Chapter 2: Callista's First Battle
As we left off, Callista and Chikorita met and started an exciting journey. While they were walking through a small forest they have come across their first encounter with a real wild pokemon.
Callista stared at the new pokemon with wide, excited eyes as the pokemon stared right back. It was tiny with yellow fur. It was kind of cute. She reached for her pokedex and pointed it at the weird pokemon.
Pokedex: "Pichu, the Tiny Mouse pokemon. Because of its size and inexperience this pokemon sometime zaps itself while attacking another pokemon."
"All right! I want to catch this pokemon." Callista glanced down at Chikorita. "Are you ready?"
"Chika chika." Chikorita nodded as it leaped into position.
"Okay, let's go for it!" Callista shouted. "Tackle attack!"
Chikorita charged at the Pichu at full force. Pichu unsure of what to do ran the opposite direction.
"Hey, where are you going?" Callista called to the Pichu. "Chikorita we can't let it get away!"
Chikorita stopped running and used its vine whip to trip the pokemon off its feet.
"Cool, what was that?" She looked at her pokedex.
Pokedex: "Vine Whip, Chikorita's special attack"
"Awesome," Callista said as she focused her attention to the battle once again.
Pichu was attempting to get up.
"Chikorita quick, use your tackle attack!"
"Chika!" Chikorita charged at the Pichu and tackled it dead on.
The Pichu was tossed off to the side and hopped back onto its wobbly feet.
"Okay, now use your vine whip attack!" Callista called out as Chikorita stretched out its vine whip.
Pichu saw Chikorita's vine whip and it quickly charged an electric attack. Chikorita's whip wrapped around Pichu. Pichu releases a small thunder shock striking the Chikorita and itself. Both pokemon layed on the ground. Pichu was exhausted as Chikorita was only a bit stunned. It has never been shocked before.
"Chikorita, are you okay?" Callista called to her pokemon. Chikorita got back onto its feet and nodded. "Tackle it!"
Chikorita tackled the exhausted Pichu to finish up the battle. Pichu tried to get up, but it couldn't and collapsed back down.
"That was great!" Callista reached for one of her empty pokeballs. "Your mine!" Callista threw the ball at the Pichu and captured the pokemon inside. The pokeball twitched for a minute until it finally stopped and closed. Pichu was captured.
"Yes! My first real capture!" Callista jumped up into the air and cheered. "Yay!" She ran over and picked up the pokeball with the Pichu inside. "I can hardly believe it." She put the pokeball away and looked down at her Chikorita. "Let's go find some more!"
"Chika," Chikorita smiled as they both ran off into the forest.
Little did Callista know that she was being watched. Behind a few bushes and trees sat a dark figure watching Callista's every move. "It is time!" The figure said to itself as it continued to follow Callista.
Callista was skipping through the forest without a care in the world with Chikorita at her heels. "This is so great!" Callista said to her pokemon. "This is much easier than everyone says."
A small blue pokemon dashed right out of the bushes and stopped right in front of them. Excited and ready for more the Chikorita leaped into battle position. Callista reached again for her pokedex.
Pokedex: "Marill, the water mouse pokemon. This pokemon's tail floats while it is underwater enabling the trainer to see where it is going."
Callista jumped up for joy. "It's adorable! I want this one too. Go Chikorita, use your tackle attack!"
Chikorita charged at the pokemon as the pokemon, once again, ran off in the other direction. To Chikorita's surprise this pokemon was very fast and it had to stop to catch a quick breath.
"Chikorita, don't give up!" Callista caught up to her pokemon. She saw the Marril attempting to escape. "Hey come back here!" Callista yelled out as she started running after Marill. Chikorita followed behind her.
Callista chased the pokemon all over the forest as Chikorita ran to keep up. When it seemed that Chikorita was falling behind two human hands reached from behind some thick bushes, grabbed a hold of Chikorita's feet and dragged it away into the cover of the forest.
Marill was running out of breath and knew it had to get away so it made a right turn towards the forest river.
"Oh, no you don't!" Callista yelled as she dove to try to catch it. As Callista dove, Marill leaped out of the way and jumped into the water. Callista landed onto the floor with a hard thud and watched as the Marril swam across the river and into the safety of the woods on the other side.
"Ah man." Callista whined. "Well, it was a nice try but we will get it next time right Chikorita," she looked down and all around her, but Chikorita was nowhere in sight. "Chikorita!" Callista called out. "where are you!" Callista shouted at the top of her lungs. "CHIKORITA!"
Marill watched as Callista disappeared in search for her pokemon. When Callista was out of sight the Marill came out of hiding and jumped back into the water and headed back to the other side. It jumped out of the water, shook itself off and dashed back into the forest.
