Viridian city rumble!

Goodbye, Pallet!

Clover carefully packed her bags and belongings and placed them by the door. It wasn't easy to leave, even while she was as prepared as she could be. Her house looked somewhat small now, confining, and yet it felt like the coziest place she ever saw. Her mother cooked in the kitchen, merely glancing over her shoulder.

"You're thinking of staying home?" she asked.

"No, mom. I will go."

"Well, don't wait for me, dear! I'm cutting onions here!"

"Is that why you're crying?"

"Yes! That's exactly why!"

"Mom, I'll miss you." Clover said.

"Don't worry about me, dear! I'll be fine."

"Won't you be lonely? Dad's been gone for two years now."

"Your dad is a great Pokemon trainer. Knowing him, he's already one of Elite Four in the Indigo League. I'm feeling lonely, but I'm proud of him, and of you too. I'm not about to hinder your dreams in any way."

"Every so often I scarcely feel like his daughter. I mean, I only inherited his hair, this unruly silver-ish mane."

"Oh that's where you're wrong. He's obsessed with Pokemon, just like you. He has this flare, you know. You see him and you stand in awe of his looks, his elegance and power. I knew it would be wrong to keep him here. From what I know about him, he'd be delighted his daughter continued in his footsteps."

"If I ever meet him, I'll say hello."

"That's good. Tell him to return home from time to time!"

"So I will! Anyway, mom, I'm off!"

"Have fun, my daughter!"

As she packed her backpack and started her long walk towards the north road, she took one last glance towards Pallet. Fortunately, she did not feel wistful any longer. In fact, certain defiance rose inside of her, desire to leave this place and explore the world, to become stronger. She knew leaving was the right choice and felt glad she won't regret it when she leaves.

"Hey, Beanstalk!" a familiar voice hollered behind.

"Leaf!"

"Red wants to battle you! Also, we want to walk along with you to Viridian! From there we can all go separate ways, but we want to travel this first part of our journey together!"

"Red? But his Charmander is much more stronger than my Bulbasaur!"

Leaf came closer and whispered into her ear:"Do you want to let that weird-hat loser think he's better than you?"

"Right! I'm not going to deny the challenge!" Clover clenched her fist.

"Good! Red, she's red-y!"

"That was a bad one, Leaf." Clover said.

POKEMON BATTLE - CLOVER VS RED

Leaf found a small clearing in the woods by the well-trodden path. It was wide, clear and most importantly, safe for battle. Red already prepared his Pokeball. Before the battle started, he had approached Clover and gave her a pack of same purple bottles he used earlier.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"It's a potion. We're not returning back to the lab to heal our Pokemon, and they will get hurt after the battle. Of course, since we're friends, we're not fighting until one of our Pokemon faints. Furthermore, we only have one Pokemon and if it faints, we'll be in trouble."

"You're right. Thank you, Red. Now let's fight!"

"Indeed." he said, walking to the northern end of the clearing. He tilted his cap, holding the pokeball with a quiet confidence. Clover had clicked the button on the Pokeball, watching it grow in her hand before she pitched it and Bulbasaur appeared. The clearing they picked was shadowed by the trees so there was no fear of the harsh sunlight.

"Charmander, go!" Red said. His Charmander looked as confident as ever. One look at his Pokemon caused her to feel nervous. It was battle ready, tough and strong. Her Bulbasaur, on the other hand, still wasn't trained, and she lost her first battle already.

One look at her Pokedex proved her Bulbasaur was still at the fifth level of experience, which made her feel even more nervous. However, she did not want to show any weakness.

"Okay, so, my Bulbasaur knows tackle and growl. Hmm." she was thinking.

"Are you ready, Clover?" Red asked.

"I'm ready!"

He had checked the Pokedex before he assumed the battle stance and said:"Charmander, go, use smoke-screen!"

Charmander opened his mouth and thick, black gas covered the battlefield. There was no way to see where to go, and Clover was confused. She was thinking swiftly, worrying her Bulbasaur will get hit without even knowing where the attack came from.

"Alright, Bulbasaur! Use your growl attack! Charmander is ready to strike, so make him think twice!"

Bulbasaur let out a cutesy, small growl and as the Charmander appeared out of the cloud of smoke, it stopped just for a second. His tackle hit the Bulbasaur, but it wasn't as strong as it was intended. This was just the edge she needed.

"Bulbasaur, now, tackle him!"

