Hello everyone. Sorry for the long absence. Life has been real busy and I haven't been writing. We're back now and ready to continue on.

Chapter 5: Protecting People and Pokémon

Robert was leaving Pewter City after defeating Brock in his rematch.

"I guess my next destination is Cerulean City."

As he walked out to Route 3, he saw a group of trainers gathered around watching a battle. He recognized that Leaf was one of the trainers participating in the battle.

"Bulbasaur, finish this battle with a Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur's Vine Whip struck the opposing trainer's Rattata, knocking it out and winning the battle. The opposing trainer returned his Pokémon and handed Leaf some money for her win.

"That was some excellent battling Leaf."

Leaf turned to see Robert behind her watching her battle.

"Oh. Hi, Robert it's nice to see you again."

The two trainers decided to sit and have lunch together before continuing on their journey.

"How did your battle with Brock go?" Robert asked

"It went well. Bulbasaur's type advantage in a Rock type Gym certainly helped. How did you fare?"

"We lost the first time, but bounced back well and won on our second attempt."

"Excellent. Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure" Robert said with both curiosity and confusion.

"Will you travel through Mt. Moon with me? I don't feel comfortable going through the cave by myself. We'll split off again once we reach Cerulean City."

"I would be happy to. It's nice to travel with someone for a change."

Both trainers packed up their food and headed further down the route towards the base of Mt Moon.

As they approached the mountain, Leaf spotted a new Pokémon.

"Oh look. It's a Jigglypuff." Leaf said with a smile.

Robert looked ahead to see the round and pink Pokémon.

"Do you mind if I try to catch it?" Leaf asked.

"Go for it. I know you can do it."

"Time for battle, Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur appeared in front of Leaf and spotted the Jigglypuff.

"Bulbasaur, Tackle attack!"

Bulbasaur launched itself at the Jigglypuff, but it jumped out of the way, causing Bulbasaur to smack into a wild Spearow that was eating nearby.

"Sorry Spearow." Leaf said sheepishly.

The Spearow, now angry that its meal was interrupted, began launching a Fury Attack at Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, dodge it."

Bulbasaur did a quick jump to avoid the attack, but the Spearow just kept coming at the Grass type.

Robert grabbed Pikachu's Pokeball and asked Leaf if he should intervene.

"No. I can do this."

The Spearow stopped attacking Bulbasaur and let out a loud cry. After this, a large flock of Spearows appeared and starting diving at Bulbasaur. Leaf began to panic on the inside. She didn't think she could handle a whole flock of Spearows by herself. Robert, seeing the worry on Leaf's face, sprang into action.

"Go Kadabra, Pikachu, and Pidgey!"

Robert released all three of his Pokémon to battle with the flock of Spearow.

"Kadabra, go protect Bulbasaur. Pidgey, use your Gust attacks to blow the Spearow away. Pikachu, knock them out of the sky with your Thundershock attacks!"

Kadabra teleported over to Bulbasaur and use Confusion on any Spearow that continued to dive at Bulbasaur. Pikachu's Thundershock attacks were knocking Spearows out left and right. Pidgey was holding its own, until a Spearow knocked it to the ground. The other Spearows began to pick on Pidgey.

"You've got this, Pidgey. I believe in you."

Hearing its trainer's words of encouragement, Pidgey stood up, let out a loud cry, and started to glow. After the glowing subsided, there was now a Pidgeotto where Pidgey stood.

"Awesome! Pidgey evolved!"

Pidgeotto's loud cry frightened the Spearow and sent them flying away. Leaf was in awe. She couldn't believe such a young trainer could have the poise to deal with that so easily. She felt a blush begin to form on her face. Robert returned Kadabra and Pikachu before heading over to pet his newly evolved Pokémon.

"Good work, Pidgeotto."Robert said with a smile.

Pidgeotto appreciated the pets and the praise from its trainer. Robert returned Pidgeotto to its Pokeball before noticing the Jigglypuff was cowering in fear behind a rock.

"Leaf, look. The Jigglypuff is still here."

Leaf, after checking on Bulbasaur, called out to the Pokémon.

"It's okay. You can come out now. The Spearow are gone."

Jigglypuff checked its surroundings and then ran over to Leaf and jumped into her arms.

"I guess Jigglypuff is thanking you for protecting it from the Spearow."

Leaf looked down at Jigglypuff and asked "Is that true?"

Jigglypuff nodded as it snuggled into Leaf's chest.

"Would you like to join my team, Jigglypuff?"

