People never said that going through Viridian Forest would be easy. After capturing Bulbasaur, and seeing a plethora of bug-type Pokémon, the trainers had thought that they saw it all. Little did they know, they would capture more sights not normal throughout the forest.

The three trainers walked on the path through Viridian Forest. Soru suddenly stopped and sat down.

"Bleh! How much more do we have to walk?!" He whined.

Stetson laughed. "We have about halfway done. If we continue all day, we can be there by nightfall."

"My feet hurt, though," Soru complained.

Hazel nodded. "It would be nice to take a break for awhile."

The three trainers set up a small camp so they could rest for a bit. Soru worked on making some new food items for the Pokémon. Hazel played with Bulbasaur and Mudkip while Stetson checked his stock of items and made sure that they could be ready for anything. Torchic and Squirtle played with each other.

"Finally looks like Squirtle is opening up," Stetson told Hazel.

"That and you can also consider the fact that Torchic is a lot like Soru. They are both unafraid to just talk to anyone," Hazel explained.

Squirtle stopped suddenly and looked into the distance. A figure was making their way towards the group. The figure was revealed to be a girl around the same age as the three trainers. She had mouse brown, short hair and green eyes. She wore a lavender t-shirt and blue jeans. Around her waist was a grey jacket tied into a not, and around her neck was a strap that hooked onto a camera.

She stopped and looked at the group and smiled. Hazel and Stetson were quiet. They had no desire of really making any friends. There had been many other trainers along the path. They would just go their way without any real conversation. But this girl seemed different, and Soru could sense it.

"How's it going?" Soru asked.

"Pretty good. Have you all, by chance, seen a wild Charmander around these parts?" She asked.

"I don't believe so. Are you trying to capture one?" Hazel replied.

"I guess that you can say that. I'm actually trying to 'capture' it on camera. I've heard about a rogue Charmander that lives in Viridian Forest," she explained.

"That's odd. A wild Charmander in a forest is a very rare find," Stetson noted.

"That's why I'd like to get a picture of it. I've been roaming around Viridian Forest for awhile now," she told them.

"How about you take a break! We're taking a break, and I'm about to brew up some food, if you'd like some!" Soru offered.

"I guess that I can do that," she said. She sat down on the ground and pulled out a Poké Ball. She pressed the button and a blue and yellow Pokémon emerged. "Say hi, Cyndaquil."

"Cyndaquil!" It said happily.

Hazel pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.

"Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Cyndaquil protects itself by flaring up the flames on its back. The flames are vigorous if the Pokémon is angry. However, if it is tired, the flames sputter fitfully with incomplete combustion."

"My name is Elise," Elise said.

"I'm Hazel. This is Soru and Stetson. We're heading towards Pewter for a gym battle," Hazel explained.

Soru walked up to Elise and handed her a plate of some of the food that he made. He put down a bowl in front of Cyndaquil.

"You two should try it. I've been doing good so far," Soru said with a smile.

Cyndaquil sniffed the food and looked away from it.

"I'm sorry. Cyndaquil usually won't try other foods," Elise explained. She took a bite of food from her plate and smiled. "This is fantastic!" She turned to Cyndaquil. "You should really try it!"

Cyndaquil grabbed one of the pieces of food and took a bite. It stood still for awhile, chewing the food before it began to grab more and gulp it down.

"I guess that he likes it," Elise laughed.

The trainers and Pokémon all ate their food and prepared to pack their stuff up again.

"So, Mudkip and Bulbasaur are yours, Hazel?" Elise asked.

Hazel nodded. Elise bent down and took a few pictures of both the Pokémon. She pointed her camera at Squirtle, and he quickly withdrew into his shell. Torchic stepped in front of Squirtle and struck a pose.

"Haha. Your Pokémon are a goofy bunch," Elise commented. She took a few pictures of Torchic.

"We should still be able to get to Pewter if we head out now," Stetson informed the group.

"Then we should get going. It was nice meeting you, Elise," Hazel said.

"Would you mind if I went with you? There is a good chance that Charmander is that way," Elise asked.

"Of course! It should make the adventures even better!" Soru said happily.

With that, the group continued on the path towards Pewter.

"So, we're really yet to ask, but are you a trainer or what?" Hazel asked.

