Red smiled as he walked along route one. It was a beautiful place, and most of the Pokemon were fairly easy to beat, especially compared to their first battle with Green and Zeni. That is, except when they Pokemon tried to gang up on them. Riza had nearly been defeated when a whole group of Pidgey had swarmed the two of them after they'd accidentally stumbled off of the route and into some nesting grounds. Luckily, Riza had just been healed, and she even learned Ember while trying to figure out how to hit more than one Pokemon at once.
"You ok now?" Red asked the small lizard Pokemon. Red had fixed her up with some potions, but what they really needed at that moment was a trip to the Pokemon Center. It was too bad that Viridian City was still more than a day's walk away.
Riza gave a nod of confirmation from where she was once again perched on Red's shoulder. Red had decided to leave her out of her Pokeball for the walk to Viridian City just due to the sheer number of wild Pokemon encounters they had. It became easy to quickly gain a lot of experience, but it did become rather repetitive after awhile, fighting the same Pokemon over and over again. Red had already caught a Pidgey, a Rattata, a Caterpie and a Wheedle for Professor Oak. Red had locked their Pokeballs just in case he caught too many. Trainers were only allowed to have six available Pokemon with them at a time. By this point, Red was kind of sick of those sorts of Pokemon and didn't want to add any of them to his personal team.
He continued to walk along the route. The ground seemed to be equal parts tall grass and dirt path, but it was all uneven, and there was no telling how big some of the grass patches were. Despite his temporary dislike of the Pokemon in the area, Red made it a point to walk in the tall grass as much as he could, at least when Riza was up for battles. The little Charmander was nearly as aggressive as the wild Pokemon they met. Oftentimes, the grass wasn't even an option. It covered across whole areas, and Red didn't want to try and find his way around them, lest he get lost outside of the route. A few minutes of walking later the two of them came up on another patch of grass. This time, they ran into the first human they'd seen since they left Pallet Town. Literally ran into him. The kid had been crouched down in the tall grass where Red couldn't see him, so Red ended up tripping over him.
"Oops. I'm so sorry about that," Red said, pushing himself back up. Riza was standing next to him, having bailed from her position on his shoulder when he'd fallen.
"Oh, hey, that's ok. You couldn't see me. Easy mistake," the other kid stood up. "I'm Joey."
"My name is Red. Hey, I haven't seen anyone else all day other than wild Pokemon. You up for a battle?" Red asked. It would be refreshing to fight a trained Pokemon rather than a wild one. Joey seemed to be a bit older than Red but not by so much that he would be far outside of Red's skill level.
"Sure, that would be fun," Joey pulled out a Pokeball as Riza jumped between them, accentuating a battle stance with a growl. He tossed the ball, revealing a Rattata.
"Alright then, Dragon Dance, Riza," Red immediately called out. Beginning battles with that particular move had become habit, as Riza's heightened speed made it harder for enemies to hit her.
"Ratters, use Tackle!" the youngster said as soon as the green and blue flame cleared from around Riza. She was caught unprepared coming out of a move and took the Tackle full force. Red made a mental note to train her to be more prepared for things like that. After the Tackle, though, Ratters didn't land a single hit. Riza was more than fast enough to handle herself. It took a few Embers to whittle the Rattata's hit points down completely, as Ember wasn't a move that got powered up by Dragon Dance. Red only used it because he thought a more long ranged strategy would work better. Soon enough, the battle was over, with Riza the victor.
"Good job Riza!" Red called, letting the small lizard crawl back up his arm and onto his shoulder.
"Dang it. I was sure I'd found someone I could beat. You just have that new trainer look about you. Guess that's what I get for being a casual trainer," Joey grinned, pulling some money out of his pocket and handing it to Red. "Here's your winnings."
"I get money for winning Pokemon battles?" It seemed there were a few things that Professor Oak had forgotten to tell Red before he'd started his journey.
"Wow. You must really be a new trainer if you don't know about that. It's the unwritten law out and about the world of Pokemon trainers. For some, it's the main source of income as well as acting as incentive for us to battle each other instead of just wild Pokemon," Joey explained. He didn't seem to be all that perturbed by losing.
