A VISIT TO VIRIDIAN

I wake up the next morning tired. I hadn't slept very well, and yawn loudly, but the sun is up so it's time to get up. Ditto and Bulbasaur are still sleeping. As I start cooking breakfast, I can hear the two of them waking

"Morning, Ditto. Morning, Bulbasaur." I say casually without looking, focusing on the food.

"Ditto!" Greets Ditto excitedly.

Bulbasaur is quiet for a while before mumbling, "...Bulbasaur."

"Had a good sleep?" I ask.

Again, Bulbasaur takes a long time before answering, "Bulbasaur…"

"Well, eat up quickly," I say, as I finish up the scrambled eggs. "We've got some walking to do today."

I figure we'd had about enough training in Route One. The pidgeys and rattatas where good enough training fodder for Bulbasaur, but he's ready to move on to some stronger stuff. It's also gotten a bit dull for me with the same old scenery, so I think, to Viridian City we go. I've heard about the gym leader there. Giovanni is apparently one of the strongest there is, and I'm sure we'll probably not stand a chance, but it can't hurt to try right? At the very least I'm hoping to see if I can't get a glimpse of one of his battles first hand and maybe come up with some strategy for when I do challenge him. So, when we've all eaten, and I've packed up my things, I'm honestly a bit excited again despite myself.

"Alright," I say, looking down at my little team. "Ready?"

"Ditto!" Says Ditto, and… Bulbasaur says nothing, but through the route we go!

But I admit, I'm forgetting something aren't I? Forgive me for my little tease, but I guess it can't be helped now to continue, so before rushing forward, let's first take a step back.

Yes, Venasaur saw us making love by the oran berries, and when he did he looked away quickly. In the darkness, however, I don't think that he saw me see him see us. Sorry, that was a bit of a mouthful. Let me explain.

As I drew Ditto off of me, a hot face of shame, I could hear Venasaur snoring again as though nothing had happened. Hearing this, I could have almost given a sigh of relief to think he hadn't seen anything after all. But on listening further it became clear to me something was off. His little snores sounded stiff, almost forced. Like he was only pretending to sleep, and in fact I think that's exactly what he was trying to do. He was always shy about these sorts of things when we began.

Well, then again, so was I.

But the fact of the matter was that he knew. And I knew that he knew. But he didn't know that I knew that he knew. And I knew he didn't know that I knew that he knew. You know? I had been too afraid to address it with him, not wanting to make the rift between us wider. If he wanted to pretend like he hadn't seen us, then I was content to pretend like I hadn't seen him see us as well.

And so began our silly little charade.

It had been a very long, and very heart pounding night to say the least.

We step onto the edge of the route, the new city spread out before us. It's not the busiest, still there are several people wandering the streets, pidgeys pecking around for crumbs, and to my left, the entrance to Route 22 where trainers go to become champions. One day, I think, thrilled by the idea. One day, once I've earned all my badges and qualify for the league. Who knows how long it'll take me, but I'm certain I won't ever give up until I do. I can't help but wonder what kind of person I'll have become by the end of it.

Apparently, a person like this.

"Hey, Bulbasaur?" Bulbasaur stiffens and glances up. I try, and look confident as I smile at him. "Is it okay if I send you back in your pokeball? I don't want to risk losing you in the crowd."

I show him his ball, and wait for him to refuse, but to my surprise, "Saur." He grumbles, and nods.

"Thanks," I say as I return him, clipping his ball back to my belt. "Ready, Ditto?" I ask my plush.

"Ditto!" Ditto says, stretching his little arms up at me, wanting me to pick him up, so I do. He cuddles against my shirt happily as I cradle him and venture into the city.

As much as I'd like to check out the gym, I head to the Pokemart first. After a few quick breaths to hype myself up, I step through the sliding glass doors. It's cool inside, lots of air conditioning, and it's a bit of a shock to step into after being outside for so long. The cashier eyes me as I step in. I smile weakly, and head over to the counter, my mind racing over what I'd say as I went.

"Um, h-hi…" I manage to stammer as I reach the counter, shifting my hold on Ditto to pull out the pokeball I'd thrown the other night. "I think I might have gotten a bad pokeball…"

"Huh!?" The woman says loudly, almost shouting. She has an intensity about her that makes me flinch and wish I could cower under the counter. "Give me that." She snatches the dud ball from my hand, glaring at it. She turns it over, presses the front button so it inflates to its full size, then looks at me. "It's fine. What's the problem?" Almost like she's accusing me of playing a prank.

