Chapter 3: Viridian City!

"So this is Viridian city?" Joe wondered out loud as he walked past the entrance. "You ever been here Blaze?" But as he looked back at his pokemon, he noticed that it was lagging behind. It had been a long day. Though Viridian was only about an hour's walk from Pallet town, Joe had wanted to spend some time getting to know Blaze. "Getting to know as in training." Joe thought to himself. "We have been working hard though, maybe it's time for a rest." Stopping for a second, he waited for Blaze to catch up. "What's the matter buddy?" Joe asked as the pokemon leaned against a wall. "Char…." Blaze answered, clearly exhausted. "I know buddy, but if you can't walk any further you could always hop into your ball." Joe offered as he held the ball out. Blaze immediately growled in protest and would have swiped the ball out of Joe's hand had he not pulled it back. "Someone's grouchy." Joe thought with a smile as he said, "Relax buddy, I understand. I wouldn't want to live in that thing either, who knows what it looks on the inside." He then put the ball away and stuck out his arm. Patting his shoulder with his other hand, he beckoned, "Here, hop on up. You earned it." Blaze immediately grabbed onto Joe's arm and slowly climbed up onto his right shoulder. "There is that better?" Joe asked as he began walking towards the city. However, he got no response. Looking to his side, he saw that his Charmander was fast asleep. "Perhaps I overdid it?" Joe thought to himself as he walked down the street. Then he shook his head. "No, that was important. I needed some time to get to know Blaze, especially since we're going to start challenging trainers. There's no way that I'm going to lose my first battle!" As he walked though, he resolved to catch some more pokemon in order to help Blaze out. Finally, after what seemed like hours he saw his destination. "Well, there's the pokemon center." Joe said to himself as he walked over to it. Upon entering, he immediately headed over to the front desk. "Hello sir how can I help you?" The female nurse asked as she spun her chair around to face him. "It's my Blaz… err Charmander, he's a little tuckered out." Joe answered as he picked up his pokemon. He carefully placed him on the table, trying not to wake him up. "Alright, we'll take a look at him." She replied as she signaled two Chansey to take care of his pokemon. As he watched them wheel Blaze away, he heard the Nurse address him. "For now you can either leave and come back, or wait in the waiting room with the others." All of a sudden, he felt something vibrate on his left arm. Looking down he saw that his PokePad was vibrating. "Looks like someone's calling me." Joe thought to himself as he pulled his wrist up to his mouth. Tapping a button on the touchscreen, he said, "Hello who is it." "Hello, how is my little twainer and his cutesy wootsy pokemon doing!" Joe nearly fell over in shock. On the pad, his mother's face had appeared and she didn't seem to realize that the speaker phone was on. "Mom knock it off I'm in public." Joe answered in an annoyed voice, hammering the speaker-phone button. Looking around he saw that a couple of the other trainers were beginning to stare. "Oh I just love it when you act like a broody tough guy." His mom replied. As Joe saw the nurse smirk, he said through gritted teeth, "Shut up mom. What is it?" "I just wanted to see how you were doing, that's all. Oh and Professor Oak wanted to check with you as well." She said as her face was replaced with Oak's. "Ah Joe hello, how are you?" Oak asked as he waved. "I'm fine professor what is it." Joe said, a bored tone in his voice. "Oh nothing, how far have you gotten?" "Only to Viridian city." Joe answered, but when he saw Oak's disappointed look he replied, "Only because Blaze and I took some time to get to know each other." "Nothing wrong with that. But you wouldn't happen to be thinking of challenging the gym there would you?" Oak said. "Nah. I've only got one pokemon so far and we haven't even battled any trainers yet." Joe replied, then added. "Besides, Pewter city's our first target anyway." "Oh good. Speaking of catching pokemon, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" Joe arched his eyebrow as he asked, "What sort of favor?" Oak took a deep breath and asked, "While you see a long time ago I was a teenager like you. Carefree and determined, living out my own pokemon adventure." "Yeah… and?" Joe replied