It ran and ran through the trees and bushes until a voice stopped it in its tracks. "Marril!"
Marril stopped and smiled at its master who appeared from the shrubs.
"You did a great job." A young boy, about the age of twelve with blonde hair and a huge grin, knelt down and patted the pokemon on the head. "Now let's take our pokemon home." He stood back up and reached back into the shrubs and pulled out a small cage. Inside was Callista's Chikorita.
With tears running down her bright pink face, Callista screamed frantically for Chikorita. "CHIKORITA! CHIKORITA WHERE ARE YOU?!" She did not know what to do. Chikorita was her very first pokemon and in a matter of a few hours she had already lost it. "CHIKORITA!"
Callista dashed from one part of the forest to another. She searched behind every tree, every bush, every rock, but she no clue of where Chikorita could have gone. Her search led her to the edge of the forest. She wiped a tear from her cheek and looked around. She saw many buildings and homes. Could it be that she was running so hard she already made it to the next city. Maybe there is someone here that can help her? The closest place to her was a small white and pink building right off the road with a giant pokeball on the roof. She sighed as she walked down to the road leading to the strange building.
Opening the door Callista peered inside. She saw many people inside. There were many people inside all of them seemed to be talking about pokemon. Callista stepped in even further and shut the door behind her. Over to the right in the far corner there was a set of swinging doors with a red cross over it. About twenty five feet in front of her there was a large counter with computers on it and with a small door on the side in which to get in and out of the counter. Standing right in front of the counter with her back turned away from Callista was a young girl waiting very impatiently. She was wearing a pair of black jean shorts and a tight red shirt. She had long black hair with blood red streaks which she wore in pigtails. She had red flame prints all over her backpack that she was carrying on her back and a pokemon belt around her waist. Obviously she was a pokemon trainer and she didn't look too much older than Callista herself. Callista did not know what lead her to this particular girl, but something about they way this girl was drew Callista to her. Callista walked up to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. The red haired girl spun around toward Callista and smiled.
"Why hello!" She said as she continued to smile at Callista.
"Hello," Callista said, "hey I had a question."
"Shoot." The girl winked.
"Well," Callista cleared her throat. "I am kind of new to here and pokemon training and all and I was wondering if you could tell me where I am exactly?"
The girl. Turned her whole body around and leaned with her back against the counter. "You have just wandered into Ecruteak City and you are inside a Pokemon Center."
"A Pokemon Center?"
"Yes," the girl answered. "This is where you can heal your pokemon for free so they can be healthy even after a hard battle." The girl answered. "Now I have a question for you."
Callista nodded.
"What is your name?"
Callista answered, "My name is Callista and I am from Olivine City," she introduced herself. "I'm training to become a pokemon master."
"Well, I'm Ruby," the girl began. "Nice to meet you."
A ding was heard and a pink haired nurse appeared from the swinging doors. She walked over to Ruby and handed her three pokeballs. "Here are your pokemon, fully healed."
"Thanks a lot Nurse Joy." Ruby said as she took the pokeballs and put them away on her belt.
For a few seconds Callista forgot why she came in this building in the first place.
"Hey," Callista interrupted as Nurse Joy and Ruby both looked at her. "I need help."
"What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked.
"I lost my pokemon in the first. I was the only one I have and I really need to find it."
"What kind of pokemon is it?" Ruby asked.
"It is a small Chikorita." Callista began crying again. "And I don't know where it is."
Ruby's smile turned to worry. She reached over and gave Callista a hug. "Don't you worry." Ruby said as she released Callista from the hug. "I will help you find it."
"Really?" Callista's worry turned to happiness. "You would help?"
"Sure," Ruby said again. "And we can even have my pokemon help us to we can cover more ground."
Callista instantly remembered her new pokemon. She grabbed the pokeball. "Then that means my new Pichu could help out too." she turned to Nurse Joy. "But first I would like you to look at it because I think it is still injured from when I first caught it.
"Of course," Nurse Joy took the pokemon. "Caring for hurt pokemon is what I do."
It only took a few moments for Nurse Joy to fully heal her Pichu and as soon as she was done Ruby and Callista headed off back into the forest.
"I think it would be a good start if you take me to where you last saw your Chikorita." Ruby suggested.
"Um," Callista thought about it for a second. "I think I know where I last saw it. I think."
"Great then lets go." Ruby grabbed Callista's arm and pulled Callista into a much faster walking pace.
While Callista lead Ruby through the forest Ruby kept looking over at Callista. She was obviously worried about her Chikorita so Ruby tried to keep her mind occupied.
