A/N: Hey guys, I got another update for you. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time. Here's chapter 3, I hope you like it. Thanks for reading.

Cody's Pokémon Adventure

Chapter 3

Cody awoke the next morning to find himself lying in a bunk-bed. He held a hand to his throbbing head as he tried to remember where he was. A pokeball sign above the entrance to the room he was in jogged his memory. As he remembered that he was in the Pokémon center he also recalled that he had fallen asleep against his will thanks to Lindsay's Jigglypuff and her ignorance of what her own Pokémon could do.

Shaking his head Cody got out of bed and to his feet. Judging by what he knew, the young Pokémon trainer ascertained that someone (likely Nurse Joy) had carried him to the sleeping quarters in the Pokémon center. Looking around he didn't see what he was searching for until a snore caught his attention. Looking up Cody saw Lindsay was asleep in the top part of the same bunk-bed he had slept in.

The blonde had her mouth open and one arm hanging off the edge of the bed. Annoyed at her after what happened the night before, Cody chose not to wake her up. Instead he made his way over to the bathroom to take a shower and then get some breakfast.

After a breakfast of eggs and bacon Cody recalled that he had promised to call his mother last night. He hadn't so much forgotten as having been put to sleep before he got the chance. Deciding now would have to do he sat down at one of the many video phones in the Pokémon Center.

He put in his home phone number and waited as it rang. A few seconds later his mother picked up the phone at the house and her face appeared on the screen (as he knew his was appearing on her screen). "Hey mom, it's me."

"Cody is that you?" she asked. "I was worried sick about you! Why didn't you call last night? Did you get lost getting to Viridian City?"

"No, nothing like that." he shook his head. "I arrived at Viridian yesterday, but wasn't able to call you…" he then explained what happened with Lindsay along with a few other details about his day while his mom listened attentively.

Meanwhile Lindsay had finally woken up. She stretched her arms and yawned. "Where…am I?" Looking around she didn't spot anything familiar. "This doesn't look like my room." Spotting a scruffy-looking boy around her age nearby she got his attention. "Excuse me, are you one of the new servants? Because I don't recognize you at all."

"Back off Blondie," the boy pushed her back. "I ain't nobodies servant!" he then walked off.

Lindsay frowned. "I'm like, so confused."

"You're at the Pokémon center in Viridian City."

"Ah!" Lindsay jumped up in surprise. She hadn't expected to suddenly hear a voice from behind her. But as she turned around she recognized the voice as Nurse Joy. "Oh it's just you Nurse Joyce."

"It's Joy actually," she said. "Anyway that boy you were with is already up. Now was he your brother or your boyfriend?"

Lindsay blinked a few times. "I don't have a brother…or a boyfriend." she said confused. "I have a sister though! Is she here?"

"I…don't think so." Now it was Nurse Joy's turn to be confused. "But if you're looking for that boy, he's in the next room."

Nurse Joy turned and walked away but Lindsay was still confused. She decided to go look for the boy Nurse Joy had told her about. She didn't have to go far before she spotted Cody leaving a video phone. Her eyes lit up in recognition. All at once she recalled most of what had happened yesterday.

"Colby! There you are!" she ran up behind and hugged him from the back. Cody went rigid and tensed up at the sudden feeling of Lindsay's arms wrapped around him and her breasts pushed into his back.

"L-Lindsay!" Feeling embarrassed and unaccustomed to such physical greetings the brunette squirmed free. He turned around to face her. There was no embarrassment on her face; just a smile. "I see your awake."

"Yeah," she nodded. "But I don't remember going to sleep. What happened anyway?"

"Your Jigglypuff sung us both to sleep." he explained. "You've got to be careful Lindsay. Jigglypuff's voice is an attack it uses to lull its enemies to sleep."

"Really?" Lindsay said surprised. "Daddy never told me that! But maybe that's why he gave me these earplugs." she pulled out a pair of small pink earplugs from her pocket. Cody rolled his eyes. The blonde decided it would be best to simply change the subject. "So hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting ready to leave." He picks up his backpack to illustrate this. "I still need to find the Viridian gym. I've got to hurry or Bridgette and Noah will surpass me."

"No wait!" Lindsay held her hands out in front of her. "Don't leave yet. I'm not ready!"

