Chapter 14: Bug Catchers and Compromises

Life could be oh-so-dull sometimes.

And why was that? Well, I'm glad you asked.

I now knew what Brock and Misty must have felt like, always being shunted off to the side for Ash, the main character.

Because that's what happened to me.

Every time a stupid kid with a straw hat, shorts (his arms and ankles marred with bug bites) and a gigantic net approached us, I wanted to scream.

Didn't they know they were going to get creamed? And what the heck was with all the Metapod and Kakuna? And using Harden…what a dumb move. Defense would do you no good by itself. Pokémon like Wobuffet were the few exceptions.

Every time a stupid bug catcher kid would challenge us to battle, it would always be Red. According to one of the kids, the capped boy gave off more of a "trainer" vibe than me, which was most likely true. It wouldn't bother me except that I would always be shoved to the side and have to make do with watching a boring battle of Red wiping the floor with them. There wasn't even any element of worry over getting poisoned, since Ivysaur was part-poison.

But what I hated the most were the "Crawling Cocoon Challenges" as I liked to call them, or CCC for short.

When a trainer sent out a Metapod or Kakuna, you knew they were desperate. What did they expect, for Ivysaur to run out of power points (PP) or something?

I don't know if that was even possible here.

Well, I'd seen Mock get tired of Tackle after a whole montage of it once, so maybe that little part of the games had transferred here too.

Then again, weren't the games based off this world, not the other way around?

This was too effing complicated.

After the second pointless battle, we'd picked up an extra Parlyz Heal, which Red got (again). There was an unspoken agreement between us that Red would get most of the healing items, probably needing them more, while I would get most of the balls, being the one trying to "catch them all." Of course, Red didn't know about my mission, but he did realize after a while that I had an obsession with completing the Pokédex. He probably figured I was just some big research nerd. Well, that was probably true, though that wasn't the reason why I was doing this. Anyway, I wouldn't need to catch the Pokémon Red had, since I figured we'd arrange a huge trading session at one point. Later I'd need to go to the Daycare and all that crap… Great.

While traversing the woods, we'd quickly figured out that if the path forked, the bug catchers would always be in the non-tall grass part. After a while, I decided to just train while Red battled trainers.

But I'd need to battle trainers sometime. I still needed to pay Red back. I kept the Pokémon Mart receipt with me just to help me remember, so I knew that, using some basic math, I owed him around P1366.66, the P of course standing for Pokémon Dollars.

But I'd decided to pay him back P1500 instead, just to be nice. I would call it interest, plus it was an easier number to remember than P1366.66.

So, new mini-goal. Gain at least P1500 to pay Red back pretty soon. But I didn't want to steal his trainers. He needed the experience more than I did.

I decided to level Granola and Butter together when Red fought other trainers, since they got along well. It seemed that despite Granola attempting to eat Butter, there were no hard feelings between the two Pokémon, which I still didn't understand. Still, all that mattered was that there was finally somebody that got along with the stupid bird.

And unlike Granola, Butter was a popular addition to the team, harmonizing well with the others. The Metapod seemed to look up to me, which felt nice, though it was unjustified. I hadn't been a good role model so far, bickering with Green and Granola like a child.

Hmm… It seemed that I didn't get along with anybody whose name started with a G… Well, technically, for Blue, it was a B, but that was a technicality. Besides, if that rule still applied, I wouldn't get along with Butter then, and she and I got along great.

In any case, this would also be a good opportunity to work more with that stupid bird and hopefully get her to listen to me.

"Granola, Tackle!" I ordered.

Of course, she had to Sand-Attack the Weedle instead.

I felt a tapping on my shoulder, and whipped around to see Red, back from a battle, eyes glittering in amusement at my overreaction.

Do you need help? He held up a familiar white notepad.

I shook my head, "I told you: I have to do this."

True, but I can still give you some pointers. You're not getting anywhere the way you're going.

I grumbled underneath my breath at the stubbornness of certain people, before sighing, shoulders slumping. I peered up at him. His dark eyes gazed back, steady and unyielding, holding neither arrogance nor judgment.