"So you are you training?" Ruby asked.
"I want to be a great pokemon trainer and hopefully a pokemon master." Callista answered. "You?"
"I know a lot of people want to become pokemon master just like you," Ruby began. "But I don't think that's for me."
Callista looked at her. "Well, then why are you training? I thought everyone wanted to be masters?"
"Actually, no. Trainers raise pokemon for many different reasons. Some want to be breeders, some want to be gym leaders, while others just want strong companions to protect themselves. You see me, on the other hand, I adore fire pokemon and I love to battle." Ruby said. "I am trying to train as hard as I can because one day while I was at a pokemon center in Goldenrod City I happen to glance up at the TV and there I saw Lance the Dragon master. The way he battled you could tell he knew how to train his dragon pokemon. It was almost like he could look right into their soul. It was totally awesome. One day when I finally run into him I would love the chance to battle him with my pokemon and see just how much power he has and to see if I have what it takes to stand up against him."
'What a wonderful dream,' Callista thought to herself. She was starting to like this girl.
"So that's why I am out here training," Ruby finished as Callista motioned Ruby to stop walking.
Ruby looked ahead of her and saw a river completely surrounded by trees and shrubs. "Is this were you last saw it?"
Callista nodded.
"Okay, then let's get cracking." Ruby pulled out her pokeballs and threw them all up in the air. Three red pokemon appeared. One looked like a large rodent, one looked like a large cute lizard, and the other looked like a little red fox.
"How cute!" Callista said.
"Let me introduce you to my friends." Ruby said excitingly. Ruby pointed to the fox. "This is Vulpix." She pointed to the lizard. "This is Charmander." She pointed to the rodent. "And this is Quilava. My strongest pokemon. They are all fire types." She turned to her pokemon. "Okay, guys we have a lost pokemon somewhere in the forest. I need your help to find it. It's small and green and with a large green leaf on its head." Ruby pointed to the trees. "Now split up and go find it!"
All at once her pokemon all dashed off in different directions.
Ruby looked at Callista, "Don't worry I'm sure they will kind your Chikorita. They have never let me down. Let's go." Ruby grabbed Callista by the arm again as they began their search.
After searching for quite sometime Quilava and Vulpix ended up meeting each other during their search and decided to search together. They walked around a bit until Vulpix thought that it might have picked up a scent of another pokemon. Either it was pokemon instinct or just a guess Vulpix and Quilava decided to follow the scent. They followed it for about a mile into the forest until they spotted a small camp ground.
"Lava lava." Quilava motioned for Vulpix to move in closer with it. They snuck up behind a small tent and looked around the camp ground. There was no one to be seen.
"Vulpix." Vulpix spotted a human approaching the grounds along with a Marril. The Marril was probably the pokemon that might have been the scent that Vulpix found.
The human and Marill headed over to the tent and stepped inside. Vulpix squeezed its little face underneath the bottom of the tent lifting it up ever so slightly and peered inside. The human and the pokemon huddled around something, but Vulpix just could not see what it was.
"It's almost time to leave Marril. Aren't you excited we finally got our old friend back?" The boy said to his pokemon.
"Marril mar," Marril answered unsure of what it should say.
"We better get our stuff packed so we can get out of here before anyone finds us and takes our pokemon away." When the boy stood up Vulpix got a clear view of the caged Chikorita in front of the two kidnappers.
Vulpix took its head out from under the tent and turned to Quilava. "Vul vul," Vulpix told Quilava what it saw and they both dashed off back to their trainer.
Meanwhile, Callista was more upset than ever. After searching for what seemed like and eternity they found no trace of her Chikorita. Charmander had returned earlier and was inside its pokeball after no luck finding it either. "It has only been a few hours since I left Olivine City and I already failed as a pokemon trainer."
"Don't talk like that. Your doing fine. I am beginning to think that your Chikorita disappeared not because it wanted to. There are no signs of its foot prints anywhere else so I didn't run away." Ruby tried to help Callista feel better. "Besides, you caught a Pichu on your very first try. It's hard to catch electric pokemon. Especially, if you are new to training. That took a lot of skill."
Callista smiled for a minute, but then grew upset once again. Ruby did not know what else to do
"VUL!"
"LAVA LAVA!"
Ruby's pokemon came running up to them. Vulpix looked up at Ruby and started jumping up and down as Quilava pointed in the direction from which they came, both of them trying to tell Ruby what they saw.
"Did you guys find it?" Ruby asked as both of them nodded. She looked up at Callista. "I told you we would find it."
Callista the grabbed Ruby by the arm, "Then what are we waiting for let's go get it!" Callista and Ruby ran off with Quilava and Vulpix on their heels.
