Author's Note: Sorry guys for not updating last Saturday. My internet wasn't working (yes, I know, typical excuse) and also I hadn't gotten the story edited. It really screwed me up. It's here now and I hope you like it. The next chapter will be posted right after this, so back on schedule.
Alphinia brought to my attention that I never mentioned their ages. I had intended on letting you guys pick the ages, but what I personally feel is that they're thirteen years old. I figure having them be teenagers would be more appropriate than pre-teens, but again, that's my personal interpretations. there's not mention of age in the story so it can be your call. Anyways, enjoy. This was one long ass story to write.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo, game freak and Shogakukan Comics.
Leaf watched the scene before her in amazement. The three were just walking around the majestic Viridian City when Blue had tripped over a man. The man was lying on the ground, rolling around and screaming. It was such a strange behavior. This kind of thing never happened at home. Was this normal here? It sure was a weird sight to see.
Blue tried to pass the old man, only to be blocked by the very person. Leaf could tell he was about ready to pummel the man. His fists were tightly clenched, and his face blew up in a vicious crimson.
"Hey! Tell your grandfather to move! We're trying to get to the gym!" Blue yelled at the lady beside the old man.
The woman, in response to Blue's demanding, began to beg her grandfather to move but he wouldn't budge. During this, Blue's squirtle began mimicking the old man, rolling around, causing Blue to scold it angrily. The woman then turned to the group in exasperating defeat.
"I'm so sorry! He forgot to take his pills today! I've sent for someone to retrieve his medicine, but it's on the other side of town. Maybe come back in an hour or two?" the woman apologized. Blue was about to reproach the woman, but Red cut him off.
"No problem." Red relieved the woman of Blue's wrath, which she gave him a thankful look in return. Blue crossed his arms and gave the old man a glare.
There was an instant glint in the man's eyes. Then he began to spin at a ferocious speed and screamed at an ear-bleeding volume. Blue shrieked when he realized the man was headed for his direction.
Just when he was about to crash into Blue, the old man stopped abruptly. The geezer gave Blue a goofy grin then yelled out "Gotchya!" before sounding a loud cackling laugh.
Blue was about to punch the man when Red yanked him by the collar and began dragging him through the direction they had come from. Leaf gave the lady and old man a quick 'bye' before running after the two.
No one said anything in regards to what they had just witnessed. They just allowed the absurdity of the situation speak for itself. They continued in silence until Blue stopped the group before a deserted path.
"This is the way to the Indigo Plateau. You can go through here, but you'll be stopped at the gates if you don't have eight badges to get into the Plateau," Blue explained. "Huh, I'll be there soon!"
Leaf peered at the pathway in curiosity. Perhaps it was because of the lighting, or the fact that it leads to the place where the strongest trainers in Kanto were waiting, but the pathway had a scary aura to it. Leaf shuddered; she wasn't sure she wanted to ever go through here.
"Wait, why isn't there anyone here?" Leaf asked out loud in wonder. Red nodded, as she had said exactly what he was thinking. Blue blinked in surprise. 'That was true, why wasn't anyone here', Blue wondered. No one said anything as no one knew the answer to Leafs question.
The three stood there, staring at the mysterious path before them. Leaf was wondering if she'd ever get to the Plateau, Red was imagining the thrill of fighting Kanto's best and Blue's thoughts revolved on beating Red to the top.
"It's getting late." Red finally broke all of their thoughts. Blue grinned in excitement as he took the initiative to start walking again. Red also gave a small smirk as he followed behind the spiky head. Leaf didn't share the two boys' excitement, as she took a gulp with her last glance at the path before rushing after the boys.
The three found the travel back to Pallet Town much quicker than their first journey through it. It was because they weren't getting themselves lost, and perhaps also because they were just eager to get on home.
When the three reached Pallet Town, everyone agreed to just go straight to their houses and see the professor the next day. Leaf handed Blue the package before they each headed to their respective homes.
The minute Leaf entered her house, her mother walked angrily up to her. Leaf gulped, as she realized that she left for Viridian City without notifying her mother.
"Where did you run of to that was so important you couldn't tell your mother?" Her mother growled. Leaf gave an uncomfortable laugh, as she slowly made her way around her mom. She had to get to her room for safety.