He just wanted to help. Ugh, nice guys. I can't get angry with them for the life of me.

"Okay, I'm stuck," I breathed out, sending him a small, resigned smile. "What am I doing wrong?"

Nodding at me in silent acknowledgment of my platter of humble pie, the boy glanced at Granola before scribbling away on his notepad. I really needed to learn sign language. That, or buy him a dry erase board or something.

You are too harsh in the way you deal with her. You need to try and meet her halfway, rather than expect her to change her behavior completely.

I sighed.

You are driving her into a corner, plus you haven't really done anything to earn her respect.

Ouch. The truth. It hurt.

I breathed out a gust of air. "So, try and see things from her point of view, then?"

Red nodded, She's probably used to having to fight for respect and territory. What you're doing, when you fight with her, is reminding her of all the wild Pokémon she's had to drive off. There's a reason she's a bit bigger than other Pidgey and that you found her alone. She's an alpha type, and was most likely kicked out of her flock for causing trouble with the other alpha.

He could write almost as fast as I could type. It made me jealous, since I was sure my average in handwriting was something along the lines of ten words per minute or some other ridiculously low number. Well, if I wanted it to be legible, then it was. I could scribble away in caveman handwriting for maybe thirty to fifty words per minute, but…it'd be caveman handwriting. Not the nice, picture-perfect handwriting Red had. Oh well, at least it wasn't calligraphy. That'd be just creepy. Well, I'd tried learning it once, and actually hadn't been too bad at it, but I'd only taken one class before I had to drop it because of cost and time restraints.

Wait, what were we talking about again? Oh, yeah, alphas. Wait… "Alpha?"

Red shrugged. I thought you would've known about it, what with your interest in Pokémon science. Professor Oak told me that there are multiple ranks within the different species. For instance, in the Pidgey line, females are usually slightly bigger than males, and are naturally stronger and more aggressive. Your Pidgey is even larger than normal female Pidgey.

Huh. Well, that was interesting.

Maybe I should've referenced that book I bought. It most likely had information on the birds. Milder than Spearow, my butt! I probably would've been better off with one of those instead!

The scratching of a pen against paper shattered my thoughts. You need to let her see that this isn't a hierarchy, but a team.

"But isn't the trainer the leader of the team?" I asked, confused.

Red nodded. It's true, but there are many types of leaders, and you need her as much as she needs you. It's apparent that your leadership style isn't meshing well with Granola. She needs to learn obedience, true, but yelling at her all the time won't help.

Okay. So basically he was telling me not to lose my temper all the time, as that would just make things escalate between the two of us.

This I could do. …Right?

Well, maybe not, but I would have to try. If I ever wanted to train alpha Pokémon, which would be cool, I would have to start with Granola, who was an A-class…bird. Yep, bird. Alpha-class bird. I wasn't going to call her anything else that started with a B, because that would have been immature, and I wasn't immature.

Okay, so that was a lie.

But speaking of immaturity, I'd noticed something since coming here.

In my old world, I'd been immature, sure, but it'd never been so easy to be so until I got here. I never really noticed it until now, because my observation skills suck, but now that I had, I couldn't let it go.

Why did I feel so much more…childish than I had before?

Wait, when my age changed, had my maturity level changed as well? I still retained all my knowledge and memories, but I felt like…well, I felt…different. I was more tempted to stick my tongue out and whine and jump and run around than I had before. Like I was some sort of Energizer Bunny. This journey would have been much harder in my older body.

So, what had happened to me? Not only was I now an eleven-year-old, but I also had the maturity of one? Plus…

I looked down.

My clothes had shrunk.

I hadn't thought of it much before, but they had. Even my sneakers.

It was…creepy. Well, at least it was convenient. Wearing clothes fitted for a teenager in a preteen's body would not have been fun. It would have been embarrassing to arrive like that, and Green probably would have teased the heck out of me.

Loser. Did he have nothing better to do?

So…wait, what were we talking about again?

Red looked at me, like he was waiting for me to say something.

