Chapter 9
Route 4 contained your average trainer. Being on a trail that lead down from Mt. Moon, most of them were Hikers, who liked to use rock Pokémon. Of course, this proved to be no challenge whatsoever for Samantha and her blue-green Bulbasaur, Bobby. Every one they fought went down in two hits or less. Every Geodude, Onix, and Ryhorn were no match for Bobby…
After a long day of battling, Samantha and Bobby felt they deserved a short lunch break. It was a beautiful spring day, in the month of April. After searching for the perfect spot to have a picnic, Samantha found the perfect place, and let out the rest of her Pokémon. The place was under a huge sign:
"Welcome to Cerulean City!"
Bobby, Julie, and Lianne impatiently awaited their trainer to serve out the food. It had been a long time since the last Pokémon Center! Samantha reached into her satchel, and pulled out a nice container, that held some special Pokémon food that Brock had given her. She placed equal portions of the food on 3 little napkins--one for each of her Pokémon friends.
"Tuff!" squealed Lianne as she nibbled on the delicious treat.
Julie seemed extremely hungry. The Pikachu didn't even seem to chew, as she gobbled down the food. Bobby in contrast, took his time—savoring each little morsel. Samantha was quite content with her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, along with Doritos and a Pepsi. As she ate, she marveled at how well her Pokémon got along. After they finished eating, Julie and Lianne ran off playing in a nearby bed of wild flowers. Bobby was using his vines to see how many butterflies he could catch.
Samantha giggled at the sight, and then went back to her lunch. Another trainer approached her. She paid him no mind at first since she didn't feel like battling. Her Pokémon were having too much fun, she thought. She would have ignored it, if the trainer hadn't planted his feet watching her.
Samantha finally decided to look up. When she made eye contact with the boy, he began to blush…which in turn, made her blush a little. He was a big kid, about 14 by estimation. He had spiked green hair, which matched his eyes. His shirt was torn, and tattered from many months of travel. His smile was the most beautiful smile Samantha had ever seen in her lifetime.
After awhile, the boy shook his head and composed himself. He held a Poké Ball right up to Samantha's face.
"You're mighty purdy lil' lady, but I still want to challenge you to a one on one Pokémon battle."
Samantha thought about it for a minute. Bobby must have heard the word "battle", because he ran right to Samantha's side and stared down the challenger.
"You got it big boy!" Samantha said looking down at her Bulbasuar's determined face.
"I'll choose you Sandshrew!" the boy commanded, his Pokémon coming out of its ball.
"Go for it Bobby! You're strong against those Ground-Types." Samantha said.
"Ha! That's what you think!" the boy whispered to himself.
"Bobby! Use your RAZOR LEAF!" was Samantha's first command.
"Sandshrew, deflect them!" the kid replied in the same tone of voice.
The Sandshrew leapt into the air and rolled itself into a sphere. It knocked every single one of the razor-sharp leaves out of the air, not leaving a single scratch on its hide.
"OK Sandshrew let's end this one quick, old friend! FISSURE strike!" the boy yelled.
With that, the Sandshrew leapt into the air and pointed both its paws towards the ground. It looked down and began spinning in a drilling motion.
Samantha knew what that meant. She would have to think fast!
"Bobby…grab it with your VINE WHIP!"
With that, Bobby's vines shot out quicker than lightning, and snatched the Sandshrew out of the air. The vines wrapped around the Ground-Types arms and legs. Bobby took what he had caught, and held it up high into the air.
"He can't deflect if he can't move Bobby!" Samantha told her Pokémon, "WATER GUN!"
The boy was obviously taken aback by that strange command. Bobby's lips pressed together, as he released a powerful jet of water. Sandshrew writhed in pain, before Bobby took his vines, and slammed Sandshrew headfirst into the ground repeatedly.
The Sandshrew still got up, panting. It turned and looked at its trainer desperately, before falling back down to the ground.
"Yes! Great work Bobby!" Samantha said picking up her Bulbasaur and giving him a hug.
"Bulbasaur!" Bobby shouted with pride.
Samantha and the boy exchanged looks. The boy looked like he was still in shock over the loss, so Samantha smiled a kind of flirtatious smile at him. She reached in her satchel, and removed her last Super Potion. The boy watched the beautiful young woman tend to his Sandshrew's injuries. Samantha meticulously sprayed the potion on every one of Sandshrew's aches.
"He'll be fine…but you BOTH look tired," she said rather whimsically, "why don't you have lunch with me?"
"Well—I dunno. I mean I really should be going to Pewter City now…" the boy was hesitating.
"Aw, c'mon! It'll be fun…and I can tell you all about Pewter while we're at it!"
So finally, the boy decided to take some of Samantha's sandwiches off her hands. He ate the food quickly, but not too sloppily.
"I gotta hand it to you," the boy said, "Sandshrew and I don't lose very often. Here, have a look!"
The boy pulled out a jewelry box. He opened it before Samantha to reveal six badges. Pretty standard. He had six of the eight Kanto Gym Badges: lacking only the Boulderbadge and the Earthbadge.
Samantha reached into her jacket's pocket, and took out her Boulderbadge.
"I've been on this quest for a little over 1 year now", the boy said, "that's the next badge I need."
"Well he likes to use the Rock-Types…" Samantha started to say.
But it was no use; the two kid's eyes became locked. They looked at each other and smiled.
"Saur?"
"Pika?"
"Wiggly?"
Her Pokémon looked at their trainer in confusion.
The boy took Samantha's soft, delicate hand into his. He raised it to his lips and kissed it softly. As for Samantha, she did not know what to think! It was like one of those movies…
"I…I…I think I'd better go to Cerulean's Pokémon Center and have Bobby treated!" was what she blurted out.
"Yeah I guess I'd better be going too. Here let me see that there PokéGear gizmo." The boy said.
The boy took her PokéGear and recorded his phone number. It beeped in conformation if recording it to its memory.
The boy thanked Samantha and headed toward the entrance to Mount Moon. Samantha could have sworn she had forgotten something…uh-oh!
"HEY!" she yelled to him, "What's your name?!"
"My name is AJ!" he yelled back. "You got my phone number—so keep in touch!" He waved one last time to Samantha before entering the dark cave.
Samantha held her PokéGear to her chest, and sighed…