with a skeptical look on his face. "Well… I never accomplished my dream. You see, I have always been fascinated by pokemon. That's why I became a researcher once I grew too old. Of course, I no longer have my youth but…" "What is he up to?" Joe thought to himself as he urged, "Go ahead professor." "While I have always wanted to catch every single pokemon. But of course I'm far too old to take on such a challenge. You on the other hand…" Sighing Joe asked, "Now why would a person who wants to be Pokemon Champion care about catching every single pokemon?" At first Oak had no answer, but then he smiled and offered, "I know! I'll give you a certificate!" "No thanks." Joe coolly refused as he cut the connection on his PokePad. "Sorry professor, but I could care less about catching every single pokemon." Joe thought as he turned and looked out the window. In the distance, far above the mountain line he could see a giant tower, his final destination. "It's all about being the strongest for me." As he gazed at the Plateau, he heard somebody chuckling nearby. "What's so funny?" He asked as he turned towards the source of the laughter. The nurse's chuckling quickly subsided into a smile as she apologized. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never heard the term "cutesy wootsy" apply to a pokemon before." Joe immediately jumped to Blaze's defense. "It doesn't, Blaze is a walking talking flamethrower." He answered. Smiling, the nurse typed some information into her computer than answered, "I know. Charmander are pretty common in this place, them being starter pokemon and what not. So I take it his name is Blaze?" "Yeah." Joe replied simply, continuing to stare out the window. "And what's your name?" The Nurse asked as she stopped typing and offered her hand. Joe, defensive at first simply answered, "That's not important." "While I can't write ? into the report!" She exclaimed at first, but then smiled softly and added, "Alright then my name's Joy." Realizing that he didn't have a choice, Joe gave her his first name and shook her hand. "Well it's nice to meet you Joe." Joy said with a smile as she typed his name into the computer. "Likewise." He answered he began to look out the window again. All of a sudden he heard a friendly growl come from behind him. "Are you this Pokemon's trainer?" Joe heard someone ask as he turned around. Behind the desk, he saw a woman in a white lab coat carrying Blze in her arms. Smiling she handed him his Pokemon and said, "I'm Dr. Cedar." She then proceeded to offer her hand which he shook. "I'm Joe." He answered, then looked over to his right shoulder. "How you feeling Buddy?" He asked. Blaze smiled and flexed his tiny arms, letting out a challenging growl as he did so. "Sounds like you're ready to go." Joe stated, then he looked at Doctor Cedar and Joy. "Thanks for helping Blaze." He said as he turned and headed for the door. "It was our pleasure." Cedar answered as she turned to Joy and said, "Not a very talkative kid huh?"

"Alright Blaze, I know this is the first gym that we have seen but that's no reason to be afraid." Joe reassured as he and Blaze approached Viridian City Gym. It was a large building which was surrounded by a giant fence. "An electric fence too." Joe thought as he saw a Spearow try to perch on top and fall to the ground. "But how do we get inside?" Looking around, he noticed a large gate which seemed to be the only way inside the complex. As he walked up to the gate, Joe noticed that there were several cameras lined along the fence. Upon reaching the gate he heard someone say, "State your business." Looking around however, he saw that no one was there. Then he saw that it was not a person who had called him, but a speaker. "My name is Joe Donnelly. I'm a trainer from Pallet Town and I'm here to see the gym." Joe stated as he looked towards the speaker attached to the gate doors. "We're sorry, but we can't let you in." The voice on the speaker said. "Only those challenging the Gym leader are allowed to enter, and official challenges must be scheduled months ahead of time." "But I'm not here to challenge anyone; I just wanted to see what a gym was like!" Joe tried to reason, but it fell on deaf ears. "Well buddy, looks like we won't be getting in anytime soon." Joe said as he saw Blaze sigh. Then all of a sudden Blaze's eyes lit up. Looking over to the source of his pokemon's excitement, Joe slowly smiled. "There might be another way."

