Chapter 6: A girl named Green!
After their adventures on Route 22, Ash, Peter, and Lillie were now in Viridian Forest, which they were traversing so that they could get to Pewter City, where Ash was hoping to earn his first Gym Badge...
Peter hummed to himself as he looked around, ducking his head a bit so that he could avoid getting his face hit by a nearby tree-branch.
Viridian Forest was pretty unique compared to Route 1 and Route 22, which were the only other areas that the trio had been too. Those previously mentioned areas were mostly plains with many patches of tall grass that Pokemon lived in. Trees could be found in those areas, but they were very few in numbers.
But Viridian Forest? It was its own separate beast.
The area was covered in incredibly large trees that could be found wherever you looked. Peter couldn't go a single step without having to duck so that he could avoid getting hit in the face by a tree branch. Of course, Ash and Lillie didn't have to worry about this since they were a bit shorter then him, mostly due to the three-year age gap between him and them. The trees were so tall, in fact, that they even blocked sunlight from entering the dense forest!
"Hm...I was pretty excited about coming here, and I'm glad to say that I'm not disappointed at all!" Peter mentally thought to himself as he examined his surroundings. "The trees are so tall! I would love to get a better look at them, but Ash, Lillie, and Scorbunny would probably get annoyed, since it takes me a while to do science-related things..."
The secret webslinger then noticed that Ash and Lillie were looking at some video on Ash's Rotom-Phone, and he genuinely became intrigued by what they were watching, wondering what it was. "Ash! Lillie! What're you guys looking at?"
"It's the Spider-Guy from a few days back!" the raven-haired boy excitedly told Professor Oak's assistant before looking back at the phone.
"That Spider-Man fellow that saved our lives back at the Science Expo has been the talk of the town," Lillie added, basically telling Peter what Ash was trying to convey in a more formal manner. She was just like that sometimes. "He's on all of the news channels!"
"Of course he is..." Peter sighed in response, slumping his shoulders. "This is bad...Before I moved to Kanto I acted as Spider-Man in Unova for a few months, but I mostly just stopped some petty thieves. Then when I moved here, some rumors spread regarding Spider-Man's existence, but nobody had any photographic evidence...Now that I literally stopped two supervillains in one day, Spidey's pretty much on all the news channels and there are hundreds of photos...It's only a matter of time before some people start trying to figure out my identity..."
"Man...Where are all the trainers when you need 'em?..." a young girl asked herself as she sat on top of a rock. "Who am I going to sell my 'useful' items to now?..."
The girl was in the shade of two trees, so the normal person wasn't really able to see her all that well. The shade was covering the features of her body.
Suddenly, she heard the sounds of laughter and chatter.
The girl poked her head out from in between the trees and grinned as she saw Ash, Lillie, and Peter all walking, talking, and laughing towards her hidden location. Scorbunny was also there and was walking at Ash's feet.
"Hehe! It looks like I've found some customers!" she happily exclaimed to herself. However, when she took a second glance at the group, she frowned. "Damn it...Professor Oak's assistant is there!... He's gonna recognize me... I better put on a disguise..."
She opened up a box and took out a cloak, tying it around her head.
"There we go...Now, time to make some sales..."
Ash had put his phone away and the group was just talking to each other normally.
"Those Team Rocket people were pretty silly!" Lillie told Ash with a laugh. "From the way you described them, I thought they'd be menacing! But Mankey was able to beat them pretty easy!"
"Haha, you're right!" Ash replied with a grin. "But the other ones that we encountered were pretty tough. Especially that Green Goblin guy..."
"Tell me about it..." Peter groaned. "I was worried I would lose that fight..."
"Uh, what fight, Peter?" Ash asked the secret superhero. "You didn't fight the Green Goblin..."
Realizing that he could have accidentally revealed his identity to his friends at that moment, Peter immediately began waving his hands around frantically, trying to create an excuse at the top of his head. "Uh, hehe, uh, funny story! I actually, well..."
"Pew!" Nebby exclaimed, poking its head out of Lillie's bag. The gaseous Pokemon had noticed something!
"What is it Nebby?" Lillie asked her little rare Pokemon as she turned her head to look at whatever Nebby was looking at. Ash looked at the direction as well, forgetting about what Peter had said.
"Phew..." the webslinger sighed. "I need to be more careful...I'm not sure about Ash, but Lillie's a smart girl, and she could definitely find out my identity if I were to make another mistake like that again..."
