Jason stood in the foyer, with his family surrounding him. He had a new camping bag, which was massive, and had so much more space compared to his regular school backpack. He had fewer clothes in it, and a slew of camping supplies and emergency rations.
"Okay," his dad had his hand on Jason's shoulder. "You… remember all the things we talked about? Like sleeping and bathroom stuff? And poisonous berries?"
Jason nodded.
"You got your phone? And your credit card which is for emergencies and supplies only, and not for toys and candy?"
Jason nodded at each point but couldn't help but smile. He felt he was a little beyond candy now, but he could understand the warning.
"You have your phone, Bulbasaur, and your ba- er, pokéballs?"
Jason stifled a giggle and nodded.
"Okay," his father's fathers hand seemed glued to his shoulder. "Just stay safe. And behave."
After he pried his hand away, his mother assaulted him next.
"Oh…" she cried as she squeezed him. "Look at you… ready for your trip! I don't know how I'm going to…"
Jason said nothing but returned the tight hug. She squeezed him harder.
"I love you, sweetie," she told him. "We all do."
"…"
It took a minute to say.
"I…know," he mentally slapped himself. "I love you too."
She pulled back and took a minute to wipe her tears. "You call us, okay? Every night."
Jason nodded, before wiping his own face on his arm.
Next was Ethan, who walked up with his head turned and his arms crossed. He said nothing at first.
"Ethan," their mother suggested with a certain threat buried in her words. "Is their something you want to say?"
Ethan let his arms down and looked at his own feet before mumbling something. Jason couldn't make out what he said.
Jason leaned over to him and hugged him anyway.
"I'll see you later," Jason promised him. Ethan just stood there, weakly accepting the hug and doing little to return it.
After they pulled apart, Ethan took a few steps back, not saying anything.
Minnie walked up with a stuffed Pachurisu clutched tightly in her little arms.
"When will you be back?" she asked, unsure.
"Uh…" Jason thought it over. "I don't know. There are eight gyms before I get into the Pokémon League. So…"
"The day after tomorrow?" She asked optimistically. Her nose was now buried into the back of the toy.
"…Maybe a bit longer than that," Jason rubbed the back of his head. "I'll find you something to-"
She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his sides and squeezing tightly. Jason knelt down and hugged the six-year-old. She was crying.
Jason sniffed and did everything he could to keep his own tears from shedding.
"…I'll-" he croaked. He coughed and tried to speak again. "I'll bring back something cute for you to play with. Something pink. Something fluffy. Okay?"
Minnie sniffed violently and stepped away, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. Her toy was discarded on the floor.
Jason stood, and looked at each of them one more time before reaching for the front door.
"Okay," he said, "I'm going."
They all waved and called out their goodbyes, and Jason returned the waves and ran off to the bus stop.
The plan was to catch the bus to Viridian, from there (with a handy-dandy new map in his pocket) he would resume his adventure and make his way to the Pewter City gym.
At the stop, he saw someone waiting there for him. And she had her own camping bag.
"Oh, hello again!" she waved.
Jason blinked. It was the gym leader from yesterday. Jaime… no, wait… Josie!
"Uh… hi?" Jason stuttered. "What are you doing here?"
"My grandpa works at the science center," she reminded, "I was visiting today."
"Oh," Jason stated. "Cool."
He stood next to her, waiting for the bus. They stood in silence, though Jason was oblivious to her observations.
"Say," she started again. "Are you…going to the other gyms? The other badges, and all that?"
Jason smiled and nodded, without really looking at her. She was cute, and definitely a teenager.
"Yeah," he said, remembering his words. "I'm entering the Pokemon League."
"Oh cool!" she excitedly added. "Can I come along?"
Jason's smile disappeared for confusion.
"What?"
"Well," she rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm not really great at the whole Gym Leader shtick, so I thought I'd check out the others and take some notes. Since we're both going in the same direction, I thought we could go together!"
She smiled after she was done, waiting for Jason's answer.
Jason coughed. "Uh…sure? I guess that's alright."
Josie pouted, looking hurt. "Aw, you don't like me?"
Jason's face heated up. "No, no! It's not like that, I just-" he stammered. "I just thought… don't Trainers usually travel alone? I mean… that's just what I saw… on tv and stuff…"
The girl gave him a forgiving look and patted his shoulder.
"Well," she said "Now you don't have to. We can go together. If… that's okay with you."
Jason smiled and nodded.
"Yeah," he answered. "Sounds fun."
"Great!" Josie energetically threw her hands up.
And with that, the bus rolled up. Jason nodded to the bus driver, who was the same one as yesterday, and within the hour, made it to Viridian City and to its opposite end.
"Viridian forest," Josie introduced. "Where all the bugs like to hang out."
She shivered. "I hate bugs."
Jason looked at her and shrugged. He wasn't overly fond of bugs either, but he wasn't scared of them. It was snakes that was the problem.
