The sun had begun to sink quite low into the sky by the time Red finally left the hospital. The first streaks of pink and orange were slowly painting their way across the sky from where the sun was sitting in the west. Riza, curled up tightly in Red's arms, let out a small growl as the sunlight struck her. It had almost sounded like a purr, more of a feline sound that could come from a Meowth or a Delcatty than a reptilian one from a Charmander. It made Red grin to think of a strange thing like that. It was frankly adorable. As per usual, Piyo was comfortably resting in Red's hair. He'd decided to go hatless for the day because of her, providing a more comfortable nest than his hat would be.
"Brr. It's a bit chilly, isn't it? That's April for you," Red said to his Pokemon, shifting Riza to his left arm so that he could try to grab a light coat from his bag. He had to be careful balancing both Pokemon as well as his bag in a way that no one would be dropped. Once he actually had his coat, it was much easier to put it on. Just a bit of shifting Riza around was involved. Sure, he could've just stopped and put Riza down to do that, but she seemed so content, and he didn't want to disturb her. Thankfully, the chill wasn't so much that it took away from the beautiful day. The high up clouds were nice and puffy, there was just enough breeze to stir the cool, crisp air and there weren't so many people that the streets were clogged. Red knew that it was different in the middle of the day, when people were all out and about. Even with all the beauty around, it still wasn't enough to lift Red's mood completely. Satoshi was still in a coma in the hospital after all. Red wouldn't cry anymore- the time for tears had passed long ago- but he also couldn't help certain morbid thoughts that wanted to flit through his mind, unwanted for sure but never leaving. They overshadowed many of his other thoughts, leaving him to wonder if he'd ever see his brother awake and whole again. It had been over ten years since they'd lost their father, but it would still be devastating to lose someone else. He instinctively brushed his hand over the ring hidden under his shirt on its chain. Along with Akira, two of his Pokemon had died. Only his closest partners, Arky and Mystic had survived. They'd barely made it home themselves, and Mystic had died soon after coming home
Riza seemed to notice Red's crappy mood and let out a chirping sound of concern, burrowing a bit beneath his jacket. It hadn't even been a week since they'd met yet, and already fierce loyalty twinkled in her blue-green eyes. It made Red wonder what he'd ever done to deserve Pokemon like her and Piyo. The more devoted they were, the more Red wanted to return that loyalty and devotion, being a trainer that they could rely on for trust, love and comfort. After all, without the Pokemon, a trainer was nothing.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. Just a bunch of thoughts flying around is all," Red responded to Riza's concern. He scratched underneath her chin a bit, and she gave her purr-like growl again. All curled up like she was, it was hard to imagine the immense power that she carried.
As Red was walking, he came to a rather stunning realization. He had absolutely no idea where the gym was. Having to juggle his Pokemon around again, he carefully pulled his town map out of his bag. It was a traditional paper map as opposed to the Pokegear map that most of the people he knew used, and the maps for larger cities unfolded outwards to prevent users from having to flip back and forth between the various pages. Of course, none of that helped him when he tripped on some stray garbage and nearly fell on his face trying to pull the damn thing out, but it did have its uses. The alarming almost fall did cause Riza to let out a shrill chirp, almost painful to the ear. It was an intentionally attention grabbing sound. That and some other clues had led Red to believe that the chirping meant Riza was in some sort of distress, whether it be fear or concern or some other emotion.
"Sorry Riza," Red held onto his partner more tightly, hoping his grip wasn't too tight. He didn't want to hurt her at all. Then, he zipped up his bag and held up the map in front of him, flipping through the pages to the back where Viridian City was. The cities and towns were in alphabetical order to make it easy to find the right ones. Red was able to see quite a few of the other cities on the way. As huge as Viridian City seemed, it was practically a dwarf compared to most of the other cities. Navigating the next few, Pewter and Viridian Cities, would be even harder.
"Huh. Looks like the gym is relatively close to here. Makes sense considering we're near the Pokemon Center," Red said, wheeling around to walk in the complete opposite direction he'd been going because he'd apparently picked the wrong way when leaving the Center.