"C'mon Jasper, we could make it." She begged as she rode in the back of the limo. It had been a long trip, what with her father's mansion being located in Saffron, but they had finally made it to Viridian City. Only to be stopped short of their real goal by a bunch of caterpillars. "Now now C`elia my dear, we can't drive a limo straight through a forest. All that nasty paperwork." She heard Jasper say as they pulled to a stop. "But we were soooo close to Pewter!" She complained as she fiddled with her dress. But it was no use. Jasper looked back at her and chided, "We can't go back my dear, Cade would throw me out onto the streets themselves if anything happened to you." Crossing her arms, she replied, "Who cares about that loser, he's just a lap-dog anyway!" As the car began moving again, Jasper answered indignantly, "Now really miss C`elia, is that any way to talk about your own flesh and blood?" She was about to answer when all of a sudden she felt a small quake in her seat. Almost as if something had hit the trunk of the limousine. "Did you feel that Jasper?" She asked as she began to turn her head around. "Feel what maam?" He replied with a confused look on his face. "Oh nothing, must have been the wind or something." C`elia answered as she casually glanced out the window. For a second she thought that she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, but she quickly dismissed away. "Just the wind."

"Too easy." Joe thought as he hung on to the back of the limo. At first, he had thought that there would be no way to sneak past the gates. But then he had seen the limo. "With protection this sophisticated, whoever's in charge of this gym must be rolling in coin. And what car is standard to any billionaire?" He thought. With one hand he was gripping the top of the trunk, with the other Blaze was hanging on for dear life. "Hang on buddy, we're almost inside." Joe reassured as Blaze gave him a smile. Carefully, he peeked above the trunk and tried to peek inside. But the limo's windows were tinted too dark for him to see through. Using the back end of the car for cover, he carefully dodged the camera's line of sight and finally felt a wave of satisfaction as the gate doors opened. "Now to find a way off." Joe thought as he carefully looked around the courtyard. Then he saw it, and quickly pointed Blaze in the right direction. Crouching, Joe carefully leapt into a bush and waited for the limo to disappear.. They waited for what seemed like an eternity until Joe was sure that the limo had moved on. When it finally drove off out of sight, he slowly creeped out of the bush. "Not bad huh buddy?" Joe said to Blaze on his right shoulder, who growled his approval. They then began walking towards the gym, intent on seeing it for the first time.

"Well here we are." Jasper stated as they pulled in front of a large building with a giant pokeball symbol on it. "Where's here?" C`elia asked, confused. "Why this is Viridian city Gym, the one owned by your father." Jasper said matter of factly. Than he added with a small smile, "Cade is here, perhaps you can convince him." C`elia slowly smiled in realization and opened the door to the limo. Before running off, she quickly put her head threw the window of the limo and placed a quick kiss on Jasper's wrinkled cheek. "Thank you Jasper!" She exclaimed as she began to run over to the Gym doors. "You're welcome miss C`elia." Jasper replied. As C`elia reached the doors however, they opened on their own. "C`elia, what in the world are you doing here?" she heard Cade ask as he exited the gym. "Hi Cade, good to see you again." C`elia replied as she embraced him. She didn't miss the two brutes standing on either side of him as well. "You still haven't answered my question yet." Cade urged as they broke their embrace. "Well you see…" C`elia tried to ask, but withered under Cade's powerful gaze. "Well what?" Cade urged again. "C'mon C`elia, time to take off the dress and fight back." She thought, but then she looked down and noticed that she was wearing a dress. "Speaking of which I'm not even wearing a bra. If I did actually take my dress of…. No focus!" Taking a deep breath she asked, "I'd like to travel to Pewter City to visit the museum." Cade simply shrugged her off. "Sorry no can do. Viridian forest is far too dangerous for someone of our position. Perhaps another time." "But there won't be another time! There's this exhibit on Pokemon biology that I really want to see and…" She begged, hoping that he would have a change of heart for once. But there was no such luck. Folding his arms he answered emphatically, "The answer is no." At first she was simply disappointed, but then that turned to anger. "He's always like this, just playing a puppet. I'm so tired of being treated like I'm the puppet!" Furious, she started to yell at Cade. "I'm 15, technically 2 years past the age of being considered legal to own my own Pokemon and travel across the whole country for god sakes!" Looking over at Cade, she saw the look in his eyes and prepared herself for war.

