The next chapter as promised. I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 3: Viridian Forest

Leon had woken up and noticed that Misty's and Ash's stuff were nowhere in sight. He grabbed his stuff and left the room after fixing the bed. He closed the door and went to the front desk and saw Nurse Joy.

"Good Morning."

"Good Morning, Nurse Joy. Do you know where Misty and Ash are?"

"Oh, I believe they're having breakfast right now."

"Okay, thank you Nurse Joy and here are the keys. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I hope you have a good journey."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy."

He was headed toward the entrance when he saw Ash, Pikachu and Misty exit the cafeteria.

"There you are. Come on, it's time to go."

Leon was walking out of the center with Ash, Pikachu and Misty following him.

"Hey, Leon. I noticed you have four Pokemon. Does that mean you have badges?"

"No, I just started my journey yesterday."

"Wait, yesterday?! But, you don't look like you're 10."

"I'm not. I'm 12. I've been in the hospital for a couple of months after my 10th birthday. My recovery took about a 1 year and I turned 12 last week."

"Wow, I turned 10 yesterday."

"Well, that means I'll have to teach you. But, I'll teach you when the situation arises."

"Okay."

They arrived to the entrance of the forest.

"All we have to do is go straight. Pewter City is on the other side."

"Okay."

They walked through the forest and as they went deeper into the forest. Leon noticed the Pokemon running about.

"Ahhhh!"

He felt someone grab his back. He turned his head and saw Misty.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Over there."

She pointed to a tree and Leon saw a Caterpie.

"Cool, a Caterpie. I'm gonna catch it."

"Okay, Ash. For Caterpie just-."

Ash threw a PokeBall and easily caught it.

"Yahoo! I finally caught my first Pokemon!"

Ash was all excited about the first Pokemon he caught. Leon was shocked.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy, but we got to go."

"Yeah, okay. Just let me let Caterpie out."

Ash let Caterpie out. Unfortunately, it took an instant liking to Misty and went to her.

"No! Eww! Keep it away from me!"

"Misty, it's alright. It's just Caterpie. It won't hurt you."

"I don't care it's a bug! It's disgusting and slimy!"

Caterpie got all sad when it heard what Misty had said.

"Ash, take Caterpie. So, we can go."

"No way, not until Misty apologizes for hurting Caterpie's feelings."

Leon sighed and grabbed Misty's wrist and dragged her away from Ash, Caterpie and Pikachu.

"I don't want to listen to you two argue. Just get Caterpie on your shoulder and come on."

He let go of Misty's wrist and heard Ash and Pikachu running up behind them. They continued walking until it started getting dark. They stopped in a clearing with a broken stump.

"Let's stop here for today. Ash, can you go get firewood?"

"Sure. Come on, Pikachu, Caterpie. Let's go."

"Misty, would you help me pick some apples?"

"Sure."

They went to the nearby apple trees and started picking the ripe ones. Ash came back with wood. Leon gave some apples to Ash.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

Leon put the apples on a cloth. Then, he grabbed the firewood and placed some of it into a shape of a fire pit and placed rocks around it.

"Charmander, help me out."

(Here to help.)

"Charmander, use ember on the wood."

Charmander lit the fire pit. Then, Leon pulled out some PokeFood for a fire type, an electric type and bug type. He gave the fire type can to Charmander and gave the other two to Pikachu and Caterpie respectively.

"Here, you go. I'm sure you'll like this."

The three Pokemon started eating the PokeFood. Then, Leon grabbed an apple and started eating it.

"Wow, Leon. You're really prepared."

"Thanks, Misty."

Once everyone was done eating, Ash placed his sleeping bag next to the stump. While Misty was on the other side. Leon rested near a tree and looked up at the stars. He noticed Pikachu and Caterpie were having a conversation after Ash and Misty fell asleep. Once they were done talking, they both went to sleep. Pikachu went to sleep near Ash while Caterpie next to Misty. Once he was sure they were asleep, Leon moved Caterpie away from Misty and next to Ash. He placed his backpack on the ground near the stump and fell asleep as he stared at the stars.

=next morning=

Leon woke up and saw the fire was out. Ash and Misty were still asleep.

