Fyre Red: Yeah, they're a little too turn-based. No dodging, no countering, etc. Well, they're going to meet soon. We'll just have to see how that meeting goes. He'll get home... Er, somehow. Haven't worked out the specifics yet.

Chapter 3

Luigi slowed down once the field he was running through started condensing into a sparse forest. Luke jumped off of his head, and began walking next to him.

"A great big adventure!" Luke said excitedly. "We'll meet new friends, battle, and see the world! Isn't it great?"

"I guess," Luigi replied, looking to the sky. "But I can't help but worry..."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Luke assured him. "Your brother... He's a hero, right? He can deal with this, I'm sure of it!"

"Right," Luigi nodded, sighing.

Luigi and Luke continued walking along. Nothing really eventful happened, so Luigi began telling Luke more about his adventures. In the last week, it had been Luke doing most of the talking about his life and how this world worked, so Luigi felt it was his turn to tell more about his life. Luke listened in amazement, astounded as everything Mario and Luigi had managed to do. Luke frequently interrupted with excited questions, which Luigi answered in short order. Luigi finished his story up just as the sun was setting and they came across a sign.

Viridian City

A beautiful city that is enveloped in green year-round.

The city was gradually and breathtakingly bathed in red light from the sunset as they walked through it.

"... Not so green now," Luke muttered.

Luigi chuckled. "So, where to first?"

"The store."

"Ah. Good idea, Luke." People nearby gave Luigi weird looks as he replied to Luke, but he ignored them. It didn't take Luigi long to find a store called a PokeMart, who were more than happy to pay an undisclosed sum of money for the gigantic golden coins of the Mushroom Kingdom. While there he bought some things at Luke's request, fifteen 'Pokeballs' ("To catch new friends" was Luke's explanation), Potions ("To heal up"), Pokemon Food ("FOOD. MINE."), and other sorts of food ("FOOD. MINE. Oh, uh... And you can have some too, I guess."). After getting what Luke wanted, Luigi bought some stuff of his own. He got a table , chairs, silverware, cooking pots, dishes, a portable stove, a portable refrigerator, and a large tent ("Wait, they sell those here? Never mind that, how will you carry all of that?"), sleeping bags ("I want the blue one!"), some sort of advanced watch-thingy, a pack of water bottles, and a basket for holding berries ("Yummy... Berries.")

Luigi brought all of their purchases to the clerk, and paid for all of it.

"You're a strong lad to be dragging all that around. Then again, you also handed me fifty pounds of gold not ten minutes ago."

Luigi thanked the clerk and put everything away before walking out of the PokeMart.

"Wait, what?" Luke was dumbfounded. After a few seconds of just standing there, he dropped to all fours to run after Luigi. "How did you... what the... where did you put it all?"

Luigi shrugged, and started walking aimlessly through town.

"... Uh, aren't we going to sleep? I think the Pokemon Center lets us..."

Luigi continued walking aimlessly. Somehow, he managed to stumble into a round white building with a red roof labeled "Pokemon Center". Then he somehow managed to book a room from the pink-haired nurse, and flopped down on the bed.

Luke had no idea how Luigi had managed to do that. Oh well, at least he got to sleep in a bed for once. He hopped into the bed, and curled up to go to sleep. It was just as comfortable as his father had always said. Within a few seconds, he was asleep.

Man in green... you have a great task before you.

"Huh? What's going on?" Luigi looked around. He couldn't see anything except blackness as far as the eye could see. "This is one of those psychic dream things, isn't it?"

Yes. An evil organization has brought you into this world, hoping to take advantage of you. You must not let them.

"What evil organization?"

Something to do with space. I didn't quite catch the name.

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway."

Keep your actions on the down-low, too. Don't tell anybody you don't trust about your powers.

"Will do."

Also, put Luke in a Pokeball at least once, or someone else could catch him.

"Uh... Okay."

Now, wake up. Or I'll eat your face or something like that. ROAR!

Luigi jumped up in bed, accidentally knocking Luke to the floor. To his surprise, it was already morning, the sun shining brightly through the window.

"Rai!"

"Ack! Oh, sorry, buddy. I had a weird dream... A very weird dream."

"Some weird voice was talking to you?" Luke guessed.

"Yup. It said I should put you in a Pokeball at least once... And some other stuff too."

"Chu! I completely forgot about that! Do it, but let me back out. Um... To put me in the first time, you touch me with it. To let me out, you throw it and it'll automatically bounce back into your hand once I'm out. Oh, use the one you got as a free gift for buying a lot of them, you know, the white one."

"Okay..." Luigi took out the white ball ('Premier Ball', apparently), and touched it to Luke's head. It popped open at the red stripe in the middle, and Luke became a mass of red light as he was sucked inside. The ball closed, and the little circle on the seam started blinking red as it shook. After a few seconds, both the shaking and blinking stopped as a strange sound was heard.

Luigi threw the ball, and Luke appeared in a shower of sparkles.

"That was weird. Let's go, anyway."

Luigi picked up Luke, and ran out of the room. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching where he was going, and crashed into somebody.

Both were knocked to the ground from the impact, Luke flying off of Luigi's head and landing on his feet.

"Oof... You okay, Luke?" Luigi asked, rubbing his head.

"I'm fine."

"Ow... What hit me?" the person Luigi had ran into said in a boyish, slightly scratchy, voice. "You okay, Pikachu?"

"Pika-chu."

Luigi got up, opening his eyes to see a young boy of... Well, Luigi wasn't entirely sure how old he was. He had incredibly messy black hair, brown eyes, odd zigzags on his cheeks, and was wearing a red hat and blue clothes.

Luigi reached down to help him up. "Sorry about that. Got a little carried away."

"It's okay," the boy replied, getting to his feet. "Right, Pikachu?"

"Ka!" Luigi looked over to see something that looked a lot like Luke, except it was smaller, yellow with red cheeks, and had differently shaped ears and tail.

"Pikachu... Raichu's pre-evolved form, right?"

"Right," the boy said.

"... What's your name?"

The boy grinned. "I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm gonna be a Pokemon Master!"