"I-I'm sorry, mom!" Leaf squeaked. Her mother eyed her sharply, knowing full well of her plans to escape.
"Well, you better be sorry!" Her mother's expression was hard, but then it turned it turned soft and blubbering. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Her mom's voice cracked. This took Leaf by surprise as she didn't expect her mom to change her mood so quickly.
"M-Mom?" Leaf stuttered.
"I thought you were dead! Oak told me where you went, and I gave him a piece of my mind of letting you go alone! Then he told me that Blue brat went along with you and I was even more scared! What if he gets you into some kind of trouble! You stupid daughter! Why couldn't you just tell me you were going to go so soon?" Her mom began to wail. Leaf felt guilt take over her conscience. She didn't mean to make her mom so worried. She was so focused on how she was going to survive on the journey that she forgot her own mother might have been concerned for her.
"I-I'm sorry mom!" Leaf joined in with her mom's bawling and the two gave each other a hug. When both women stopped crying, Leaf's mother pulled her daughter back from herself, and gave Leaf an inspection.
"You have grown a lot. I remember when you were just a little cry baby." Leaf's mom smiled. Leaf smiled back, happy her mom saw some maturity in her. Then her mom frowned, "Wait, never mind. You still cry often."
Leaf pouted at her mom's comment, wondering if she was just joking or not.
"Well, what I'm trying to say is that you're finally of age to go out and be independent. I shouldn't have to hold you back like this." Her mom sighed.
"But mom-" Leaf began, as she felt that her mom DID have a right to worry over her, but her mom unintentionally interrupted her.
"But I just don't trust that Blue! Just knowing he's out there and can corrupt my innocent daughter's mind just doesn't sit well for me!" Her mom strongly declared. Leaf's mouth gaped in amazement. Her mom only was worried because Blue was traveling with her?
"Mom!" Leaf pouted. She didn't understand why her mom didn't like Blue so much. It wasn't like he was some kind of criminal!
"What! I'm just looking out for you! Though, I must say, I do like that Red character. Oddly quiet, but not obnoxious!" Her mom smiled at the mention of Red. Leaf was surprised that her mom knew Red, she never heard her talk about him before.
Leaf then remembered Bulba, and released him from his pokéball (he had begun to attack Blue's squirtle for some reason during the journey back home so she had to put him into his pokéball).
"Oh, this is the pokémon I got mom!" Leaf smiled. Her mom looked at bulbasaur and squealed in delight.
"Well, isn't that just the cutest thing! What you name it?" her mom exclaimed. Bulba looked up at her mom curiously, and then looked at Leaf.
"Bulba, meet my mom. Mom this is Bulba." Leaf smiled at Bulba. Bulba and her mom stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Bulba extended one of his vines to her mom. She took it gently in her hands and gave it a small shake.
"It's quite…charming. But really, Bulba, Leaf. You could have been more creative than that!" Her mom shook head.
"Yeah, ok mom." Leaf found herself involuntarily yawning. Leaf blushed in embarrassment, not meaning to be rude to her mother.
"And that's my sign to let you go to sleep. I guess you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow!" her mother smiled. Leaf nodded, before picking up Bulba and trudging up the stairs to her room. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a big day.
When Leaf woke up, her only thought was that she wished she hadn't woken up. She tried her best to slow down time, but her mom ended up just kicking her out of the house. So Leaf was left to just face her destiny. Go on the journey many kids her age went.
When she arrived at Professor Oak's lab, she found that Blue had also just arrived there. He seemed very energetic and ready to take on anything life threw at him. Leaf wished she could be that cheerful about what was to come.
"Hi, Blue." Leaf smiled. Blue was a bit startled to see her, but then grinned.
"You are late, but at least you've made it here before Red!" Blue smirked. Leaf blushed, remembering the experience with him yesterday. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Especially since they're traveling together.
Oak then appeared, grinning at the two kids waiting for him. It had been so long since he had seen kids so eager to go out on an adventure. He took a look at the pokémon beside their respective owners. Bulbasaur and squirtle were both looking healthy and happy.
