I own no Pokemon characters. Credits to Game Freak.

-Chapter 3: On The Road-

Red and Pikachu were greeted with a tranquil scene, set by clear skies, green grass and the occasional chirping of bird Pokemon. There were plenty of trees dotted along the entire route. No, Route 1 wasn't as well looked after as Pallet Town (or other towns, for that matter), being an area where wild Pokemon thrived, but there wasn't too big of a difference between it and Red's hometown. He decided that he could get used to this type of environment.

"Nice, huh?" Leaf spoke up. "Route 1 looks like a perfect first step on anyone's journey, doesn't it?"

Red nodded as he kept up with her, taking in the surroundings. For a while, all that he did with Leaf was refresh his memory on anything Pokemon related with her. One thing that they particularly enjoyed was testing each other on 'type matchups' and the various 'status conditions' that Pokemon could suffer. However, the silences in between gave them the chance to dwell in their own thoughts.

"So, Red, you said that you wanted to be a great Pokemon Trainer?" Leaf asked her friend.

He nodded. "I told you about my father, didn't I?"

"Oh, was he your inspiration?" She seemed particularly interested. Even Pikachu, whose ears twitched to the sound of Red's answer, looked up, intrigued.

"Yeah. He's always sending letters to me and Mom about how he's doing and some of them talk about the battles he's had recently. He likes to remind us that it's the bond between him and his Pokemon that push them to do better. For him."

Leaf could have sworn that she saw Red's eyes shine for a moment.

"That's why I decided to become a trainer," he continued. "Dad treats his Pokemon like they're a part of the family. You could say that he motivated me." He then knelt in front of Pikachu and tenderly rubbed his head. Leaf found the gesture rather cute and was glad that she had a friend like Red, someone who would treat their Pokemon nicely. "But what about you, Leaf?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. You know about what I want out of my journey, but what about you? Is there a particular goal you have in mind?"

Leaf looked down slightly, a finger placed on her chin. She did have one goal in mind, but it was very different from Red's. How weird would it sound?

"You look like you're thinking hard about it," Red noted. "Do you not know what you want yet?"

"Oh no, I do."

"Well?"

"It's a little different from your goal and Blue's, but... I want to help out with Pokemon research."

Red nodded slowly. He gestured for her to continue, as if he could see that there was a reason why.

"The Professor's always telling us that Pokemon are such 'mysterious creatures'," Leaf told him. "He's gotten me interested in solving those mysteries and finding out what Pokemon are really like." She then gave a smile to Red's Pikachu. "But no matter how much we find out, something new will come up and defy everything. That only means we didn't get to the bottom of things."

"Is it... the thrill of discovering something new that motivates you?" Red asked slowly.

"Uh huh. I wanted to go on my journey to explore and discover new things. Maybe I could give some new findings to the Professor!"

"I'm sure that he'd appreciate the help." Red gave an encouraging smile to his friend. "Who knows? Maybe you'll become an actual Professor yourself!"

"'Professor Leaf Green'," she mused. "I like the sound of that. Oh, I almost forgot!" She reached into her satchel for a Poke Ball. "I wanted to introduce you and Pikachu to my Squirtle."

"Oh, I forgot to ask you about it! Go ahead."

"Alright, Leo. Time to meet some new friends!"

With a toss upwards, the ball opened, revealing the blue turtle Pokemon, Squirtle. Its body was encased in a shell, brown on top and pale yellow on the bottom. Excited to see the new face, Red took out his Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon.

"Squirtle: the Tiny Turtle Pokemon.

After birth, a Squirtle's back swells and hardens, forming a shell. Its head, limbs and tail can retract into it. Whether in or out of its shell, it can squirt out water from its mouth with vigorous force."

Red noted that the Squirtle's tail curled inward and that it slowly waved back and forth.

"Squirtle!" Leo greeted the new faces in his bubbly voice and a wave of his hand.

"Leo, this is Red," Leaf said, gesturing to her human friend. Moving her hand downward at the yellow Pokemon next to him, she added, "This is Pikachu."

Leo trotted over to Pikachu and offered his hand, which was gladly taken and shaken. Red knelt down and patted the Squirtle's head. The Tiny Turtle Pokemon beamed at the gesture, then turned to call for Pikachu and chase it. Pikachu laughed with his new friend as he made his escape on his all fours.

"Well, looks like Leo is hitting it off with Pikachu," Red remarked.