"Ah there's the gym" Joe thought cheerfully as the building grew closer. That cheerfulness quickly left him though, as he noticed the commotion in front of the gym. "Ever since you were born you were well taken care of!" He heard someone say. Looking over, he saw two people arguing outside the gym. The one who had spoken was a man with jet black hair that was slicked back. "Oh sure, I was treated like a baby. Except when I grew out of my diapers the treatment stayed the same you dick!" Looking over towards the source of that racket, Joe saw a girl. She seemed to be around his age. She had long red hair, and deep hazel eyes. She also wore a dress that matched her hair. "And her temper for that matter." Joe thought as he turned to Blaze and said, "Well look at little miss sunshine." "Char Char." Blaze replied as they both chuckled. "Perhaps we can use this to our advantage."

"How dare you call me such a thing! After all I've done for you!" C`elia heard Cade shout as they got right into each other's faces. "Oh yeah, kept me out of public schools, prevented me from owning my own Pokemon, confining me to that prison!" C`elia shouted back. "You don't understand the kind of position we are in!" Cade answered as he folded his arms. "Forget it, I'm leaving!" C`elia declared as she turned around and began walking away. Arching his eyebrow, Cade asked, "Oh really, and how will you make it through Viridian Forest without a pokemon?" That stopped her in her tracks. He was right, without a Pokemon she was helpless. She was about to concede defeat, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted something. A teenage boy was slowly creeping around the scuffle, intent on reaching the double doors to the gym. He had dark green eyes and short brown hair which stuck out from his hat. What caught her eye however, was the Pokemon riding on his shoulder. Cautiously she answered, "He'll escort me." "Who'll escort you?" Cade asked dumbfounded. "What am I thinking?" C`elia asked herself as she pointed straight at the kid. But then she shook her head and thought, "It's the only way. I know that Cade would never send one of his goons to escort me, he's way too overprotective. And it's his fault that I don't have my own Pokemon." Looking over to where she was pointing, Cade called out, "Hey kid, what are you doing on our property?" The teen didn't even turn his head as he answered, "I'm no one special, just ignore me." Cade would have none of it however, as he motioned towards his guards. The teen was nearly knocked over as the guards blocked his path to the door. "If you're not going to tell us who you are, then I'm just going to have to guess." Cade stated coldly as he slowly approached the intruder, step by step. "You see, you clearly own a Pokemon. Which means that you are likely another wannabe trainer who thinks that they are tough shit." Cade explained, matching words with footsteps. "But here's where you're wrong. You are a baby, a beginner, a trainer fresh out of diapers lacking the toughness that comes from constant battle." He continued, and then his eyes narrowed as he added, "In other words just a piece of shit." Cade, who C`elia knew had faced many rookie trainers, clearly expected this new guy to shrink like she had earlier. He didn't. He simply grinned and answered, "I was going to save this gym for last, as is the custom." All of a sudden however, his voice grew darker and his eyes narrowed as he added, "But I could always make an exception." Cade had a malicious smile on his face as he threatened, "I'm going to enjoy this." However, the teen began to answer, "Not as much as m- what the hell!" Midsentence, something tugged hard at his arm. C`elia tightened her grip as she began sprinting down the path to the exit. The kid was clearly startled, as he didn't even try to fight back. "C`elia come back here!" She heard Cade shout as she headed for the exit, intent on gaining as much distance as she could. Her heart sank however, when they reached the wall. "Damn, I completely forgot about the Gates!" She thought worriedly. Suddenly she felt her arm jerk away, the kid had finally torn free of her grasp. There was a cautious look on his face at first, as he was obviously unsure of whether to trust her. But then the imminent threat facing him outweighed his caution. Exchanging a look, he quickly nodded towards his pokemon. "What is he doing?" She wondered as the Charmander leaped off of his shoulder. "Blaze use Ember full blast!" The kid exclaimed with his finger stretched out. The Charmander let out a roar and with it's mouth opened wide, released a barrage of flames. As the pokemon fired, C`elia followed the direction that the kid was pointing in and immediately hit the dirt. The fence was special in that it was an electric fence. In order to power the electricity and cameras, one needed a powerful transformer. The kid had apparently had enough of the fence, as he had decided to make a permanent addition to it… by blowing up the transformer. Covering her eyes as she looked up, she saw the psycho grab his pokemon in one smooth motion and land on top of him, intent on shielding him from the blast. Cade and his guards were not so lucky however. Having finally caught up with the runaways, they had barely had the time to shout in protest as Charmander opened his mouth towards the wall. "no No NO FFFUUU!" Was all Cade got out as he and his goons were blasted back by the force of the explosion. C`elia felt the heat roll over her back. Choking, her eyes began to water from the thick smoke that was lingering from the blast. All of a sudden she heard someone say, "Get up." The kid, covering his mouth with his forearm, helped her slowly stand up. Silently, they snuck through the hole in the gate and ran for daylight.