Bulbasaur did not wait. As the Charmander retaliated, it used hind legs to propel itself in the air, hitting him with such toughness it screeched and fell somewhere in the cloud of smoke.

"Alright, Charmander, use ember!"

Bulbasaur couldn't see where the attack comes from. Suddenly, a ball of fire appeared from the smoke.

"Bulbasaur! Evade!" Clover yelled, but Bulbasaur looked confused by the smoke and the fire engulfed her. She was screaming in pain, hiding her face, rolling around. Clover was so afraid, she grasped her and laid atop her to put out the fire. Her own face contorted in pain, but she didn't move.

"Bulba..." it plaintively said, but it looked furious. In fact, it almost bit Clover's arm so she let it go. The smoke dissipated and she noticed Red looking at her.

"Are you okay?!" he asked.

"I am! Focus on your Pokemon! Bulbasaur, you can see him! Now, use all of your remaining strength behind this tackle!"

Charmander must have thought the battle was over. There was no way any meek grass Pokemon would withstand such a blast. But Bulbasaur was through worse, and Clover knew it. She saw the fire between them, the plank falling down. The patches on its body were patches of somebody who survived the fire before. One ember is nothing!

"Bulbasaur, remember the pain of the fire! Use your anger!" Clover got an idea. Bulbasaur seemed absolutely thrilled to follow on this idea. With her wounded ego and the scars she bears, Bulbasaur used her tackle at full throttle! She ran across the field, slamming Charmander's chin. Pokemon was hit so hard, it flew in the air and hit the ground with a gasp.

"Charmander! That tackle won't be enough to stop you! Use another ember! It will be enough!" Red commanded. His Charmander tried soldiering on, rose up from the ground and opened mouth, but could only exhale a smoke. He fell and couldn't get up anymore.

"The battle is won! Charmander can't fight anymore! Clover is the winner!" Leaf yelled.

"We won! Bulbasaur, we won!" Clover screamed.

"Bu-lba!"

Her Pokedex produced a sound, so she checked it out.

"Your Bulbasaur gained enough experience to go up two levels! It learned growth!"

"Wow, that's nifty! Check it out, Red, Leaf!"

Red didn't seem bothered, instead focusing on healing his hurt Charmander. Leaf, however, did come.

"I can't believe you beat my brother on the first try. I didn't think it was possible. That Charmander is at the top of his breed, if you know what I mean!"

"I know. But he forgets my Bulbasaur was through worse already. She can endure some flames, no problem."

"You're an incredible trainer!"

"I'm going to heal her. We have to train a bit before we reach Viridian anyway, so this is an excellent start."

The first battle went extremely well, and Clover was satisfied. The path towards Viridian wasn't really populated with trainers. A man handed each one of them additional potion, pointing them towards store in Viridian where they could replenish their supplies. With such hope, they've pushed on. Some wild Pokemon got in their way, but it was nothing three of them could not fight off. They've decided not to catch any Pokemon until each one of them goes their own way, and so they did.

Viridian city, with it's simple yet mysterious splendor appeared in front of them.

DAY 2

Viridian City

They've barely entered the city before the officer on the motorcycle stopped them in their tracks. She regarded them with tired stare and let out a long sigh.

"No entrance to strangers. I'm sorry. We've had trouble with Team Rocket, and it would be best if you just pick another town."

"Team Rocket?" Clover asked.

"Supposedly criminal organization... I'm afraid we're in the dark as much as others. They appeared in the Pokemon Center, tried stealing bunch of Pikachu that nurses use as a source of electricity. The things went south."

"Uh huh? How so?"

"Well, take a look there."

Clover looked at the distance. There was a building down the hill, if it could even be considered a building. It was ruined, razed to the ground, with only few walls still standing.

"What on the Earth happened there?!"

"Long story short, The trainer, Ash Ketchum, took his Pikachu to the center because it was hurt and weak. Team Rocket thought it would be fun to go and steal all the Pokemon while they were at it's weakest. Terrible idea. That Pikachu is one of the toughest I ever saw! When the Koffing one of Rockets used released explosive gas, his Pikachu ganged up with others and they literally destroyed the whole center along with Rockets. As you can see, there's not much left."

"But we need to heal our Pokemon! What should we do?"

"If your Pokemon needs care, I'm afraid we're unable to help you. You can stay in the city to rest and resupply, but then you should go."

"I reckon we'll do this then. What do you think, guys?" Clover asked. Red shrugged his shoulders. Leaf gave the center a long, mournful look.