"Oh, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation," Red said.
"No problemo. Always happy to help a fellow trainer," Joey waved to Red with a grin and then went back down into the grass, seemingly searching for something.
"Well he seemed nice," Red said to Riza as the two walked away. The Pokemon nodded in agreement, swishing her flaming tail around. Red wasn't entirely sure how she didn't set anything on fire like that, but Red was extremely happy that she didn't. That way, Red didn't have to intrude on her happiness at defeating another trained Pokemon. The two continued on, battling wild Pokemon and occasionally other trainers for the next few hours. Even though most of the route looked the same, Red could tell that they were making progress by the signs on the side of the route. If they kept it up, they could easily make it to Viridian City the next day. Despite how much progress they made, Red could tell it was getting dark. The sky was overcast with grey clouds, blocking the sun, but Riza's tail made a noticeable glow in the space around it. He hoped it wouldn't start raining. From the little information Red could find in the Pokedex, he'd found out that a Charmander would die if its tail went out. If it rained too hard, Riza would be confined to her Pokeball. The two of them came upon a slight forested area near the side of the route.
"Hey Riza, what do you feel about stopping here to make camp? We can grab some dinner and then some rest. Might do you some good, since you've been battling all day," Red suggested. Riza nodded, giving a tired cry of agreement. Red was tired too from all the walking and helping out Riza. He noticed that with the way their Potions stash was going, they'd really need to restock in Viridian City.
Red walked a little ways to get to the side of the path, underneath the trees. After Red put down Riza, he pulled a sleeping bag out of his backpack. Riza made a slightly confused sound at how Red could pull something so large out of a space so small, until Red showed a sphere that looked similar to a Pokeball.
"You see this sphere? It's built like a Pokeball, but it's for items, not Pokemon. That way, I can fit more items in a smaller bag," Red explained before putting the sphere back inside, along with the other camping supplies. Each Item Sphere was labelled so that Red knew what was in each one. Earlier, Red had seen another new trainer having trouble trying to find the right Sphere because the poor kid had forgotten to label them. Red was glad to avoid that problem. As Red was getting the camping supplies ready, Riza went around to gather sticks for a fire. It was a smart move considering it was April. It could get pretty chilly at night. After a few minutes, Red noticed Riza starting to get further away, concentrating hard on her task.
"Hey Riza, can you come back? I can't see very well in the dark," without Riza's light close by, Red realized how dark it had actually gotten while they'd been walking. Immediately, Riza came running back, bundles of sticks in her small arms.
"Thanks a lot. Just put them right down, and I'll start arranging them," Red pointed at a spot on the ground. The little Charmander set the sticks down in a tangled pile before sitting down to groom herself. Red took a second to finish up with the sleeping bag and pillows before turning to arrange the sticks into something at least vaguely resembling a teepee. He set some rocks around it just in case. "Riza, Ember!" he called out to his partner, who shot a few Embers at the sticks to ignite them. "Thanks little guy." Red pulled out some wrapped sausages from his bag to roast over the fire. He was pretty sure Riza was a carnivorous Pokemon, and he figured real meat would be yummier to her than Pokefood. Based on Riza's response, Red was right about that. The two of them had fun, roasting sausages and Red telling stories about himself and his brothers from when they were kids. Red had Riza keeled over in mirth with tales of the escapades the three of them got into when they were all little, even telling some that involved Green as well. It kept getting even darker until the fire and Riza's tail were the only sources of light. Occasionally, there was a flash of lightning followed by a crack of thunder, but it hadn't started raining yet. Red prepared Riza's Pokeball, though, just in case. Soon, though, they heard a crashing noise coming from somewhere that definitely wasn't the sky and a shout of pain. Red eyes snapped over in the direction that it had come from, but he couldn't make out much of anything in the thick darkness.
