Jon, Kelly, Joseph, and Jaya were strolling down Route 1. Kelly and Jaya were in a conversation about what to see once they left the fields and made it to Viridian City. They had been able to find a nice area to sleep through their first night, but it had been uncomfortable due to random Rattata invading their sleep. Joseph was reading a map to make sure that they did not get lost. Jon was gazing into patches of grass, looking for a Pokemon to catch. Their Pokemon were behind them exploring nature.

Jon inched over to a patch of particularly tall patch of grass. Nidoran slowly moved behind Jon as well, not sure what his trainer was doing, but quiet nonetheless. Jon waited, and started to think, what Pokemon would he find first? A Rattata, or maybe a Pidgey? Would it be weak, or would it be strong? Was it possible that it could be special, like a different color? Questions swam through Jon's head as he waited for any sign of motion. He waited for many minutes, and would have done more if someone hadn't called his name.

"Jon!" yelled Kelly, who had startled Jon into jumping out of fright. "Get your butt over here! We don't have all day!" As Jon looked over, he saw what she meant. Kelly and Charmander

Kelly a few feet away from him, while Jon could barely see the figures of Joseph and Jaya in the distance. He started to say sorry to the angry brunette, when he caught the tiniest swish of grass out of the corner of his eye.

Jon immediately turned towards it. He saw a rustle again and sprang into action. "Nidoran, use Peck!" he ordered. The Pokemon obeyed, lowering his horn and bounding into the grass. A sound of collision was heard, and an unknown force knocked Nidoran backwards, looking dazed but unharmed. Jon was about to call out a follow-up command when he heard a sound.

"Ay," said the voice of a nasal boy. "Who's there? Show ya' self! I'm warning ya- I'm armed!" Out of the grass stepped a boy who seemed to have been living in nature. He wore normal clothes, but they were torn and smudged everywhere. His black jeans were in the same state. On top of his head was the most ridiculous fedora Jon had ever seen- it had skulls, bones and hearts on a purple background. The boy himself was very pale, and had sharp, red eyes under long hair as white as his skin in a ponytail. On his face was a scowl that gave Jon goosebumps down his back that told him that something was wrong. Upon seeing, Jon, however, the scowl turned into a wicked smile. The boy approached Jon, and with a quick movement of his hand, pointed a pistol at Jon.

"Empty ya pockets, boy!" He cried as he aimed the gun. "Ya bag too!"

As Jon hastily moved to do just that, his hands a jittery mess. The contents of his pockets fell onto the ground, the sound muffled by the grass. As Jon reached to pull off his bag, he began to worry. Would this robber take Nidoran too? What about his Pokedex? Did his Pokemon journey come to an end so soon?

No sooner as he grabbed the first items did he see a shadow out of the corner of his eye. The boy also saw it, and turned his gun towards it. His handle on it was incorrect, and as the gun was fired, Jon noticed the boy's wrist snap all the way back. Before even a single scream could be made, a whooshing sound changed Jon's attention to the source of the sound.

With a better look, Jon was able to see his savior. A large, purple Pokemon floated in the air. From what Jon could remember from TV, it was a Gengar. The bullet had passed through the ghost type, and instead hit a very unfortunate yellow Caterpie. The Gengar had created a wave of dark energy, which triggered the whooshing, and the mugger was knocked unconscious. The Gengar looked at Jon for a few moments before hovering over to a trainer standing in the middle of the grass.

The trainer was a young woman. Her hair was a dirty blonde, and her eyes a dull brown. She wore a leather jacket over a tan shirt and jeans that fit her form well. She glanced at the Gengar for a moment, before looking away. Following her gaze, Jon noticed an Alakazam next to Kelly, who was in a situation similar to Jon's. As the situation resolved similarly, the Alakazam scooped up Kelly and her Charmander before teleporting to the tree. A Machamp lumbered up to the boy Jon and scooped him up before doing the same with the other. It dropped them off at the foot of the tree before a Golem surrounded them with rocks that rolled off its body.

The trainer looked at the events with a look of contempt. She pulled out four Pokeballs, which opened and returned Gengar, Alakazam, Machamp, and Golem to their ball. "Four days," she sighed "This area of Route 1 was closed down for four days before we opened it back up, and we only found two of them cuz they got greedy." She looked at Jon "Hey you, pick your stuff off the ground. It's gonna get dirty." Jon did so, and she spoke again, this time in Kelly's. "And you, that was dangerous. Don't try that again. Now both of ya, get outta here."