"Crobat, use gust." Cade commanded as he threw his pokeball. In the midst of the smokescreen a Bat like pokemon with four wings began flapping them furiously. The powerful wind produced from the Bat immediately shifted the smoke away the coughing guards. One of the men, having got his hacking under control asked, "Should we chase them boss?" Cade carefully scanned the hillside but they were nowhere in sight. "Return Crobat." Cade ordered as he held his device out. Crobat was engulfed in a red light as it traveled from its position in the air to Cade's hand. Placing the ball in his belt, Cade motioned toward his guards to follow him. "No, there's no way that we'll catch up to them now. We have more important matters to take care of." He answered as he turned back towards the gym. "But what about C`elia?" The guard asked. Cade replied, "It's alright, we know where they are headed. We'll just have to steal her back on the way." "And the intruder?" Smiling Cade answered, "Make sure he disappears in the forest… Permanently."

"I think we lost them." The kid stated, as they finally stopped running. Having sprinted all the way back to the city, she was winded. "Phew huff that was huh huh close." C`elia sighed in relief as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Taking her hands off of her knees, she noticed the kid walking away with his Charmander on his shoulder. "Wait!" C`elia called out as she tried to catch up. Tripping over her heels she fell flat on her face. Seeing her fall, the Charmander began to hiss. "What's up with him?" She wondered at first, then an angry look cemented itself on her face. "Wait a minute, he must be laughing at me!" Shooting a glare at the pokemon, she picked herself up and tossed her heels to the side. Barefoot and comfortable, she finally caught up with the mystery trainer. "What's the big hurry?" She asked as she slowed her gait to a walk. "I've got stuff to do." He answered as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "What kinds of stuff?" She asked carefully. "None of your business." He answered as he changed directions so that his back was to her. "Crap, if he leaves then there's no way I'm making it to Pewter." She thought desperately as she said, "Oh c'mon, you can trust me." "Of course I can." He answered, but his reply was chock full of sarcasm. "But I saved you." She answered her voice on the edge of defeat. "Haha oh yeah. Random girl takes me on a merry chase through the gym courtyard from her father and his groupies, both looking to chop my friend and I up into tiny bits and serve them to his Growlithe. Then says that I can trust her." He replied, then he stopped for a second. Turning his neck to face her, he stated, "No chance." He then added as he looked away from her again, "I think Blaze and I did most of the saving anyways." "You sure saved me, in fact you almost saved me all over the wall with that stunt you pulled." She shot back, then instantly regretted it. "Now's not the time to lash out. I know I was right by grabbing him. If I hadn't… I've seen what Cade does to losing trainers…" She thought as she took several deep breaths and calmed herself down. "You never could have taken Cade, and deep down you know I'm right." She didn't want to resort to this, but he left her no choice. She had to get to Pewter, she just had to. She knew that her father would punish her, and this kid would probably hate her but even 5 minutes spent making her own decision was enough for her. It worked, the trainer stopped as his pokemon gave him a confused glance. "What gives you that idea?" He asked as he turned to face her. Slowly approaching him, she answered, "In fact, you never had any intention of challenging the gym." Then it hit her, that silhouette in the limo. "That was you! You used the limo to sneak in!" She exclaimed. "Yeah that was me. Sure I didn't plan on challenging the gym just yet, but somehow they caught me sneaking towards the door..." The trainer said as he looked off to the side, pondering how he was spotted. C`elia scratched her head and said, "That is kind of funny right?" as she thought, "Whoops." "…and then Blaze and I got backed into a corner." The trainer finished as she came at an arm's length. "You weren't actually going to fight him were you?" She asked as she purposely injected worry into her tone. "Like I said we got backed into a corner, and there was no way that I was going to leave him alone with those creeps." He answered as he nodded towards the light-orange creature lying on his shoulder. "Well