"Can you stay here and watch the fire? I'm going to go check that out. If it starts raining while I'm out, I want you to go into your Pokeball," Red grabbed a flashlight and placed Riza's Pokeball next to the fire. She would be able to go in any time by touching the capture mechanism in the front of the ball. He stood up and walked out into the route. The beam the flashlight cast in front of Red lit up the area in front of Red but not for very far. Old fears about going into the tall grass alone crept around the back of Red's mind like ghost Pokemon, but he reassured himself with the fact that Riza was within shouting distance, and Red did have other Pokeballs he could activate if he really had to. It wasn't long before Red could hear pained groans coming from in front of him. Red started to go a bit faster, quickly coming upon a person who seemed to have their leg trapped underneath a fallen tree branch. There was a fallen bicycle off to the side.
"Holy crap, are you ok?" Red rushed forward to help.
"Out of all the people on this route I could've crashed near, it had to be you," came a very familiar voice.
"Yea, love you too Green," Red said sarcastically. The shadows cast by the flashlight had obscured his friend's face. With a heave, Red tried to lift the end of the branch, managing to shift it slightly.
"Ow, ow, ow, that hurts!" Green groaned, making a face. Red shone the flashlight at him for a second, and his eyes went wide. There were cuts and scratches all over Green's face and arms with one particularly bad one running along his right arm. It was oozing blood at a rather alarming rate.
"Dang it… gotta get you out of here. Can you bring out Zeni? He might be able to help," Red asked. Green merely nodded and brought out the small turtle Pokemon. Upon seeing Green's state, the Pokemon seemed very alarmed. Red explained to Zeni that he needed help shifting the branch, and together, they set to slowly moving the branch, bit by bit. Soon, it was moved just enough for Green to pull his leg the rest of the way out. He let out an earsplitting screech as the small branches and twigs raked across his legs, leaving a multitude of scratches and scrapes, some of which were also starting to bleed.
"Dammit…" he muttered. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to stand." Both boys looked up as rain began to fall from the sky. Green recalled Zeni back into a Pokeball, which prompted Red to hope Riza would remember to go into her own ball. "What are you staring at?"
"Oh, I just left Riza out of her ball to watch the fire. I know her species doesn't really get along with rain," Red replied. He went over to haul the bicycle up. If Green wouldn't be able to walk, then it might be possible to bring him back on bike. Thankfully, it was all intact. "Hey, we might be able to get back to camp together if I bike and you hold on behind me. We'll be a bit top heavy, but I can manage it," Red adjusted his hat to keep most of the rain out of his eyes. Being able to see would probably be helpful.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Green really didn't like the sound of that idea.
"Do you have a better idea?" Red sent a look in Green's direction, but it was lost in the darkness.
"Not really. Alright you win. Help me up," Green extended his arm towards Red, who took it and pulled the taller boy up. Green grimaced, and despite all of his efforts, a pained groan escaped him. At least he was standing, even if it was just on one leg. Red pulled his friend over onto the bike with him, wishing that he spent more time on his physical health. Green had always been the more physically fit out of the two of them, and it was taking a toll at that moment. It was a tight fit, seeing as the seat was only meant for one person, but they managed it. For a brief second, Red could've sworn Green's face had gone as scarlet as his own eyes. Probably just a trick of the dark. Red shone the flashlight out in front of them and pushed off, struggling to keep both of them upright as he pedaled. As he'd suspected, the bike was extremely top heavy with the both of them on it, but it got easier as Red went faster. The trip back to camp was much shorter than the trip out to find Green, and they made it back just as the drops began to fall even harder. The lightning and thunder hadn't let up either, and it brought to mind the night of Satoshi's accident.
Once they got back, Red saw that Riza was still out of her Pokeball, with a large leaf over her tail. It seemed that she'd taken then instruction to guard the fire to heart. Red pulled Green off the bike and helped him to the ground. He swore he could hear some kind of whooshing noise nearby, almost like the flapping of wings.
"Did you hear that," Red asked, scooping up Riza to protect her from the rain.
"Hear what?" Green's voice was pained.
"It was probably nothing," Red started to set up a tarp over the fire, which was sizzling badly in the rain. It wouldn't last long if he didn't do something.
"If you say so Redsie," Green used Red's embarrassing childhood nickname, causing Red to actually go as scarlet as his own eyes.