Behind the page the map was on was a factoid page of some sort, detailing tourist information, trainer tips, some history and just some general facts too. They had the gym leader listed. Apparently, he was a mysterious man by the name of Giovanni. No last name given. He specialize in Ground-types. Maybe not the best idea for a first gym, considering that Riza, Red's strongest Pokemon was a Fire-type. Then again, the next two were rock and water and wouldn't be any easier. At least Piyo could withstand Ground-type attacks. He turned the page, seeing a picture of Giovanni, and immediately had to stifle a laugh. With that tacky orange suit, it was a wonder he wasn't the laughingstock of Kanto. Then again, he looked almost like he belonged in the mafia, like Team Rocket. Maybe that's how he kept a good reputation, with his intimidation. After all, there was no way the League would actually hire a Team Rocket member to be a gym leader.
It wasn't long before the gym, and with it Green, came into Red's view. The other trainer was looking at the door, the fading sunlight lighting up his caramel colored hair with golden light. Red's hair was the wrong color to do something like that, not that he'd want to stand out like that so much. Once he got close enough, he could see that what Green was looking at was some sort of sign hung on the door.
"What's going on?" Red asked, feeling Riza stretch up her head to get a better view. He grinned at the thought that Piyo probably had the best view of anyone in the small group, and she had most likely fallen asleep. She wasn't moving or making any noise, and that typically meant she was sleeping.
"Gym's closed. Stupid gym leader is on vacation or some bullcrap," Green grumbled, his pseudo self censoring from Professor Oak's constant shouts for Green to mind his language still shone through. Zeni was out of his Pokeball, stomping around with an expression that perfectly matched the angry expression on Green's face. Maybe the saying that Pokemon tended to take after their trainers had some meat to it. Red decided to put down Riza, who dashed off to say hi to Zeni, but Red could tell that she was keeping watch on him out of the corner of her eye. She was a very diligent partner.
"Well, that sucks," Red said, watching the two Pokemon play together. They rolled around like balls all over the ground.
"You bet it does. To have a badge this early? I'd be way ahead of the other trainers!" Green was obviously upset about that, which confused Red a bit. There were sixteen other active gyms in Kanto and one that was in the inspection stage, and there was at least one in less than a weeks walk from Viridian.
"Just try the Pewter gym, then. The leader there is Brock, right? A Rock-type user. You'd sweep that gym easily with Zeni and a bit of training," Red suggested. That gym was not going to be fun for Red. Both of his current Pokemon were weak against Rock-types, and neither of them had moves that would work very well against Brock's Pokemon.
"Sure, and be at the same level as all the other trainers coming from Pallet Town when we get to Pewter City. No one ever thinks to stop at the Viridian gym," Green grumbled, crossing his arms in a grumpy way.
"I think that's just us actually. No one else in our age group decided to be a trainer. Something you'd know if your head wasn't always in your butt. Why is the badge so important this early anyway? You've barely had any training," Red was as confused as a Psyduck in a rodeo.
"You're such a Pokemon nerd, and you don't know what a badge does? What kind of lame nerd are you?" Green shouted.
"Well, I'm a Pokemon nerd. That and League nerd are two different things," Red said defensively.
"Badges are a sign of power and authority. Stronger Pokemon are more likely to accept trainers with more badges, and they strengthen the bond between Pokemon and trainer. I think it was something about the material or some jazz like that I guess. How do you not know this stuff?" Green was obviously just rattling off memorized facts for the first part of that, his voice full of incredulousness. Red shrugged, feeling Piyo stir in his hair. It seemed she had woken up and was now trying to fix her 'nest' or something.
"I missed the intro classes back with Professor Oak when we were eleven, remember?" Red mentioned the classes that Professor Oak had held every few years for kids who wanted to be Pokemon trainers. They'd been held just a few weeks after Satoshi had gotten into his accident. At the time, Red's mom had forbidden him and Flare from even thinking about going on a Pokemon journey for almost a year. Thankfully, she'd come to her senses eventually and allowed Red to go on the promise that he wouldn't do anything too dangerous. Of course, that promise had already been broken, though unintentionally.
"Riiiiight. Forgot about that. Your mom was looney when we were eleven," now it was Green's turn to shrug. "Doesn't matter now, since I just told you about the badges anyway."