"Um…what were we talking about again?" I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand.

Shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, the boy let out a breath of air.

"Okay, okay," I waved my arms. "I'll figure it out! So, alpha, teams, leader, deal with Granola—oh!"

Red shook his head, but this time his mouth curled up slightly and I grinned in return. I liked making people smile. Much better than making them frown, which I could never stand. I didn't like unhappy people. Besides, I tended to act like a bit more of a…well, pardon my French, but a bitch around people that were jerks. Also people I didn't know very well. I'd sort of acted like that around Red and the Oaks when I first met them. Speaking of Oaks, I'd never met Daisy. Oh well, we'd return to Pallet Town sometime, right?

Anyway, why am I getting so off topic today? Must be the air in here. It was getting to me.

"So…" I started, determined not to let my brain run away with me again. "Try to not yell so much…um…yeah, be nicer and…stuff."

I think I held the world record for making Red shake his head. I wasn't sure if it was something to be proud of or not. Most likely not.

Well, no better time than the present. I turned to see Granola use Gust (when did she learn that move?) on a Metapod (the Weedle from before was presumably defeated) and Butter tackle a Caterpie to oblivion.

I cupped my hand over my mouth to call Granola like I usually did, but decided against it before I even put pressure on my voice box.

Instead, I strode over to where she flapped in midair, a bit winded after the attack.

"Hey, Granola," I said, voice soft. "May I talk to you?"

The Pidgey looked at me, and then nodded.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," I explained, shifting said feet. "I'm sorry if I seemed like I was yelling at you all the time, but I just wanted you to listen to me as your trainer. Still, I can't ask you to respect me. You're the one that decides that all on your own."

"Pidge…" the bird fluttered to land on a branch about level with my head.

"Heh, I'm not good at this kind of stuff, but I wanted to ask anyway: do you think you could try and listen to me sometimes? You can tell me if I'm being a jerk, and I promise…I will work hard to become a trainer worthy of you."

"Pidgey!" the bird chirped, and for the first time I could see respect in her eyes. She landed on my shoulder, and rubbed her head against my cheek.

Aww… I thought.

I beamed from ear to ear, stroking Granola's glossy feathers with admiration. Laughing, I turned to look at Red, who returned a knowing smile.

"Saur!" Ivysaur cried, and I couldn't help the euphoria that enveloped me. All tension fled, and I felt a familiar temptation rise within me. Giving into it, I twirled once, and giggled.

It didn't matter that I probably looked five-years-old at that moment. For now, I was eleven, and I could act as childishly as I wanted to.

I realized that I felt both younger and happier than I had in years.

The thought tweaked my smile downwards, and I sighed. I couldn't forget…I needed to work hard and get out of here. This wasn't the time for laughter. I had to be strong to survive here and make it all the way to the top.

"Squirt…"

I glanced down to see Mock, sporting a worried look on his face. I couldn't help the smile that widened my own face.

Mock was such a mother hen sometimes. It was adorable.

"Don't worry, Mock," I grinned puckishly, and lifted him up, twirling him around as well. "I'll make sure to enjoy myself too. After all, I'm a kid. What do you expect?"

Still, inside, I couldn't help the concern that had kindled in my heart. It wouldn't leave, no matter how hard I tried to shoo it away. I knew…I couldn't let my guard down.

We resumed walking, and I slipped into thought while Red battled another bug catcher.

Why couldn't I just waltz my way through all this? No problem in just…having fun while I was at it? I mean, Red, being an amazing trainer, could protect me if anything—wait, no! I was not relying on some…boy to protect me like a pansy! I was no Bella Swan!

Gawd, that girl gave me the creeps. Both Bella and her actress. Though, to be truthful, Bella gave me the creeps even more than the unemotional actress.

Back to the point! I wasn't going to be a, a Daphne! Or at least not cartoon Daphne. Maybe I'd be movie Daphne, and kick butt with awesome martial arts. Or lack of. Okay, so I was only an orange belt, whatever! I'd shown a natural capacity for it when I'd learned. Maybe it was the Asian blood, haha sarcastic laughter.