"Pew Pew!" Nebby exclaimed once more.
"Scor...Bun?" Ash's fire-type Pokemon questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Finally, the thing that had piqued Nebby's interest was moving out of its hiding place.
It was the girl that was spying on the group!
She was wearing a sleeveless black dress that had some light blue parts. She was also wearing a pair of light blue shorts that matched the blue areas on her dress. In addition to those, she was wearing black shoes with light blue soles, as well as a yellow purse and a pair of white headbands. Her face was completely covered by a cloak that gave her a mysterious look.
She appeared to be the same age as Ash and Lillie, albeit a tad bit more mature-looking.
"Ah, hello there!" the girl cheerfully chirped as she as she walked towards the group with her hands behind her back. She was grinning maliciously under her cloak. "I've never seen you folks around here. Are you lost?"
"Huh? Oh no! We're just traveling through here to reach Pewter City," Ash immediately replied with a grin. "My name's Ash, and this is my partner Scorbunny!"
"Scor-Bun!" the raven-haired boy's Pokemon happily exclaimed.
"My name's Lillie. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Lillie stated, introducing herself. She chose not to introduce Nebby because, let's be honest, it wouldn't be wise tell EVERYONE she met about the existence of Nebby, especially since she wanted to keep him safe.
Peter was the last to introduce himself. "And my name's Peter. Hi!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's great, I don't care," the girl stated rolling her eyes. This earned some stares from the gang, who looked at her in confusion. The stranger immediately realized her rude behavior and began speaking in a nice way. "I-I mean, um, hi there! My name's...Uh...People call me 'The Mysterious Merchant!' Yeah, that's a nice name! I'm the Mysterious Merchant who lives right here in Viridian Forest!
Lillie narrowed her eyes at the girl. "That's an odd name..."
"Hey, it's better then-" the Mysterious Merchant was about to snap back when she suddenly stopped herself. "Actually, your guys' names are pretty normal compared to some other people I've met..."
"So, uh, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly ARE you called the 'Mysterious Merchant?' Do people just call you that or did your parents just randomly name you that?" Peter asked, cutting in. "If your parents named you that seriously then they might have a few screws loose..."
"There's nothing wrong with my parents! That's just what people call me, and you don't need to know my real name!" The Mysterious Merchant angrily shouted at Peter. "As for why people call me that..."
The stranger immediately pulled out a large picnic blanket that was wrapped up nicely. She unwrapped it, revealing an assortment of neatly placed items that all seemed to have no relation to each other.
"...I sell some of the best Pokemon training equipment around!"
"Pokemon training equipment?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow. This interested him. "What does that mean?"
Lillie smiled at her friend excitedly. "I've read about these in a book! It's basically-"
"These are some of the best items in the whole entire world!" The Mysterious Merchant exclaimed to Ash, cutting Lillie off, much to her annoyance. "Just give your Pokemon one of these items and BAM! Once they start participating in fights, they'll immediately become stronger! Their stats will skyrocket! Just believe me!"
"That's what I was going to say..." Lillie bitterly muttered under her breath, her cheeks comedically puffed up.
"Wow, really?! So if I buy one of these, my Pokemon will get stronger?!" Ash excitedly asked The Mysterious Merchant, who simply nodded in the affirmative.
"Yup! Your Pokemon will become way stronger! Strong enough to beat all of your rivals!" the girl grinned. "You could easily become a Pokemon Master too, hehe..."
Ash's face lit up. "Then it's decided! I'll buy your whole stock and then some! My mom gave me pocket money and I'm going to-"
"Ash! Wait! Think about this first!" Peter immediately exclaimed, cutting his excited friend off. "We don't even know who this girl is! I've read all about this place and not once did I see anything relating to some merchant who lives here! For all we know, she could be a scammer!"
The Mysterious Merchant let out an overly exaggerated gasp before Ash had any time to think. "What?! How could you say such a terrible thing?! I pride myself on only owning the highest-quality items around!"
"Yeah, Peter," Ash stated with a grin. "Besides, don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? You couldn't tell which items were a scam back at the World Science Expo...
The secret superhero's cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "Th-That's different!"
"I have to agree with Peter on this one, Ash," Lillie told her raven-haired friend, catching his attention. "Then again, I usually find myself agreeing with him rather then you most of the time..."