Cody scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry Lindsay, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea for you to come with me. I'm going to be traveling across all of Kanto catching Pokémon and challenging gyms. It's going to be a lot of exercise and I'll have to camp out most nights. I just don't think you'd like it."

"So…what your saying is…" Lindsay paused as the wheels in her brain began turning. "…you don't think I can do it?"

"I didn't say that!" Cody quickly assured her. "I didn't say that. I just…don't think you'd want to come. Plus you'd have to hang out with me the whole time and let's be honest, I'm not exactly cool. You'd be better off with someone else."

Lindsay leaned down till she was eye level with Cody. "That's not true Colby. You were the one who found me and helped me out yesterday. That makes you super cool in my book!"

Cody blushed. "He he t-thanks Lindsay."

"Plus, you can't just leave me here! I don't have anywhere else to go!" she reminded him. "You're not going to just leave me here all alone are you?" The blonde put on her best puppy dog face and tried to look sad.

Cody found himself cracking under the gaze of those big blue eyes. "Of…Of course not." he sighed. "I'm sorry Lindsay, you can come with me if you want."

Lindsay stood up and cheered. "Yay! You're the best Colby!" She leaned in and gave him another hug. Cody wondered what he had gotten himself into.

It was almost an hour before they left the Pokémon Center. Lindsay had held them up getting ready and nothing Cody had said made much of a difference. He felt less tense however once they were outside in the sunlight. "If I remember correctly, the Viridian Gym should be at the north part of town." He pulled out a compass he kept in his backpack. "It should be this way."

Cody began walking through the small town with Lindsay right behind him. She had lived here her whole life but still wasn't sure where the gym was. Cody took this as a sign never to trust her with the directions. After walking north for a few streets he spotted a sign pointing the way to the gym.

"It shouldn't be far now," he said. They kept walking and passed an old man drinking coffee who waved at them. At that point there were no more houses and most of Viridian was behind them. Soon they spotted the Viridian gym to their left.

"Awesome! We made it." Cody ran over to the gym with Lindsay trailing behind. He quickly turned the handle only to find the door was locked. "What the-?" It was then he noticed a piece of paper taped to the door.

Lindsay walked over as Cody was reading what was written on the paper. "What's wrong Cody?" she looked at the door. "Is this one of those push not pull doors? Those always get me too."

"No," Cody bit his lip. "It's worse. This message says that the gym leader is gone and they don't know when he'll be back."

"Oh no," Lindsay's face fell. "What are you going to do?"

Cody sighed in defeat. "Nothing. There's nothing I can do. I can either wait for them to return or keep going and come back later. But if I come back later it'll probably be a while. Hmm…" he looked at the door again. "This sign has been here for a while; at least a few days. Neither Bridgette nor Noah could've battled the gym leader and I didn't see either of them last night at the Pokémon center. That means they must've moved on." Cody looked up at Lindsay. "I guess that's what we've got to do too."

"That's good, I don't really want to stay here any longer than I have to." Lindsay told her new friend. "I am done with Viridian City. Let's go somewhere else."

"Let me check my map," Cody pulled out the map Noah had given him just yesterday. "The next town is Pewter City, but to get there we'll have to go through the Viridian Forest."

"The Viridian Forest?" the blonde groaned. "You mean we have to go back into town?"

"No," Cody shook his head. "The Viridian Forest is north of here. We just have to go through route two first. Doesn't look too hard." he folded the map back up and put it away. "Ready?" Lindsay nodded.

The two walked back to the main road and made their way north into route 2. It was actually one of the longest routes altogether, but only because it contained everything from Viridian to Pewter City. The path from Viridian City to Viridian Forest however was much shorter being only a little less than two miles.

It was almost a leisurely stroll for Cody and Lindsay who had nothing to worry about. There were a few patches of tall grass along with some loiterers but no danger of being attacked or challenged to a battle. The two teens spent most of the walk in light conversation discussing their home lives along with a few of their likes and dislikes.

An hour or so after leaving the gym they had arrived at the entrance to the forest. It wasn't a real entrance of course but still, there was no mistaking the line between dirt road and forest. Lindsay looked a little apprehensive at the sight of the forest. "Do we have to go in there?"

