Chapter 3 – Significant Contact
Ulrich, Charmander & Psyduck were at this moment in time walking through Route 22, all three in a cheerful mood. Ulrich was humming a tune to himself, Charmander had a small smile looking for an excuse to fight and Psyduck was waddling along hold its head as usual.
Route 22 was surrounded by mountains and there were a lot of ledges to jump over and awkward turns. They turned south after reaching a line of trees, then circled around the bottom of the tree line. They then saw a patch of tall grass. Ulrich smiled at this.
"Charmander, Psyduck, tall grass means there's wild Pokémon around, want to train on them?"
Charmander nodded then grinned and Psyduck gave Ulrich a blank stare.
"I guess that's a yes then let's go!" Ulrich shouted.
The high dynamics of his voice disturbed a group of Spearow that were resting in the tall grass. They got up from there sleeping position and looked around wildly for the source of the noise. They rose up into the air searching, and then they spotted Ulrich and connected him as the one who disturbed their sleep.
They immediately flew towards Ulrich ready to give him the pecking of his life. Charmander spotted them before Ulrich did and immediately used its Ember attack .
"Huh? Oops, what are they?" Ulrich asked to himself, he then pointed his Pokédex at the Spearow.
Spearow the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Type: Normal/Flying. Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its short wings to stay airborne.
"Ok, Charmander use Ember again," Ulrich said confidently.
Charmander threw a fireball in the group of Spearow's direction but they dive bombed towards the ground to avoid it and used their beaks to peck at Charmander. Charmander used its arms to protect its face as they continued their relentless attack.
"Psyduck Bubble Beam!"
Psyduck waddled towards Charmander and the Spearow pack then shot bubbles out of its mouth to attack the Spearow. The Spearow lost their balance and fell to the ground. Ulrich smiled at this. The Spearow then began to untangle themselves from each other to attack once more.
"Psyduck Disable!"
Psyduck looked at the Spearow with intense concentration then emitted telekinetic waves that paralyzed them. A look of pure anger crossed the Spearow's faces but alas they couldn't do anything.
"Charmander finish them off with Ember!"
Charmander threw a strong ball of flames at the Spearow, burning them badly and KO'ing them.
"Yeah! Well done Charmander and Psyduck," Ulrich said happily.
There was a rustling in the grass and a nervous looking purple Pokémon came out of it. It looked around then looked straight at Ulrich. Ulrich noticed the Pokémon then pointed his Pokédex at it.
Nidoran the Poison Pin Pokémon. Type: Poison. Stiffens its ears to sense danger. The larger its horns, the more powerful its secreted venom.
"Interesting, I'm gonna capture it," Ulrich said taking out a Pokéball from his bag and making it bigger.
Nidoran seeing the danger immediately moved backwards.
"Hey, don't be scared," Ulrich said in a soft voice trying to get it too come closer.
Nidoran saw otherwise and broke into a run towards Ulrich. Charmander moved in front of Ulrich and bared its teeth at the Nidoran, trying to intimidate it. Nidoran wasn't scared off though and slammed itself into Charmander knocking it backwards. Charmander annoyed by that growled at Nidoran then ran towards it to Scratch it. Nidoran dodged the attack and rammed its horn into Charmander's midriff. Charmander only winced from the pain but was otherwise fine.
"Charmander, use Ember that should take care of Nidoran,"
Charmander summoned a flame in its throat then threw it at Nidoran. Nidoran didn't manage to dodge Charmander's attack this time and got engulfed by the flames. After the flames cleared away, Nidoran was lying on the floor knocked out. Ulrich threw a Pokéball at Nidoran and Nidoran got engulfed by it. The Pokéball moved a little on the ground, then after a few moments a light flashed around the button signalling that Nidoran was caught.
"Yes!"
Ulrich went up to pick the Pokéball, then pressed the button releasing Nidoran. Nidoran came out in a flash of light and wasn't looking very happy about being caught, hurt pride maybe?
Ulrich after capturing Nidoran went north through the patch of grass. The few Pokémon around went scattered away from Ulrich, Charmander, Psyduck and Nidoran after witnessing their display of skill and power. After going through the tall grass, the route turned west and the ground was covered in just short grass. On a whim he decided to return all his Pokémon to their Pokéballs then continued walking on.
Coming from the other side of the Route was Haru, who had just attempted to get into the Indigo Plateau, to see what was there. The guards there had denied him access and told him that he needs all eight of the badges first.
They soon began to see each other coming towards each other. A minute later they stood in front of each other.
"Hey Ulrich, you're going to the Pokémon League? Forget it; you probably don't have any badges. The guard won't let you through. By the way, did your Pokémon get any stronger?"
"Really? And yeah my Pokémon are much stronger, definitely way stronger than yours," Ulrich replied smugly.
"Let's see about that then," Haru said taking out a Pokéball and making it bigger.
"Charmander go!"
