It was a new day in Viridian Forest. The Pidgeys were chirping, the sun was shining out on the distant land, and the previous uncertainities welling up on the people in Viridian Forest seems to have cleared up.
However, among them, a certain airhead had woken up with a significant sigh, and confused eyes of emblazement and misposition.
"Wh-?"
Meredith looks around, immediately spotting what was wrong.
Why was she in a tent? Weren't she and Sylvia sleeping out last night? And, why does she feel so freakishly warm on the tummy?
Wait-
"Where am I?"
Is the first thing she asks herself.
"And, why is there this bloody blanket? I hate blankets!"
Not one of the things to be concerned about right now, but well... It's Meredith after all.
"What's wrong Meredith? Why are you screaming?"
"Huh?"
Apparently, the pretty refreshed silver-head was also awake by now.
Mostly due to Meredith's loud voice, that is...
"Oh. Sylvia, you're here too?"
"What do you mean by here too?"
She looks around to notice the difference in last night's condition of living, and this morning's condition of living- yup, a pretty big difference.
"Uh? Where are we?"
"That's supposed to be my line." Itching her tummy, Meredith exclaims to Sylvia.
"Ugh! What's this?!"
Without warning, Meredith grabs the fluffy thing which was stuck to her stomach and takes it out from the blanket.
What came out was a yellow rodent that was sleeping peacefully- unaware that two pairs of uncanny eyes were staring at it.
Wouldn't want to wake up at this point...
"Uh. A Pikachu? What's it doing here?" Sylvia thinks out aloud.
Much to her friend's astonishment, Meredith attempts to take control of the situation and tries to pinch Pikachu's cheeks in order to waken it.
"What are you doing Mer?"
"I'm trying to wake it up. I think it can lead us to something."
Spark.
Something yellow came off Pikachu's cheeks, but it was very transient to identify.
"I think you should stop that," Sylvia warns Meredith, getting a hunch of a pending disaster.
"Don't worry nothing will-."
Too late.
As soon as Sylvia tried to snatch Meredith's arms from the electric rodent, Pikachu jolted awake and angrily sparked its cheeks.
"Pikka!"
With eyes of frustration, and limbs of exhaustion, Pikachu glared at the two petrified girls before launching full assault and paralyzing them in its electricity.
"Pikachu!"
After a while, things slowed down.
Pikachu rested its electricity and took the time to calmly analyze the situation and spare the two girls off its unanimous gaze.
Again, Sylvia was confused as to why she and Meredith were being treated like prisoners in front of a little yellow fluffy mouse.
"Um, Pikachu, listen to us. We don't mean any harm, you know?"
Meredith tried to reason with the mouse.
"We're actually just as confused as you. We don't have any idea why we're in this place in the first place."
"Pika pika."
The electric rodent nodded in understanding.
So, they weren't criminals who were trying to take him away from his trainer.
"Glad to see you understand Pikachu."
"Well, that's all fine and all, but the question still remains- why are we here?"
"Hmm." Meredith thinks herself for a bit. The situation was totally confusing. They were just sleeping out on the grass last night, now they have no idea as to why they're here, and having to reason with a yellow rodent.
"Pikka."
Pikachu clicked its tongues and made a face of realization. It seemed as if something clicked in his mind.
"Pika pika."
It made a gesture for Meredith and Sylvia to follow it before Pikachu got to its four toes and ran out of the tent.
The two girls made a rush to fix their clothes before hurrying out of the tent and behind Pikachu.
Pikachu smelt its way to a nearby place where somebody in a cotton blanket was sleeping over a log.
Pikachu jumped on top of the blanket before trying to shake the sullen body.
"Um, who's this now?"
"No idea," Sylvia responds, shaking her head.
Pikachu keeps on shaking the blanket, but the person appears to have no reaction.
Finally, getting frustrated, Pikachu jumps down on the ground and flares its cheeks.
Sylvia and Meredith's eyes widen in shock and realization.
"Pikachu!"
With one massive thundershock, the sleeping body was shocked awake with sparks being emitted from said person.
"Ah! Pikachu!"
Aeris woke up, drowsy and shocked, and immediately put his arms in front of him for protection.
"I'm awake. I'm awake. No need to shock me anymore."
"Pika pika pikachu!"
"Um..."
Meredith breaks their tantrum, drawing both the electric mouse and its trainer's attention to the two girls in waiting.
Too much has happened for a morning...
"Ah! You're that guy," Sylvia exclaims, remembering Aeris from his battle against Stephan. "The guy with the Pikachu."
