Red took several deep breaths to steady himself as he stared across the giant battlefield, though he knew that his Charmander and Rattata didn't really stand a chance against a Geodude and Rhyhorn. Across the arena, Minerva had finished healing her Pokémon, and so heaved her first Poké Ball onto the field. "Geodude, go!" she called out.

The ball split open, allowing the spherical floating boulder to materialize yet again. "Geodude," grunted Geodude.

"OK," Red said quietly to himself as he frantically racked his brain for possible strategies. When nothing that seemed likely to work came to him, he ceased this and instead simply took a Poké Ball off his belt, enlarged it, and tossed it onto the rocky field. "I choose you, Rattata!" called Red.

Rattata emerged onto the battlefield as soon as the Poké Ball opened up. It landed on the ground and faced Geodude defiantly, not seeming to care about its apparent disadvantage.

"Geodude, Tackle attack now!" Minerva called.

"Rattata, Tail Whip!" Red ordered.

As Geodude charged forward, Rattata wheeled around and wagged its tail. Bewildered at this pointless action, Geodude slowed down.

"Don't let your defense down, Geodude, that's what they're after!" Minerva warned. "Use Defense Curl!"

"Geodude," replied Geodude as it landed on the ground and folded its arms tightly, seeming to now form a perfect sphere.

"Use Quick Attack!" Red shouted.

"Rrrrrrrrrattata!" shrieked Rattata as it charged across the battlefield at blinding speeds and struck Geodude. Thought the Rock Pokémon obviously wasn't hurt that much by the attack, it remained unable to, in its current spherical state, stop itself from rolling backwards uncontrollably as a result of the impact. Geodude rolled back until it crashed into the back wall.

"Wow," Orange said. "That was pretty cool."

"I wasn't sure if that would work," said Red. "Nice job, Rattata."

"Rattata!" exclaimed Rattata happily.

"Come on, Geodude," encouraged Minerva as her Pokémon unsteadily rose back into the air, still apparently dizzy from its unexpected trip.

"Duuuude," groaned Geodude.

"Shake it off, Geodude, you've taken harder hits than that before. Show them your Mega Punch!"

"Rattata, return," Red said as he held out the Poké Ball. The red beam of light exploded forth from the Poké Ball's button, recalling Rattata before Geodude could even begin its attack. Red then threw another ball. "Charmander, let's go!" he shouted.

The Poké Ball split open in midair and spilled out a mass of shapeless white energy which quickly formed itself into Red's Fire-type. "Char, char!" it exclaimed.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!" Minerva called out.

"Charmander Growl!" Red ordered.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!" Charmander shouted, its voice noticeably more grating than usual. Geodude held out its arms, but before the rocks could form, it was clapping its hands over what Red supposed were its ears, groaning in agony as Charmander continued the Growl attack.

"Smart move," Violet commented. "Growl lowers an opponent's attacking power."

"Now, Charmander, Ember!" Red commanded.

"Char char char!" Charmander responded as it wheeled around and wagged its tail as Rattata had done. Small flames flew off of its tail and struck Geodude, who had only begun to recover from the Growl attack.

"Mega Punch now!" Minerva called out.

"Dude!" Geodude shouted as it suddenly charged forward, its right fist connecting with Charmander's stomach, sending it flying backwards Charmander screamed as it landed on the ground in front of Red and began to unsteadily climb back to its feet.

"Charmander, take a rest," said Red as he held the ball out. Once Charmander had been withdrawn, Red threw his other Poké Ball. "Back out again, Rattata!"

"Rattata!" exclaimed Rattata upon being sent out again. Red then got a proper look at Geodude and noticed that parts of its rocky hide had been blackened.

"Yes!" Red exclaimed. "Charmander's Ember attack burned Geodude! Rattata, let's finish this! Use Quick Attack!"

"Ratta...TAAAA!" bellowed Rattata. Instead of charging forward, however, a stream of water issued from its gaping mouth, striking Geodude hard.

"WHAT?!" Minerva screamed. "How the..."

"I can't believe it!" Violet exclaimed. "The training worked after all! Red, Rattata's learned Water Gun!"

"Yes! YES!" cheered Red. "It's not over yet! Rattata, Water Gun once more!"

"Ratta... TAAAA!" repeated Rattata as it issued another jet of water.

"Quick, Geodude, Mega Punch now!" Minerva ordered, but too late; Rattata's Water Gun connected with the semiconscious Rock-type, and it fell to the floor with a loud crashing noise, where it made no effort to get back up.