"Bulbasaur, I choose you!"
Ulrich released Charmander and Haru released Bulbasaur. The two Pokémon faced each other in battle stances ready to take on each other. Charmander looked a little bored and Bulbasaur confident.
"I've got the type advantage here you know Haru, you've lost already" Ulrich pointed out smirking at Haru.
"So you've gotten smarter, Bulbasaur Tackle!"
"Charmander use Scratch!"
Bulbasaur charged towards Charmander ready to execute its attack. Charmander however jumped over Bulbasaur when it got close to it and used its claws to scratch Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur wasn't too fazed by the attack though.
"Vine Whip," Haru said calmly.
Two slender whip like vines emerged from Bulbasaur's bulb and shot towards Charmander and started whipping it relentlessly. Charmander tried to protect itself with its arms and started to back away.
"Charmander, don't back away, grab those vines and use your Ember attack on it!"
Charmander summoned a flame ball then directed on Bulbasaur's vines. The flames travelled along the vines which acted as a conductor and struck Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur cried out in pain and was burnt severely.
"Bulbasaur, return,"
Haru returned Bulbasaur back into its Pokéball.
"What?!" Ulrich said in surprise.
"It was obvious that you were going to win that fight, you were lucky this time," Haru replied beginning to walk past Ulrich.
"Wait," Ulrich said.
"For what, I don't have the time to have a debate with you,"
Haru walked past Ulrich and back towards Viridian City. Ulrich watched him angrily; annoyed at the way Haru had just cut things off.
Haru walked out of Route 22 back into Viridian City. He took out the map of Kanto his sister gave him and looked for his path to the Pewter Gym. The guards at the Pokémon League had told him that to compete in Indigo League he had to get all eight badges then defeat the Elite Four that resided on the Indigo Plateau.
He had also asked the guards about the suspicious activity going on in Kanto. They had said that they weren't really aware about it but had heard stories. Haru thought they were telling the truth and the guards had also said that if there was anything going on the Pokémon Association would be on it already.
Haru found out from the map that he would have to go through Route 2 then Viridian Forest to get to Pewter City which was where the nearest Gym was, since the Viridian was closed. He put the map back in his bag then walked towards Route 2 which was at the north-western exit of Viridian City.
He soon saw a signpost saying Route '2' and from his viewpoint and the map, he knew that the Route pretty much just went north with a few twists. He turned east after reaching a line of trees that blocked his path then walked around them. Ahead of him now was a large area of tall grass and a ledge that he would have to go around. Through the tall grass then.
He walked through the tall grass without any problems. Haru never saw any Pokémon around which was strange because he knew that Pokémon lived in Route 2. Maybe, all of what was happening in Viridian City was related to this.
He soon reached a Lookout Station. It was a small brick building that separated Route 2 from Viridian Forest. He entered the Lookout Station and saw a dark-haired Officer woman standing by the door on the other side that opened to Viridian Forest. Haru walked towards her, and then tried to get past her to get to Viridian Forest. The Officer stopped Haru with her arm.
"Hold it! Before you go here are a few words of advice. You should really be careful out there in Viridian Forest. Strange things are happening there and it's practically a maze. Try not to get lost and get out of there before nightfall,"
"Thanks," Haru said as she put her arm down allowing him access to Viridian Forest.
Viridian Forest contrasted hugely with what Route 2 was like. The place was filled with dense, lush vegetation and huge trees that stopped most of the light coming through to the forest floor. Sounds of bugs, rustling leaves and moving branches was all Haru could hear. It was also a few degrees colder here.
Haru found it hard to see where he was going, not much light filtered through the trees and everything looked the same. He spotted a bug catcher boy sitting in front of a huge oak tree directly in front of the Lookout Station. The bug catcher spotted Haru, got up and walked to him.
"Hi, I came here with some friends and they're out for Pokémon fights,"
"Do you know the way out of here?" Haru asked him.
"I think that if you go up that path you'll be on the right track," the bug catcher said pointing to a barely noticeable path that was on the west side of him.
"Thanks," Haru said leaving to follow the path.
Haru followed the path which was barely noticeable line of bare rock that twisted and turned in places and disappeared completely in some places. He didn't think he was getting anywhere and broke into a run. After an hour, the path disappeared after he reached a section of trees and vines that were so entwined with each other that they were impassable.
Haru then turned around to go through a large patch of grass that stretched endlessly south. There were a lot of bugs that scurried away fearfully when he approached them. Kakuna and Metapod hung on the trees that were plentiful throughout the forest. Soon he was once again forced to make a turning around some trees that were impassable.
A bug catcher suddenly jumped down from one of the trees and landed in front of Haru. Haru looked at the Bug Catcher like he was crazy and the Bug Catcher pointed his index at Haru.
"Yo! You can't jam out if you're a Pokémon Trainer!"