"Hello, Leaf, Blue. I see that my pokémon have grown attached to the both of you. I can tell that the both of you will be promising trainers! Well let's hurry up so the two of you can start!" Professor Oak smiled at the two. Leaf smiled back, and Blue seemed relieved that he was going to get to the point this time.
"Ok, Gramps! Why'd you have us get this package?" Blue urged him on impatiently.
"Blue, be patient! I'm about to talk about that! Anyways, this package will come in handy on the next thing I would like the two of you to do on your journey." Oak began. He then motioned the two over to a table beside his computer. On the table were two technological devices that were the size of a Gameboy SP she had in her room, except it seemed to flip open like a book. It was red in color.
"This is my latest invention. It's basically like an encyclopedia, it automatically records data on pokémon you've seen or caught. I like to call it a pokédex!" Oak handed Leaf and Blue each of them a device. Leaf looked at the object in awe. She felt so honored to have one of Professor Oak's inventions.
"I want the two of you to have these pokédex. It will help you on your journey. Of course, if you want the complete data, you must catch the pokémon. So, here are the custom pokéballs I had ordered and had you go retrieve for me." Professor Oak then handed the two five pokéballs each. Leaf graciously accepted, and loved how wonderful it felt to hold in her hands.
"Gramps. These look like regular pokéballs. What makes them so special?" Blue asked bluntly. This clearly caught the professor off guard, and he struggled to find an answer. "These are just regular pokéballs, aren't they?" Blue asked, despite knowing the answer.
"Haha, well, I thought telling you guys it was special would make the two of you feel even more enthusiastic about catching pokémon." Oak gave out an embarrassed laugh.
"Huh, I don't need all this crap gramps! Just get back to the point!" Blue began to get impatient. Leaf wondered why the Professor was giving them all this. Was he really just being nice? "You want us to do something for you, don't you?"
"Ahaha, you know me too well! Ahem. Well, what I want the two of you to do is to catch all the pokémon in Kanto." Professor Oak suddenly stated seriously. Leaf almost believed that she would die of shock. Did he just ask to catch ALL the pokémon in Kanto? How could that be even possible! There were over a hundred pokémon out there!
"Huh, grandpa, don't concern the others with this task. I am more than capable of doing this myself." Blue said boastfully. Leaf looked at him in astonishment. Could he really complete such a herculean task? Even though she believed him to be amazing, she didn't really think that it was possible for even him.
"Well, prove it to me then. I expect to see you have all the pokémon by the end of this." Oak challenged Blue. Blue grinned happily at his grandfather in acceptance of his challenge.
"Um, Professor? How do you catch pokémon?" Leaf asked curiously. This caught Oaks attention.
"Oh, yes, well all you need to do is just throw the ball at the pokémon. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't, but it helps if you weaken the pokémon first." Oak explained quickly. Leaf tried to digest his words, but she wasn't sure if she fully understood.
"It's too bad Red isn't here! I would have enjoyed having another battle before leaving! Well Gramps, tell him I said hi!" Blue smirked.
He was about to go leave for the door, when Professor Oak stated "What do you mean? Red had already came here this morning." This stopped Blue in his tracks.
"What." Blue calmly stated, though Leaf could see his body trembling.
"Oh, yeah, he was impressively eager to go this morning. I almost had to force him to listen to me, otherwise he would have just ran off and started." Oak began to drone, as if he were oblivious to Blue's growing rage.
"You are kidding me!" Blue fumed, dashing out the door. Leaf quickly thanked the professor before running after Blue.
"Wait up, Blue!" Leaf called out. He just ignored her. He was desperate to start and catch up with Red.
Leaf realized he was headed for his house. This made her a bit nervous as she never went to his house before. Whenever she interacted with Blue, it was usually at Professor Oak's lab or outside the lab.
As soon as he reached his house Blue barged through the door. Leaf debated whether she should follow him in or not. She wasn't exactly invited, yet she felt a bit curious on what his room may look like. Before she could make her decision Blue came bolting out, smacking into her.
The two dropped to the ground in pain. Blue groaned, and then looked at Leaf like he just realized she was even there.
"Oh, Leaf. Did you drop by to see Daisy? Well you're out of luck! I just got the only map we have!" Blue stated proudly. This almost made Leaf wordless. How did he not notice her all this time?