"I'm actually a Pokémon Photographer. I have Cyndaquil with me and a Pokémon Egg that I found awhile back. I'm training, but my main focus is taking the perfect photos of
Pokémon," Elise explained.

"That's amazing!" Soru exclaimed

"I'm currently working on becoming a Pokémon Breeder," Stetson said. He held Squirtle in his arms.

Hazel nodded. "I'm going to be entering the Indigo League."

"What about you, Soru?" Elise asked.

"Well, I like a good cheeseburger," Soru said.

Elise laughed, thinking that he was just joking around. She suddenly stopped and stared off into the distance.

"Charmander!" She called.

She ran ahead of the group, her camera gripped and ready to snap the perfect picture. The group followed.

"I have an idea!" Soru said to himself. He stopped and took off into the trees.

"We can try to weaken it up, if you need us to!" Hazel suggested.

"No! I'd like more a natural picture," Elise replied.

Charmander took note of the trainers running at him. He glared at them and blast a smooth stream of fire towards their direction. Elise ducked the fire and snapped a photo. It was too late though; Charmander was running the other way.

"Crap!" Stetson said. "We should try to surround it."

"Can't surround it until we catch up to it," Hazel said.

The three trainers continued to run. No one noticed that Soru was missing, because of the commotion.

Charmander looked back at the trainers and smiled. Suddenly, flames flew down from the sky. They pelted the ground in front of Charmander, causing him to stop.

Soru landed in front of Charmander and grinned. "Gotcha!" Torchic stepped out from behind his leg and mimicked Soru's expression.

Elise jumped into the air and took a picture of Charmander preparing to blow more fire from his mouth. She landed on the ground hard but noticed that her picture was perfect.

"I got it!" Elise called out happily.

Hazel pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon. "The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely."

"You may want to keep an eye out for the tail then!" Hazel said.

Charmander took a step back and opened up his mouth, trying to intimidate Torchic.

"I think that it wants to battle Torchic," Hazel thought aloud.

"A contest between two fire-type Pokémon? Sounds like it could be an excellent battle," Stetson said.

"You want to give it a try?" Soru asked Torchic. Torchic, instead of answering, stepped forward and prepared to battle.

"Alright, Torchic! Try your… uh…" Soru began but couldn't think of what to say.

Before anything else could happen, Charmander let loose another smooth burst of flames. The flames hit Torchic and caused him to tumble back.

"Torchic!" Soru cried.

"You have to tell him to attack!" Stetson yelled.

"I-I don't know…" Soru whimpered.

Hazel quickly scanned Torchic for his attacks. "Scratch, Ember, and Focus Energy," she reminded him.

Soru finally snapped back. "Oh yeah! Ember, now!"

Torchic let loose small flames from his mouth. The flames smacked into Charmander and caused him to retreat slightly.

"Try your Scratch!" Soru called.

Torchic jumped into the air, barring his talons. Charmander opened up his mouth and released a heavy set of flames. The flames engulfed Torchic. Whenever the flames disappeared, Torchic fell to the ground.

"Torchic!" Soru called. He ran out and grabbed his Pokémon. "You okay, buddy?"

"Tor…chic…" he replied weakly.

"Charmander!" The Pokémon cried out. It then ran back into the bushes, disappearing from sight.

The group ran up to Soru and crowded over him.

"You okay?" Stetson asked.

Soru nodded. "Yeah. We'll just have to have Torchic rest up." He reached for his Poké Ball and returned Torchic into it.

"We should keep going," Hazel suggested.

"Do you mind if I go with you to Pewter?" Elise asked.

Soru stood up. "Sure! The more the merrier!"

Hazel smiled. She knew that Soru, deep down, was hurt. The group continued through the forest. They all knew that it would be a long way to Pewter.


A/N Kind of a short chapter. Well, short for Hazel's story atleast. I kind of think that it was sad for Soru to have lost. We've also added a knew trainer to the group, for the time being. Soru has seemed to take a liking to her. Even though, I believe that he likes anyone.

Q1) Do you think that Charmander will make a reappearance? If so, do you think Soru could capture him?

Q2) What Pokemon would you like to see Soru capture?

Two more chapters until Brock vs. Hazel!

We'll post Free and Heather's Adventure and Reaching For Indigo within the next week. Taking a break from Through the Eyes of Spade.