"Oh, w-well…" Had I gotten it wrong? I quickly try and defend myself. "I tried catching this pokemon with it." I gesture to Ditto, "but it wouldn't open."

"Huh? Impossible. Give him here." The cashier demands, waving a hand at me.

"ditto…" Ditto shies back against my breasts, and is shaking a bit. I hug him defensively.

"He's a little shy…" The cashier glares at me. I want to leave. I should leave, but I hold my hand out. "M-may I?"

The woman shrugs and hands the ball back to me. I touch it gently against Ditto's quivering belly, but still nothing happens.

The woman's tongue clicks, almost like she's annoyed. "He must have been registered in a different ball. Did you steal him or something?"

I gape a her. "W-what!? No! Of course not! I just… f-found him." The cashier glares me down suspiciously. Honestly I can't blame her, even to me the story sounds off, but it's true! I thank her quickly and hurry out of the mart before she can ask any more questions. Still, it takes a while for me to calm down my racing heart and try not to think about her piercing stare.

"Ditto?" Ditto says, as if sensing my uncertainty.

I look down at him smiling back at me. "Do you have another trainer, Ditto?" After what the professor had said, and now the cashier, I can't help but wonder. I hope not. I can't bear the thought of my boy being taken from me someday because he belonged to someone else.

But Ditto tilts his head. "Ditto?" I sigh. That didn't answer my question. Still I guess I should have expected nothing less.

"Never mind." I say as we move on.

Viridian City isn't that big of a city, really. It's not much bigger than Pallet Town, and from what I've heard it's the smallest of all Kanto's cities. Aside from the Pokemart and Center, it's mostly just a bunch of residential housing, and stuff. Really the only reason people even call it a city to begin with is because it's where Giovanni decided to establish his gym, and gyms are only ever established in cities.

I don't know very much about the leader. Of the eight he's the one who liked to be the most secretive, and there were never any broadcasts of his battles with challengers for that reason. I suppose it's not all that unusual. If it was me, I think I'd rather not have myself broadcasted across the region either. Maybe he's self-conscious about his looks or something, but either way it doesn't really matter.

I know enough. He's a specialist in ground type pokemon based on what I've read online from others who've challenged him. That's good to hear, seeing how Bulbasaur's Vine Whip will be strong against him. Maybe enough that it will compensate for the lack of coordination we have together as a team? Probably not. This is a professional we're talking about here, someone who's been training pokemon for years. There's no way someone like me just starting out would have a prayer against him, but like I said, I'm excited, and I'm just looking for a little peek at what I should expect.

The gym isn't hard to spot. Its iconic brown roof stands higher than any of the other residences. I find it nestled in one of the corners of the town, sorry city, beyond which the dense woods start up again.

It's a proud, and powerful looking structure. A fitting image for a place where hundreds of trainers come each year for a challenge. A pokeball symbol is painted over the front dome above the entrance. Tall glass windows reveal some of the obstacles set up inside, panels on the floor with green arrows pointing in every random direction. The gym looks like a monument. The kind of thing that'll stick around for years after everything else has fallen away. As sturdy, and unyielding as the ground it stands on.

In awe, at the time, I couldn't have imagined anything in the world that could have taken such a place down.

But as it turns out, with enough fire, anything will burn to the ground.

As I start to draw closer, I see that a crowd has formed in front of the glass doors. Many of them are shouting loudly, and I find myself freezing up, afraid to go any further. The only thing I fear more than people is a lot more of them, but what could be going on?

Luckily, someone is there to explain things to me.

"Yellow?"

"Eep!" I cry out in fright whipping around. It's Blue, his eyes like the sky, and his smile cool. It feels like my heart flutters a bit, but then I remember Ditto's transformation last night, and can't help but blush. "Oh! H-hi, Blue…" I look away quickly, trying not to look guilty.

Blue seems shocked by my reaction, but he recovers quickly. "Guess you heard too, huh?"

"H-heard what?" I manage, staring at my feet. "I just arrived… so…"

"About Giovanni. Looks like he's gone. The gym's closed."

"Closed?" It's enough to make me look up. I wasn't aware gyms even could close. At least, I've never heard about it happening before. Looking over at the crowd, I can now see many of them have pokeballs on their belts, fellow trainers like us. Many of them are complaining all at once to a poor little man, likely the gym guide, who is trying to quiet them down.

"Well where is he!?"

"I'm very sorry, but I can't answer that."