"Um, no. I thought we'd travel together." Leaf stated nervously. Blue's arched an eyebrow in confusion. Leaf had a bad feeling of what was about to come.
"Uh, yeah. Sorry, but I kind of want to travel alone. It was a nice thought but…bye!" Blue got up and vamoosed away from here, leaving a speechless Leaf to herself. Did he just ditch her? Was she that annoying?
Leaf let out a small cry of despair. She was being stupid, assuming Blue would want to travel with her. She should have figured he had his own plans! But she had hoped he would allow her to travel with him. Now she had to travel by herself!
"Oh, you're Leaf aren't you? Are you alright? I heard you cry! Did something happen?" Leaf found a worried women rushing out of Blue's house coming to aid her. Leaf realized that it was Daisy, Blue's sister, and looked down in embarrassment. She didn't mean to cause such a scene.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just upset." Leaf sniffed miserably. Daisy gave Leaf a once over before pulling the girl up to her feet.
"You're about to go on a journey, just like my brother right?" Daisy simply asked. Leaf nodded gloomily in response. Daisy gave a sigh of understanding.
"You're scared to go by yourself, aren't you?" Daisy asked. Leaf nodded again. She felt ashamed. She shouldn't be such a coward. It was normal for all kids to go out on their own. She told herself this so many times but it still didn't make the situation any less scary. "Well, let me tell you this. It may seem scary at first, but your pokémon will definitely protect you! Plus, I'm sure you'll meet someone in the future that'll be willing to travel with you. It will be alright, ok?" Daisy tried reassuring Leaf. Leaf tried to feel better, but she just couldn't get past by the fact that she was going by herself!
Daisy, reading this, grabbed Leaf and pulled her into Blue and Daisy's house. Leaf was momentarily distracted by the fact that she was IN Blue's house. Her whole world was blown away by this one moment.
Daisy stopped in front of a closet by the kitchen and began sorting through it until she stopped and turned around. In her hand was a device. When Leaf examined it closely, she noticed that it was a digital map.
"Here's a map. It should prove to be very helpful. I was going to give Blue this, but that stupid brat just ran in here and grabbed the paper map. This is far better than that. It tells you detail of every place you are going, including routes! This way, you can know ahead of time what you are going to deal with." Daisy handed Leaf the gadget, and Leaf felt visibly better. She looked up at Daisy gratefully before giving the girl a big hug.
"Thank you so much! I don't know how to repay you!" Leaf cried out when she release Daisy. Daisy gave a hearty laugh before giving Leaf a hard slap on the back. This caught Leaf by surprise, and though she tried to not show it, she found the slap to be very painful.
"Oh, no problem! Just have fun! Now you should be heading on." Daisy laughed before sending her off.
Leaf thanked Blue's sister once again before heading straight home. She didn't want to make the same mistake twice. She had to tell her mother goodbye.
Leaf gave her mom a tearful goodbye before heading on home. She was officially going to start her journey today. It was going to be long and scary, but she had to do it. She needed to prove to everyone that she was old enough to take care of herself.
Leaf began walking through Route 1. Surprisingly, she found it quite easy to tread through the area. The pokémon there didn't seem as scary as and the route didn't seem as long as the first time she went through it. Leaf felt a little bit more confident traveling through the area, feeling that maybe it wasn't as bad as she had anticipated.
Leaf trained a little on her way through the grass, growing her bulbasaur three levels up. She was happy that Bulba was now four levels stronger than the strongest Pokémon in these parts. Her Bulba also seemed less scared as it was the first time it encountered a wild pokémon. The two of them were growing, and it showed.
Leaf made it to Viridian City, stopped by the pokécenter and bought some healing products in the pokécenter with some of the money her mother gave her. She decided to check out the gym, just to see what it was like.
As she was walking, she found herself at the place where she, Blue, and Red were stopped yesterday. The old man and his granddaughter were there and Leaf began to inwardly panic. She didn't want what ensued yesterday to happen again.
"Hey, young lady! Come over here!" the granddaughter called out to Leaf. She nervously walked up to the two.
"Hi, my grandfather would like to say something to you." The lady smiled at her, then turned to the old man. The old man was pouting and was looking away; childishly not wanting to comply with his grandchild's wishes. The woman glared at her grandfather, which prompted the old man to say something to Leaf.