The boy and his Marill, by now, had everything packed tightly into his little backpack with enough room for Marril to squeeze in at the top and peek out. He grabbed Chikorita's cage and placed it in the basket of his bike. "Well, it's time to go."
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE," a voice stopped them.
Callista and Ruby appeared on the scene along with their pokemon.
Callista saw Chikorita. "Chikorita!"
Chikorita looked up and smiled. "Chika chika."
"Give me back my Chikorita!" Callista shook her fist in anger.
The boy looked at the Chikorita and then back at Callista. "What are you talking about? This is my Chikorita. Now if you excuse me I have places to go." He raised the kickstand and started to ride away. Quilava jumped into his path almost knocking him over. "Hey!" The boy shouted.
"You're not leaving just yet." Ruby yelled.
"Qui," Quilava grew furious as red and orange flames appeared on its back.
"I want my Chikorita back!" Callista screamed.
"I am telling you this is mine!" The boy insisted.
"Find then we will battle for it," Callista announced as she grabbed her pokeball and released her Pichu. "How about it?"
"No way. I don't have time for this." The boy yelled back.
"Well, my Quilava isn't moving until you cooperate." Vulpix joined Quilava as they both refused to move.
"Fine let's get this over with." The boy got off of his bike and reached for a pokeball. "We will battle once and that's it. Pidgeotto, go!" He threw the pokeball into the air.
Pidgeotto appeared from its pokeball.
"Okay Pichu use your electric attack!" Pichu charged up some electricity and fired it at the bird pokemon.
"Fly!" Pidgeotto bolted into the air just barely missed the shock. "Now use your whirlwind."
Pidgeotto flapped its wing at a tremendous speed and created a large whirlwind toward the mouse pokemon. Pichu tried to dodge out of the way but it quickly got swept up into the whirlwind and got thrown aside. Pichu landed with a hard thud. I could not battle anymore.
Callista called it back.
The boy just smiled. "That was easy."
Ruby stepped up. "That's not fair you know how to battle and she is just a beginner who has never battled before." Ruby was outraged. "You have to battle with me to make it a fair fight."
"No way."
Ruby crossed her arm and glared at him.
"Fine." The boy finally agreed again. "Get ready Pidgeotto."
"Go Vulpix!" Ruby called as Vulpix left Quilava's side and prepared for battle.
"Pidgeotto, fly back up into the air!" The boy called out as his pokemon darted back up into the sky. "Now use your double edge attack!"
Ruby calmly looked at Vulpix. "Get ready."
Pidgeotto was closing in on Vulpix.
"Now Vulpix use your flamethrower!" Ruby called out as Vulpix released a mighty burst of flame striking Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto no!"
Pidgeotto landed hard onto the ground in front of its trainer.
"Pidgeotto return," he called is pokemon back. He looked at Marril. "It's your turn now."
Marril nodded. "Marril." The water pokemon leaped into position.
"Vulpix return. "She called it back and Vulpix returned to its pokeball. "Now it's your turn Quilava."
"Quilava!" Quilava got into battling stance.
"Marril water gun."
"Quilava dodge and tackle!"
Marril shot its water gun directly at Quilava as Quilava dodged out of the way. Quilava quickly changed its footing and raced back toward Marril and hit it with its tackle attack. Marril got thrown to the ground, but then quickly jumped back up.
"Marril use your bubble!" The boy shouted.
Marril released a powerful burst of bubbles.
"Quilava," Ruby ordered. "Use agility!"
Using its tremendously fast speed Quilava dodged each one of Marril's attacks.
Ruby shouted out again. "Take down!"
Quilava charged at Marril and struck it with a take down attack with all its might.
"Marrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiillllllllllll." Marril screamed as it got thrown aside. Marril tried to get up, but its energy was too low and it collapsed onto the ground.
The boy ran to his pokemon and picked it up. "Marril are you okay?"
Callista saw this opportunity and raced for Chikorita. The boy, seeing this, got up and raced to stop her. But Ruby was too quick. "Quilava use fire spin to surround him."
"Quilava," the pokemon obeyed and surrounded the boy in a circle of flames.
With no way out, the boy and his Marril were trapped leaving Callista to rescue her Chikorita. Callista used a rock from the ground to smash the lock open leaving Chikorita free once again. Chikorita leaped into her arms and laid its head on her chest. "Chika chika."
"I am so glad I have you back." Callista whispered to her pokemon as a tear rolled down her cheek. Callista turned serious and looked back at the boy. "Who are you and why did you steal my Chikorita!"