"When will he be back!?"

"I'm sorry, I can't say."

"Don't you know anything!?"

"I'm sorry, I really don't."

The shouting only got worse from there. Blue sighs. "Yeah, I was thinking about giving it a shot, but now I guess I can't. What rotten timing. The next closest gym isn't till Pewter."

I nod. Brock, a rock type specialist. Maybe doable, but it'd mean getting through Viridian Forest first. Probably for the best, though, since it'd mean more training for Bulbasaur. I realize I haven't said anything for a while, and Blue is still watching me expectantly.

I frantically try and find something to say. "U-um… Where's Red?"

Blue shrugs. "Who knows, probably still trying to catch up from Pallet Town."

"Oh, y-yeah, I guess." I blush harder, that was a stupid question wasn't it? And now there's another awkward silence as my mind goes blank for words.

Blue eventually sighs, "Well, see you around Yellow. I'll challenge you again sometime. Next time it'll be my win." He heads off, waving over his shoulder. Once again, before I can think of something cool to say in response, he's already gone. I hug Ditto a little, though, and can't help but smile. Does he really want to challenge me again? If he did, well… yeah, I can hardly wait for the chance.

Admitably, the news of the gym's closing does put a bit of a hold on my plans. With Giovanni gone, there's really not very much for me to do here. It didn't sound like the leader would be returning anytime soon, so there's not really any point in sticking around. Maybe it's best to just hit the road again. With any luck, if I left now I might be able to reach the entrance to the forest before it got dark tonight. I nod to myself. Sounds like a plan.

However, Ditto has a plan of his own.

"Ditto!" Suddenly, and excitedly, before I can even react, the little pink paste hops out of my arms and plops onto the ground.

"H-hey wait!" I call in surprise as he starts to slip away down the street. I hurry after him. Luckily he's slow, so I'm not too worried about catching up, and he eventually stops in front of the glass display of what looks like... a book shop maybe? He squishes against the clear glass, struggling as if he didn't understand what invisible force was holding him back.

I sigh, and pick him up again. "What is it Ditto?" But I freeze. I see a big pair of breasts glaring back at me from the display. Huge ones, the kind that even normal sized girls would be jealous of. The display is of a collection of magazines, this one in particular looks like the newest issue of that mag Ditto had found in Route One. I blush a bright cheri color.

"Dii! Dii!" Ditto whines insistently, stretching himself in my grip, trying to reach it.

"No! Absolutely not!" Like I'd ever be caught dead walking into a porn shop to buy a dirty mag! No way! "I thought you were done with those!"

"Diii!" Ditto gurgles. I struggle to hold him back, but he slips through my grip.

"Ditto!" I protest as he melts himself into a puddle and slips under the crack in the door of the shop. Very soon I can see him sliming about on the other side of the glass inside the display.

"D-ditto!" I hiss, but of course he can't hear. He waves at me silently with his thin little smile and his tiny little eyes. "Get. Back. Here!" I make charades to make him understand. To anyone passing by, I probably look like a real idiot right now. Ditto picks up the dirty mag and waves it at me too.

"Put. That. Back!" I hiss again, feeling very desperate. I glance around to see if anyone has noticed yet. Of course, there's a guy staring right at me from across the street. He quickly looks away the moment I see him, and pretends like he hadn't noticed. My heart completely sinks, and I feel myself going red as a cheri berry. I pull the rim of my hat down as far as it will go, and wish I were nothing more than an inconspicuous shrub. This is the absolute worst! Let me diie!

I hear then a soft tapping sound on the glass. Ditto rapping the corner of the mag against the window to get my attention. When I look, he opens it to a page of a girl shamelessly spreading herself across two pages. Now my face is hotter than a magmar. Arceus! How can his face look so innocent, and yet so lewd all at the same time!? I feel even more terribly curious stares glance my way now. It's more than I can take. My little lube still refuses to come out, so I have no choice but to go in.

There is a soft ding of a bell as I sprint through the door, eyes firmly planted on the floor and my hat down past my ears. I don't know if there's anyone else inside, a cashier at least, but I don't dare look up. I make a beedrill-line straight for the window display.

"Ditto!" I scoop him up, plucking the mag from him as I do. He whines almost immediately. "Diiiii!"

"T-that's not yours!" I protest, returning it to the display.

"Diiiiii!" I should have known that wouldn't ever work with this slippery slime. He's already squeezing between my arms again.

"Fine!" I groan, finally giving in.