"How big is the forest?" Jason wondered. "I was hoping to get to Pewter City today."
Josie flinched at the words.
"Well," she tried to explain, "The forest is pretty big. We'll probably have to spend a night here and get there tomorrow."
Jason blinked. "Oh."
Josie smiled. "Did you think all the cities were next to each other?"
"No, I-" Jason stammered as they walked through the forest. "I just-"
"Easy," Josie put her hands up, "I'm only teasing. This is a long trip ahead of us. I hope you like walking."
Jason did not, in fact, like walking. But he sucked it up and marched onward, deeper into the woods, only following a loose dirt trail.
Suddenly, Jason saw a little bird hop its way onto the path. A pidgey!
Jason took out one of the orbs in his pocket and charged forward. He threw it with as much force as he could muster. The pidgey saw him coming and flapped away and out of sight before the pokéball even struck the ground.
"What are you doing?!" Josie called out behind him. "What was that?"
She sounded like she was trying not to laugh. Jason turned to her as she caught up with the biggest grin on her face.
"Have you never caught a Pokemon before?" she asked him.
Jason, feeling embarrassed, shook his head.
"Okay," she took a breath, "So, Bulbasaur is the only partner you have?"
Jason nodded, not directly looking at her.
"You know, that's okay," she patted his shoulder. "I'll show you how its done."
They stepped off the path and onto a bunny trail (which confused Jason. What's a bunny?).
They found some tall grass and Josie sent out one of her partners; a female Nidoran.
The long short of it was that Pokemon love to fight. They thrive on it. So when they see another Pokemon, they're more inclined to stick around and be caught. You fight them a little bit, and when they're weak, you catch them. Josie demonstrated this on one such pidgey.
"There, you see?" She held the ball up, showing her latest prize. "You think you can do that?"
Jason nodded, brow furrowed in determination.
"Yeah."
Jason set to work, scanning the ground for new partners. He spotted one and set to work.
At the end of it, the bounty wasn't anything to be impressed by. A pidgey, a ratatta, and a ledyba were the result of his hunting. As he examined each one with his phone (thanks to the new pokedex feature) his shoulders slumped.
"What's wrong?" Josie noted.
"It's just…" Jason shook his head. "Won't Bulbasaur feel… jealous? About the other Pokemon, I mean. I don't him to feel like I'm leaving him behind."
Josie wore a bemused smile, and bit her lip before answering.
"Don't worry about that, kiddo," she patted his shoulder, "Think of it this way: You need eight badges, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, not every gym is the same," she continued, "And you're going to be fighting a lot of battles, right?"
"…Yeah."
"So… Bulbasaur can't fight everyone by himself. I mean, yeah, you're helping him, but get the poor boy a team so he can split the work load! Right?"
Jason nodded in understanding. "Right… Yeah, that makes sense."
"Besides," she smiled childishly. "He'll understand if you want to play with the ladybug."
Jason blushed. He liked the ledyba he caught. It was so… floaty and cute. But he hadn't said anything about it. This observation of Jason's feelings wasn't exclusive to current company. No matter who he was talking to, they managed to read his emotions and thoughts to him like a book. It made it impossible to get away with a lie (not that he really made that a habit). How does everyone do that!?
Suddenly, they saw someone walking towards them on the path they were walking. High socks, muddy shoes, comfy looking cargo shorts, tank top for a warm day, straw hat for shade, and a bug catching net.
Jason made the mistake of looking him in his eyes. A shock ran through his body, as what usually happens when he makes eye contact with anyone, and he slowed his pace as a result.
No, don't stop in the middle of the road. Just keep walking and go about your business. Let the man do his thing-
Oh god, he's making a b-line straight for me! Why?! What'd I do?!
"Hey!" the bug catcher called his attention. "When two trainers make eye contact, they're looking for a battle!"
Jason's shoulders were up around his ears, and his breathing hitched.
"Th…Thank for the advice," he answered, sounding like a caveman. "Won't happen again."
The other boy just looked confused. Josie leaned over and whispered in his ear.
"Trainers fight each other all the time," she clarified. "If you want your partners to get stronger then…"
"I have to fight everyone," Jason realized under his breath.
Sure, he figured there'd be some fights with other (preferably friendly) trainers, but random strangers? They were literally walking down opposite sides of the road just a second ago, and now they're going to fight? What kind of logic is that? Does this mean he'll have to fight everyone he runs into? Waiters, pet groomers, teachers, baristas, office workers, construction workers. Not to mention gangsters and bullies?
"Uh…" the other boy seemed to back away. "If you really don't want to fight, we don't-"
Josie even tried to pull him away with her arms around his shoulders. Jason resisted, sticking in place.
"…" Jason fought to speak. "…I'll fight you."
The bug catcher lightened up a little. "Okay."
"You sure?" Josie asked him.