"Can you not?" Red searched for his first aid kit in his backpack. It should've been in the medicine pocket, but he couldn't find it for some reason. It was frustrating, since Red needed to do something about Green's wounds, especially the one on his arm. Green had gone quiet and was rather pale. Blood was soaking his shirt, as he was holding his arm to his stomach. It honestly wasn't a very good look on him. He looked so much weaker than the strong trainer that Red knew. "Dammit!" Red exclaimed, frustrated.
"Never knew you to have that sorta mouth on you," Green grinned weakly. He was trying to keep the mood light and make it seem like nothing was wrong. However, he wasn't doing so well in that regard.
"I can't find my first aid kit," Red explained digging furiously through his bag.
"Calm down Short Stuff. Check in my bag. I have one too," Green suggested. Red was about to respond when he heard the flapping sound again. He turned around to try and pinpoint the sound only to get a Spearow in his face. He heard shouting from where Green was as well. Red threw up his arms, accidentally dropping Riza onto the ground in an attempt to stave off his attacker. Heat flared in front of Red, and the Spearow dropped out of the air. The small group was surrounded by a whole flock of Spearow, with Riza and the now free Zeni trying to stave off the birds attacking the group. Red's arms and face stung, covered in thin scratches from the Spearow's beak and talons. Even the Pokemon were already showing bloody wounds, something that wasn't supposed to happen in battle. It made Red worry, since Pokemon usually didn't fight to kill unless they were hunting or protecting young.
"We've gotta get out of here!" Red shouted, dashing over to Green. He had to hold his arms over his head to keep off other Spearows that managed to get through Riza and Zeni's defense. A few flew over to the immobile Green, but Red waved them off, standing defensively over his friend. As soon as he was sure they weren't in any immediate danger, Red slung Green's arm over his shoulder and pulled the taller boy into a standing position. Green grunted but didn't say anything. It seemed that the Spearow were mostly focusing on the two Pokemon that were defending the humans. Good for Red and Green but not for Riza and Zeni. They began to walk to where the bike had been deposited. "Right now, our best chance is to make it all the way to Viridian City before the flock can do anything drastic. We can't take on all of them, and it doesn't look like they'll be leaving anytime soon," Red was mostly talking for Green's benefit, to keep him focused, and it seemed to be working. Just as Red and Green made it to the bike, though, two Spearow attacking Riza had grabbed her by her arms and lifted her into the air, biting and slashing with their beaks.
"Riza!" Red shouted to his Pokemon. She was helpless in the rain, barely able to keep her tail ignited. With a heave of his free arm, Red threw a Pokeball flying in the direction of one of the Spearow. The sudden disappearance of one of the Spearow caused the other to drop the sudden extra weight, its talons carving deep furrows in the Charmander's arm. "Riza, Zeni, to me!" Red shouted, having to merely hope that the two Pokemon were in a good enough state to make it to the two teenagers. He could only focus on one thing at a time, and Green was his first priority. They managed to get back on the bike as Riza and Zeni both made it, Riza lagging behind slightly. While Zeni hopped up onto the handlebars, Red had to grab Riza and deposit her on his shoulder. As soon as the two Pokemon were settled, Red pushed off and pedaled with all his might, getting into motion before the flock could regroup. It wasn't long before the flock was flying after them. Having forgotten his flashlight, Red had to rely on the dim orange glow from Riza's tail as she tried to find a place where it wouldn't get wet. Zeni was focusing on keeping the birds off of Red and Green, firing off several Bubble attacks to keep away attacking Spearow. Red only had one hand on the handlebars, so he could use the other to grab Riza and hold her inside of his jacket to protect her flame. Occasionally, he had to let go of Riza briefly to wave off a Spearow or two that had gotten past Zeni. He could feel Green's arms tightly around his middle and Riza's claws digging into his stomach. They were still there, still holding on. Red had to focus on getting his friend and his partner to safety. Thankfully, the storm seemed to be keeping away most of the random encounters, so Red was able to ride through the tall grass without getting in any more trouble than they were already dealing with. It was a small relief in the whirlwind of trouble the storm and Spearow flock were causing.