"Geodude, return," scowled Minerva, clearly displeased that her Pokémon had been defeated by such a stroke of luck. "Not bad, Red, but you'll soon learn that luck can only get you so far. Rhyhorn, I choose you!"

Minerva yelled these last four words as she launched her second Poké Ball, unleashing her Rhyhorn into the fray.

"Rattata, Water Gun! Let's end it here and now!" Red called out.

"Rhyhorn, Bide!" Minerva shouted.

As Rhyhorn began to focus, Rattata fired off a continuous stream of water from its mouth.

"Don't give it a chance to launch Bide!" Red warned Rattata. "You keep that Water Gun going, Rattata! Soak that Rhyhorn until it faints!"

After many tense seconds of watching, Rhyhorn suddenly fired off a large yellow beam of energy, cutting through the continual Water Gun, and plowing Rattata halfway into the ground. As the Rat Pokémon struggled to climb back out, Minerva gave another command; "Finish it with Stomp!"

Rhyhorn dashed forwards at a high speed. Despite Red's frantic commands for more Water Gun usage, Rattata was too worn out to do much more than continue to pull itself out of the ground. Rhyhorn then reared up upon approaching Rattata and brought its right front foot down hard on it. As it backed off, a clearly unconscious Rattata could be seen.

"No... Rattata, return," Red sighed as he withdrew Rattata. "I can't believe I made the same mistake Violet did."

"I can't believe that Water Gun couldn't knock out Rhyhorn," Violet said.

"I can't believe it's not butter," said Orange. "What?" he added defensively as Violet glared at him.

"Well, this is it, then," Red said as he threw another Poké Ball. "Charmander, it's up to you!"

As Charmander reappeared, it was clear that though it had recovered somewhat, it had retained most of the damage dealt by Geodude's Mega Punch.

"Let's make this quick, Rhyhorn," said Minerva. "Horn Attack!"

"Charmander, Ember attack!" Red shouted.

Charmander wheeled around, wagging its tail and sending embers flying as Rhyhorn charged forward. The flames pelted its body, but it did not slow down. It collided with Charmander, horn-first, knocking it backwards.

"Charmander!" Red shouted as his Pokémon struggled to get back to its feet for the second time in one battle. This time, however, most of the attempt was obscured by the sudden appearance of a dazzling white glow around Charmander's entire body.

"Oh, come on!" Minerva exclaimed. "It was kinda cool when the Metapod did it, but now it's downright repetitive!"

Indeed, Charmander was evolving.

"Yes! YES!" Red exclaimed loudly, as he tried and failed to conceal a wide grin as the glow faded, revealing Charmander to have been replaced by a slightly taller creature. Though built similarly to Charmander, this Pokémon looked decidedly more powerful. Maybe it was what appeared to be a perpetual look of total confidence in its eyes, maybe it was the fact that its tail was thicker and longer, topped with a larger flame, maybe it was the fact that its formerly orange scales were now a bright crimson.

"Chaaaaaaaar!" roared the new Pokémon in a decidedly deeper voice.

"Oh, sweet! It evolved into a Charmeleon!" Orange breathed, holding out his Pokédex as Red did the same.

"Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon, and the evolved form of Charmander," said both Pokédexes simultaneously. "Charmeleon is at its happiest when engaged in a tough fight. It attacks its foes mercilessly and will not stop until it has won."

Red then looked at his Pokédex- it was displaying a new move for Charmeleon. Still grinning, he and Charmeleon exchanged looks. Both of them were now very confident.

"Ready to win this, Charmeleon?" asked Red.

"Char," Charmeleon replied, nodding.

"Then let's give them a Flamethrower!" Red commanded. Charmeleon was more than happy to oblige as it unleashed from its mouth a massive stream of flames. Rhyhorn, on Minerva's frantic command, prepared to use Bide, but the move proved to be far too much for the Spikes Pokémon to handle. Charmeleon stopped the attack after a few moments, at which point the completely charred and blackened Rhyhorn tipped over and fell on its side with an earth-shaking crash, and moved no more.

"WE DID IT!" Red cheered loudly. "I won! We won! Come here, Charmeleon!"

As Red and Charmeleon hugged each other, Minerva sighed, wordlessly withdrew Rhyhorn, then approached Red.

"Well, even if it did seem a little too much like how Violet won," said Minerva, "the fact remains that you beat me, fair and square, Red." She then held out her hand, in which was contained a Gravel Badge and a TM34. Red accepted them gratefully.

"Thanks," he said as he withdrew Charmeleon. "I still can't believe we did it, though!"