"I wanted to meet Nurse Joy that lives here. They say she's an expert in the matters of Pokemon care. She also has many Pokemon living there, and I hoped she could teach me something."

Officer leaned on her motorcycle.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"I know. Well, no sense crying over spilled milk. Let's go to the city and find something interesting to do."

Officer stepped up.

"There's a Pokemon academy opened at the city's center. Budding trainers go there and learn what it truly means to be a Pokemon trainer."

"We can do it then! Guys, let's go! I'm raring to see it!" Leaf uttered. This time, both Red and Clover agreed.

The Pokemon Academy was right in a middle of the city, on the relatively empty avenue surrounded by trees, looking more like a park than the proper town. The lonesome sign read:"Pokemon Academy – Open for new students" but aside of that there was nobody here. Clover, Red and Leaf stepped in, looking around. It seemed as if the students were inside, but there were only few of them along with the bored teacher sitting in front of the blackboard.

"New students?" he lifted his head.

"Is this place still open?" Clover asked.

"Only barely. Not a lot of youngsters stay in Viridian." he said.

"Well, we're here and ready to learn!" she was eager.

"That's surprising. After all that mess, I thought people were afraid to become Pokemon trainers."

"You mean with Team Rocket?"

"Indeed. People are frightened there's no point in becoming a trainer when their Pokemon can be stolen any given time. 'What are the rules for?' they ask, when there are those who would stop at nothing to steal their hard-earned work?"

"Pokemon are the way of life. You can't just give it up because it's risky."

"Many would disagree. But we're sidetracking each other. Indeed, this academy offers additional training and information for those interested in becoming Pokemon trainers. However, we ask for a meager fee."

All three started rummaging around their pockets to find their wallets.

"How much?" she asked.

"50.000 Pokédollars."

"FIFTY THOUSAND?!" all three of them yelled at the same time.

"What do you think, that teaching is for free?"

Red seemed suspicious, as well as Clover.

"Something is odd here, I just don't know what it is." Clover said.

Red stepped up.

"I think you're fleecing us. This trainer school is supposed to offer free services to all new trainers. I've read so in a magazine."

"Is that so, rascals? Want to train for free? Fine!" he stood up.

"Yay!" Leaf exclaimed.

"If you manage to beat me in the Pokemon battle, I'll teach you all I know. Fail, and you'll fork all the money and be booted from here." he uttered.

Red stepped up in front of the girls.

"I'll be the first to battle you. Something smells fishy here and I won't let you bully us into giving our money."

"Bully, am I? Whatever, kid. Ungrateful kids such as yourself should learn the value of hard work and lawful commerce! Bring it on!"

Kids sitting at the table moved aside in a bizarre way, as if something was pulling them. Moreover, something about their demeanor was even more sinister than the fact this random teacher now wants to have the Pokemon battle. Still, Red did not falter. Clover bade Leaf to stand by and see where the combat will end.

POKEMON BATTLE – RED vs MYSTERIOUS TEACHER

Tables have been moved and there was an ample space for a Pokemon battle. The teacher took the Pokeball, lobbed it over the shoulder and the huge, mean looking Raticate appeared, raring to fight. Red took his Pokedex out.

"Raticate. Evolved form of Rattata. Strength of his jaws is enough to crush the concrete."

Leaf was shocked.

"Hey, that's unfair! This Pokemon is too strong! Red, you can't defeat him!"

Red turned around.

"I'll be fine, sister. Stay back, I'll deal with this guy."

"I hope you'll be okay, bro..."

"Are you two done?" teacher asked.

"Bring it on. I won't lose. Charmander, go!"

His Charmander was as strong as ever, regarding his opponent with bravery. Raticate did not falter, staring his opponent down with malice.

"Raticate, focus energy!" the teacher yelled. His Raticate took aim, gnashed teeth and some kind of energy rose up around its body. Red seemed unbothered.

"Charmander, use smokescreen!"

The whole room disappeared in the dark smoke. Viscous gas obscured the fire on Charmander's tail, so it was impossible to see where it was. Raticate looked confused, but his trainer did not budge.

"Raticate, aim for where he was standing! Use your crunch!"

An enormous mouth appeared out of smoke with a scary set of teeth reaching for Charmander. Red did not have time to respond. It was so fast, falling upon Charmander like a thunder, grabbing the tiny fire Pokemon like a toy. Charmander struggled to escape.