Red was about to answer when Riza was sent tumbling into Red's knee. He winced a bit, feeling a burning sensation before she pulled away to go after Zeni, and her flame went with her. Zeni's expression was anything but apologetic for that. Red leaned down to look at it, wondering why the flame burned all of a sudden when it had never hurt before. Usually, her fire was only warm. Thankfully, it wasn't very bad. It was barely pink, but there was some shine to it. It burned obviously, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever felt. It would be easily fixed once Red could get his hands on some Rawst juice. Green didn't even seem to notice, but Riza turned around and did. She chirped loudly and waved her tail as she saw the burn, and an embarrassed look crossed her face as if she hadn't meant to do it. Red was confident that she hadn't. She would never hurt him intentionally.
"Hey, it's ok. It's just a small burn. I'll get some Rawst juice for it later. We need to stop at the Pokemart anyway," Red assured his partner. She still looked worried, so he reached out to scratch her head. It seemed to calm her quite a bit. "It's barely as bad as a cooking burn from a hot pan."
"You two are so cute that it's sickening," Green said as he fake gagged. He seemed to have finally notice that Red had been burned.
"You be quiet," Red shot back, his face turning as red as his name suggested. What was so weird about him comforting his Pokemon partners? What was actually weird was how Green always knew exactly what to say to get on Red's nerves. It was like the taller trainer was psychic or something.
"Hey, it's none of my business what you do in your spare time," Green smirked at Red, knowing how much of a bother he was being. He had crossed over from annoyingville to the realm of deliberately antagonistic. It made Red wonder why in the world he was friends with the jerk. Probably because he was Red's only friend at the moment.
"What are you insinuating?" Red was up to his ears in burning heat by this point. Green really needed to shut up soon.
"I'm not insinuating anything you dork. Anyway, up for a battle?" Green's abrupt change of subject left Red speechless for a second.
"Sure, I guess," the slightly shorter trainer took a second to clear the fuzz out of his brain. "I mean yea! I'm in."
"Alright. Two on two, ok? Don't wanna give myself an unfair advantage. You'd have no way of winning then. Come on. I think there's a park behind the gym," Green grabbed Zeni and dashed off around the side of the gym.
"You're going to be the death of me," Red grumbled, then taking a second whistle for Riza he turned to follow his fellow trainer. The Charmander climbed up onto Red's shoulder, small claws digging into his shoulder. The fire on her tail aggravated his burn slightly as she passed over his leg, even with it being much cooler than before. The trainer and his Pokemon followed Green into the wide field behind the empty gym. It definitely looked like a well maintained park, with grass that was cut short, a fountain spraying water full of rainbows into the air and a thin sidewalk path that went around the fountain and off into some trees. There were benches and lights as well, but they were further off, the patch of grass Green and Red were standing in being mostly unmarred.
"Two on two! No substitutions!" Green called out, already sending out his first Pokemon, "Kora, you're up." A Rattata came out of the Pokeball in a burst of white light. A small purple rat Pokemon, Kora acted much fiercer than he looked.
"Guess you're raring to go, then. Piyo, you up for a battle?" Red responded. Piyo, who was an eager battler despite being an avid sleeper, flew out of Red's hair and onto the field, taking a strand or two of Red's raven hair with her sharp talons, "Ow…" Red hoped that being a Flying-type would give Piyo an advantage over Kora, even though the fact that Piyo only really knew two moves remained clear in his mind.
"I'll take the first move. Kora, use Quick Attack!" Green called to the battle ready Pokemon. Kora responded smoothly to the order with an attack that Piyo wasn't fast enough to dodge. The bird's reflexes just weren't on it, and Kora was already halfway there before she realized what was happening. Before long, Kora had returned to his original position, while Piyo was tumbling over onto the ground, leaving a feather or two behind. She'd taken a direct hit.
"Are you ok?" Red called to his Pokemon, who promptly righted herself. "Alright, back in the air. Use Sand Attack to blind him."
Piyo flapped her wings and flew up easily before diving down to throw broken down clumps of dirt into Kora's eyes with her talons. Though the attack was called Sand Attack, it didn't always utilize sand, merely whatever current terrain was available. Kora was left trying to scratch dirt out of his eyes while Piyo hovered above him, bobbing up and down in the air.
