Chapter 4: The Frightening Forest

Last time, on Super Hard Intense Speed Run 3000 Deluxe: Uncut Edition, rookie trainer Sheldon Vance was eliminated by Kyle Acker! Now the exciting competition is down to 9, and all the trainers are now finding their way through the maze-like Viridian Forest! What trials await our trainers? Let's find out!

Let's now go to David Dougherty, a dim yet strong kid, who is flying solo!

David stood, looking at a map of Viridian Forest. He was determined to find the easiest and quickest way to go. Was it that way? No. What about that? No. It was all very confusing to him and hurt his head.

"Agh! Which way?" He asked aloud and to no one, raising some eyebrows of the people sitting nearby. He soon gave up and stormed out of the center. He'll figure it out when he gets to it. And if any pokemon gives him trouble, Machop can handle it easily. David didn't look 10 at all. He was big, bulky, and slouched while he walked.

However, unfortunately for David, there were two ways out of the city, and he picked the wrong one. Despite signs saying 'Route 22 this way, this isn't Viridian Forest you moron' were plastered everywhere, he kept walking, humming to himself obliviously.

"Hah! This doesn't look like a forest at all!" Piece of cake," He laughed to himself. His attention was directed straight ahead, and he soon saw someone walking towards him. "Who's that I wonder?" He asked.

Turns out, it was another trainer from Oak's lab. David's mouth creaked into a goofy smile when he saw that it was the cute girl he was swooning over back at the lab. She saw him and smiled, causing him to gawk even more.

"Hey there! What are you doing all the way back here?" Cindy Bachman asked.

"Just going to Pewter, you know. Why are you going the opposite way?" David asked her.

She gave him a confused look. "Uh, this is Route 22. This isn't Viridian Forest. I just came over here to catch a certain pokemon. I'm on my way to Viridian Forest now," Cindy answered.

"Oh that's nice, see I- WHAT?" David said shocked. "You mean I'm going the wrong way?"

"Yeah… didn't you see the signs?" Cindy asked.

"What signs?" He asked as he looked around, finally noticing a big billboard that identified that this was indeed not Viridian Forest. "Oh…"

Cindy giggled loudly. "You're funny!"

David smiled goofily again. "Well… I guess I'm glad I went the wrong way then. Hehe."

"Why?" She asked cluelessly.

"Oh… nothing," David replied. "Anyway, who did you catch?"

Cindy giggled again. "Glad you asked!" She held out a pokeball and let the pokemon contained in it out. A blue creature with needles jutting out in random places on its body appeared.

"Oh, that's a uh… what is it?" David asked stupidly.

"A Nidoran, silly!" Cindy replied.

"Oh. Oh yeah, I see now." David answered embarrassed. "I need to catch someone. My Machop killed a Rattata back in Route 1. He's just too strong. He needs a worthy opponent!"

"Oh my god, he KILLED IT?" Cindy asked, shocked.

"No, not really killed. Just… crushed it and made it run away," David corrected himself. "How rare are those Nidoran?"

"Hm, I don't know. They only appear of you start with Pikachu though…" Cindy answered mysteriously.

"Uh, what?" Before David could process that answer, he heard a rustle of bushes behind him. "What was that?"

What appeared to be a ball of fuzz jumped out in front of the two trainers. David's eyes lit up. "Now that looks like a tough pokemon!"

"Ooh, a Mankey!" Cindy exclaimed. "They're scary!"

"Mankey eh? Well meet Machop! Go!" David threw out the poke ball and Machop came out, ready for battle. "Machop, show him what you're made of! Karate Chop!"

Machop gave a grunt of acknowledgement and jumped at Mankey. Mankey did the same and they began throwing pounches at each other. The scrap turned into an odd cloud of smoke that didn't seem to blow away, as the two pokemon's fists or feet would occasionally stick out of the ruckus. The cloud disappeared with Machop holding Mankey in a leglock.

"That's it! Show em who's boss!" Machop tightened its grip until Mankey tapped out. It appeared exhausted. "Alright, poke ball time!" He threw an empty poke ball and the Mankey was sucked in with a blinding red light. However, the ball immediately spat Mankey back out.

"What the?" David questioned, shocked. "Alright, we got a fighter! I'll try another!" However, the same thing occurred. Mankey stubbornly wobbled on its feet as it rejected another ball. "Grrr. Last one." He threw the ball again, and ran to the ball as it closed. He dashed over and grabbed the ball and held it tight between his hands, to prevent it from opening. The ball flashed red, and David finally let go.

"Piece of cake!" David said. He held up his poke ball triumphantly while Cindy clapped.

"Great job! I knew you could do it!" Cindy commented.

"Heh, thanks. Now that that's out of the way, we can finally go to Viridian Forest," David said.

"Yeah, I bet we're behind everyone. Well see ya!" Cindy said before starting to walk away.

"Wait!" David shouted after her. She turned around questioningly. "Why don't we just go together?"