"I'm sorry for my actions yesterday. There, you happy!" The man reluctantly stated, giving his granddaughter a childish frown.
"Ok, well now what are you going to do for the girl?" the woman urged him to go on, as if they had scripted this earlier.
The man thought for a while before simply stating, "Nothing."
"Grandpa! We decided you'd show them how to catch pokémon!" the woman angrily stated. The old man cringed but then managed to bounce back. Leaf felt herself light up at the suggestion. It would be really great if they could do that for her.
"Oh come on, Sheila! The other two didn't need a demonstration, why does she? Plus only weak, useless trainers don't know how to catch pokémon, and I can see that she's strong!" the Old man retaliated. This made Leaf less eager to get help from the old man. She didn't want him to find out that she actually did need help on catching pokémon.
"Would you like my grandpa to give you a demonstration?" the woman asked. Leaf hesitated at first, but then nodded with embarrassment.
"WOW! You really must suck at being a trainer. Why are you doing this?" the old man bluntly stated, causing Leaf to burn up in mortification. Sheila gave her grandfather a smack to the head.
"Don't say such rude things!" she then turned to Leaf, "Don't listen to him. He's just grumpy. He'll show you how to catch pokémon."
The old man grunted, but eventually agreed. He searched in his tunic until he pulled out a pokéball. He then beckoned Leaf to follow him, and she did. She followed the man into the route leading to the Indigo Plateau. Leaf felt nervous about going through this area, but figured the man must be an expert to be able to go through here.
The man stopped at a clearing and waited patiently. Suddenly, a spearow jumped out from behind bushes and stood before the man. Leaf had expected the old man to bring out a pokémon, but instead he threw the pokéball in his hand at the spearow. The spearow was sucked into the pokéball, which dropped to the ground. Leaf watched the pokéball twitch veraciously as the spearow desperate to get out. There was a moment of pause. Just when Leaf thought the pokémon was caught, it released itself from the pokéball.
It then flew at the old man, gave him a couple of pecks, then flew away from him disappearing into the bushes once again. The old man grunted in pain as he quickly moved out of the grass.
"Well…That didn't exactly go as planned. But you do understand now, right? When you encounter a pokémon, just throw the pokéball to catch it. Well, of course it won't always work, as you just saw. The stronger the pokémon, the stronger the pokéball you'll need. Also it will be much easier if you damage your opponent some before capturing it." The man explained to Leaf. Leaf nodded, the explanation was much clearer now with the demonstration. She felt a bit confident in her understanding on how to capture pokémon.
"Thank you, sir!" Leaf bowed graciously. This made the man laugh out loud, confusing Leaf.
"Oh my! You are a polite one, now aren't you! Well it's no problem young lady. I'm just glad to do my part!" the old man gave leaf a hearty slap on the back, pushing her forward. Leaf nervously smiled though she was secretly feeling pain.
"Well, I'll be off now! Good luck on your journey!" the old man called before leaving Leaf alone.
As soon as the man left, Leaf could feel the scary chill of desertion the place left. Leaf was ready to leave this area. She thought she'd try the pokéballs here, but she wanted to just leave the place now.
Just when she made up her mind to leave, the same spearow from before came flying out from the bushes. It rolled into Leaf, and then slowly stood up. Leaf looked at the bush to find a bigger spearow, popping its head out with anger, before pulling back in. Leaf looked back down at the little spearow before her; it seemed to be huffing in frustration.
The spearow then noticed Leaf, looked up and stared at her curiously. Leaf gave it a sloppy smile, unsure of what to do. Is this a moment to catch the pokémon? Should she damage it a bit first? Leaf decided to release Bulba in case catching the bird pokémon didn't work.
The spearow, seeing the bulbasaur, backed up in defense. Bulba stared at the spearow and then looked back at Leaf. Leaf wasn't sure what to do now. Should she throw a pokéball?
The spearow, not sensing any aggression from the two, walked up to Bulba inquisitively. Bulba turned from it in disinterest, looking questioningly at Leaf. The spearow then began to playfully peck at Bulba, jumping around a bit before making a playful strike. Bulba irritatingly pushed the spearow away, looking up at Leaf once again for an explanation. The spearow just kept at it, wanting to play with Bulba. In response, Bulba began to run from the bird pokémon, in hopes that it would leave him alone. Unfortunately for him the spearow just followed after him.