"Yes, it's the only way to get to Pewter City." Cody answered. "Unless we had a Pokémon that could us fly and carry us, but we don't." He turned back toward the forest and took a step forward. "Let's go in."

As Cody and Lindsay took their first steps into Viridian Forest the first thing they noticed was how much darker it was than normal thanks to the multitude of trees overhead. The sun was pushing through the cracks but was blocked nonetheless. The second thing they noticed was just how alive it was.

The sounds of the forest's Pokémon were all around them. Birds flew overhead as bugs crawled on the ground and every once in a while they'd hear something they couldn't quite identify. So many of the trees looked alike that Cody was relieved at the well marked path on the ground.

"Colby, I'm not sure about this…" Lindsay whimpered. The blonde looked, unsurprisingly, unhappy about their new surroundings.

"It's okay Lindsay," Cody grabbed her hand. "We just have to follow the path. As long as we stay on the path we'll make it to Pewter City. It should only take a day or two."

"Two days?" Lindsay gasped.

"Probably one day," the brunette corrected himself. "Plus, think of all the Pokémon in the forest! I can't wait to find them!" Just then he spotted some rustling in a nearby patch of grass. "Over there!" Cody grabbed Lindsay's hand and pulled the blonde along to the edge of the tall grass.

Suddenly a small Pokémon revealed itself. "Hey I know this Pokémon. It's a Caterpie!" Cody reached into his pants pocket to pull out his Pokedex but before he got the chance Lindsay screamed.

"Oh gross! It's a bug Pokémon!" She then leaped into Cody's arms. He groaned at the sudden weight he now had to carry. The brunette had little arm strength and while Lindsay may have been skinny for her age she was still more than Cody could carry. He struggled to hold her but soon slipped and fell onto his back. Lindsay landed on his stomach causing him more pain.

"Oww…"

"Where'd it go? Is it gone?" Lindsay's head turned from side to side searching for the bug Pokémon as she sat on top of Cody. "I can't find it! It's not on me is it? Eeek!"

With no warning Cody pushed Lindsay off of him. "It's gone." he stood up and sighed. "You must've scared it off." He turned to blonde with his arms crossed. "What was that about?"

"I don't like bug Pokémon!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I got that." Cody rolled his eyes.

"Their icky and gross!" Lindsay continued.

"Then we might have a problem Lindsay, because this whole forest is crawling with bug Pokémon!"

"Eeek!" the blonde gasped before hiding behind Cody. She looked rather silly bending down so as to appear smaller than him. "Keep them away Colby!"

Annoyed, Cody turned around and put his hands on Lindsay's shoulders. "Lindsay snap out of it! You said you wanted to come with me and I told you it wasn't going to be easy. You haven't given up yet have you?"

Lindsay hesitated. Despite her fear of bug Pokémon part of her knew very well there was no turning back. "N-No," she bravely shook her head. "I don't want to give up, but bug Pokémon really bug me! What should I do?"

"Hmm…" Cody paused to consider the situation. "Maybe I could blindfold you and then lead you through the forest?" But after a few seconds he shook his head. "No, that's a terrible idea. Ah." he snapped his fingers. "Lindsay call out Jigglypuff."

Unsure where he was going with this Lindsay obeyed anyway. "Come out Jigglypuff." she tossed her pokeball to the ground. The pink puffball shot out looking happy to no longer be confined. Without a word Cody went over and picked Jigglypuff up and placed the Pokémon in Lindsay's arms.

"Here," he said. "Hold onto Jigglypuff while we walk. Maybe that'll make it easier on you. Jigglypuff does seem to calm you down."

"If you say so," she hugged her Pokémon close to her.

"Now let's go." Cody and Lindsay returned to the path and made their way through the forest. The duo walked for a few hours stopping only to eat a brief lunch. Lindsay's fear of bug Pokémon continued, however, she managed to avoid another freak out. Of course this was mostly because Cody was doing his best to avoid as many bug Pokémon as possible.

He couldn't avoid them all of course. Pokémon were everywhere in the Viridian Forest. There was something else in the forest that Cody hadn't counted on and that was bug catchers. Pokémon trainers situated throughout the forest that collected bug Pokémon and loved to show off their collection. The problem was they loved challenging Pokémon trainers attempting to pass through the forest to a battle.