She gave him a mischievous smile. "Fine, but you're gonna have to keep up!"

"Alright, I sure wi- HEY!" David yelled as Cindy began dashing away. "Wait up!"

Meanwhile, in the Viridian Forest, Henrietta West was facing the first pokemon she saw. A Weedle was huddled up, petrified at its adversary, the giant Rhyhorn Henrietta had received from Oak.

"Tackle it, Rhyhorn!" Henrietta ordered. The Rhyhorn gave a grunt and charged towards the poor Weedle. Weedle skyrocketed into the air, and hit the ground with a thud. It was dazed and didn't get up. Henrietta threw a pokeball at it and it clocked without even shaking.

"Yes! Finally caught something!" Henrietta cheered. "Now, I just need to get out of here…" She looked around before moving onwards.

Not long after, it began to get dark. She decided to set up camp and get an early start in the morning. As she was pitching her tent, she heard a crunching noise. Henrietta immediately looked up in alert, scanning for the source of the commotion. To her surprise, a yellow creature jumped out of the bush, looked at her, and scurried away.

"Pikachu!" Henrietta exclaimed. "I gotta catch this!" She withdrew her hand into her bag, and grabbed the ball containing Rhyhorn. "Let's get him!"

Rhyhorn flashed out and gave a roar. "After it!" She ordered. Rhyhorn nodded and chased after the yellow rodent. Henrietta followed both of them as they went out of sight. However, the two pokemon were too fast and she quickly lost sight of both of them. "Dang it… I need a bird to fly on or something… where did they go?"

2 hours later…

"RHYHORN! Can you hear me?" Henrietta shouted. "Where are you? Where's Pikachu? ANYBODY!" Henrietta sighed and sat down on a tree stump. "Great… no pokemon, no tent, and I'm totally lost… and hungry." She got up and silently trudged back the direction she came… but where did she come from?

Hours slowly crept by as Henrietta looked for her pokemon, and her campsite. Before long, the sun began to rise. "Rhy… horn…" She mumbled, her eyes getting extremely heavy. She stopped dead in her tracks, fell to the ground, and fell dead asleep.

"Sir?" A man started, terrified at the reaction he is about to get. "Sir, we have a problem."

The man behind the desk remained silent, and stared coldly at the other man. "Speak," He said quietly.

"Well, the camera crew following one of the kids has… well… they lost him," He winced at the last three words.

"THEY WHAT?" The man erupted, eyes widening so wide that they might have fallen out.

"He was last seen at the Viridian Pokemon Center. He went to the bathroom…" He trailed off and cleared his throat. "He never came out. By the time one of the crew members went in to check, he was nowhere in sight."

"Fix it," The man said, oddly calm again. "Or it's your ass, Jenkins."

"Yes sir," Jenkins replied, before sprinting out of the room.

"Foolish child thinks he has outsmarted me…" The man whispered. "Well he's in for a big surprise…"

Steve awoke with a very pleasant smell in the air. He and Beth camped out in the forest, after a full day of traversing the forest. He got dressed and exited the tent, and saw the source of the smell. Beth was cooking bacon and eggs over the campfire. "Sweet!" He exclaimed, dashing over to grab a bite.

"Stop right there, this is a cook your own food kind of trip," Beth said when Steve sat down.

"Oh… alright." Steve sighed. "I think I have some bread… guess I can toast it up…"

"I'm kidding!" Beth replied, laughing. "I'm not eating all of this!" She gave Steve a plate and plopped some bacon on it.

"You had me going there…" Steve said, eating.

"I'm good at that," Beth answered. "How's your leg, by the way? It isn't swollen anymore; that's good."

"Yeah, I know. It feels a lot better. I just wish it was yesterday, because we could have gotten a lot farther. I'm guessing we have another full day before Pewter.," Steve explained.

"No worries. We're taking in the sights, remember?" Beth pointed out.

"What sights?" Steve laughed. "It's nothing but trees and bugs."

"Still, you never know what kind of interesting pokemon you can find in here. In fact, I bet-"

"RRHYY!" A loud and hoarse voice rumbled, that made Steve and Beth both jump. A Rhyhorn aimlessly ran into the campsite, and crashed into the tent.

"What in the- Where did that- How-!" Steve spluttered, looking back and forth between the unconscious Rhyhorn and the spot where it came into sight.

"That's one interesting pokemon…" Beth said, in awe. The pair of trainers walked up to the beast, who didn't budge.

"Seriously, what the hell just happened?" Steve asked, both confused and amazed. "What's a Rhyhorn doing here?"

"Do you think it belongs to someone?" Beth questioned.

"Oh, definitely…" Steve answered. "I wonder who it belongs to?"

Beth thought for a second. "Well… that one girl from the lab got a Rhyhorn, remember? Do you think she lost it?"

"Possibly. Do you think she abandoned it?" Steve pondered. "If she did, then I don't think she would care if I caught it."

"Wait, you can't just catch it, what if she's looking for it?" Beth answered.