"Ditto!" Ditto cries, cute and triumphant. I sigh, and take the mag back from the display, blushing at the thought of what I'm going to have to do. I pull my hat down as low as it can go again to maybe hide my identity as I go up to the counter.

"Um, h-how much for t-this…?" I stammer, sliding the mag across the flat top.

"Six hundred." If the cashier was surprised by why a girl like me would want something like this, he didn't sound it. "Would you like a bag?"

I can barely manage the nod. When he slides the mag back over the counter, nicely wrapped in brown paper, I practically run from the place, bolting through the door, and shut it behind me, panting. It's okay! It's okay! No one saw me! Well, no one who knows who I am, at least. I sigh and start to walk along the street until,

"Hey! Yellow!"

I squeak. Oh no! Arceus no! I recognize that voice. Please! Anyone but him!

I see Red with his bright red hair under his equally red cap bounding towards me. "I didn't think I'd see you! What are you still doing… here…" He stops, gaping when he seems to notice what store I've just come out of. "Yellow…?"

I panic. "Waaah! I-it's not w-what it looks like! I-i…" I wave my hands frantically, dropping Ditto in the process, but all that does is bring more attention to the brown paper bag in my hands. Worse still, the magazine suddenly slips out! It falls to the ground in full spread! Boobs are everywhere! Eeking, I quickly snatch it up, and hide it behind my back, feeling so hot I could boil a lake. No! A hundred lakes! I'm so embarrassed I could cry. "I-i… I…"

I really am about to cry.

Red just lets out a nervous chuckle. "Hey, yeah, it's okay. Just… wow, I didn't think girls would..." He shakes his head. He thinks that I'm some kind of closeted perv doesn't he? I'm not! Arceus, I'm not, but what exactly can I say? It's not for me, it's for Ditto? Yeah, like that's much better, if he'd even believed it.

"U-um… p-please don't tell Blue." I mumble then. My vision is getting blurry.

Ditto pokes at my leg a bit. I pick him up.

"Yeah, sure." Red says. He's usually so energetic, but I can tell him seeing me here's really rattled him. He thinks I'm so dirty.

I nod gratefully, still unable to bring myself to look him in the face. "W-well… B-bye!" I say that last part a little too loudly, and only explode because of it. I'm starting to cry now, just a few tears, but I make to run for it. I can't stand it, I hate it! But...

"Hey, wait!" Red must have grabbed hold of one of the straps of my pack, cause I feel a sudden tug that almost sends me off balance. I yelp as I spin around again to catch it. Red quickly lets go, raising his hands helplessly. "Sorry!"

I finally see his ears are pretty red as well, but he takes a step back, maybe hoping it'd calm me down. He sighs. "Like hey, Yellow, it's cool, really."

"I-it's not!" I want to scream, but it's more a pathetic little whimper. He thinks I'm weird. I'm not! I swear I'm not!

"Okay, yeah, maybe it's a bit surprising..." Red admits, which almost makes my heart drop. "But like, so what, right? I mean, I look at that stuff too sometimes."

The way he says it makes me blush even harder. He does? Look at stuff like this, I mean? Did he really just admit that? Well… he is a boy. "R-right…" I manage. Hastily, I wipe away the tears, and give a pathetic sniffle to clear the snot.

Red chuckles a bit, running his hand over the back of his hat, and adjusting it. "So, uh… Guess you've already heard about the gym, huh?"

Thank Arceus! A change in subject.

"Y-yeah," I agree. "It was… pretty surprising to hear."

Red winks. "Guess Giovani heard we were coming and got scared off."

I'm surprised to find this get a nervous giggle out of me. "Y-yeah, I'm sure that's why."

Red laughs, but the laughter slowly peeters out. Still, when he looks at me again, he's grinning. "Say, you have pokemon now too right? We never got the chance to battle."

"Oh," I look away a bit nervously, but he's right of course, he had to leave to get Charmander all healed up so we never had the chance. "N-no, I guess not…"

Red's grin breaks into a devilish smile. "Well, we'll have to change that soon. Charmander and I've still got a lot of training to do, but just you wait! Soon enough we'll be wiping the floor with both you and Blue, you can believe it!"

I smile weakly. Back to his old self. "Y-yeah, I look forward to it."

To my surprise this makes Red hesitate, and his ears grow all red as his hair. "R-right," He says, shaking his head. "Anyways, see you around, Yellow!" He waves, already taking off down the street in an energetic sprint. In shock, I just wave silently back and before I know it, Red's nothing but an enthusiastic dust cloud in the distance.