'Y-You too, Lillie?" Ash asked as he looked back at the items laying on the floor. "Both of my friends don't want me to buy these strange items from this strange girl that we randomly met in the forest...What should I do?..."
Lillie, Peter, Scorbunny, and The Mysterious Merchant all looked at Ash expectantly, waiting for him to make a decision, and for his sake, his friends were hoping that he was going to make the right one...
…
"I don't know..." Ash finally stated with a sigh, unsure if buying the items was a wise idea.
However, the girl was quite a quick thinker and immediately had an idea that would change his mind.
"I'll give you a 2% discount!" the Mysterious Merchant offered, a malicious grin adorning her face underneath her cloak.
Peter found this offer completely idiotic and immediately let out a wheeze after he heard it. "Pfft! Not even Ash is that dumb! He would never-"
"Wow, really?! I'll buy your whole stock!" the foolish wannabe Pokemon Master exclaimed excitedly, causing his friends and partner Pokemon to comedically fall over.
What a moron!
"I can't believe you actually bought that girl's entire stock..." Lillie told Ash in a concerned tone. "She didn't even give you any proof that they actually worked..."
"Relax, Lillie! Everything will be fine!" Ash told his friend, who narrowed her eyes at him. "We really need the training so that we can easily defeat the Gym Leader in the next town, anyways! Besides, Scorbunny and Mankey really like wearing them!"
"I...Honestly am really surprised by your stupidity sometimes, Ash..." Peter muttered as he looked at Ash's Pokemon. "Do those two LOOK like they enjoy wearing those items?..."
The raven-haired trainer's two partners, Scorbunny and Mankey, were both wearing two comedically large braces on their bodies and were trudging in front of the group. They seemed exhausted due to the weight of the heavy braces, and they seemed to be unable to move.
"Scor...Bun..." Scorbunny panted as it trudged along. It seemed to be genuinely tired, and Peter was starting to think that the brace that Ash had bought was completely useless.
"Mank...Ey!..." Mankey attempted to shout, but couldn't because of how tired it was. It also seemed that it wanted to rip Ash's head off because of the intense yet useless training it was going through because of his decision.
"Ash...This is completely pointless, and all you're doing is causing pain to Scorbunny and Mankey..." Lillie pointed out to Ash, who grunted in response.
"Well, we won't actually know if we don't test it out, right?" Ash asked his friend with a grin.
And, almost on cue, an opportunity presented itself.
The area comedically darkened, almost as if the gang was at some sort of theatre, and it seemed that the stage lighting was focusing on two silhouettes that Ash and his friends were already familiar with.
"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!"
"AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!"
"TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM-"
"It's Team Rocket!" Peter interjected, causing the area to comedically lighten and turn back to normal.
Jessie and James were both standing back to back on top of a nearby tree branch, that seemed just a LITTLE too small to support both of their weights. They had their arms crossed, and seemed particularly angry with Peter.
"Foolish boy! How dare you interrupt our amazing motto?!" Jessie angrily asked the secret superhero.
"Yeah! How dare you?!" James exclaimed, basically just repeating what his magenta-haired friend had said.
A grin crept onto Jessie's face as she turned her body to look at Ash, Peter, and Lillie. "Now, we're here to capture that special type-changing Pokemon of yours! Hand it over nicely or we're going to have to get serious!"
James imitated Jessie and turned towards the group. "Indeed! We're going to have to-"
Suddenly, the branch underneath Jessie and James began to creak a little. It couldn't support their weight!
"Uh-Oh..." the Team Rocket duo muttered in unison.
They proceeded to comedically crash onto the floor, much to the amusement of our heroes.
"Stupid James! You moved too much!" Jessie scolded her fellow Team Rocket member as she got up and dusted herself off. "Because of you we fell down!"
"Because of ME?! You're the one who told me to imitate your actions!" James snapped back. "This is YOUR fault!"
The two of them growled and glared at each other, ready to rip the other's head off.
"Hey, hey! Settle down, you two," Meowth told the two humans as he walked in from absolutely nowhere. He then turned towards Ash and his friends and proceeded to smirk. "We've got some Pokemon to steal, hehe!"
"You know what? Meowth's right, James. Let's put aside our differences!" the woman exclaimed.
James nodded in response. "Alright, fine then!"
"Ekans, go!" Jessie shouted as she threw out her Pokeball that contained Ekans, which was in turn previously connected to his waist.