"I have a name you know," Aeris proclaims, with an initial sigh. "It's Aeris Blackwood."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Your name isn't the point here!" Another woman enters the scene, Meredith Blakey to be exact. "What's wrong is the fact of how we ended up in that tent with your Pikachu!"
"Oh. That tent's mine," Aeris informs her. "I carried you two in there last night."
"You- what?!"
"You two were out in the cold last night, so I thought I'd let you stay in my tent..."
"Oh, so that's what happened..."
Meredith finally calms down, satisfied with the explanation.
Aeris was a nice guy, she thought. Normally, people wouldn't give two pennies. However...
"Wait, you carried us inside?"
"Yeah. Is that a big deal?"
"Of course, it is, nitwick! A boy touching two innocent girls is a really big deal! God knows what you did with us last night?!"
Meredith shivers. Thoughts of the lecherous things Aeris could've done to her and Sylvia comes on her mind.
"I didn't do anything. Stop making it sound as if I'm the criminal here. Besides, I let you guys have my tent while I slept outside in the cold!"
Truth.
That made Meredith reconsider.
Normally, people wouldn't be as good-minded.
Also, she should be thankful that the person last night was Aeris and not some creeps.
"Well, whatever..." She proclaims nonchalantly, though feeling grateful on the inside.
"Are you bipolar?"
Aeris asks sarcastically.
That earned him a smack.
Aeris was muching on a chicken sandwich and Pikachu was gulping his favourite electric-flavoured pokefood while the two girls watched them like hungry stray cats.
Yup, it was morning, and both of them had no food with them.
"What?" Aeris asks them finally.
"We're hungry," came Meredith's reply.
"Not my worries..." Aeris claims before taking the final bite of his sandwich and getting up to sling his bag around his shoulder. "Let's go Pikachu. We have to reach Pewter by today."
"Pikka."
Ignoring the two helpless girls, the ignorant trainer and his Pikachu quietly started walking down the road.
However, it seems that it wasn't as easy to get rid of the two girls.
After a while of talking, and being followed, Aeris snapped at the two out of irritation.
"Can you please stop following me like some lost puppies?!"
"You're mean!" Meredith exclaims. "Who would leave two beautiful maidens like us in the middle of this forest?"
"Are you for real?"
*Growl*
And there goes Sylvia and Meredith's grumbling stomach.
"See, we're hungry."
"So, what'll I do?"
"Give us something to eat!" Meredith barks, almost like an order.
"Like I said, that's none of my concerns. You two should've brought your own food with you. What're you, babies? That's the basics of being a trainer."
"Please." Sylvia participates in the 'begging'. "We're really hungry, Aeris."
*Sigh*
Aeris sighs before giving up and listening to their demands.
"Fine, I got it."
He reveals a pokebalk from his belt before throwing it high on the air.
Light flashes from the pokeball before materializing into the Poison Pin pokemon, Nidoran.
"Nidoran, can you grab those two some berries from the trees?"
Nidoran nods at its trainer before rushing off towards a nearby tree. It climbs the bark in a rush before jumping on a branch and using its horns to jerk off some purple colored berries.
The berries started shaking before their contact to the branch was torn off and they dropped to the ground.
But before they could make contact with the ground, Nidoran jumped from the branch and grabbed the berries using its mouth.
It gave two of the berries to Sylvia, and two of the remaining to Meredith before returning back to its trainer's side.
"Good job Nidoran," Aeris praises, patting Nidoran's head before returning it back to its pokeball and turning to the two girls. "Eat. Those are Oran Berries."
Without waiting any further, the two girls immediately dug into the Oran berries and started nibbling quietly at them.
"These are so good!" Meredith commented while chewing on the purple berry.
Aeris glanced at them for a few seconds and sighed before turning heels.
"Guess I'll be continuing my journey," he muttered, Pikachu taking the initiative and trailing behind him.
Half an hour later...
What is irritation?
Is it a form of anger?
Is it something you feel when you're annoyed?
Doesn't matter.
But for Aeris, 'irritation' was the best word right now to describe his feelings towards a certain pair of girls who were following him like creeps.
"When in the world will you two stop following me?" Aeris snaps, while folding the map in his hand and stuffing it inside his pocket.
"Pika pika pi." The electric rodent protested along with its trainer.
"It's not our fault that we're lost!" Meredith says. "Besides, you even have a map..."
"He-Hey, calm down Mer. Let's just ask him politely."
"I know, alright. You don't have to tell me!" Meredith surprisingly scolds Sylvia before turning her glare at Aeris. "We're lost, so can you help us?" she asks him with a haughty voice before returning her gaze back to Sylvia. "There. I said it."