I let out a long sigh, now feeling drained. After seeing Blue, and then entering that shop, and now talking to Red… I remember I'm still holding the unwrapped magazine, and in embarrassment hastily stuff it into my pack. I glance at Ditto.

"You're going to have everyone thinking I'm a perv by the end of this, aren't you?" I ask.

"Ditto!" Ditto cries.

I sigh, hanging my head in despair. My jiggly little perv, never giving the slightest care for how all the things he does might make other people think. At least we haven't had another incident like back in Oak's lab this time. Arceus, just imagining what might happen if he ever gets the idea in his little perv head to try something while we're standing right in the middle of the street! I shake my head vigorously. Let's just hope that the thought never occurs to him. It's bad enough just having one person thinking I'm a pervert.

Well, at least Red was kind about it.

Which just makes me ask myself over, and over again why he became the person that he did.

Heading out again, Ditto and I, I start to feel a little hungry. My tummy is making the rumblies. I'd consider stopping at a cafe or something, but I don't know. I would like to get back on the road. There'll probably be berries out on the route that I can eat, though I sigh. Berries are great and all, but out on the routes, that and camp food seem to be the only things I ever eat. We make it to just about the edge of town without any more interruptions. I can see the entrance to Route Two ahead of us, and am just about to think that we're in the clear when a voice makes me hesitate.

"Hello." It's weak, and creaky like an under trained venonat. I glance at the speaker, and see an old man. He looks to be about a thousand years old. A face all wrinkly with a long white beard, and a bald head. His eyes are squinty, and he has… the kindest smile. It's hard to describe, it just looks like the gentlest thing.

I smile back uncertainty, adjusting my hold on Ditto a little to keep him from slipping. "Hello." I take a step to continue to the route.

"Are you a trainer?" The old man asks. The pokeballs I'm carrying probably making that pretty obvious.

I pause again. "Um, y-yeah."

"Isn't that nice…" His whole body shakes as he barely holds himself up with the knobby cane held in his knobby hands. I feel my anxiety creeping a bit. Does he want something? He doesn't seem to be about to say anything more though. He glances away even, looking almost distracted.

"Well… goodbye." I take another step to go.

The grandpa looks up at me again. His kindest smile returning. "Hello." His voice is the fragilest thing.

I give another smile, but my heart starts to sink. I'm starting to realize that this man might not be all there in the head anymore, and he's all alone out here in the street. I look around to see if I can spot anyone he might be with, but no one's there. Is he lost? It can't be safe for him to be wandering around like this, can it? What if he falls and no one's there to help him. I'm starting to panic. What should I do?

I take a deep breath. No, calm down. Now's not the time for that. I walk over to the man.

"Um, s-sir… Is there someone you want me to c-call?"

The man just looks up at me, shaking so much. I feel like if a wind were to pick up right now, he'd blow away like a leaf. A pidgey suddenly lands on the road a little ways off from us, pecking at some crumbs on the ground. I sigh, and look around again. There had to be someone looking for him, right? Or maybe I can take him to the center to be looked after?

I feel something brush against my hip. Looking back, the old man has unclipped one of my pokeballs from my belt.

"S-sir?" I ask.

He shows the ball to me. "Let me teach you how to catch a pokemon."

I stare at him before I catch myself. "Oh, that's okay… I already know."

It isn't exactly complicated. Just throw the ball, right? But the man either doesn't listen or doesn't hear. Raising the ball in a hand that shakes worse than an earthquake, the man grunts as he throws it with all his might. It falls sadly to the ground, bouncing once and then rolling to rest in the grass on the side of the street.

The man looks back up at me with that kind smile. "The key is in the hip."

"...Right." I say, sighing as I walk over to retrieve the ball. The pidgey flies away uncaught.

"Grandpa!" I look up as I hear the call from down the street. Walking back to stand beside the elderly man, I can see someone heading our way. He wears a casual business attire, a striped tie, and a white button up shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows. He must have been in his mid twenties, I'd guess, and boy was he tall! He came to a stop when he notices me, looking surprised.

"Oh, hello there."

I immediately glance away, blushing. "H-hello."

The guy smiles. "Sorry, was he bothering you?"

"W-what? Oh! N-no, not at all..." I feel instantly embarrassed. Guess everything was alright in the end. I'd been overthinking things, as usual. "I was… just a little worried."