Jon met Kelly back on the path to Viridian, where Joseph and Jaya sat patiently by playing a game of Blackjack.

"You two took a minute," remarked Jaya as she drew a 9. She put her cards down to stay at 20. "We almost decided to leave." Joseph then put down a 20 as well, and then he put the cards back into a box.

"Not my fault," said Kelly. "It was Jon here who wasn't paying attention."

Jon chuckled. "You had a guy two feet in front of you, and you didn't even notice."

"That's not what I was talking about! Had you decided to at least tell us where you were going, this wouldn't have happened. You're lucky I even decided to try to bring you back! Just imagine the headline 'Local Boy Killed Because of Pidgey!'"

"That's kind of morbid." Joseph noted. "It couldn't have been that bad. Who would fight over a Pidgey?"

Kelly looked at him in shock. If steam had rushed out of her ears, Jon wouldn't have been surprised. "No wonder you're siding up with him! You don't even know what happened! This idiot over here decided that it was a good idea to not even pay attention to where he was going! And then he decides to say that I should've been the one to pay more attention! Well no! This is not how that works!" She glared at Jon, her fists trembling with anger. She turned back towards Joseph "For your information, we almost got mugged. Had somebody paid attention, he wouldn't have gotten stranded. Had it not been for that lady, we would have been dead!" She seemed to be content with Joseph's look of surprise

"Being dead seems a bit like an overreaction," Jon said. "I think that you just need to-"

His words were cut off by a fist connecting to the side of his mouth. The first was followed by another to the gut. He fell on his back and moved out of the way just before a foot would have been planted on his forehead. His hat, however, was smushed. Kelly had a fire in her eyes that worried Jon. What worried him more was the wicked grin on her face.

Jon scrambled up to his feet. "I'm just saying," he panted. "What makes you so sure that we could've died there?" God,he thought. Why can't I keep my mouth shut.

"W-W-What?" Kelly growled. "How do I know that we could've died? It's because of you! Whatever you did to cause that gunshot made the other guy think something was wrong! He was convinced that we were working for the police! We could've gotten shot, because your dumbass decided that you should try to be brave and be a hero!

"That's not what happened!" Jon explained. A hot feeling started swelling up in his chest. Where are Joseph and Jaya? He looked around, and saw that conveniently, two more muggers decided to show their faces. He was alone against her. That feeling grew. "He tried to shoot at a Gengar! I didn't do anything!"

His explanation was in vain. "Like I should believe you!" Kelly snapped. She started to sneer at him. The feeling was so big that he could barely think straight. "First you put EVERYTHING in front of safety, which hurt more than you, and then you lie to me? Wow, what a shitty person you are!"

Jon suddenly felt the feeling go away, but he felt anger that was worse than he had ever felt before. "And what about you?" He snarled. "You decided to try and "help" me, putting yourself in the same situation. All your attempt at "safety" did was make a situation worse. And speaking about safety, how the hell did you not even notice a guy who was two feet in front of you? TWO FEET! Who's the one putting everything in front of safety now? And not only that, but you don't even listen to reason! When I tried to explain what happened, you punched me in the goddamn face! What kind of friend does that? A horrible one, that's who!"

The minute was a blur to Jon. Kelly had attacked again, but he retaliated. After that, he remembered nothing except a grip on his arms that forced him away from Kelly. Joseph and Jaya had physically restrained both of them, and held on tight despite the struggling that occurred. When both seemed to calm down, they were released.

Jon immediately went over to his hat. "Fuck this," he said. "There is no way that I can go on a long journey with this twitchy, hypocritical who has the temper of a damn rock." He quickly walked away from his friends, only to realize that his Pokemon was not moving. "Nidoran, let's go." When Nidoran did not move, Jon spoke louder. "I said let's go!" Still unmoving Jon marched over to the Pokemon and grabbed it by the neck, despite the struggling that was done. As he turned to leave for sure, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't go." Said Joseph. "It was only one fight. You can get over it."

"Yeah, when a Slowpoke outspeeds a Jolteon." Jon retorted. "I'd rather lose my left eye than forgive her." He forcefully pushed the hand away and ran off, hoping to get as far away as possible.

Sorry about the wait!. I got very caught up with some stuff, but Part 7 is here. I should be able to start posting some more stuff now, so be prepared!