"Hm, I guess you're right. Let's look for this girl, then. She shouldn't be too far away," Steve said.

Beth agreed and the two wandered off to search for the missing trainer.

"Stop… that tickles… hee hee, stop that!" Henrietta opened her eyes giggling and sleepy, to find herself sprawled on the forest floor. Standing right on top of her was a small yellow creature, licking her nose.

"Pikachu!" She suddenly yelled, jerking up and causing the rodent to jump off alarmed and run a couple feet away. "Wait! I have to catch you, don't run away!" The Pikachu tilted its head in confusion and sat down. It licked its fur and smiled curiously.

"That's it, I'm harmless! Now… Rhyhorn? Where are you?" Henrietta looked around in search for her bulky pokemon, It was nowhere to be seen. "RHYHORN!"

Meanwhile…

"Did you hear that shout?" Steve asked Beth, craning his head to see the source of the noise. He wandered off in the direction it came from.

"Hey wait for me!" Beth scurried after him. They rustled through the bushes for a few minutes, until they finally reached a clearing.

"Rhyhorn!" Henrietta hopefully shouted to the trainers. She looked disappointed when their eyes met. "Oh. It's just a couple of punks."

"Excuse me?" Beth asked incredulously. "What did you call us?"

"Nothing. Look, I'm looking for my Rhyhorn, I have no time to argue." Henrietta shot back.

"We found one at our campsite." Steve chimed in. "It totally wrecked my tent!"

Henrietta ignored the latter statement. "You found my wittle Rhynie? Lead me to him!"

"I don't know. You were awfully rude to us when we were just trying to help. Why should we?" Beth countered.

The other girl made an impatient groan. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just upset about it. Now can you please lead me to the spot?"

"Sure! My name is Beth, and this is Steve," Beth said, suddenly happy.

"Hey, nice to meet y-" Steve started.

"Great! My name is Henrietta, Now we should go!" Steve and Beth exchanged looks before they went back to the tent, to retrieve the Rhyhorn. Henrietta rushed after them, often pushing them to go faster. When they reached the site, Henrietta dashed over to Rhyhorn, and hugged it.

"Rhyhorn! You're safe! Now, we gotta go catch that Pikachu!" Henrietta yelled into the creature's face. To the others disbelief, Rhyhorn woke up immediately and roared in acknowledgement. The two then both got up and ran back the way they came, not even looking at the other two.

"Wanna check this out?" Steve asked, amused.

"Sure, why not?" Beth answered. They followed the trainer and her pokemon. When they arrived shortly afterwards, the Rhyhorn was already locked in a battle with the Pikachu.

"Now, Rhyhorn, charge it! Tackle him!" Henrietta ordered. Rhyhorn obeyed and galloped at the Pikachu. It swiftly avoided the rhino, and it ended up hitting a tree, lodging its horn into the trunk. When he dislodged the horn, the tree wobbled. Henritta saw this and formed a plan.

"Rhyhorn, hit the tree again!" Rhyhorn bashed the tree again, and it began to topple over. Pikachu, right in the way of the falling trunk, was momentarily distracted to run out of the way. "Tackle him!" Rhyhorn ran headfirst into the Pikachu, who just landed on the ground to avoid the tree. They collided, and Pikachu slammed against another tree and fainted. Henrietta threw a pokeball at it, and it was sucked in. The ball shook once and chimed.

"Yes! Great job Rhyhorn, we did it!" Henrietta cheered, hugging the rock beast. Steve and Beth looked at each other, impressed.

DING DING DING!

A bell rang out of nowhere, leaving the three trainers befuddled.

A RULE HAS BEEN BROKEN! CONFISCATION BEGINS! A mysterious voice rang out. Just then, the ball that contained Pikachu began to flash a startling shade of blue, then vanished with a puff of smoke, leaving nothing behind.

Henrietta stood in silence, mouth hanging wide open, eyes wide.

"A rule? Broken? What in the world is going on?" Steve spluttered. Beth merely shrugged, still shocked at the bizarre event.

The three trainers could do nothing but stand in confusion and shock after the crazy occurrence. Things were getting very strange around here.

TO BE CONTINUED

Character List for your convenience:

Name-Starter-Location

Kyle Acker - Charmander - Viridian Forest

Cindy Bachman - Pikachu - Viridian Forest

David Dougherty - Machop - Viridian Forest

Travis Hicks - Cubone - ?

Bethany Milligan - Squirtle - Viridian Forest

Benny Oak - Dratini - Viridian Forest

Michael Rodriguez - Eevee - Viridian Forest

Steven Sladek - Bulbasaur - Viridian Forest

Sheldon Vance - ELIMINATED AT VIRIDIAN FOREST

Henrietta West - Rhyhorn - Viridian Forest

ON THE NEXT EPISODE!

The young stars of our show will make their way to Pewter City, for their first gym battle! Lot's of action to come, so stay tuned! The adventure has only just begun!