I almost actually worked ahead on this. What are the odds?! For all the good it does since I'm still dealing with a stupid time crunch. Oh well. This probably won't be much other than some harmless fun, so that's nice. Might as well get on with it…
With Lavender Town behind them, Red and his friends moved on toward the next Gym. There were a few cities in the area, but many of them were blocked off by one natural barrier or another. The closest straight shot was Celadon City. One of the largest cities in Kanto (arguably the largest) had a Gym as well as a host of other attractions worth checking out. It was also near Saffron City, another destination they would have to get to for the Pokémon Gym there.
Of course they'd have to get to Celadon before they could make any plans for travel in the future. The path to the big city wasn't that hard to twisting, but it was a good day's worth of walking. There was no shortage of Pokémon or Trainers either. Red's Abra finally evolved into a Kadabra against a battle with a gambler. Blue ribbed him on how long it took to get Abra to evolve, but Red brushed it off. So what if Kadabra was a late bloomer. He was strong and loyal and that's what mattered.
Most of the way to Celadon was a paved path, but there were plenty of areas were wild Pokémon could still roam. One lightly forested area seemed deliberately constructed around, catching Red's attention.
"You're going to want to shuffle through the grass for the rest of the day, aren't you?" Blue asked crossly. Red simply shrugged in return.
"Well, it wouldn't be that bad to find some new Pokémon, right?" Green said, trying to keep the peace between her two friends.
"You can waste time in the woods all you want!" Blue returned, throwing up his hands. "I catch plenty of Pokémon my way and I don't have to waste any time. I'm going to Celadon City. Smell ya later!" Before Green could say anything, Blue was off.
"Wait!" Green called. Blue just ignored her. She took a step toward the path, but stopped and turned back to Red. "You're just going to wander off if I try to follow him, aren't you?" Red raised an eyebrow in response. Green huffed and started on her own way, "Boys!"
Red brushed it off. He didn't mind just exploring Kanto with just his Pokémon for companions. Besides, they were all headed for the same city. They would probably meet up again that night at the Pokémon Center there.
The area off the beaten path that Red wanted to explore was a little field surrounded by some woods. It was a bit hard to get past the tangle of small trees protecting the area, but it was worth it. Inside the little grove was a lush, untouched field of waste-high grass, rustling with all kinds of Pokémon. Many of the scurried away when Red entered the field, but a few seemed to largely ignore him.
Many of the Pokémon were ones Red had seen before, but two caught his eye. One was a red foxlike creature with several curly tails and curly hair. The other looked like an odd two toed dog. It also mostly red, but with black stripes on its back and cream-colored tail, chest and a cream-colored tuft of hair on the top of its head. Red pulled out his Pokédex to identify the new Pokémon. The fox was called "Vulpix", a Fire-type Pokémon like Charizard. The other was "Growlithe", also a Fire-type. They were definitely interesting Pokémon, ones worth catching, but that was a little bit too much fire for his team for the time being. He didn't need to just get instantly doused by Blue's Blastoise. They would have to be trained at a later date.
Red approached the Pokémon cautiously, not wanting to scare them. The closer he got the more he noticed something. The Growlithe seemed to be sneaking up on the Vulpix. Red stopped to watch what was going on for a moment. The Vulpix was just minding its own business, grooming its fur when the Growlithe jumped at it, roaring at it much louder than its shin-high body should have allowed. The poor Vulpix nearly jumped out of its skin, running off by pure happenstance in Red's direction. When the Vulpix noticed Red standing in its way, it skidded to a halt and started spitting little fireballs at Red on instinct. Red was barely able to avoid the attack, falling over on his back after leaning out of the way.
Vulpix, looking sorry that it attacked a stranger for no reason, scampered over to Red's face and tried to get him up with a gentle lick on the cheek. Red got up and both he and the Vulpix turned in the direction it had come from to see the Growlithe rolling on the ground in a belly laugh. Vulpix roared in the same disproportionate manner as Growlithe to get its attention. When Growlithe got up and turned and barked at Vulpix, who darted behind Red's legs. The fact that Vulpix was using a human for shelter seemed to agitate Growlithe more than anything else. Vulpix noticed this and cuddled up against Red's leg while shooting Growlithe a sneer.
