops on the ground for us to find the entrance of the cave. From what I had heard, there were lanterns inside to help trainers see, but apparently they were pretty deep inside the cave since I could hardly see any light inside.

"This is it." I said, shuttering at the thought of finding Team Rocket. I looked at Nightmare "Lets be careful, alright?"

Still holding my hand, he led me into the cave.