"Tackle!" Red called out the next order quickly, hoping Piyo would be able to take advantage of Piyo's temporary blindness. Completely meeting Red's expectations, Piyo tackled Kora with full force. The Rattata was sent flying through the air, twisting around and trying to see. The way he tumbled through the air gave Red a bit of an idea, but before he could try to implement it, Kora hit the ground. His purple and cream fur stuck out everywhere, and there were places that looked like they would be bruises in the morning.
"Keep alert. Use Focus Energy, and then Tackle," Green said, calling two attacks at once. It didn't seem like much, but that was the precursor to a rather advanced skill known as attack chaining. Some of the top trainers in the world planned entire sequences of attacks before battles, so that their opponents wouldn't be able to anticipate what they were going to do.
Kora listened to both commands, starting his Focus Energy up first. It was a move that would attune him to Piyo's weak spots, allowing him to get critical hits on her much more easily. That wouldn't be good, especially once Sand Attack wore off.
"Piyo, try to get him back into the air before he finishes," Red called to Piyo, who responded easily. The bird flew towards Kora, beating her small wings hard and strong and sending gusts of wind towards the rat like purple Pokemon just as he was about to use Tackle. Kora resisted the wind for a second, but he couldn't withstand its force for long and was knocked head over heels towards his trainer.
"Wait, that Pidgey is level nine already?" Green said, recognizing the attack. Red did too, having checked what the next few moves his Pokemon would learn were earlier in the day. It was Gust, a move typically learned around level nine, like Green had said. Of course, there was a bit of leeway considering the level system was a fairly new and imperfect system, but it gave a general idea of how strong a Pokemon would be at times.
"Must've been all the trainers I had to battle to get to Viridian City. Riza is level nine too," Red explained, taking stock of the combatants. Since Kora knew Quick Attack, he had to at least be level seven. It seemed Green had been doing some training too.
"Well, it would've been nice to know that earlier. Doesn't matter now. Use Tail Whip," Green called the command out to Kora, who leapt up and smacked Kora with his tail. "That's not how Tail Whip works!"
"Gust again," Red called. No matter how Kora used Tail Whip, it would still have an effect on Piyo's defenses. Piyo, with a boost to her already prodigious confidence, beat her wings through the air again. The strong gust of wind battered against Kora. He was ready this time, so it didn't quite send him flying, but it was certainly plenty enough to send him flying.
"Dammit, Kora use Quick Attack," Green shouted, prompting Kora to rush towards Piyo, white energy trailing behind him like a strange banner.
"Piyo, meet it with Tackle!" Red called out. Piyo managed to fling herself at Kora just in time, and both Pokemon were flung away from each other. Piyo was breathing heavily and was still in the air, though laboring to stay that way. In comparison, Kora was slumped on the ground, clearly knocked out. Piyo instinctively flew away from her knocked out opponent.
"Kora? Dammit. Well, Zeni will be a lot tougher. He is my first Pokemon after all," while Green recalled Kora back to his Pokeball, Zeni ran out onto the battlefield, eager to do battle with Piyo.
"Piyo, are you good to keep going?" Red asked the Flying-type Pokemon, feeling Riza lean forward on his shoulder to get a better view now that Zeni had come into the fight. Piyo warbled her affirmative as she circled high above the battlefield.
"Zeni, use Pound," Green called out. The Squirtle jumped up into the air towards Piyo.
"Circle around him. Use Gust," Red countered as fast as he could, relaying his commands as Piyo carried them out. Fast as wind, she'd managed to dodge Zeni's attack and used Gust on him from behind. Zeni was sent hard into the ground by the powerful gust of wind, letting out a loud cry as he was jolted. It looked like he had partially retracted his head and limbs into his shell for protection.
"Use Water Gun to shoot the bird out of the sky!" Green shouted, punctuating his command with movement. Like Red, Green was as into the battle as his partner was. It was exciting to battle like that.
Zeni sent a stream of water out of his mouth at Piyo, keeping it going until he managed to strike her with it. Her feathers soaked, Piyo fell, striking the ground with more force than any human would be able to handle. Thankfully, Pokemon were a lot tougher than humans in any contest.
It wasn't long before the dust cleared from Piyo's fall, and it was made clear that she was knocked out from Zeni's attack. After seeing what had happened Zeni stalked away. Red pulled her POkeball off of his belt and pressed the button to recall her.