"Charmander, use the ember! Burn its face!" Red yelled. As Charmander tried using his fire attack but the Raticate squeezed its teeth and Charmander screamed in pain. Raticate hurled the Pokemon across the room and Charmander crashed against the wall. It wasn't moving for a few seconds before it plaintively rose to its feet. It was clearly terribly injured, yet refused to give up.

"Do you give up yet, kid?" teacher asked.

"Indeed not! Charmander, use another Ember!"

Charmander hurled another ball of fire but it was barely enough to graze it. As expected, Raticate was too powerful. It jumped across the room and Red could only watch as the violent tackle sent his Pokemon over the brink of conscience.

"I… lost." he uttered.

"It's over, kid! Fork over the cash!"

Red watched his Pokeball in disbelief. Losing to a friend was one thing, but losing to complete stranger and failing to defend those you care about was worse. Now Leaf could no longer watch as her brother struggled. She stood in front of him.

"He won't give you anything! You're crook, a liar and not a teacher at all! I will win, and you'll tell me who you are!"

"You?! Don't make me laugh! I own this place, and you're just an upstart!"

"Squirtle, go!¨

Her Pokedex revealed her the whole truth. She did train a bit before the Viridian, yet her Squirtle barely rose to ninth level of experience and it was still weak. There was no way she could win, yet if she could weaken it that would help them immensely. For all one knows Clover could finish him off.

"Squirtle, withdraw!"

Squirtle concealed inside the shell, preparing for another attack. As it did, the mysterious teacher exploited this opportunity to launch another attack.

"Raticate, use super fang!"

Raticate snatched the tiny turtle and its jaw pressed so hard the outer shell started cracking. Squirtle panicked, moving swiftly inside of its shell.

"It's no use! Leaf, call it back, quickly!" Clover yelled.

"I won't! Squirtle, use rapid spin! Now!"

The move was executed with the perfect timing. Since Squirtle was still in its jaw, strong spinning broke Raticate's front teeth and it faltered.

"I'll get you for this! Raticate, use your quick attack!"

Squirtle couldn't evade an overwhelming force of the lightning-quick tackle. It was dispatched in one quick hit that sent it flying across the room, after which it simply stopped moving. Straight away it was apparent all of them will lose. There was no way they could defeat such a strong Pokemon. Only Clover remained yet she felt no confidence about facing this guy after what she saw. Nevertheless, she couldn't give up.

"Bulbasaur, go! Defeat this Raticate! It's weakened, I know you can do it! Use the recent moves you've learned! Use your leech seed!"

A seed appeared out of Bulbasaur's bulb. It flew across the room, hitting Raticate straight over the wide-open mouth. It couldn't close them or attack anymore and it started trying to tear the plants growing all over its face.

"That's it, Bulbasaur! Now, use your razor leaf!"

"Not so fast! Raticate, ignore the plants! Use your quick attack!"

Raticate closed its mouth, and even while slowed its attack was still fast.

"Bulbasaur, wait for two seconds, then jump to the left!"

After two seconds, Bulbasaur jumped aside and Raticate collided with the wall.

"What?!" the teacher yelled out.

"You lack any tactics! Do think brute force will save you, yes. It will only secure my victory! I studied your every move when you fought my friends! I won't lose!"

"Think you're smarter than me, a teacher? Stop messing around! Raticate, use your super fang!"

"Bulbasaur, his super fang is slow! Use your tackle to hit it inside the throat when it attacks!"

As his jaw opened, Bulbasaur launched itself inside the open mouth, right into the throat. Raticate started coughing wildly.

"Yes! Now, Bulbasaur, use your razor leaf!"

"Raticate, use your quick attack! Move out of the harm's way!"

Raticate disappeared in a flash, now appearing behind her Bulbasaur.

"Shit! Bulbasaur, dodge!"

There was no time to dodge, however.

"Raticate, use crunch!"

The big teeth clamped down on the Pokemon.

"Squeeze!" Raticate squeezed down into Bulbasaur and it started screeching, trying to wriggle out of the painful bite. Even though broken, the teeth were still sharp and it was painful.

"Bulbasaur! Stop this! I quit!" Clover panicked.

"There's no running from the trainer's battle! Raticate, sque-eze!"

Raticate squeezed him one more time. Bulbasaur was in a great pain and Clover could not control herself anymore.

"Let him go!" she went to try and tear the Bulbasaur out of Raticate's mouth. However, the Pokemon did not relent. It hit her with forelegs and she fell. Her eyes filled with tears: it was a hopeless situation. Bulbasaur already fainted out of sheer pain. More of this and it will be bitten in half!

