Trainers, which of these Pokemon is the odd one out when it comes to evolutionary pathways?
a) Bulbasaur
b) Charmander
c) Squirtle
"So… where to next?" Leaf asked, smirking. Red looked around.
"Well, south leads back, west is wall, north is museum… east is out."
"Hmph… OK. We'll go your way."
"What's with the attitude, Leaf? You're never like this…"
"...Maybe later…" Leaf whispered. Red wrapped his arm around her shoulder briefly, and began to head in the general direction of the eastern exit.
Leaf caught up with him at a cave entrance.
"Mt. Moon…" he said, looking somewhat apprehensive.
"Maybe we should go heal first?"
"Eh, sure," he said. They entered the building, took a breather, and, politely refusing an offer to purchase a Pokémon from a nearby salesman, left to enter Mt. Moon.
"That salesman was really fishy…"
"I'll say. That smell… like a Magikarp gone bad."
"Not what I meant, Red… Selling a live Pokémon?"
"We've had roasted Farfetch'd and water-type seafood at our place. Now that you mention it, Mom said never to tell you… I never knew why…"
"One, you only talk to me. Two, I hate killing things that can talk."
"Pokémon can talk? You call it talking?"
"Well, what else could it- wait… can you hear them?"
"Hear what?"
"Charry, come have a chat with Red," Leaf sent out Charry.
"Hello, Red. What's on your mind?"
"There. Now, Red, what did Charry just say?"
"Uh… Charry Char, Melee Leon?"
"Yeah, you can't hear them. Maybe in time…"
"So what did he say?"
"'Hello, Red. What's on your mind?'" Red nodded, gave Charry a pat well done, and began to move on.
"Trainers… Trainers, you have to come! Come quick!" a panicked Youngster came running, followed by a Lass.
"Trainers… bad people… with whips… and black shirts marked with a red 'R'…"
"They called themselves Team Rocket!"
"Whoa, whoa, little guys. Slow down there," Leaf tried to get order.
"Yeah… well, this 'Team Rocket' are trying to steal Fossils from the mountainside. They're scaring all of the Pokémon!"
"Leaf, you ready?" Red asked, but Leaf was already down there.
"Pika, use a hearty Thundershock!"
"PIKA- POWER!"
"Mercymercymercymercy!" shrill voices pleaded with the tempered Leaf.
"Get outta here, little girl! Come back to work for Team Rocket. Or at least when you have some assets!" Leaf gasped at that. Red had no idea why.
"PIKAPIKAPIKA… THUNDERSHOCK! QUICK ATTACK! THUNDER WAVE!" Pika was getting more and more agitated. Deeper groans meant that Pika was going after the humans as well. Red came rushing up at that moment.
"Go, Squirtle… wait, what?"
"You ask me to take on a whole route's worth of trainers and not expect me to evolve?"
What? SQUIRTLE is evolving!
Time stood still, as a turtle stood there, glaring heavily at the Rocket grunts. Allowing fins to sprout from its head, fangs to grow, and his skin to darken, flashing all the while, he was truly getting ready to beat up a few heads.
SQUIRTLE evolved into WARTORTLE!
"You… I know you. Wretched scum of the earth, couldn't even be bothered trying to find a shellin' river! Well, this little sea-cow has prepared… for WAR!"
Wartortle was insane. There were no kinder words for it. He sprayed a Water Gun. And sprayed. And sprayed!
"Wartortle, stop!"
"Glug glug glug… Stay. In. There!"
Red knew it was no use. Taking Leaf into his arms, he rushed up a few stairs, trying to avoid the flood. Charry was several steps higher. Wartortle was spewing the water down from a step under them. Leaf was clutching Red's neck as tightly as she could, sobbing into it. Pika… was a little too trigger happy.
"Thunder… SHOCK!"
Pikachu's electric attack hit the water flooding the cave.
*BZZZZZZZZZZZAP!*
"Leaf… Leaf, are you OK?" Red asked. Leaf was asleep on the cave floor. The water had long since drained away, allowing Red to put Leaf gently on the cave's floor.
"Oh no… What happened to her?" Pika asked, eyebrow raised. His eyes turned to her left foot.
"Wait… no… impossible! I couldn't have… I'm not that powerful…" Her shoe was off, and her sock was all but burned to shreds. Her foot looked rather painful.
"Pika… you did this…" Charry was in shock. Leaf couldn't die to a simple shock to her foot… it was absurd!
"No… no… I couldn't… Leaf… I'm so sorry…"
"It's not your fault, Pika… those damn Team Rocket Grunts deserved what they got. It was an accident Leaf's foot got in the water. If anything, it was my fault for putting all that water where it doesn't belong," Wartortle comforted. Pika put himself back in his Pokéball, and Wartortle shrugged.
"…Leaf… I'll get you somewhere useful. I don't think Potions will work on human shocks," Red whispered in her ear. Leaf gave a small smile, but nothing too telling. Red picked her up, made sure he had a good grip, returned Charry and Wartortle, and ran in a random direction. All of the wild encounters were kept well away, and the only trainer he bumped into was a Super Nerd with his fossils: he didn't stop to apologise for breaking one.
"Welcome to our- Oh my Chansey! What happened to this girl?"
"Flooding accident…" Red was overtaken by shyness once more. Nurse Joy took out a stretcher, and Red placed Leaf onto it. Joy moved the stretcher over to a hidden room under the Center, and Red sat down beside Leaf's new bed. She stirred at that moment.
"H…Hi, Red. Where… where are we?" she murmured.
"Cerulean City Pokémon Center, Serious Injury Ward. Way, way, way less than 1/8192 patients total ever see this area."
"Wow… it was that bad, huh…"
"What was it, exactly? Your boyfriend only called it a flooding accident." Leaf blushed.
"I honestly don't remember. All I remember is Red's Wartortle spewing more water than it should have, and then… a Thundershock from Pika, maybe?"
"Hm… A flood, electrified… Red, did she call you? How much of this girl was in the water?"
"…A foot."
"Doesn't talk much, does he?"
"He only talks to me. The only reason you're getting words out of him is probably because of the fact you need to fix this thing."
"Really? Well, speaking of fixing it… I can do it, but you'll have to stay the night." Leaf groaned.
"I'll stay with you, Leaf." Joy made a movement to veto this idea, but Leaf's next words made her decide it would be more productive to let him stay.
"I'd like that."
The correct answer is a) Bulbasaur. It reaches it's final stage four levels earlier than Charmander and Squirtle do.