"They definitely have the right idea," Leaf agreed with a smile. With a mischievous look on her face, she suddenly pounced at Red and placed her palm on his arm. "Tag! You're it!"

At the same time, Leo pinned Pikachu on the ground and placed a hand on his ear, taking off with his trainer afterwards. The Mouse Pokemon smirked. If they wanted to play like that, he and Red would surely take them on.

"Let's get 'em, Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

All thoughts were cast aside as trainer and Pokemon sprung into action and chase after Leaf and Leo. Laughter rang out as the four ran around Route 1, the wind rushing past their faces. Leo was on the move, leaving distance between himself and Pikachu. The gap was slowly being closed, however, as Pikachu picked up speed. Leo noticed this and tried with all his might to get away. Unfortunately for him, the Mouse Pokemon's pace was too much. Pikachu lunged for the Squirtle and tapped his shell on the way down, passing the title of 'it' to him. Leo wasn't willing to let him off easily, so he immediately sprung into action and chased him.

Meanwhile, Red was on the move to gain on Leaf. As he got closer and closer, he stretched his hand in front of him. Leaf noticed this as she turned around and yelped at the fear of being caught. She jumped at the sight of Red's hand jutting out even further and picked up the pace.

"Hey, get back here!" Red groaned.

"C'mon, Red! Step it up!" Leaf taunted him.

His mouth made a small 'o' shape, as if telling her not to say such things, though his eyes signaled that he was just getting started. So far, he was saving his energy by not running as fast as he could. Seeing Leaf get away, Red decided not to hold back anymore and burst forward with as much speed as he could. However, back in the day, he wasn't the most athletic person in his class. Then again, neither was Leaf. In fact, it was generally agreed that the two were on the same level.

The chase continued, but Red was stopped by a rustling sound. He looked around for the source of the noise.

"Red! What's wrong?" Leaf called out from behind.

Red turned back around to see Leaf with Pikachu and Leo, who also wondered what was up. "Oh, I thought I heard something." As if responding to what he said, there was rustling once more. Red turned around once more. As he faced a patch of tall grass, he saw it shake. "That's where that sound came from," he murmured.

Then, from the patch of grass came two large toothed rodents! They were purple and they were hissy.

"Rattata: the Mouse Pokemon," Red's Pokedex read aloud.

"It bites with its long and sharp fangs when it attacks. They grow continuously, so it gnaws on hard things to whittle them down. Rattata itself is small, quick and a common sight in many places."

"They don't look so friendly." Red stared the duo of Rattata down, who hissed even louder.

One of them bent down, then lunged forward to attack!

"P-Pikachu! Hit it with Thunder Shock!"

The Electric type Pokemon released lightning bolts from his body, just like those in his first battle, and struck the incoming Rattata with it. At the same time, the other Rattata hissed and jumped at Leo.

"Use Withdraw!" Leaf called out.

Just as he was told, Leo tucked his head, tail and all of his limbs into his brown shell. The Rattata that was aiming for him rammed its body into the shell, which didn't budge at all.

"Tackle!"

Then, still in his shell, Leo jumped forward, slamming into the rat. It was sent flying towards the first Rattata, who tried to shake off the damage that Thunder Shock did, and crashed into it. The two snarled at each other, presumably for getting in each other's way, but they both lunged for Pikachu and Leo afterwards.

"Thunder Shock again!"

"Bubble!"

Pikachu released lightning bolts once again, while Leo opened his mouth and shot out several clear bubbles from his mouth. Though the attacks were used simultaneously, they didn't make contact with each other and hit their targets. Neither of the Rattata could handle a power packed Thunder Shock or multiple speedy bubbles, thus they went down.

"Some groups of Rattata may be protective of their 'territory', but you don't need to worry about them too much, Red," Leaf said to him, returning Leo into his Poke Ball. "They don't pack that big of a punch, even against beginners."

Red made a mental note of that. Leaf waved for him to keep up with her once more and he did just that. If anymore packs of Rattata jumped in to attack, he knew that they would have no problems. The rest of the journey through Route 1 went uninterrupted, for the most part. There were a few more run-ins with Rattata, but they weren't much of a challenge. Along the way, Red and Leaf talked on and on. Well, in hindsight, it was Leaf who did most of the talking. Red didn't feel a need to interject.

In time, the two came to the end of Route 1. Up ahead, buildings, buildings as far as the eye could see, stood.