Leaf stared at the scene in amusement. That was until Bulba crashed into her in a frantic desperation to escape from the spearow. She dropped the pokéball in her hand, which fell directly on the spearow's head. It opened up and caught the bird pokémon. Leaf stared in bewilderment. She hadn't meant to capture the pokémon just yet.
The pokéball twitched a couple of times before a click could be heard. Leaf waited, wondering if she had caught it or not. When nothing had happened, Leaf picked up the pokéball and released the pokémon inside of it.
The spearow looked up at Leaf expectantly, the same way Bulba had when she first released her. Remembering the pokédex the professor had given her, she took it out and pointed it at the bird pokémon.
Suddenly the pokédex began to speak. "Spearow. The bird pokémon. This pokémon is very protective of its territory and will give out a high screech that can be heard half a mile away, to warn fellow spearows of danger." Leaf stared at the device in her hand. She looked back at the spearow on the ground. It didn't seem as aggressive the pokédex had made it out to be. She looked again at the pokédex, finding that had extra information in it. She noticed that this particular spearow was a male.
"So, I guess I should give you a name." The spearow began jumping around Leaf happily, Bulba glaring at it in a distance. "Um…how about Spencer?"
The pokémon stopped and gave out a loud happy chirp before resuming its hopping around. Leaf smiled in satisfaction. She caught her first pokémon on her own! Becoming a trainer was a slow process, but she was sure she'd get it. Leaf gave out a happy cry, which startled Spencer at first, but then he joined in. She had begun her journey, and it was looking really great so far.
Leaf trained a little with her two pokémon at the Indigo Plateau route. She had tried to catch a mankey, but found that catching pokémon wasn't as easy as it had seemed. She ended up wasting two pokéballs, leaving her with 2 left. Leaf felt bad about her situation, but she felt that it will get better. The only problem was that she had very little money to spend. She'd have to be much more careful from now onwards.
Leaf was heading to the gym, where she had intended to go in the first place. When she finally managed to reach the place, she saw a big building that towered over her in a dark looming way. It looked abandoned. She saw a man standing next to the gym, staring at it mysteriously. Leaf greeted the man and politely asked about the gym.
"Ah, well, no one is sure exactly who the gym leader is. This gym has actually been empty for a long while. If you're here to challenge this gym, well you're out of luck." Leaf looked down in disappointment. She hadn't really planned on challenging the gym, she just wanted to see what it was like.
The man looked back at the gym before speaking. "It's actually why you don't see much trainers going to the Indigo Plateau. You can't get into the Plateau without the boulder badge, but unfortunately this gym is the holder of the boulder badge. It's brought the trainer visitation in Viridian a new low." The man sighed. This explained why the route to the Indigo Plateau was deserted. Leaf looked down in disappointment, but decided to head on to the next city. She gave the old man a quick good bye before departing.
Leaf took a look at her map and saw that Pewter City was not far away. It had a gym as well, so it was the perfect place to go to next. Leaf quickly made her way out of Viridian and found herself staring at a huge forest before her. Leaf could feel a horrifying feeling tugging at the back of her mind. Was she going to have to go through that?
Leaf saw a sign reading 'Viridian Forest straight ahead". She looked at her map, hoping to find a different route, but only finding that the only way to get to Pewter was through the Viridian Forest.
Leaf took a big gulp. She was going to have to do this. If she was going to prove to herself that she could become a pokémon trainer, this was what she must do. She didn't like it, but at least she had her pokémon.
Leaf called out her pokémon, and the three began walking towards the big menacing forest, where unknowns awaited them.
A/N: There ya go! The new chapter. It might of been a hard chapter to write, but there was no doubt in my mind that I had fun writing certain parts of this. Especially the old man. I'm kind of sad that his part is done. I had grown an attachment with the guy. Anyways, I'll work hard to get the next chapter ready and on schedule. Meanwhile, it would be nice to get some feedback on this chapter. Or the story overall. Anything's welcome. I'm not faint of heart so criticize to your content!