Jiggllypuff, continuing to snuggle, nodded again. Leaf reached onto her belt, grabbed a Pokeball, and pinged it on Jigglypuff's head. It only shook once and then it pinged shut, signaling a successful capture. The sun began to set for the day, so the trainers decided to stay at the Pokémon Center overnight and proceed through Mt. Moon the next day.

The trainers proceeded to the Pokémon Center at the base of the mountain to check in for the night. Before parting ways for the evening, Leaf said to Robert:

"Thank you for earlier. I don't know what I would have done without you. I'll be outside the Pokémon Center waiting for you in the morning."

Robert smiled and waved Leaf goodnight as they went into their separate rooms to sleep.

The next morning arrived and Leaf couldn't get the events of yesterday out of her head. She had been so confident in her abilities as a trainer that it bothered her that Robert had to step in and save her. Then she thought about how easy he made it look to handle a situation like that and it made her blush again. She really hadn't thought about men like this before. She had guy friends, but none of them really interested her as a romantic partner. The only thought that kept coming back was: "Is this what love feels like?"

Robert left the Pokémon Center to find Leaf standing at the entrance to Mt. Moon waiting for him just like she said she would.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Sure am!" she said trying to hide the blush forming on her cheeks.

"Then let's do this!" Robert said in excitement.

They entered the mountain and began following the path through. There were lots of Geodude and Zubat around, but nothing really intrigued either trainer. They also came across some other trainers exploring the cave and battled their way through. As they got deeper in, Robert heard something he didn't expect to hear.

"Char."

A wild Charmander was wandering around in the mountain.

"I didn't expect to see a Charmander in here."

Charmander, hearing this, became frightened and began to run away, with Robert chasing after it. Leaf, not wanting to lose her traveling companion, followed quickly behind. The Pokémon led them to a different part of the cave where there were suspicious men wearing lab coats and black shirts with big red R's on them. One of the Rocket Grunts spotted the Charmander and prepared to catch it. Robert saw the Rocket Grunt and called out to him.

"Leave that Charmander alone!"

The grunt noticed the young trainer and his companion.

"This doesn't concern you, boy. This isn't your Pokémon. It's anyone's for the taking."

Leaf, catching up with Robert, asked who he was arguing with.

"A member of Team Rocket, an evil organization who uses Pokémon as nothing more than tools for their own gains."

Leaf was shocked and appalled. All she wants to do help Pokémon. While the arguing was going on, the Charmander went and hid behind some rocks. The Rocket Grunt was annoyed that some brat cost him his chance to catch a rare Pokémon.

"You punk! You cost me my chance at a rare Pokémon. You're going to pay for that!"

The grunt released a Zubat and ordered it to attack Robert.

"You want a battle. You got it! Go, Kadabra!"

Kadabra appeared in front of Robert and immediately launched a Confusion attack at the Zubat It connected and knocked out of the Zubat. The grunt returned the Zubat and threw another Pokeball revealing a Koffing.

"Koffing, use Tackle."

Koffing tried to tackle Kadabra, but Kadabra caught it with its Confusion attack.

"Send it flying." Robert shouted.

Kadabra sent Koffing flying into the wall, knocking it out. The grunt was now nervous. This kid had defeated him handily.

"Now leave this Charmander alone!"

The grunt ran away scared after Robert yelled at him. Leaf was in awe of him again. She couldn't believe how he would defend a wild Pokémon from an evil organization. The Charmander reappeared and approached Robert.

"Hey there, Charmander. Are you okay?"

Charmander nodded and then asked to battle.

"You got it. Go, Pikachu!"

Pikachu appeared before Robert and stared at Charmander.

"Quick Attack!"

Pikachu sped towards and slammed into Charmander, sending it skidding across the cave floor. Charmader stopped sliding and roared back with an Ember attack.

"Pikachu, dodge it and use Thundershock."

Pikachu jumped out of the way of the Ember and shocked Charmander, causing it to become paralyzed. Robert decided to throw a Pokeball. The ball struck Charmander and it went inside. It wiggled three times before pinging shut.

"Welcome to the team, Charmander."

Robert and Leaf made it through the rest of Mt. Moon without any more interruptions and finally arrived in Cerulean City.

"I guess this is where we part ways for now." Robert said to Leaf.

"Yeah it is. Thank you for all of your help."

"No problem. I'm sure we will run into each other again at some point."

"Indeed."

Leaf then left Cerulean to continue exploring the Kanto region, but she also knew she had to figure out the feelings that she was having towards Robert.

We've finally arrived in Cerulean City. What's next in store for our hero? We'll find out next time!