"Koffing, come on out!" James exclaimed as he threw his Pokeball as well.
The two pathetic villains' Pokemon materialized in front of them.
"Ekans Ek!" the snake-like Pokemon hissed at the heroes.
James' Koffing was also ready to battle. "Koffing Kof!"
It seemed that Team Rocket's villainous Pokemon were ready to battle!
"Alright! If it's a Pokemon battle you want, it's a Pokemon battle you'll get!" Ash excitedly exclaimed with a grin adorning his face.
"This isn't going to end well..." Peter and Lillie sighed in unison.
"Pew Pew..." Nebby whimpered, sharing an opinion with the two humans.
Seeing this as an opportunity to see how well the items were working, Ash decided to have a double battle with Jessie and James.
"Well, if you get to use two Pokemon, I'm going to use two Pokemon too!" Ash exclaimed with a grin before pointing towards Team Rocket and their poison-type Pokemon. "Scorbunny! Mankey! I choose you!"
Slowly, the wannabe Pokemon Master's Pokemon trudged in front of him, clearly tired because of the braces that they were wearing. They were clearly not very useful, and were just slowing them down!
Noticing Mankey, James' jaw dropped. "Th-Th-Th-That's the terrible Pokemon that attacked us yesterday! The twerp CAUGHT it?! We're screwed!"
"Well, yes, but...Snap out of it, James!" Jessie exclaimed as slapped her purple-haired friend in the back of his head. "Sure, he has a super scary Pokemon with him...But look at its condition! Its completely wiped!"
"Yeah, Meow!" Meowth exclaimed. "Those Pokemon are pooped! We'll easily defeat 'em this time!"
Mankey glared at Meowth and growled. "Mank... Mank... Mankey..."
Meowth blinked twice, not really understanding what Mankey was saying.
"You want me to..." Meowth started before immediately covering his mouth. "Holy Miltank! You've got one dirty mouth, pal! If we weren't in this specific situation, I'd go to the bathroom, grab a bar of soap, and scrub your mouth with it! You really need to respect other people!"
"Mankey..." Ash fighting-type angrily grunted in response, rolling its eyes in annoyance.
"Oh man, thank god I'm not the one fighting..." Meowth muttered quietly so that Mankey couldn't hear it. "That Mankey's really mean...Ekans and Koffing sure are in for a treat..."
"Ekans, use Wrap on that Scorbunny!" Jessie commanded to her partner Pokemon.
"Koffing, use your Smog attack!" James added.
Ekans immediately rushed towards Scorbunny at high-speeds while Koffing began to emit the smog that it was known for from its body.
"Scor-Bun!" Ash's fire-type worriedly exclaimed.
"That's alright, Scorbunny! You've got your brace to increase your speed, strength, defense, and literally everything else!" Ash happily reassured his partner with a smile. "Now, dodge that attack!"
Scorbunny nodded and attempted to hop out of the way of Ekans' attack. However, comedically, the brace that it was wearing slowed it down, and the fire-type found that it couldn't even jump because of the item's weight!
"Sc-Scor Bun Bun!" Scorbunny shouted as Ekans quickly wrapped itself around the little bunny Pokemon's body. The snake Pokemon then began to squeeze, causing immense pain for Scorbunny. "SCORBUNNY!"
"W-What?! That's not right! Scorbunny's speed should have INCREASED...Ah, whatever. I'll look into it later..." Ash muttered to himself. He glanced at his other Pokemon. "Mankey, help Scorbunny out by-"
However, the wannabe Pokemon Master's fighting-type Pokemon was having its own problems.
Sure, Mankey was incredibly powerful and had a short temper, but it definitely wasn't the smartest Pokemon around, and the fact that it was trapped within Koffing's smog, unable to see anything, was particularly infuriating for it.
"Hahaha! Now that Mankey can't see anything..." James started with a grin. "...Koffing, use Tackle! No, a BARRAGE of Tackles!"
While trapped within the thick smog that blocked its view, Mankey found itself being bombarded with powerful blows by Koffing, who zoomed through the air landing surprise attacks on Mankey. What's worse was that even if Mankey was able to see Koffing, the fighting-type Pokemon with anger issues wouldn't actually be able to dodge the attacks, since the brace it was wearing was hindering its speed!
And that's when it hit him.
"These braces don't increase a Pokemon's stats!..." Ash exclaimed under his breath, putting the pieces together. "They're just making my Pokemon slower...They're completely useless!"