of course not, who would ever want to leave such a cute… er I mean tough pokemon behind." C`elia answered, switching up her answer after both the trainer and his pokemon shot her glares. "Look I'm sorry, my name is C`elia." She said as she offered him her hand. For a second he looked her over, as if deciding whether to trust her or not. But eventually he caved. Taking her hand and firmly shaking it he replied, "I'm Joe." "Nice to meet you Joe." She answered, then after a couple moments she asked, "So where are you headed?" "Well, the next Gym is in Pewter city." He replied as they began to walk. "But isn't Viridian Forest in between Viridian and Pewter?" She said with mock worry. "Exactly, I was going to stock up on supplies at the local mart. I don't want Blaze here to pass out from poison and we had a little altercation with some Beedrill." He answered as he glanced at his pokemon. "What sort of altercation?" She asked. "The fatal kind." Joe replied simply. "That's horrible!" She exclaimed, then added as she feigned interest, "What happened?"

"Well here we are, Viridian City poke mart!" Joe heard C`elia exclaim as they reached the blue building. Upon entering, his eyes were assaulted by an assortment of goods ranging from pokeballs to potions and various items. As he looked through the shelves he noticed C`elia wander off. "Where are you going?" He asked as the maroon haired girl ran off. "I've got to buy some new clothes, my dress got wrecked when you remodeled that fence!" She replied without looking back. "Oh right, sorry about that." Joe answered sheepishly but she had already disappeared amongst the other shoppers. "Char Char." He heard Blaze say as he began to walk up and down the aisles. "I know buddy, she's definitely a handful. Maybe we should just ditch her?" He suggested. Looking up he saw the sign that said in bold gold letters:Status Medicine. And immediately headed over to it. "Charmander Char Char!" Blaze disagreed. "What, you want to stick by her?" Joe asked as his pokemon nodded. "While we could use her as a hostage, I'll give you that much. But something's off…" Blaze scratched its head and looked at him questioningly. "Let's see, burn heal, freeze heal, paralyze heal…" Joe trailed off. "Char?" Blaze asked as Joe finally found what he was looking for. "There it is, antidote." Joe said, grabbing several boxes. Then he began walking towards the register. "Well for starters, that jerk who I guess is her father has two personal meat shields. Then there's the fact that she was fighting with him for not letting her go to Pewter City. But didn't you see the way she reacted when we mentioned that we were headed to Pewter?" Joe asked as Blaze rubbed his chin, deep in thought. Then he added, "Besides, I don't trust anybody except for my mother and well… you." All of a sudden a big smile grew on Blaze's face as he growled in approval. "Um excuse me mister, I can help you over here." Looking up Joe noticed that he was being waved over by one of the cashiers, as well as several customers behind him who were beginning to grow agitated. As he moved over to the register, he handed him the boxes and took out his wallet. Suddenly he heard someone say, "Excuse me, coming through…" "Oh no." Joe thought as he mentally face palmed. "Excuse me lady, but you're going to have to go to the back of the line." His Cashier stated firmly as he stopped scanning Joe's goods. C`elia simply shrugged him off and answered, "It's alright, my friend's right here. He was saving me a spot." Then she elbowed him in the side and added, "Right buddy?" This time he did face palm. After removing his hand from his forehead, he took out a couple of bills and paid for the antidotes. C`elia on the other hand simply placed her bags on the table and whipped out a pokedex. "What is she doing?" He wondered as he placed his new purchase inside one of the side pockets of his bag. She then proceeded to flip the device open and swipe it above the item scanner. The cashier waited for a couple seconds, then after a "Cha-ching," sound of confirmation from the register gave C`elia a curt nod and said with a forced smile, "Have a nice day." Grabbing her bags, she walked over to Joe, a cheery look on her face. "How much did you buy?" Joe asked as he stared at the numerous bags in her hands. "Enough, speaking of which." She answered, tossing all but two of her bags into his arms. Looking back towards the cashier, she asked, "I have to change, is there a fitting room in back?" "Yes, on the clothing floor in the pants