"You did good," Red whispered to her, knowing the Pokemon could hear him from within the Pokeball. He could see her all curled up, her wings tucked tightly against her sides. In there, she'd be safe until Red could go to the Pokemon Center. "Alright, Riza it's your turn to fight. Don't let his Water-type moves intimidate you."
With a fierce growl, Riza leapt down to face her opponent. She swept her fiery tail over the ground in a way that was probably meant to be intimidating, throwing up dirt and swirling flame. In reality, it just looked kinda cute. That would change when she evolved into more frightening forms of course. At least she was careful not to ignite the grass.
"This time, we'll be taking the attack. Riza, Dragon Dance," Red called out the move that he usually had her start with. Even though it wouldn't power up Ember, her Scratch attack would probably be more useful anyway considering Zeni's type. Riza jumped up, not to attack but to gain momentum to spin around, surrounding herself in glowing green and purple flame.
"Take your chance before she lands. Use Water Gun," Zeni shot a burst of water once more at Riza, like he had at Piyo, too soon for Riza to get out of the way. It hit the Fire-type Pokemon head on, knocking her to roll on the ground as her move finished. A snarl made its way to Red's ears as Riza was tossed away from Zeni. "We've gotta get her before she can orient herself. Tackle!"
Red narrowed his eyes as Zeni launched himself towards the prone Charmander. "Get out of there!" Riza heard the command too late and struggled to claw herself out of the way. She was struck while still disoriented, flying back into the air further towards Red. Furiously thinking, Red tried to make a plan out of the situation. If Green had his way, Zeni would just juggle Riza, never letting her get up for long enough to utilize her speed boost from Dragon Dance. He realized that she'd have to pull something off in midair if they wanted to make any progress at all. As she fell back towards the ground, Zeni just threw her up again, breathing heavily with the exertion of keeping up with Riza's flailing. "Quickly now, Riza spin in the air and use Ember," Red called out. He hopped that she would be able to pull it off. Even untrained Pokemon had a level of innate battle skill from eons of battling in the wild.
Right on Red's command, Riza pushed off of Zeni's shell to spin herself in the air, letting out a flurry of burning Embers around her. The motion was awkward and ungainly, but it was enough to keep the equally untrained Zeni from getting too close to her. It bought her enough time to land and scramble back to her feet. Sadly, what it did not do was do a lot of damage, since Zeni was a Water-type and all. However, Red and Riza weren't going to lose to something as simple as type advantage.
"Zeni, use Water Gun," Green shouted.
"Meet it with Ember!" Red responded as soon as he could. Pokemon battles were all about quick thinking in situations like that.
The POkemon released their attacks at the same time, burning embers meeting the water burst somewhere between the two. The white steam that resulted covered the battlefield in a fine mist.
"Rush him! Scratch!" Red called. This was the chance he was waiting for. With Riza's speed nearly doubled, it would be easy enough to catch Zeni before he attacked, and catch him she did, striking him fast with sharp claws. Zeni certainly tried his hardest to block, but by the time he managed to throw his stubby little turtle arms in front of his face, the damage had already been dealt. Riza had leapt back away.
"If that's how it's gonna be, then use Aqua Ring. We'll just tank her out," Green shouted. Another stream of water was expelled from Zeni's mouth. This time, however, it twisted and curled like a snake, wrapping itself around him and healing some of the damage done. It wasn't much, but it was enough with the continual healing to cause a problem. Riza would have to keep up the heat, even though Red could tell she was wearing down.
Scratch again. Don't let it up," Red could feel sweat dripping down his face as he relayed his commands to his partner, proving he was as invested in the battle as she was. It was no wonder overweight Pokemon trainers were a rarity with battles even more intense as Pokemon got stronger. The fiery lizard rushed towards Zeni with hot-blooded ferocity, striking with her claws again. Zeni tried to dodge again, but Riza's speed was making things difficult.
"In your shell," Green called in an attempt to prevent the battle from going the same way as the last one they'd had. Zeni retreated back into his shell, causing Riza's claws to scrape uselessly at the bone hard material. She growled at him in frustration and struck one more time for good measure.