"NOW he gets it!" Peter exclaimed with a facepalm.
"That's what we've been trying to tell you the whole time..." Lillie added.
Ash nodded at his friends and smiled at them before turning to his partners. "Scorbunny! Mankey! I was wrong! Those braces that I bought...They do nothing at all! You've gotta remove them...NOW!"
"Scor!...Bun!..." Scorbunny exclaimed as it began struggling within Ekans' grasp. However, it was no use. The snake Pokemon had Scorbunny held really well!
"Ahahaha! Great work, Ekans!" Jessie laughed. "Now...Come here and give me that Pokemon!"
"Dang it! Scorbunny's in trouble!..." Ash mentally exclaimed as he grit his teeth. "Man...This is all my fault...Peter and Lillie tried warning me earlier but I didn't listen..."
Suddenly, something caught Ash's attention from the corner of his eye.
Although Mankey was still trapped within in the confines of Koffing's Smog, and was constantly being attacked from random angles by the Poison-type Pokemon, the wannabe Pokemon Master's fighting-type Pokemon was...Struggling to break free from the brace!
"Mank...Mank..."
Eventually, Mankey raised it arms with such and speed and ferocity that it shocked Koffing, who was momentarily frightened by the action. Not only did it frighten its opponent, but it also shattered the brace on Mankey's body!
"MANK...EY!" the fighting-type screamed as its muscles expanded. It was using Bulk Up!
James blinked twice before frowning. "Oh no."
Koffing, who had not realized the danger of the situation, zoomed towards Mankey like it had previously done, expecting there to not really be a difference in strength. However...
"MANKEY!" the fighting-type owned by Ash shouted as its prehensile tail moved quickly towards the poison-type and wrapped itself around Koffing. Koffing blinked twice before frowning, imitating its trainer in a pretty comedic way.
"Koffing..." the evil Pokemon sighed in its usual deep voice.
Mankey proceeded to throw Koffing at James, who did not expect this. The spherical Pokemon smashed into James' stomach, knocking the wind out of the purple-haired man.
"AH!" the Team Rocket grunt known as James exclaimed as he fell over.
"Great work, Mankey!" Ash exclaimed to his partner. However, unfortunately, Mankey ignored him and rushed at Ekans, who was slithering towards Jessie to deliver Scorbunny to her. It seemed that Mankey was still particularly bitter towards Ash about making t wear that stupidly heavy device that was ultimately useless. "I...I guess we could talk about it later..."
Mankey rushed at Ekans and delivered a Karate Chop at its midsection, causing it intense pain.
"EKANS!" the Pokemon cried as it let go of its grasp on Scorbunny.
"Great work, Mankey! You're on a real roll!" Ash happily complimented his partner, who was still unfortunately ignoring him. "A-Anyways, use Karate Chop on Scorbunny's brace to free him!"
Mankey actually listened to this command, but that was probably just because it was going to do so anyways.
The brace around Scorbunny's body shattered, and the fire-type was free once more.
"Scor-Bun-Bun!" the bunny exclaimed as it hopped around happily.
"Yes! Awesome job, you two! You're free from the braces!" Ash stated with a smile. However, his face turned more serious. "Now we just need to take care of Team Rocket!"
Scorbunny nodded at its trainer's words before turning serious and looking at the villains. Mankey simply rolled its eyes and faced towards the Team Rocket grunts.
Jessie, James, Meowth, Koffing, and Ekans all looked fearfully at Scorbunny and Mankey, the latter of whom was cracking its knuckles, while the former of which was grinning menacingly at them.
"Oh no, we're screwed, Meow!" Meowth cried.
"Scorbunny, use Ember! Mankey, use Tackle!" Ash commanded his Pokemon, who promptly did as they were told.
"Scor...BUNNY!"
"Mank...EY!"
Mankey rushed at the villains while Scorbunny stayed in the back, blasting fireballs at them. Mankey's body comedically collided with all five of its foes at once, causing them to stagger back a bit, and Scorbunny's fireballs were just the finishing blows which caused Ash's foes to go flying into the air!
"Beaten again by the twerp!" James exclaimed while in the sky. "Once again..."
"...WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIIIIIIN..." they all cried in unison before disappearing across the horizon.
DING!
Ash took a deep breath, taking in what had just happened. He then looked up at his two partners and grinned. "Great work, you two! I knew you could do it!"