Being a female Jackie Chan sounded kind of awesome, though. Like Beatrix Kiddo (though she wasn't Asian, but she was still pretty awesome) or something. Yeah! Why didn't I name myself Beatrix Kiddo instead of Catch? Well, the lack of an extensive martial arts background may have had something to do with it… Whatever!

I would have to be prepared. That was it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I wouldn't stand back and let Red deal with everything. Sure, he was awesome. Everybody knew that he was the Chuck Norris of the Pokéverse. But it didn't mean that I would suddenly turn into a damsel in distress when things turned sour.

I would need this attitude soon too, since we were almost to Pewter.

My concentration snapped itself back into place when I caught sight of a yellow figure deep in the brush. I glanced at it and scowled. It was that thief! I was sure of it!

The Pikachu looked at Red. I couldn't tell what it was thinking, but it seemed fascinated with the boy. Catching my gaze, it stuck its tongue out.

Pfft, like I'd let that get to me…

Okay, so I stuck my tongue out back. Whatever, don't judge me.

We got into a bit of a contest after that. I think the Pikachu won, doing some weird eyelid stretch thing with its paw that reminded me of anime Pikachu. Well, I wasn't going to ruin my eyes just to win a childish game. I did have some limits.

Shaking my head at the electric mouse, I turned away to watch Red.

He had just finished the fight, his Ivysaur tackling a Metapod into a tree.

After the bug catcher handed over some money, I waited, and then we both resumed our walk through this maze.

I stopped to read a wooden trainer tips sign, which said something about not entering grassy areas with weak Pokémon (I always read the signs. I can't help but be amazed at seeing English here in Japan) while Red picked up a Potion.

We'd both sighed in relief at the sight of the gateway to Pewter when another bug catcher decided to make himself known.

"Hey, wait up! What's the hurry? Why the rush?"

I turned to glare at the pest, "Look, we're tired. We've been here since morning and we don't want to deal with you."

Red shook his head at me as the mature one of this duo and got into another battle stance. Wow. He sure loved battling.

Sighing impatiently, I stood back to watch.

"Go, Weedle!" the boy shouted.

I scanned the Pokémon idly with my Pokédex. Hm. Level nine. Well, at least it was stronger than the rest of the trained Pokémon we'd come across, though most likely it was the boy's only Pokémon.

Normally, if I were playing the games I'd feel contempt at the weaklings that littered the forest.

However, here I understood that these guys cared less about battling and more about…collecting. Kind of like me. In a way, we were kindred spirits, though my…collecting wasn't limited to bug Pokémon but to Pokémon in general…every Pokémon in general.

I glanced down when my foot knocked against something. Picking it up, I noticed it was a Potion. Hm. It had to be of those hidden items.

"Weedle, String Shot!" the bug catcher shouted, and I glanced up, focusing on the battle.

Red nodded at his Ivysaur, and the Pokémon rushed forward, not managing to avoid the sticky webbing shot from the bug but nevertheless crashing into his opponent. Both Pokémon went rolling, and even the Weedle got a bit tangled up from the string.

Taking advantage of the worm's distraction, the frogasaur whipped the bug into a tree with his vines. He seemed to like to do that. Poor trees.

"I give! You're good at this!" the boy laughed, smiling up at Red in admiration. "Hey, do you know what? Sometimes you find items on the ground. I'm looking for the stuff I dropped. Can you help me?"

"Like this?" I asked, waving the Potion in his face.

"Yeah, that! Well, you can keep it. But thanks!"

"No problem…" I replied, wondering why he just let me have his Potion. Oh well. Finders keepers, I guess.

After getting paid by the boy (I couldn't help but think of secret drug deals whenever I saw these guys pass Red some money) we approached the gateway, only to start in surprise.

There was a certain familiar…someone blocking our exit out.

"Piiiiiikaaa!"

Many thanks to Searching For Enadi, SmileRen, TammyHybrid21, nostalgicCyanide, TheKawaiiStar21, and kenegi for reviewing! :D