"Hmm…" Red thought for a second, knowing he had to think of something before Aqua Ring healed too much of Zeni's hit points. "Try using Ember into his head hole. It might scare him out," Red said. It probably wouldn't do much damage, but it was worth a shot to try. Riza gave Red a bit of an odd look before turning to where Zeni's head was and shooting her Embers into the hole. There was an immediate reaction from the turtle as he popped out of his shell with a shout and a bit of scrambling away. Riza let out a satisfied belch accompanied by black smoke and sparks.
"Water Gun," Green called towards Zeni, who shot his water at Riza.
"Dodge it," Red responded. Hearing him, Riza leapt mostly out of the way, barely being struck on part of her arm. "Try using Smokescreen," Red wasn't entirely sure if she could yet, but it was worth a shot. The attempt paid off, and Riza send a cloud of choking, black smoke smoke all over the battlefield, obscuring the view of both Pokemon. It was the sort that hung in the air, not wanting to disperse unless someone got rid of it.
"Try to clear it with Water Gun," Green called out, not realizing that the spewing jets of water would give away Zeni's position and make him an easy target for Riza. Red waited until the water bursts started to give his order.
"Alright, use Scratch," Red called out to Riza. The Charmander ran forward with claws bared. She easily caught Zeni by surprise, since the swirling smoke made it impossible to see what was happening.
"Zeni, get out of there," Green shouted, but there was no sign of Zeni once the Water Guns stopped shooting. Instead, before long Riza came running out, trying to clear the air by swishing around her tail. It took a little bit, but she was at least making it so that they could see Zeni a bit easier. He was lying on the ground, clearly knocked out, and Riza was making a lot of care to stay away as she cleared the air.
"You did great Riza! Good job," Red scooped up Riza into his arms and squeezed her in a tight hug. She wiggled a bit but still smiled.
"I thought I had it too," Green grumbled, picking up Zeni with one hand and covering his face with the other. Even learned a bit, Riza's smoke still spread thickly in the area, and it smelled faintly of charred flesh for some reason. Not something anyone would really want to breath in at all. Once he had Zeni, he walked to the nearby water fountain and put the small Pokemon in the water. "It's kinda weird that they stay away from each other like that when they get knocked out."
Red stopped gushing over Riza just long enough to shoot a confused look in Green's general direction. "No, it's not."
"What? Don't tell me you know why they do that, especially when you didn't know the power of badges," Green stood up and crossed his arms.
"I do. When Pokemon get knocked out, they release a pheromone that's extremely repellent to other Pokemon and some animals. It prevents them from getting eaten," Red explained as Riza sat herself on his shoulder. It was pretty embarrassing, but at least it wasn't something that was his fault.
"Why don't they just do that all the time then?" Green waited until Zeni stirred a bit to return him to his Pokeball.
"I don't think they make enough to do that. Plus, the pheromone would keep mates away and stuff like that. Those are kind of important, especially considering how many rare species there are," Red explained. He quickly shot a glare at Riza, since she'd started tickling his back with her tail. "Could you not please?" she stopped after that.
"Makes sense then I guess. I'm gonna head out to the woods anyway. Gotta get to the forest fast if I wanna make good time to Pewter City. I've heard it's a couple days trek at best," Green stretched out his arms a bit and looked around.
"With what happened last night, is that such a good idea? It's almost dark," Red said. He was right too. The deep blues and purples of twilight had washed over the area, leeching out a lot of the color where the light from Riza's flame didn't reach. In fact, Riza's tail made the darkness all that more noticeable. It was easy to see just how dark it had gotten. He wondered how he'd managed to get so invested in the battle that he hadn't even noticed that the sun was setting.
"I'll be fine. It's Viridian freaking forest. What can attack me, a Butterfree? 'Oh look at me, I'm a pretty butterfly come to murder you, raaahhhh'," Green scoffed, attaching Zeni's Pokeball to his belt alongside Kora's.
"I've heard that Beedrill can get pretty vicious, especially when they swarm. Plus, it's not even just Pokemon that you have to worry about. What if you run into a lynx, or Arceus forbid a bear?" Red was a bit worried that what happened the night before would happen again. After all, this time Green might not get any help.