Scorbunny grinned and winked at its trainer happily. "Scor-Bun!"
Mankey simply looked away with its arms crossed. Noticing this, Ash sighed. "Uh, listen, you two...I'm sorry for making you wear those awful braces. They were fake, and-"
Hearing the braces get spoken about caused intense anger to swell up in Mankey's heart and it immediately charged at its trainer, hoping to get revenge on him for forcing it to wear that terrible device. Mankey had insane anger issues! "MANKEEEEEY!"
"Agh! Mankey, return!" Ash quickly exclaimed as he took out Mankey's Pokeball and pointed it at the fighting-type Pokemon. Before Mankey could attack the raven-haired boy, it was quickly converted to red energy and was sucked into the Pokeball. Ash looked down at the Pokeball and nervously chuckled to himself. "Man...Mankey sure has some major anger issues..."
"Scor-Bun!..." Scorbunny chuckled while scratching the back of its neck.
"Ash! I don't like Pokemon battles, but even I think that was a spectacular match!" Lillie exclaimed as she and Peter rushed over to the wannabe Pokemon Master's side. "But now do you believe us? You can't just trust everyone you meet! You were scammed!"
"Yeah, I see that now..." Ash sheepishly responded while scratching his cheek. However, his face quickly turned more serious. "Anyways, I think we've gotta pay this 'Mysterious Merchant' lady a visit, right NOW!"
Lillie, Peter, and Scorbunny all nodded in agreement and in unison. "Right."
The Mysterious Merchant grinned to herself as she counted the stacks money in her hands. She was sitting on a picnic blanket.
"Two-thousand nine hundred ninety seven...Two-thousand nine hundred ninety eight...Two-thousand nine hundred ninety nine..." the girl counted, before grinning and slamming the last bill onto her pile. "Three-Thousand! And it's all thanks to that Ash Ketchum kid! Ahahaha!"
She remained silent as she stared at the pile of cash. She loved money more then anything in the world.
"Haha! That punk was so gullible I almost feel bad!" she giggled to herself as she proceeded to put the money in her pocket. "Now I can finally buy some actual training items to use them on my Pokemon! Once I do that and get a little bit of training in, I'm certain I'll be able to beat Red!"
She stood up and folded her blanket, ready to continue on her way. "Now I need to head to Pewter City so I can buy some items at a Poke-Mart, hehe!..."
Suddenly, however, she heard some noises from behind her, as well as a voice calling out to her.
"Hey! Stop right there!" the voice shouted.
"Dang it!" The Mysterious Merchant angrily thought to herself as she turned around to glare at Ash and his friends under her cloak. "I hate customers who want refunds..."
Lillie, Peter, and Scorbunny all glared at her with angry stares as they finally caught up to her.
"I've...Finally found you!..." Ash exclaimed in-between pants. He had his hands on his knees as he tried to recollect his breath. His statements, however, simply caused The Mysterious Merchant to roll her eyes.
"Well, genius, I've been here the entire time," the girl stated as she put her hands on her hips. "Where in the world were you even looking?"
"That's besides the point!" the raven-haired boy snapped at the girl in the cloak as he took of his backpack and held it in front of her. He turned it upside down and began dumping its contents onto the floor. It was filled with the products that he had bought from her. "Your stupid products don't work at all! I want a refund!"
The Mysterious Merchant stared Ash in the eye seriously. "Really? My products don't work?"
"I can vouch for him," Peter stated as he crossed his arms. "They don't increase a Pokemon's stats at all! All they do is decrease its speed! Pretty useless if you ask me..."
Lillie nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything. She was a pretty shy girl, but her Pokemon, Nebby, on the other hand...
"PEW PEW PEW!" Nebby shouted from within Lillie's Pokeball-themed bag, causing it to shake.
"Shh, Nebby! Not right now!" Lillie exclaimed as she put her hands on the bag. "We're literally in the middle of an intense confrontation here..."
"Hmmm...I see...So you had a bad experience with my products, right?" The Mysterious Merchant asked, raising an eyebrow at Ash underneath her black cloak. "And you want to get a refund for them?"
"No! I want-" Ash started, but sheepishly cut himself off after realizing that The Mysterious Merchant was literally just offering what he wanted. "Oh, uh, yeah, I do."
"Hm...I see..." The girl in the cloak stated as she rubbed her chin. "You want a refund..."
