As the friends walked through Route One, Imari noticed the place was busy with Pokémon activity. The route was thriving with the various creatures, including the standard Pidgey and Rattata, Imari noticed. Though, there were some new Pokémon on the Route she wasn't as familiar with.
"Red, what are they?"
Red appeared just as confused as she felt, but instead of saying as such, he reached for his Pokédex. "Let's see what this says they are." He murmured as he opened his device to scan one of the new Pokémon and listened to the entry.
A Rockruff? Inter-regional mass transfer? So this was what Professor Oak meant when he told him Pokémon from other regions had been shifted to Kanto. A second later, he realized he still had to answer Imari. "The Pokédex said it's a Rockruff. It's a Pokémon from another region; that matches with what Professor Oak said."
That makes sense, Imari thought, before she asked the all important question. "Did you want to capture it?" The girl smiled happily for her friend. It didn't matter to her that she had seen the Pokémon first. She could tell Red wanted to battle it, so she would submit once.
Red nodded, before clarifying. "The Rockruff is a he." He grabbed Charmander's Poké Ball and sent the fire lizard out. His starter glanced at him and saw the determination in his trainer's eyes. "Scratch to start with, Charmander!"
Charmander started running towards the Rockruff, claws in front of him, ready. Seeing the fire lizard coming at him, the puppy Pokémon faced his opponent head on, small teeth bared. Charmander lashed out with his claws, aiming to strike the Rockruff's face. At the same time, however, the Rockruff turned his head slightly, aiming his teeth at Charmander's shoulder.
Both attacks struck.
And both Pokémon cried out in pain. Imari flinched and Red tensed, balling a hand into a fist. Neither of them had been expecting the Pokémon to utter anything other than battle cries. Cries of pain was something altogether new for them.
Red was going to step in and stop them, but Imari grabbed his hand. "Just wait," she whispered, her eyes firmly on the battle as the two Pokémon continued to fight it out.
"… Why?" He murmured back. "They're hurting each other. I can't… The Professor didn't tell us about any of this!"
Rockruff yelped. Red looked instantly.
Both Pokémon were covered in blood and bite and scratch marks. Both were on their last legs, strength-wise. Red reacted immediately and picked an empty Poké Ball off of his belt, throwing it at the weakened Rockruff.
The ball hit the Rock type and drew the puppy inside, shaking once, twice, three times before finally making a noise that signalled a successful capture.
Red let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He'd captured his first Pokémon. The boy knew he should be feeling more elated, but wasn't up to it due to what he'd seen.