Viridian City was dubbed 'the city of evergreen' and was the closest city to the prestigious Indigo Plateau, where trainers with eight Gym Badges could taken on the Elite Four for a shot at becoming Pokemon Champion. As such, the citizens hailed their city as the gateway to said challenge. Even the first welcome sign that Red and Leaf came across read 'Welcome to Viridian City, your last stop before Indigo Plateau'.

"I guess my journey will literally 'circle' Kanto," Red mused, tracing a finger around the region on his town map.

"Isn't it great?" Leaf peered over Red's shoulder to take a look at the map. "That means a lot of traveling for us! In fact, I should show you around Viridian City. Yellow and I came here to pick up that package for the Professor, so I know my way around."

Red smiled. "Alright. Lead the way."

Just a little walk away from the welcome sign was the Pokemon Center, one of many across Kanto. Along with providing rooms for trainers to rest for the night, the massive, red roofed buildings were also where Pokemon could be taken to be healed. However, Red and Leaf's Pokemon were perfectly fine, so they didn't need the services yet. They passed right of the Center and came across the next door Poke Mart, a blue roofed building. Like the Pokemon Centers, the Marts were common across Kanto, though they were much smaller in size. They were convenience stores that not only sold common goods to regular people, but also supplies for trainers (mainly different levels of potions, status healing items and Poke Balls). Red and Leaf went in and bought a few potions and antidotes.

Afterwards, the two continued their stroll through Viridian City, taking a path past the Mart to see another important building. It was after a short walk when the two stepped under the shadows of another important building, a very grand building at that. To signify its importance, its roof was as brown as bare earth.

"I'm sure you'll love what this building is," Leaf said, gesturing to it.

Red stared at it in awe. "What is this?"

"It's the Pokemon Gym!"

"Wow... I'm at a Gym already! After beating the Gym Leader there, you get an official Gym Badge!"

"That's right. As far as I'm aware, you need eight of them to be allowed at Indigo Plateau."

"Oh, I know that," Red assured his friend. "I should get to training! I wanna fight the Leader!"

But before Red could take off, Leaf had to stop him. "Um, I hate to tell you this, but..." She looked at him nervously. "The Leader's not here right now, so the Gym's closed."

"W-What?"

"Sorry, Red," Leaf said regretfully. "Apparently, no one's seen him for a long time. He's rarely there at all!"

The two left the Gym, but Red couldn't help but look back at it in disappointment. He would have to come back another time, though if what Leaf said was true and the Viridian Gym Leader really did slack off a lot, he was afraid that his journey would grind to a halt later on. However, after talking with the local residents, he did find out that there was a Gym in the next city!

Being close to Pallet Town, there were some rookie trainers that were scattered across Viridian City. At the same time, being close to Indigo Plateau, there were many experienced Trainers around, too. To please both crowds, both a Pokemon Academy and a Trainer House were built.

"Of course, the Viridian Pokemon Academy teachers new trainers about the basics of Pokemon battling," Leaf told Red. "I'm sure you won't need it, though. Besides, you have me to help you!"

Red couldn't help but laugh. "I know. I'm more comfortable learning with friends, anyway. Besides, it's all about applying what you've learned, right?"

"You got that right! This brings us to the next door Trainer House. Well, all people do there is battle, battle and battle."

"Hmm... Maybe I'll stop by later on. The trainers there must be pretty tough."

North of Viridian City was the path that led to Route 2. It didn't look too different from Route 1, though there was more bird chirping going on because of the greater abundance of Pidgey than Rattata. Red and Leaf walked on, taking note of the patches of grass that clustered in groups. At the end of the visible distance was a gate, which separated the route from Viridian Forest. Past Viridian Forest was Pewter City, where a Gym was situated. As Red made his way forward, he took some time to train Pikachu against the more rowdy wild Pokemon. Leaf decided to do the same and sent out her Squirtle to help out with Pikachu's training, along with a recently caught Pokemon: 'Chaos' the Spearow.

The whole gang took a few steps forward, but they stopped to a squelching sound from a patch of tall grass. From the foliage came a green caterpillar like creature with yellow ring shaped markings on its body. The bright red osmeterium (the antenna like protrusion on its head) shook and it stared at Red with its extremely round eyes. Not knowing what this creature was or what it was doing, he turned to his Pokedex for some information.

"Caterpie: the Worm Pokemon.