"Was that supposed to be a request?" Aeris fires back at her.
"Um, can you please help us, Aeris?" Sylvia ends up asking him, giving Aeris the 'puppy' eyes. "It'll only be this once. We'll be out of your sight as soon as we reach Pewter."
*sigh*
"Fine. I get it. But-." He stops midway, raising his hand midway. "I want you two out of my eyes as soon as we reach Pewter."
"We understand," Sylvia nods obediently, pinching Meredith sideways. "Don't we, Mer?"
"Pfft."
A scoff is what Aeris has to receive from Meredith for now.
"Are we there yet?"
"No, we're not."
Silence.
"Are we there yet?"
"NO! We're not!"
Silence.
"Are we-."
"Can you please shut up?!" Aeris, out of frustration, finally barks at Meredith while Sylvia watches silently from aside. "You've been asking that same, stupid thing for God knows how long! And again- No! We're not there. For God's sake, I'm human, not Pokemon. I can't teleport you to Pewter!"
Well, she had that coming.
This time, instead of countering, Meredith keeps quiet and follows behind Aeris when they all start walking again.
Guess she crossed the limit for now...
"Damn annoyance...!" Aeris mutters before turning back to the road.
As soon as he turned his head however, his eyes soon became focused on a certain species of bird that could be found commonly in Kanto.
"What's that?"
"That's a Pidgey," Aeris answers Sylvia, pulling out his Pokedex.
"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. A Normal and Flying type.
Pidgeys prefer to fly in flocks than alone. Calm and quiet, Pidgeys serve as the foothold of new trainers since they are easy to catch and train."
"Wanna try catching?" Aeris offers her.
"Huh? Me?"
"Yeah," Aeris nods. "Do you have any pokemon other then Fennekin?"
"No, I guess."
"You should catch it then. I already caught two pokemon, so I'm good. It's better to have as much Pokemons as you can in a journey."
"I'll catch it!" Meredith intervenes them, having already taken out her pokeball. "Hey, Sylvy! Can I catch it? Please?"
"Sure," Sylvia says, and Meredith jumps up with an excited 'YES' before getting into position.
Aeris narrows his eyes at Meredith while she reveals her Charmander, the Fire type starter pokemon which she received from Professor Oak.
"Let's go Charmander!"
"Char!"
"Let's start with Growl Charmander!"
"Char!" Charmander grips its foot onto the ground before releasing a frightening cry from its mouth, a cry that makes the Pidgey cower in fear. "Charmander!"
"Okay, good! Now use Ember!"
"Char!" Charmander opens its mouth, and a resulting flame starts gathering on its tongue. "Char!" The fire is released onto Pidgey in a small ember. "Charmander!"
The Pidgey retaliates by digging its feet onto the ground and spraying dirt on the fire, effectively putting out the Ember.
As soon as it did that, Pidgey flaps its wings and flies high into the air before diving down at Charmander with a glowing beak.
"Pidge! Pidgey!"
With a rapid increase in speed, Pidgey pecks Charmander on the shoulder.
"Char!" The Flame pokemon cries in pain as Pidgey hardens its beak on Charmander.
"Don't let up Charmander. Use Scratch, now that its near!"
Charmander listens to its trainer and sharpens its nails before delivering two critical slashes on Pidgey's wings.
"Pidgey!" Pidgey's contact with Charmander is broken as the force of the Scratch attack causes it to fling back in pain.
"Now's the time, Meredith!" Aeris tells her. "Use your pokeball."
Meredith nods before taking out a spare pokeball and throwing it at Pidgey.
"Pokeball, do your trick!"
While in air, the pokeball hits Pidgey's wings, and opens before a bright red light shoots out that traps the Pidgey inside the pokeball.
One shake.
Two shake.
Three shake.
Four shake.
Five shake.
TING!
"Alright!" Meredith squeals as soon as the 'TING' sound of a successful capture along with a while glow flashes from the pokeball. "I caught a Pidgey!"
While Meredith started celebrating along with her Charmander, Aeris scoffs at her from the sidelines.
"Heh. Amateur stuff."
"You say that, but you still helped her in the end," Sylvia comments on how Aeris told Meredith to throw the pokeball at the right moment.
"I did not!" Aeris argues like a child. "A-Anyways, we should get going. At this rate, we'll be stuck in this place for another day."
"Avoiding the topic, are we?" Sylvia cheekily says, causing Aeris to fluster and turn his head.
"Damn annoyance..."