Cody was one of these Pokémon trainers. A bug catcher had ambushed him and challenged him to a battle. He accepted (not that he had a choice) and brought out his newly caught Rattata. His opponent's first Pokémon was a Caterpie. The two battled while Lindsay stood at a safe distance in the background watching. She was delighted when Cody's Rattata defeated the Caterpie, but it turned out that wasn't the bug catcher's only Pokémon.

"Go Weedle!"

Another similar but different bug Pokémon appeared. "A Weedle huh?" Cody pulled out his Pokedex and checked it. "Weedle: the hairy bug Pokémon. They are often found eating leaves in forests. It has a sharp, venomous stinger on its head."

Confident that his Rattata could continue the fight, Cody ordered it to use quick attack. The battle started out well, however the Weedle's string shot effectively cut Rattata's speed in half. Soon it was clear the rat Pokémon could not continue. "Rattata return!" A red light shot out of the pokeball he was holding in his hand and enveloped the Pokémon. Once it was back in its pokeball Cody called out his other Pokémon.

"Go Bulbasaur! Tackle it!" Bulbasaur obeyed and the battle came to a quick conclusion as Weedle was knocked out. The bug catcher had no more Pokémon and was defeated.

"Yes!" Cody cheered. "I won!" It was then he realized his Pokedex was beeping. "What's this?" he checked it. "Bulbasaur learned vine whip? Good job buddy." he told his Pokémon before returning it to its pokeball.

After collecting his reward from the bug catcher he and Lindsay continued making their way further and further into the forest. Another bug catcher appeared and Cody once again went into battle. This one had four Weedle's, but despite its number advantage Cody won handily.

Lindsay had been trying to take her mind off of her fear of bugs by complaining about everything else. She was tired, sweaty, and was pretty sure a Caterpie had bitten her on the leg. Cody told her they had to keep going but would try to avoid anymore trainers. This made Lindsay feel a little better until they came across a flying bug Pokémon that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"It's a Beedrill," Cody said as he checked his Pokedex. "Beedrill: the poison bee Pokémon. Beedrill fly at high speeds and attack with three stingers. May appear in swarms. "

"Cody!" Lindsay tugged on the boy's arm. "Don't fight it! Let's just go the other way okay?"

"This is the fastest way to get through the grass." he explained. "I'm sorry Lindsay, but it shouldn't take long." Turning back to the Beedrill Cody called out his Bulbasaur and began battling it.

Lindsay meanwhile was backing away from the battle. She wasn't looking where she was going and walked back into a large tree with a thud. This wouldn't have been a problem if the tree wasn't filled with bug Pokémon. When Lindsay accidentally slammed into it half a dozen Weedles fell out of the tree and on top of her.

"Ahhhhh!" The blonde screamed at the top of her lungs. Cody had just knocked out the Beedrill when he turned to see Lindsay running off in a different direction screaming.

"What the-?" Cody recalled his Pokémon. "Lindsay wait!" He ran after her. The blonde wasn't looking where she was going and ran straight into tall grass. Cody hesitated for a second seeing her leave the path but ran after her anyway. Despite being fairly non-athletic and wearing cowboy boots, Lindsay was running very fast. Cody was having trouble catching up with her.

He soon chased her through an area filled with trees. The trees made it hard to run and easy to lose sight of her. Believing she had gone left he followed that way for over a minute before finding a dead end. Cursing himself for going the wrong way he turned around and ran back. Cody soon found himself at a fork with no obvious choice. He thought he could hear an echo of Lindsay's scream but wasn't sure where it was coming from. Deciding to go to the right he ran onward.

The young Pokémon trainer kept running for almost five minutes before he had to stop and catch his breath. He listened, but to no avail. Her screams had died out and Cody had to accept that she was long gone. He wasn't sure where he had taken a wrong turn but he had clearly gone the wrong way.

"Now what?" he asked himself. Looking around he hadn't realized before how eerie the forest seemed when you were alone. No longer wanting to stand there alone Cody began jogging back the way he had come. I can't keep going further into the forest, he thought to himself. I'll just get lost. It's better if I head back to the path. Hopefully Lindsay will find her way onto the path and we can meet up. He realized it wasn't a great plan, but couldn't think of anything else.