Haru recovered his composure then tried to get past the Bug Catcher. "I'm not interested in a battle right now,"
"Yeah well, you have to Pokémon Trainer's honour and all that. Come on!" the Bug Catcher continued insistently.
"Well if you really want a battle that badly,"
"Yeah! That's the spirit," the Bug Catcher said. He took a Pokéball from his waist then through into the air releasing a small yellow larva Pokémon. "Go Weedle!"
"A Weedle, Bulbasaur will take care of it easily," Haru said releasing said Pokémon from its Pokéball. He also took the time to use his Pokédex to find out what type of Pokémon he was facing.
Weedle the hairy bug Pokémon. Type: Bug and Poison. Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp venomous stinger on its head.
"Bulbasaur use Leech Seed,"
Bulbasaur shot a seed from its bulb into the air and landed on Weedle. Vines then emerged from the seed entwining themselves around Weedle. The vines then glowed taking Weedle's energy.
"Come on Weedle, get out of there and use Tackle!"
After struggling for some time Weedle freed itself from the vines then shot towards Bulbasaur and rammed its body into it. The attack unfortunately for the Bug Catcher didn't really do anything except cause minimal bruising to Bulbasaur.
"Weedle use your String Shot, then Poison Sting!"
Weedle blew silk from its mouth to wrap around Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur clawed it away. Weedle then crawled towards Bulbasaur but before it could execute its attack...
"Bulbasaur Tackle!"
Bulbasaur ran towards Weedle it and tackled it hard into the air, causing it to faint seconds after.
"No way! Weedle return, go Kakuna!"
The Bug Catcher's next Pokémon was a yellow cone-shaped cocoon with a dome-shaped head and black triangular eyes.
Kakuna the cocoon Pokémon. Type: Bug and Poison. Almost incapable of moving, this Pokémon can only harden its shell to protect itself from predators.
"Bulbasaur Leech Seed,"
"Kakuna Harden!"
A seed emerged from Bulbasaur's bulb and flew towards Kakuna. Kakuna glowed brightly as it raised its defence in the attack. This caused Bulbasaur's Leech Seed to fail.
"Bulbasaur Tackle,"
Bulbasaur ran towards the cocoon Pokémon and jumped into the air to slam itself against Kakuna, knocking out of the air and into the ground.
"Kakuna Harden!"
"Is that all this Pokémon does?" Haru said to himself. "Bulbasaur Tackle again but this time at full strength,"
Bulbasaur once again charged towards the cocoon Pokémon and slammed its body into Kakuna with extreme force. Even though it wasn't really visible Kakuna had fainted from the attack.
"No Kakuna! Alright Weedle go!" the Bug Catcher said in frustration.
"Didn't you use that Pokémon already?" Haru asked.
"This is a different Weedle, I would never cheat!" the Bug Catcher said angry at the thought that Haru though he was cheating.
"Bulbasaur use Vine Whip,"
Bulbasaur shot two vines towards Weedle and wrapped them around it and flung Weedle into a tree behind the Bug Catcher.
"Hm, Weedle Poison Sting!"
Weedle got up and crawled towards Bulbasaur but before it could get close...
"Bulbasaur Tackle!"
Bulbasaur charged towards Weedle slamming itself again the hairy bug Pokémon. Weedle flew several feet into the air and landed in the branches of a tree.
"Weedle get yourself out of there!" the Bug Catcher shouted.
"Bulbasaur Vine Whip,"
Bulbasaur's vines flew towards Weedle and carried it out of the tree then dropped it on the ground. Weedle landed on the ground with a heavy thud, looked around groggily then quietly fainted.
"Oh man, I guess you won and using only one Pokémon as well you're really good," the Bug Catcher said resignedly.
"Do you know which way is to Pewter City?" Haru asked.
"Yeah just go around these trees and stay north; you'll see a Lookout Station in about half an hour ok,"
"Thanks," Haru said walking away from him with Bulbasaur in tow.
Haru was now walking back on his path to Pewter City. After turning around the trees Haru walked in a straight line and sure enough in about 30 minutes he was outside a Lookout Station. He opened the door and went inside. There was an old man and some other guy here, but he didn't bother to make conversation with them. He walked out the door on the other side and was on one of the other many parts of Route 2.
It was lighter here, a welcome change from the dark Viridian Forest. It was about late afternoon so the Sun would set soon since it was near the end of winter. He walked up the small road that made its way east then north after a while. He passed a large patch of tall grass and continued north where he soon came into Pewter City.
Pewter City was a relatively small city surrounded by Mountains with hard stone paths. Haru and Bulbasaur made their way to the Pokémon Centre which was conveniently placed within a few minutes of the entrance. He went inside and handed Bulbasaur to the nurse to heal it. Haru hoped to get his gym battle with the Pewter Gym Leader over quickly so that he could ask him about the strange events in Kanto.
Short chapter, but the next one will be much longer. Please review it motivates me.
NEXT CHAPTER – PEWTER CITY