"Ash, Misty wake up."

Misty woke up and rubbed her eyes, but Ash didn't. So, Leon shook Ash's shoulder which woke him up.

"Wahh… huh?"

"Come on, Ash. It's time to get up."

"Uh…Okay."

Ash and Misty got up and fixed their stuff. Leon grabbed his bag and another apple from the tree and ate it. Ash and Misty also grabbed apples. Ash was about to hand one to Pikachu and Caterpie.

"Pikachu, Caterpie make sure not to eat it in one bite."

(Sure.)
(Okay.)

They ate the apples as they walked and once they were done, Ash returned Caterpie. They kept walking until something caught Ash's eye.

"Cool, a Pidgeotto! I'm gonna catch it."

"Wai-"

"Go, PokeBall."

Ash threw the PokeBall, but Pidgeotto got out easily.

"Ash, you can't just throw a PokeBall you have to weaken it by battling it with one of your own."

"Okay, I got it."

Ash picked Caterpie's PokeBall.

"Wait, Ash-"

"Go, Caterpie!"

That shocked Misty and Pikachu.

"Ash, quick return Caterpie!" yelled Misty.

Ash turned to Misty with a confused look.

"Wait, why?" Ash said in a confused tone.

"Ash, Caterpie is a bug type. Pidgeotto is a flying type. Flying Pokemon eat bug Pokemon!" yelled Leon

"WHAT!" shouted Ash.

He turned back around to face Caterpie getting attacked by the Pidgeotto. He grabbed Caterpie's PokeBall and returned it.

"Go, Pikachu. Thundershock!"

The shock hit Pidgeotto.

"Throw it now!" yelled Leon.

"Right! Go, PokeBall!" yelled Ash.

The PokeBall hit and Ash caught a Pidgeotto.

"Yahoo! I caught a Pidgeotto! I'm another step closer to being the greatest Pokemon Master!" exclaimed Ash.

"Ash, there is no way you're going to be a Pokemon Master. Every beginning trainer knows putting a bug against a flying that the flying type is going to win. You almost got your Pokemon eaten." scolded Leon.

"But-"

"No excuses, Ash. You got to understand that every Pokemon has a type disadvantage and it'll be the worse scenario putting your Pokemon against a type disadvantage unless you have a strategy to go against that type. Being a Pokemon trainer, you can't just hope that picking a random Pokemon, that's strong, will win a battle even if it's at a disadvantage. Everything is based on strategy and it'll be the thing that will make you to be a good trainer. Understand?"

"Yeah, Leon." said Ash in a saddened tone.

"It's you, again." said a voice

They turned their heads to see Team Rocket again.

"What do you want?" said Leon.

"We want the Pikachu." said Team Rocket.
"No way, this is my Pikachu go get your own."

"Too bad. Go Ekans." called Jessie.

"Go, Koffing. Get that Pikachu." commanded James.

"Go, Nidoran. Use Peck on Ekans!" commanded Leon.

"Go, Caterpie. Use string shot on Koffing."

Nidoran came out and pecked Ekans right into a tree. While Caterpie's string shot wrapped Koffing in a web, but Koffing spun out of it easily.

"Koffing, smog attack."

"Dodge, Nidoran and tackle Koffing."

Nidoran dodged the smog attack and tackled Koffing into James.

"Ekans, wrap attack."

"Caterpie, tackle attack."

Ekans wrapped it's body around Nidoran, but it hit Nidoran's horn hurting itself and backed off. Then, it got hit by Caterpie.

"Ekans, wrap again but this time wrap that Caterpie."

Ekans wrapped Caterpie and strangled it. Then, Caterpie started to glow.

"What's happening?"

"Caterpie is evolving."

"Evolving…"

Caterpie evolved into Metapod.

"Nidoran, use tackle on Ekans to free Metapod!"

Nidoran tackled Ekans into it releasing Metapod.

"Pikachu, Thundershock." commanded Ash.

The Thundershock sent Team Rocket flying away. Ash rushed to Metapod and was happy that it evolved.

"Good job. Now let's go." said Leon as if it was nothing.

Leon kept walking and Misty, Ash and Pikachu followed him.

Done! Now, onto the next one! R&R.