The guy chuckles. "He tried teaching you how to catch pokemon didn't he?"

"I…" I nod weakly, "Y-yeah," and a nervous giggle escapes me. "It was kinda silly."

The guy raises an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"

My heart completely plummets. Had that been the wrong thing to say? "O-oh, nothing! S-sorry, I didn't mean… It's just, well, catching a pokemon is pretty easy, right? I mean, once they're weakened and all. You… just… throw… the…?" He just keeps looking right at me. It's way too much.

The guy shrugs. "Well, you'd be surprised. There's a whole bunch of trainers who fail to catch anything when they first start out." I can't tell if he's angry or not. I'm just about to apologize for, I don't know what really, when he snaps his finger like he has an idea. "Tell you what. I'll make a bet with yah."

"A… b-bet?"

The guy smiles. "If I win, you'll give me the chance to teach you a few lessons in how to catch a pokemon."

"And if I win?" I can't help but ask. I didn't really see any reason to do this, and I really would like to get going now, but just then, as if comically timed by Arceus themselves, my stomach gives another loud growl, sending Ditto off making cute little buzzing noises that just brings more attention to it.

Blush!

The guy looks like he's trying not to laugh. "Well, if you win, I can offer you some of the best fearow egg omelettes Kanto has to offer."

I gulp. Those sure sound more tasty than raw berries and protein bars. "Um, well, what are we betting on?"

The guy looks up, and around before spotting a new pidgey that's pecking around in the dirt not that far from us. He points it out to me. "That pidgey there. If you can hit it with a pokeball, then you win."

I'd stare at him, but his eyes were hard to meet. "T-that's all?" I say to my feet instead.

"That's all." The guy insists.

"Dizzzzzzz." Ditto continues to buzz in the echo of my stomach.

Well… free omelettes are free. "Okay." I accept.

I set Ditto down to free up my hands, taking the ball the old grandpa had tossed around before, and hold it tight in my grip.

The pidgey just kept plopping around, pecking for scraps. Not paying me any mind in the world. I take a deep breath, trying to gage the shot. Taking aim, I throw the ball with all my might straight at it!

Or… almost at it. It misses, cracking against the ground some inches from it which sends the pidgey into a shock. It's eyes go right towards me, angrily.

"I… w-what?" I'm just flustered about the throw.

"Pid-pidgey!" The pidgey squacks, taking flight and flying right at me. I give a yelp, bringing my hands up to shield my face. Rather than feeling claws scratching at me, though, I instead feel something smelly plop on my head. Then the pidgey flies off.

Not again! "G-gross!"

I never did understand why pidgeys always do that. Poop on people they have a dislike towards. Does anyone else know why that is? … Based on your silence, I guess not. Well, has anyone else ever had their head pooped on by a pidgey before? … No? … Really? … It can't just be me can it? ... Just me?

*Sigh*

Pidgeys really are the worst.

"Oh, sorry about that. That was just plain unlucky." The guy says apologetically. I try to cover up my failure, but it's plastered all over my hat and hair.

I hope dad's hat isn't ruined too badly.

Try not to cry… "Okay," I sulk, "You win."

A hand falling on my shoulder causes me to look up. My heart skips a beat. It's that smile. That patient, comforthing, kind, kind smile. The guy has one too, like his grandfather. "Told you it was harder than it looks. Now come on, we'll get you cleaned up."

"I… I…" I'm lost for words. My mind's blank! I don't even know what to say!

His hand is so warm on my shoulder, but then he lets go of it, and returns to his grandfather.
"Come on grandpa, it's time for lunch." With a gentle hand, he turns the old man around and starts heading down the road in the opposite direction of the route.

"And don't worry, there's plenty of it to go around." The guy adds to me over his shoulder as he goes. "The best omelettes in Kanto, like I said. Betting them was just to get you to stay."

I stand there, staring at their backs as they go. Now absolutely bewildered. I feel a squishy poke poke on my ankle as Ditto nudges me to pick him back up, but for now I'm just stunned.

"The name's Guy, by the way. Guy Guide." When he glances back, he hesitates when he sees I haven't followed. "So, you coming?"

I glance out in the opposite direction, towards Route Two. It would be easier to just leave, head out and think nothing of it. It'd be easier to just be alone. It'd be easier to just have it be me, and Ditto, and Bulbasaur, but… a bet is a bet.

And free omelettes are free.

"I'm coming," I agree, picking up my blub.

I hurry to catch up, and help him lead his grandpa home.