"So where are you three headed next, anyway?" asked Minerva. "Going after all the badges?"

"That we are," said Red. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know where the nearest Gym is?"

"Well, there's the Ivadirin Gym, though I heard the leader's been absent for some time now," said Minerva. "There's a Gym in Ruceelna City, you might want to check that out. It's just on the other side of Moon Canyon.

"Moon Canyon?" repeated Red.

"Yeah," said Orange. "It's supposed to be this large canyon that supposedly started forming when a huge meteor from space crashed into the ground and split it in half."

"Correct," said Minerva.

As the trio exited the Gym and made for the Pokémon Center, Red spoke up again. "In Kanto, there's a city just east of Pewter City, called Cerulean City. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that Ruceelna is spelled R-U-C-E-E-L-N-A?

"Yeah, why- ohhhhhhh," said Orange. "Those letters when rearranged, spell Cerulean?"

"Yep," said Red.

"Still freaky," sighed Orange, shaking his head.

"What about Moon Canyon?" asked Violet. "Anything like that in Kanto?"

Red shook his head. "No canyons, but between Pewter City and Cerulean City, there's this huge mountain called Mt. Moon, which supposedly formed from a large meteor. I'm guessing Moon Canyon was named because the meteor that crashed was supposed to have been from the moon?"

"Bingo," said Orange. "According to rumor, the meteor broke into thousands of fragments- Moon Stones, which can be used to evolve various Pokémon."

"Those I know about," Red nodded. "Professor Oak told me about them. So, should we head out?"

"I'm thinking we should hit the Pokémon Center first, actually," said Violet. "Almost all of our Pokémon are kinda wiped out from the gym."

"Good point," conceded Red, who then proceeded to lead the way to the Pokémon Center, ignoring Orange's whining about how they were supposedly wasting valuable time. Orange continued in this vein as they entered the center, as the nurse healed their Pokémon, and as they exited.

"...and furthermore, going back to the Pokémon Center is gonna take so long, you know how crowded these places get at this time of the day, and-"

"ORANGE!" shouted Violet. "In case you haven't noticed, we just left the Pokémon Center. It took less than two minutes for that nice nurse to heal our Pokémon. And we most certainly have not wasted our entire day!"

"...oh," Orange replied lamely at length. "Well, it still could've gone that way easily."

"Orange?" said Violet.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Minutes later, they approached a road of roof tiles, drywall, and tree bark, flanked by what appeared to be large heaps of crushed ice, pencil shavings, and clumps of grass. According to a nearby sign, they were leaving Rewept City and approaching Route -3.

"Alright, let's try and catch more Pokémon!" Orange exclaimed excitedly as he ran down the road, looking excitedly in all directions. Violet sighed and followed at a leisurely pace, followed by Red, who was warily eyeing a distant swarm of .4.

Before long, Orange screeched to a halt, as he spotted floating before him a rectangular Pokémon with orange and purple markings. It was at least three feet wide, though no more than a foot tall. It gave an unintelligible squeak upon noticing Orange, Red, and Violet, the latter two of whom had just caught up.

"What is that?" Red asked. As an answer, Orange held out his Pokédex.

"A, the Speed Demon Pokémon," droned the device. "A has exceptionally pitiful offensive capabilities, but is among the fastest of any known Pokémon. Very rare, A prefer to live solitary lives."

"Oh, sweet!" Orange exclaimed. "A are so rare! I gotta catch this!" Wasting no time, he took a Poké Ball and launched it. "Attack it, Q!" he exclaimed.

The ball opened up, allowing Orange's Q to materialize. At the sight of its Water/Psychic adversary, A rose slightly to match Q's height.

"Q, use your Headbutt attack!" ordered Orange.

"Kyuuuu," replied Q softly as it charged forward. A reacted swiftly by cartwheeling in place, resembling an oddly colored propeller as it unleashed a powerful wind. Q cried out in pain as the attack landed.

"That's A's Razor Wind," warned Violet.

"Yeah, I know that!" Orange replied impatiently. "Q, try Confusion!"

Q launched a beam of blue psychic energy, to which A responded by firing off a barrage of gold coins from the center of its body. The Pay Day attack was not nearly enough to keep Confusion at bay. Indeed, as the Psychic move struck its Normal/Normal-type target, Q made use of its psychic powers to pick up the coins and drop them in Orange's pockets. Upon taking the hit, A did not hit the ground, but it did seem a little less steady in its floating. Satisfied, Orange produced an empty Poké Ball from his backpack. A squeaked in fright at the sight of the sphere.