section." He answered as he exited the cashier booth from the side. Exchanging a sympathetic glance with Joe he added, "Right this way." Joe watched as the clerk lead C`elia up the stairs and out of sight. The line of patient customers was beginning to form a crowd, and upon seeing the abandoned register had begun to groan impatiently. Noticing a couple customers glaring at him, he decided to wait outside for C`elia. As he leaned against the wall, he carefully scanned the streets on the lookout for anyone remotely resembling her father's goons. But the streets were surprisingly empty, especially for a city like Viridian. Satisfied that they were safe for the time being, he said to his partner, "You still want to stick by her buddy?" Blaze frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Almost done!" C`elia thought as she tied her left sneaker. When she was finished, she stood up and checked herself out. The fitting room wasn't a fancy one, or at least like the ones in Saffron. But it had a full mirror, one that could show the viewer their entire body. She had decided to go with comfort over style, wearing a simple pair of small shorts as well as a pink short-sleeve shirt. Satisfied with her look, she picked up her bag and was about to walk out when she made a last-minute decision. "Since I'm going into the forest, I'd best be prepared." She thought as she reached into her bag. Pulling out a scrunchy, she proceeded to tie her long hair into a pony-tail. "There. That should keep it out of the way!" She thought as she finally walked out of the dressing room. When she came down the stairs however, Joe was nowhere in sight. "Now where did my pass-port go?" She wondered as she began to search the first floor. She didn't look long however. The store clerk who had helped noticed her looking around and asked, "Are you looking for that man miss?" Nodding, she answered, "Yeah, we were supposed to go somewhere together…" "Some customers told me that he went outside." The man answered. Smiling, C`elia replied, "Thanks, I'll go find him!" As she turned to walk out, she swore that she heard the clerk murmur, "Poor guy," in the background. But she simply ignored him. As soon as she got outside, she heard someone say, "What took you so long?" Startled, she nearly tripped over the last step of the mart entrance. "What the he-are you doing there?" She half-shouted, half-asked normally as her heart raced a mile a minute. "The crowd was shooting me death glares thanks to you." He answered as he unfolded his arms and began to walk. "You were a real bitch in there you know that?" C`elia began to fume on the inside. "That dick! How dare he call me a… no C`elia. We can't fight him. If we piss him off then he'll leave and we can't abandon him. Not yet." Getting herself under control, she answered, "You've never talked to a girl before have you." "Whatever, why were you so startled back there?" He suddenly asked, subtly changing the subject. Thrown off-guard, she blurted out, "Because I thought they had gotten you." She immediately regretted it. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She thought, mentally smacking herself. "What do you mean they?" Joe asked, halting in his tracks. C`elia eyed him as she also stopped walking. Both Joe and his Charmander were giving her suspicious looks. "Oh crap, what do I say?!" She wondered as she frantically racked her mind for an excuse. "The crowd of course silly!" She answered, adding a seductive note to her voice as she forced a smile onto her face. Joe simply folded his arms and continued to stare, as if doubting her. She couldn't tell whether he was deciding to buy her story or simply deciding whether or not he should order his pokemon to burn her to a crisp. The former won out however, as he unfolded his arms and answered, "Alright." And began walking again. "Holy crap he actually bought it!" She thought in relief, then ran to catch up with him. Desperate to change the subject, she pointed forward and exclaimed, "Look the entrance to Viridian Forest is over there!" "I see it, I see it." Joe answered. "Do you really think we'll be ok? I mean, you're just a trainer out of diapers…" C`elia teased. "We'll be fine. Blaze and I can take on anyone!" Joe stated confidently as he took his first step into the forest. Watching him go, C`elia thought to herself with excitement, "First Viridian Forest, then Pewter City! Once we get through the forest I can finally ditch this jerk!" Her goal only one obstacle away, she took her first step towards freedom.