Its short feet are tipped with suction pads, enabling it to tirelessly climb slopes and walls. When Caterpie grows, it sheds its green skin, covers itself in silk and becomes a cocoon."

For some reason, the Caterpie just stood there. This was it. This was Red's chance. Slowly, keeping his eye on the Worm Pokemon, he took out an empty Poke Ball. Still at that snail's pace, he drew his arm backward. Leaf gave an intrigued look his way. It seemed like a Bug type Pokemon would be Red's first capture.

"Let's give this a try," she heard Red say. As his eyes locked with Caterpie's, they shone with confidence.

A deep breath.

"Poke Ball, go!"

It soared directly at the Worm Pokemon and hit it on the head. As it opened, Caterpie was engulfed in a red light, which swirled in. The Poke Ball closed and thudded on the grassy ground.

One shake.

Leaf, Pikachu and Leo laid their eyes on the ball.

Two shakes.

"Come on..." Red muttered.

Three shakes.

Red and Leaf let out a gasp. Could it be?

The Poke Ball glowed briefly. Caterpie had been caught!

Red's face broke into a grin. He laughed ecstatically as he picked up the ball. "Yes! I did it!" In excitement, he leaped upwards and held it high. "I caught my first Pokemon!"

Pikachu jumped in, yipping with glee. "Pi Pikachu!"

"That was great, Red!" Leaf chipped in. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Leaf!" Red replied before taking a look at the Poke Ball that contained Caterpie. He scanned it with the Pokedex, though he told himself that he wouldn't mind what his new friend's capabilities were.

"Caterpie, Male

Type: Bug

Ability: Shield Dust

Known Moves: Tackle, String Shot"

"Check it out, Pikachu," Red said to him. "We have a new friend!"

Pikachu pointed at the ball containing said friend. "Pika?"

"Oh, you want to get to know him right now?" The Mouse Pokemon gave a nod. "You know what? I think Caterpie will like you. Caterpie, come on out!"

With a light toss upward, the ball opened, revealing the Worm Pokemon. Caterpie turned around, gazing at his new trainer.

"Caaah?" His head tilted as Red offered him his arm.

"Uh, hi," Red greeted him, still feeling rather awkward, though not as much as he did when he first greeted Pikachu. "I'm Red, your new trainer."

Caterpie took a tiny slither back. He was a lot more nervous about seeing the new face than the new face himself. He took a slight glance behind him, seeing Pikachu's smile. Another look around and there was Leaf and Leo, greeting him as if he was one of the family. To the side was Chaos. Although the Spearow didn't crack a smile, she gave an acknowledging nod.

"Nervous?" Red spoke up, getting Caterpie's attention. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous, too, but that's one thing we have in common! Heh heh..."

The Worm Pokemon turned to the side once more, but turned back to Red. Ever so slowly.

"Go on," Leaf said. "Red's a nice guy. Trust me. I would know!"

"Cah..." Caterpie's eyes were fixed on Red. As they remained so, he slithered forward. He climbed up Red's arm and onto his shoulder, letting out a delighted squeal.

"Thanks for trusting me, Caterpie."

"Caah! Caah!" Caterpie chirped, giving a firm nod.

A laugh escaped Leaf's mouth as she walked up and rubbed the Pokemon's head. "Look at you. You're so cute, little guy."

Caterpie gave his equivalent of a smile, then gave the expression to the rest of the Pokemon around him. Extra attention was given to Pikachu, since they followed the same trainer. Pikachu returned the attention by giving him a thumbs up.

Red turned his head to Leaf. "You know, I think I have a good feeling about Caterpie."

"So do I, Red. So do I."

Author's Notes

Leaf's the only one who's going to nickname her Pokemon, by the way. The others don't feel that it's necessary. But, go ahead. Guess the references in Leaf's nicknames. 'Leo' is pretty obvious, but you guys will never get 'Chaos'! XD

At first, I wanted to write the optional rival battle at Route 22. However, I didn't feel that it was important in the long run and it didn't turn out too interesting when I was done. Ultimately, I scrapped it. This chapter was originally going to end with Blue challenging Red to a rematch, with the battle taking place next chapter, along with Red catching Caterpie afterwards. Since there's about nine rival battles in FR/LG, I figured that cutting a couple of them out wouldn't hurt too much. But that's what I think. Your mileage may vary.

-Have a great day, week, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!-