A smirk spread across her face as she grabbed her cloak and tossed it aside! "Well, jokes on you, Green never gives refunds, whether you like it or not!"
Now the girl's face was fully visible, since her cloak was on the floor. She had long, messy brown hair, and had dark brown eyes that matched the color of her hair.
"Green?!" Ash, Peter, and Lillie all exclaimed in unison. The Mysterious Merchant had finally revealed her identity!
However, although everyone exclaimed the name in surprise, it seemed that only Peter actually recognized the girl...
"Gr-Green?! As in the third trainer that received a Pokemon from Professor Oak?!" Peter asked in disbelief. "YOU'RE the Mysterious Merchant?!"
"You betcha, Peter!" The Mysterious Merchant, or should I say Green, replied to Professor Oak's assistant with a giggle. "I've been selling stuff to unsuspecting trainers to get some cash! It's been a really more fun,...
"B-But why? That's a terrible thing to do!" Lillie interjected, causing Green to groan in annoyance.
"Well, there's this absolute jerk named Red," Green started, rolling her eyes as she spoke. "And he was so strong! Wiped the floor with my team! So then I thought 'Hey, why not buy some items to train my Pokemon the easy way and beat Red that way'? However, there was just one teensy-tiny problem...I didn't have enough money!"
"So you've been scamming people?" Peter asked, causing Green to nod in the affirmative.
"Yup! And your friend here just so happened to be gullible enough to fall into my trap!" the scammer giggled. "Man, it was hilarious how easy that was too!"
Ash felt his eye twitch. Not only did Green scam him, but now she was making fun of him! Saying he was pissed would be an understatement.
"Grrr! That's enough! Green, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" Ash exclaimed angrily and out of the blue. "If I win, you have to give me back all the money that I spent to buy your products, alright?!"
Green blinked twice at the immature behavior of Ash. "And what's in it for me?"
"Um, well...Uh..." Ash stuttered before shaking his head. "I don't know! We'll see after the battle!"
Green glared at the raven-haired boy for a few seconds, thinking about his proposal...
…
"Nah. Don't feel like it!" Green exclaimed as she turned around with her hands behind her back. "You'd probably lose to me anyways, haha!"
Ash's eye twitched. "How dare y-"
However, before Ash could finish, Green proceeded to walk away.
"You're not the only one who wants to beat the Gym Challenge, Ash!" Green told Ash as she grew farther and father from the group. "Let's battle when you're stronger then you are now, okay?"
"Wait a minute...So she's just going to leave?!" Ash asked in confusion. "That's a pretty anti-climactic ending to the chapter..."
Ignoring Ash's random 4th wall break, Lillie began to speak. "Well, Ash, I think we could all learn a valuable lesson here. You should always spend your money wisely, and-"
"Now I have three rivals!" Ash exclaimed excitedly. "Gary, Red, and now Green! I just know Green's strong! She battled with Red, after all! I just need to train harder and beat all of my rivals! Right, Scorbunny?"
"Scor-Bun!" the fire-type bunny Pokemon happily replied.
Ash and Scorbunny turned around and dashed across the path. "Let's go to Pewter City! Ya-Hoo!"
…
Lillie blinked twice as her friend and his Pokemon ran off. "Ash sure has a thick skull, huh Peter?"
"Yeah, I suppose you could say that..." Peter sighed. "Out of all the trainers who started off on their journey that day, Ash is quite possibly the most immature out of all of them..."
"Yeah...But we all have to start somewhere, right?" the blonde-haired girl asked with a giggle, causing the secret superhero to simply shake his head with a grin.
"I suppose you're right, Lillie, I suppose you're right...But let's go! Ash is probably going to do something stupid if we don't catch up to him, haha!"
Green swiped through her Rotom-Phone, which was green in color, matching her name. She was leaning against a tree and was grinning to herself.
"Ash Ketchum, eh?..." she asked herself as she tapped the screen once, bringing up the images of Ash, Gary, and Red. "Yet another trainer that I'm going to have to look out for...Ah, whatever..."
She proceeded to slip the phone into her pocket and grin to herself.
"I'm still going to become the champion, and I'm still going to make a lot of money while doing it!"
This chapter introduces Green. In terms of design she's similar to her appearance in the Let's Go games, but in terms of personality I kind of took inspiration from the Pokemon Adventures Manga, though I do want to take some creative liberties with her character somewhere down the line if I get the chance.
Until next time!