"You do know that the animals were all pretty much wiped out during the war, right? I don't need to worry about a thing," Green brushed off Red's concerns like they were flies. It frustrated Red to no end when he did that. While it was true that most of the animal population has been severely reduced due to certain weapons and fighting styles used in the war, many species did still exist in the wild, not just those used for food. Most birds and fish had made it through after all. On top of that, there were conservation efforts across all of the regions to bring back species that were in trouble, even for those places not hit nearly as hard.
"If you say so, but if you get your leg broken again, don't blame me," Red relented. He still would've liked it if Green had agreed to wait for morning, but the other teen wasn't having it. They both knew each other well enough that Green knew that Red wouldn't stop worrying and Red knew that Green would say he wasn't his mom. One of them would have to back down first, and Red already knew it wouldn't be Green.
"Good, cause you aren't going to stop me," Green said, just to make sure he got his point across.
"No, I guess not. At least stop at a Pokemon Center on the way. I'm going to head back to the one where I have a room. I'll be smart and wait until morning to go to the forest. Bye Green," Red turned to leave, waving at Green.
"Smell ya later dork," Green started in the direction of Viridian Forest as Red walked away, and it wasn't long before Red could look behind him and not see him anymore.
"He's going to get himself into even more trouble," Red muttered, earning himself a growl of agreement from Riza. Green was going to be the death of him someday. The sweet sweet death of him.
Sweet death, eh? I wonder what in the world brought on that phrasing, Red thought to himself, shaking his head. The two trainers were infinitely frustrating to each other, but it could never be said that they didn't care about each other at the same time. Green would just never admit to that fact. He was like a burnt marshmallow, crispy and bitter on the outside, but gooey if you ever managed to get past that. Not that many people ever did. Closing his eyes for a second, Red let out a long sigh. Annoyingly, the first of those two actions turned out to be a phenomenally bad idea.
"OW!" there were voices and other sounds, shouts and growls mostly. The thud of people hitting the ground, accompanied by a dull pain. Red had run into something- someone more likely- and now he was on the ground, contemplating how in the world he got there. He opened his eyes to see Riza aggressively growling from the ground near his shoulder and a brunette in a black dress right in front of him.
"Hey, what's the big deal?" she shouted, the seeds of anger starting to bloom in her sky blue eyes.
"I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to what was happening," Red held out his hand to stop Riza, who looked like she was going to jump on the girl.
"Well thank you Captain Obvious. For a second there, I wasn't sure. Now, you'd better scram. You're lucky my Pokemon are all low on health, or I'd kick you butt," she said venomously, getting up off of the ground. Red could see several Pokeballs attached to a silver and grey belt around her waist. Even though she was a bit shorter than Red, she was still severely intimidating.
"I don't doubt that," Red picked up Riza again, stroking her to keep her calm. He looked to the side a bit, trying to catch a glance at her Pokemon, but she caught on almost immediately, turning a bit so that he couldn't see any of them without walking around. He just barely caught a glimpse of something green.
"Don't think you'll be getting a peek either you snitch," she said.
"Sorry. I was just curious," Red scratched an itch on his head, feeling the strands of his hair get in the way.
"Whatever. I have places to be. Can't be caught with the likes of you," she shoved past Red in a direction that most certainly wasn't the nearest Pokemon Center.
Red sighed and walked back to the Pokemon Center, mildly confused as to what had happened. He certainly wasn't going to follow her, considering that going in the same direction as her wasn't the most appealing of thoughts. She'd been unnecessarily rude, and Red still didn't know who she was.
"Remind me to call mom and Flare when we get back, ok Riza?" Red asked his partner. In response, Riza nodded fiercely, the flame on her tail flaring up a bit, almost as if it was a defensive gesture. He must've still been thinking about the rude girl. Stopping that was hopefully on Riza's to do list, since the flame was about level with the burn she'd given him earlier, and the flare of heat made it hurt. He held in a grunt to make sure Riza didn't worry, though. It was strange how quickly the Charmander had become attached to him. There was quite some difference between her and Piyo, but even then the bird would readily defend him against other people, like Green, or aggressive Pokemon. It was as if his partners were meant to be with him, the Pokemon and the human complementing each other like peanut butter and fluff. It was a rather nice thought that stayed with him all the way back to the Pokemon Center.