Jason nodded. "Yeah."
The fight went off swimmingly. Turns out, the guy only had two pokemon. A caterpie, and a metapod. The metapod was obnoxious, as it didn't have any attacks and only used harden, but Jason finished the fight, nonetheless. Jason's confidence swelled into two other fights. One against a youngster, and another against a scout.
Later, they set up something of a camp, and were ready to lie down for the night.
"So, you have to fight strangers a lot, huh?" Jason asked, as Josie set up her own separate tent from his.
"Yeah," she answered absently. "That's the thing about going to new places. You're going to be in new situations, with people you don't know. Its going to be rough sometimes. It could be fun, too. But its going to be different than what you're used to, and it's not for the faint of heart."
Jason tried to think of his usual routines. Its all thrown out the window now that he's on this adventure. Of course, comparing this to one of their camping trips helped thus far. He's not walking away from home, he's on a hike, and he'll return soon.
Jason sighed. It's been a long day. Along with Bulbasaur, he now had three new partners to help him with this adventure. They all need to rest.
"I'm going to sleep," he told his human companion, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Josie smiled at him.
She stayed up for a little while longer, making a phone call that was indecipherable to Jason. He decided it wasn't important and turned away to get some sleep.
The next morning was peaceful, though clouds rolled with thunder in the distance. The sun was creeping higher in the distance. Jason wanted to get a move on with their journey, so, while waiting for Josie to wake up, he packed his things and got dressed. He had to stop and take his time with the tent, making sure he folded it correctly to fit in his bag.
"Ready to go, huh?"
Jason turned to Josie, dressed for the day and sticking her head out of her tent. He nodded with a patient smile.
He finished his bag packing and paused. What was that noise?
"I packed some store bought breakfast," Josie stood and stretched. "I heard it tastes like astronaut food, but I thought it'd be nice to try some new-"
"Shh!" Jason hushed her, raising his hand.
Josie looked slightly offended but became concerned as she watched him.
"…What is it?" She wondered with a whisper.
Jason heard it again. It was such an awful sound. It sent every nerve in his body into a frenzy. He stood up and ran towards the noise.
Its source was coming from the road. Jason burst onto the path in time to see a trainer, maybe older than him, maybe the same age, kicking a small creature against a tree.
"Stupid. Worthless. Piece of-" He laid another kick. "All that money is gone! You know how much I bet on you?! And you just flop?!"
He raised his leg to stomp it again, but Jason launched himself at him. It all happened so fast he could barely process it all. He tackled the kid to the ground. He was definitely older, maybe in high school. Jason threw a fist into his face. He threw another, before the other guy was able to regain his composure and counter.
The strike stunned Jason, which allowed the guy to push Jason off him and stand. Jason followed suite.
The bully grabbed a ball off his belt, Jason reached to do the same, but found none there. He left them back at the campsite!
Suddenly, the teenager cried out and dropped the pokéball. He clutched the hand that held it, and they both looked over to see Josie, wearing an expression Jason had never seen before. The little blue nidoran at her side stood by furiously, having just fired of Poison Sting.
"Stay away from my kid." She stated simply.
"He attacked me!" he pointed out.
"Run. Away. Cole."
The teen flinched, before grabbing the pokéball and sprinting away.
Josie's expression softened, but only slightly, as she turned to Jason. "Jason," she said, "Why did you-?"
He couldn't answer, as he rushed over to the bruised and bloody form under the tree. It was covered in yellow fur and had shallow breathing.
"Oh my god," Josie noticed it for the first time.
Jason moved to pick it up when Josie rushed over and stopped him.
"Wait, Jason," she ordered. "I need you to go pack my stuff up for me. Let me take care of this little guy. Go stuff my tent in my bag and hurry back."
Jason nodded and ran off. His mind rushed with uncertainty, and he could barely think of what he was doing as he was doing it. He soon and one backpack over each shoulder, which was heavy, but he rushed back to the road anyway. He found the girl standing with a wrapped bundle in her arms.
"Here," she said, "Set my bag down and get settled with yours. You can't run and carry two bags at once."
Jason hated it but he agreed. He much prefer to get the little Pikachu to safety, but he didn't know if he could keep up with Josie with two full camping bags.
Josie put the little guy in his arms after he fixed his own bag across his shoulders and she set to work fixing hers. Pikachu was still breathing shallowly.
"I know you want to carry him," she confessed, moving to take him back. "but I'm more versed in this. Try to keep up with me, okay?"
Jason barely had time to nod before she started jogging away.
"There's still about a mile to go before we get to Pewter city!" she called over her shoulder. "We need to hustle!"
Jason wasn't an athletic boy. Sweat was always sensory hell on his back; like something was crawling from his neckline to his shorts. Regardless, he ran. He ran to keep up with Josie. He ran to make sure Pikachu would be okay.
They ran.