Flashes of lightning lit up the night for fractions of seconds, but between them Red had to rely on intuition not to go the same way Green had earlier. Riza had her head poked out of Red's jacket, calling out whenever he needed to turn. She was able to see what he couldn't with her superior night vision. She even warned Zeni of Spearow coming in behind him. At least Red wasn't freezing in the rain, with Riza's heat warming him up. He couldn't imagine how bad it was for Green, who was hurt and cold and having to hold on for dear life. Red was determined to get everyone else out of the situation. Lightning split the night again, illuminating the huge flock that was following them through the coursing rain that struck them like bullets. Red's arms and legs were burning from overexertion and he was getting tired. Despite how far they'd made it, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep going for much longer. As if in response to those thoughts, a rock came up in front of them. Riza hadn't seen it in time, and even as she cried for Red to swerve around it, they were already going over. Red completely lost control of their momentum, all four passengers being tossed off of the bike. Red landed on his side, still holding Riza tight, but Green lost his grip on Red and rolled over in the mud with shouts of pain. Red pushed himself up, preparing to battle the whole flock with Zeni, seeing that Green wasn't really in much of a battling state. He looked over to where Green had fallen and saw that the other boy wasn't getting up. That wasn't good, but Red was determined to get both of them out alive. He wasn't going to have a repeat of what happened to Satoshi.
"Zeni, you still up for battle?" he asked the turtle Pokemon, who nodded in response with a battle cry to accompany. Red could tell that Zeni, was tiring though. The Pokemon's movements were slower than before, and the cry wasn't nearly as loud and agressive as it could've been. He wouldn't last long against the entire flock of Spearow. With Red behind him, Zeni fought valiantly shooting Bubbles and Tackles at the multitude of enemies. Soon, he was overwhelmed. Just as Red was beginning to lose hope, he heard voices shouting from off to his right, and saw flashes of lights in the dark. Someone was coming to help.
"Only a little longer!" Red shouted to Zeni, who was quickly losing ground. Green still hadn't gotten up. A yellow lightning bolt streaked diagonally through the flock of Spearow, different from the lightning that arced from the sky. It was a Thunderbolt attack. An Ice Beam, and an Air Slash followed it, and Red turned to see a Raichu, a Dewgong and a mega evolved Pigeot enter the fray, helping to fight off the flock. Several adults and older teens in the typical garb of Pokemon Rangers rushed around the tired and hurt group. A few more battling Pokemon came with them. A younger looking girl with curly brown hair turned to Red.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"I'm fine, but you've gotta help Green. He's badly injured," Red pointed to his fallen friend. The girl nodded and went to check on Green. It wasn't long before the Rangers had beaten off the attacking Spearow flock, prepared as they were with healthy Pokemon, many of which had supereffective attacks. Once they were all finished, a few Mega Pokemon went back to their normal states, resting on the ground from the exertion of the Mega State. The girl from before was helping Green to his feet, and the other Rangers had come in to check on the Pokemon.
"Now how in the name of Arceus himself did you lot get into such a rut?" an older man with a beard and a gruff voice asked. He had a Probopass floating alongside him, a rare sight in the Kanto region.
"It was my fault. I disturbed their eggs by accident when I crashed my bike," Green said weakly from where he was sitting up now. He didn't look any better than Red felt. Red wouldn't be surprised if they both got sick after that night. "I didn't know so many of them would attack…"
"Well, now you know. Spearow live in extremely tight knit communities. If you mess with one of them, all of them are gonna go after you," the girl explained.
"What matters now is that you kids are safe. Though, we'd better get you all to the hospital if that's going to stay that way," the Probopass man said. Thankfully, like most medical facilities in Kanto, the one in Viridian City was a combined hospital and Pokemon Center. It just made sense to do it like that. It was to save space and money, as the healthcare in Kanto was government run. They were usually only separate in huge cities, like Goldenrod City, where there would be multiple hospitals and Pokemon Centers anyway.
Red took a second to sit down, not caring that the ground was wet and muddy, since he was wet and muddy anyway. He just wanted to take a break for a second and revel in the fact that he was not going to end up in the same situation as his brother, or even worse. Red and Green were going to make it to Viridian City.