"Please, let him go! You won! I beg of you!" she cried, as the Raticate squeezed and blood started trickling out between its fangs.

"Your puny Bulbasaur will be a good snack for my Raticate!"

Just when she thought the situation was hopeless, the doors of the school swung open. A man in a long, tattered cloak and a hood covering his face appeared at the door. He stepped up without a sound, taking the Pokeball from his waist.

"Nidoqueen, go!" he uttered.

"And who are you?! Their friend! Keep your nose out of this!" the teacher yelled. Stranger did not answer the provocation.

"Nidoqueen, use double kick!"

Double kick, indeed, was unneeded. One kick got Raticate flying up in the air like a soccer ball. It dropped unconscious Bulbasaur down. Another kick launched him forward so hard it broke the wall.

"What the fuck! You fuck! I will kill you!" the person who was everything but the teacher screamed.

"Get away from here, simpleton, before I kill you myself." the stranger uttered. It moved his hood only slightly but the "teacher" recognized something three kids did not see. His facial expression became terrified, he took his Raticate back and ran for his life, leaving the kids alone.

Clover held her Bulbasaur tight, crying from fear and sadness. Stranger knelt by her side.

"All my life, I've never seen anyone fighting like you did. I've been around, trying to find promising trainers and it seems I finally have. You show great promise. That Bulbasaur is weak, yet you found a way to overcome its weakness and brought the potential of your Pokemon to it's fullest."

"Please, can you help her? She will die!" Clover said.

Man frowned.

"She won't die. This will help." He took a small yellow crystal from his pouch, crumbling it in his palm, pouring the powdery substance into its mouth. Bulbasaur slowly came to her senses.

"Who are you anyway?" Clover asked.

"Somebody you'll confront in the battle, one day. Right now, you're too weak. I would crush you."

The stranger got up, looking at Red and Leaf.

"You two are her friends?" he asked.

"Yes..." Leaf answered.

"Good. Man needs reliable people by his side. Too many useless dimwits wander this world, trying to further their own agenda without caring how it affects the others."

"What's your name, dude?" Leaf asked him.

"My name does not matter. It won't do you no good to know either. You will learn when the time is right."

Without waiting for other questions, mysterious stranger left the room. That's when they realized the kids in the room were merely carefully crafted dolls. No wonder they looked so odd and lifeless! This whole school was a scam! Well, maybe not all of it.

They've overheard the voice coming from the locker. Clover rushed to open the doors only to realize there's a tied man inside. She quickly unwrapped his binds.

"Oh, thank you! Thanks a million! You've saved my life! My name is Max, how can I repay you?"

"If you need to repay somebody, find the stranger in tattered cloak. He was the one who defeated that phony teacher. What happened here anyway?"

"That guy belonged to Team Rocket! He subdued me, stole my clothes and started posing as the teacher. I couldn't do anything!"

"Team Rocket? I knew there was something queer about him! Will you be alright?"

"I will, don't worry about me. Are your Pokemon hurt?" he asked.

"Indeed, they are. My friends didn't have time to heal their Pokemon yet either. Can you aid us?"

"I indeed can. Here, come with me."

Their Pokemon rested in Pokeballs after Max mended their wounds. His office was comfortable enough for three of them, so he made them some warm cocoa and sat down, regarding them with pity.

"You three look very sour."

"So would you if you just had a rug swept under your feet this way." Clover said.

"Indeed, but you're all very courageous. That's commendable. Allow me to give you an advice, however."

"Yes?"

"Don't meddle in affairs of Team Rocket. They're criminals, ruthless and without mercy. They will kill your Pokemon if they're able. Engage in fights with legitimate trainers, get stronger and don't cause more trouble than you can handle."

Red looked at him in disbelief.

"You'll say this, after that asshole stole your job and pretended he was you?!"

"I definitely will! Nothing good comes from meddling with them! Everyone in this town knows it and so should you! There's a plenty of excitement in trainer's life as it is."

"Well, I won't let them push others around. No more. If you're content with living like this, so be it. But I won't. I'll defeat them, one by one until their whole organization crumbles. I swear." Red was angry.

"Well, it's your funeral. I hope you girls are wiser than that." Max scratched his head.

Clover did not answer anything, neither did Leaf. There was wisdom in what Max said, yet after what almost happened to her Bulbasaur she was certain she won't just let them walk away if she sees them.