"Poké Ball! Go!" Orange shouted. Screaming in protest, A zipped away and was back within seconds, shoving what appeared to be a brown bird with red wings into the path of the sphere instead. This new Pokémon was violently struggling against the A, but was suctioned into the ball nonetheless. Once this happened, A flew off into the distance with such swiftness that Red merely had to blink before the Speed Demon Pokémon was gone.

"Awww!" Orange complained as he picked up the Poké Ball. "I wanted A! Not this thing!"

"What did you catch, anyway?" asked Red. "It all happened so fast I didn't get a good look."

In answer, Orange threw the ball straight up. In a flash of light, his new Pokémon materialized. Its plumage, though mainly brown, was also black in some spots, mainly the back of its head. Its wing feathers, on the other hand, were crimson.

"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," droned Orange's Pokédex. "Spearow will fly at great speeds in order to defend its territory. It is known for its vicious temperament."

"Speeeeeeeeeearowwww!" cawed the Spearow, obviously displeased at having been captured as it dove towards Orange, who ducked just in time.

"Call it back, Orange!" Violet shouted.

"Spearow, return now!" Orange called hastily, holding out the Poké Ball as Spearow wheeled around for a second attempt.

"Orange, maybe you should release Spearow," said Red. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you finally caught a Pokémon I'm actually familiar with, but it seems a bit unruly."

"Are you kidding?" responded Orange, breaking out into a wide grin. "Spearow's just gotta get used to me, that's all. Nothing a few battles won't fix. Come on!" And he took off down the road yet again.

"Don't take it personally, Red," sighed Violet as the two of them began walking after Orange yet again. "The better the advice is, the less likely he is to take it."

"I'm beginning to pick up on that, yeah," replied Red.

"Hey! I saw you in Ivadirin Forest!" exclaimed a young boy dressed in a white shirt, shorts, and a wide-brimmed hat. A butterfly net was slung over his shoulder.

Orange screeched to a halt and addressed the youth. "Jimmy?"

"No, no, my name's Calvin," replied the Bug Catcher. "I know Jimmy, though. No, I just saw you running for the exit last night, like your life depended on it. What was that about anyway?"

"Long story," shrugged Orange as Violet and Red caught up. "But you didn't stop me just to hear that."

"That's what I want to hear from a Pokémon Trainer!" exclaimed Calvin, suddenly producing a Poké Ball and throwing it. "Pokémon fight! Go, Caterpie!"

Calvin's Poké Ball split open to reveal the diminutive Bug-type, identical to what Flutters had looked like when Violet first caught it. Orange suppressed a shudder at the sight of Caterpie, then threw his own Poké Ball. "Let's do it! Spearow, I choose you!"

"Orange, are you insane?" Violet demanded as Spearow emerged from the ball, cawing loudly.

"I know what I'm doing," Orange said dismissively as he consulted his Pokédex. "Spearow, use Peck!"

"Speeeeee!" was Spearow's response as it rose high into the air and dove back down- right at Orange. Calvin and his Caterpie exchanged glances as Orange evaded an attack from his own Pokémon.

"Not me, birdbrain!" exclaimed Orange. "Attack the Caterpie! Peck!"

"Rooooooowwwwwwwwwwww!" replied Spearow as it dive-bombed its trainer yet again, who had to back up hastily to evade it (stepping on Violet's feet in the process)

"Yeah, this is going nowhere fast," Calvin said as he withdrew Caterpie. "Good luck with that angry bird."

"Hey... HEY, THAT MEANS YOU FORFEIT, YOU KNOW!" bellowed Orange as Calvin walked away. "I WIN BY DEFAUL- OW! Spearow, cut that out!" he added as Spearow slammed into its trainer's head. Orange hastily made to withdraw Spearow. "What?" he asked, for Violet was looking at him and rolling her eyes. "It's a forfeit if the other guy just gives up and walks away, right?"

"Pretty sure in an official match, you'd have been disqualified for using a disobedient Pokémon long before the opponent would have thought to quit," said Violet.

"Well, how else is Spearow gonna learn to obey me?" Orange said defensively. "Gotta work with it, don't I?"

"He's got a point, I guess," conceded Red.

"Fine," Violet sighed, rolling her eyes yet again. "Just don't use it against other trainers until it starts listening to you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever- ooh! Another trainer!" Orange exclaimed, having spotted a figure in the distance. "Hey! HEY! You want to battle my Spearow?" he shouted as he ran after the figure.

"I see what you mean about how he takes advice," said Red as he and Violet walked off after him.