"Wait, don't get me involved in this," Red tried to say. It was too late, Growlithe was already prepared for a battle. Red shrugged, "Well, I did want to try to catch you anyway…" Red tossed a Pokéball, bringing out Pikachu. Right away, Growlithe was on the attack. It jumped at Pikachu with impressive speed, but the electric mouse was able to leave the puppy Pokémon in the dust. Growlithe hadn't even finished its Bite attack before Pikachu was out of the way and ready to counter. "Pikachu, Thunder Wave." Pikachu launched a weak jolt of electricity at the still moving Growlithe. The jolt hit, wracking Growlithe's muscles and seizing them up. "Pikachu, Thundershock." Pikachu dropped another, stronger bolt on the Growlithe before it had the chance to react. Satisfied with the job Pikachu had done weakening it, Red tossed a Pokéball at the Growlithe. After a good struggle, it gave in and was caught.
Red sighed as he walked over and picked up the Pokéball containing his new Pokémon. "I have a knack for catching troublesome Pokémon, don't I?" he said to himself. He noticed Pikachu snickering to himself and Red gave him a look. "Yeah, laugh it up. You're one of them." That didn't seem to bother Pikachu any. Red then turned to Vulpix, who seemed far more unsure about hanging around now that Growlithe was caught. Red kneeled down in front of it. "You didn't really want to go with me, did you?" he asked the fidgeting Vulpix, "You just wanted to make that Growlithe mad." Vulpix didn't run away, but it didn't exactly jump into Red's arms either. "You don't have to stay with me," Red said calmly, "I'm sure Growlithe would understand if you wanted to stay wild."
Vulpix mulled it over. It looked at the Pokéball in Red's hand, than at Pikachu, who was off to the side just enjoying the scenery, than at Red, and finally back at the Pokéball. After a minute or two of thought, Vulpix lowered itself into a fighting stance.
Red smiled happily, "I'd be glad to earn your trust with a battle." Pikachu took his que and hopped in front of Vulpix. "Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Pikachu darted forward after Vulpix, but it was able to curl out of the way. It wasn't as fast as Pikachu, but it was still pretty impressive. Vulpix returned with a Quick Attack of its own, smacking Pikachu in the side. It was a solid hit, but Pikachu could take a lot more than that. After Vulpix backed off from the attack, it seemed to seize up as if Pikachu had paralyzed it with Thunder Wave. "Slam, Pikachu!" Pikachu tackled the stalled Vulpix. It tried to retaliate by blowing little fireballs at Pikachu, but he was able to just barely get out of the way.
Red threw a second Pokéball for the day, the ball pulling Vulpix inside. Vulpix put up a good struggle like Growlithe, but it too gave in and was caught. Red smiled, storing his two new Pokémon on his belt. "Those two are pretty tough. They'll make good teammates, huh?" Pikachu nodded with a confirmatory squeak. They would have to be stored at Bill's for the time being, but once Red had enough Pokémon to have multiple teams, they would definitely be high on this list.
The sun was starting to get a bit low in the sky, so Red decided it was time to move on. He made good time to Celadon City, making it to the metropolis as the sun started to dip below the Kanto mountain ranges. Luckily, the Pokémon Center was right off the main road, the first building you saw when you came into town. Inside, Red saw Green and Blue showing off the new Pokémon they had caught on their way there. Green was proudly showing off her new rare Vulpix, and Blue his new equally rare Growlithe. They both noticed Red and waved him over, asking if he had caught anything good. Red just smiled as he approached. Boy, were they going to be surprised.
Fairly harmless and simple, but I like it. This is pretty much what I intended, so not much to say here. At least it's not chopped into two parts, right?