For the next ten minutes he tried to retrace his steps but only succeeded in getting himself farther into the forest. Turning around he searched for the fork where he could find his way back but couldn't find it. After wandering around for fifteen minutes Cody could only come to one conclusion: he was lost.

Hours passed and the sun began to set. It was growing dark in the forest. Cody was exhausted from walking all day. His stomach grumbled furiously. Hunger and the lack of light were telling him to call it a day. He knew he should make camp, but felt guilty about stopping knowing Lindsay was out there somewhere alone. He was fairly certain the blonde was having a harder time than he was.

It was then when his stomach growled for the seventh time that hour that he caught a glimpse of light in the distance. Squinting his eyes he realized it was a campfire. Cody hadn't seen another human being (though several Pokémon) since he had run after Lindsay. The feeling of hope began to swell inside him.

He broke into a run. His muscles ached but he ignored them. The fire was not far and he was sure someone would be there tending to it. He doubted Lindsay could make a fire, but perhaps it was someone who had found Lindsay. It might even by Bridgette or Noah if he was lucky. The chances were tiny but at the moment his hope was getting away with him.

After running through several bushes and past half a dozen trees Cody came into a clearing about the size of his house. There was indeed a campfire burning safely in the middle, but only one person was there tending to it and they were not familiar to Cody.

It was a teenage boy with red hair, freckles and glasses. He was tall and lanky wearing a blue t-shirt with a hamburger in the middle over a salmon colored long sleeve shirt along with green pants and tennis shoes. He was sitting on a log beside a large red backpack and a tent. In his hands he held a burrito he was halfway through eating.

His attention was drawn to Cody immediately. "Hey, what are you doing here? This is my camp you know." His voice was rather nasally.

Cody sighed in disappointment. "Sorry I just saw your fire and thought maybe…" he shook his head. "You're just another bug catcher aren't you?"

The boy stood up and carefully put down his burrito. "I am no mere bug catcher. I'm Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady the fifth and I'm a nature survivalist. I live in these woods where I've learned the ways of the bug Pokémon and become one with nature."

Cody paused for a moment to take that in. "So…you're like the king of the bug catchers?"

"I'm not a bug catcher, gosh!" Harold exclaimed. "I just happen to have all bug Pokémon. It's different!"

"Okay, okay," Cody tried to diffuse the situation. "Listen, I'm a Pokémon trainer traveling to Pewter City with my friend. Unfortunately I got separated from her and then I got lost. Have you seen her around?"

"I don't know." Harold answered. "What does she look like?"

"Well she's blonde, tall, and really hot."

Harold sat back down. "I think you've been stung with poison sting one too many times. I doubt there's a beautiful model running around the forest and even if there was, I don't think she'd be with you."

"Ouch," Cody cringed. "But fair point; I get it. But I am telling the truth!"

"Well I haven't see her." the bug Pokémon trainer went back to his burrito.

Cody sighed. "I was afraid of that. Listen is there any way you could help me get back to the path? I have no clue where I am right now."

"Hmm…" Harold thought for a minute as he finished eating his burrito. He then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "How about this? We'll have a Pokémon battle. If you win, I'll help look for your friend and get you both to the end of the forest. But if I win, you have to give me some of your food…because I just ran out."

Cody was surprised by the challenge but knew he had to accept. He could think of no other way out of the forest. "Alright then, I accept." Harold held out his hand and the two boys shook on it. But when Cody pulled out a pokeball Harold stopped him.

"Wait, not right now." he said. "It's too dark. We'll have our battle in the morning. Till then you're welcome to share my fire."

"Alright, thanks." Cody took off his backpack and sat down next to Harold by the fire. "I'm Cody, by the way."

"You can just call me Harold."

Cody nodded and pulled out some of his food supplies. As he ate dinner he worried about Lindsay and what had happened to her.

What he didn't know was that she was thinking about him at the same time. Somewhere else in the forest the blonde was tired, hungry, and thoroughly scratched. When her feet couldn't walk anymore she had simply collapsed and now lay on the grass huddled in the fetal position. She had no idea how her day had started so well but ended so horribly. Shivering her dry lips muttered one name.

"C-Cody…"

A/N: Reviews are appreciated.