"I am Stanley from Ecruteak City and I didn't steal your pokemon I was returning my pokemon to me."
"But this is my pokemon." Callista said, a little confused.
"No, its mine. I lost mine a long time ago and I finally found another and I wanted it." Stanley looked down at his injured Marril which was still in his arms. "After an extremely tough battle my Chikorita disappeared. I assumed someone stole it from me. I saw that Chikorita and I knew I had to have it. Since I captured it now it belongs to me"
"I don't think it quite works that way," Ruby paused, "But I think I understand." Ruby looked at her Quilava. "Quilava use your sand attack to clear the fire."
Quilava obey an in a matter of seconds the flames were gone.
Ruby continued. "You wanted Callista's Chikorita thinking it would ease the pain of losing your own." She stepped up to Stanley. "But you know what? Even if you did happen to get away you know that you would be causing the same kind of pain you felt when your Chikorita was taken from you. It's the exact same thing except you could be the cause of her pain."
"I never thought about it like that." Stanley said as he looked down at Marril.
"Now then, since I think you have learned your lesson. My new friend and I, along with HER Chikorita are going to walk away like nothing happened." Ruby shook her finger at him. "Just don't let me catch you sneaking around her again."
The boy nodded and Ruby motioned for Callista and Quilava to follow.
As they headed back to the pokemon center to make sure Chikorita was not hurt Callista wanted to say something to Ruby. "Thank you Ruby. I never would have found Chikorita if it wasn't for you." She gave Chikorita a big hug.
"No sweat. By the way, I was being serious about watching out of you."
"Huh?"
"I was thinking. Since you and I are heading in the same direction I was thinking maybe we could travel together for a bit. You know just so I could show you're the ropes." Ruby winked.
"That would be awesome." Callista smiled as the two new friend walked back to Ecruteak City.
As we left off, Callista and Chikorita met and started an exciting journey. While they were walking through a small forest they have come across their first encounter with a real wild pokemon.
Callista stared at the new pokemon with wide, excited eyes as the pokemon stared right back. It was tiny with yellow fur. It was kind of cute. She reached for her pokedex and pointed it at the weird pokemon.
Pokedex: "Pichu, the Tiny Mouse pokemon. Because of its size and inexperience this pokemon sometime zaps itself while attacking another pokemon."
"All right! I want to catch this pokemon." Callista glanced down at Chikorita. "Are you ready?"
"Chika chika." Chikorita nodded as it leaped into position.
"Okay, let's go for it!" Callista shouted. "Tackle attack!"
Chikorita charged at the Pichu at full force. Pichu unsure of what to do ran the opposite direction.
"Hey, where are you going?" Callista called to the Pichu. "Chikorita we can't let it get away!"
Chikorita stopped running and used its vine whip to trip the pokemon off its feet.
"Cool, what was that?" She looked at her pokedex.
Pokedex: "Vine Whip, Chikorita's special attack"
"Awesome," Callista said as she focused her attention to the battle once again.
Pichu was attempting to get up.
"Chikorita quick, use your tackle attack!"
"Chika!" Chikorita charged at the Pichu and tackled it dead on.
The Pichu was tossed off to the side and hopped back onto its wobbly feet.
"Okay, now use your vine whip attack!" Callista called out as Chikorita stretched out its vine whip.
Pichu saw Chikorita's vine whip and it quickly charged an electric attack. Chikorita's whip wrapped around Pichu. Pichu releases a small thunder shock striking the Chikorita and itself. Both pokemon layed on the ground. Pichu was exhausted as Chikorita was only a bit stunned. It has never been shocked before.
"Chikorita, are you okay?" Callista called to her pokemon. Chikorita got back onto its feet and nodded. "Tackle it!"
Chikorita tackled the exhausted Pichu to finish up the battle. Pichu tried to get up, but it couldn't and collapsed back down.
"That was great!" Callista reached for one of her empty pokeballs. "Your mine!" Callista threw the ball at the Pichu and captured the pokemon inside. The pokeball twitched for a minute until it finally stopped and closed. Pichu was captured.
"Yes! My first real capture!" Callista jumped up into the air and cheered. "Yay!" She ran over and picked up the pokeball with the Pichu inside. "I can hardly believe it." She put the pokeball away and looked down at her Chikorita. "Let's go find some more!"
"Chika," Chikorita smiled as they both ran off into the forest.
Little did Callista know that she was being watched. Behind a few bushes and trees sat a dark figure watching Callista's every move. "It is time!" The figure said to itself as it continued to follow Callista.
Callista was skipping through the forest without a care in the world with Chikorita at her heels. "This is so great!" Callista said to her pokemon. "This is much easier than everyone says."
A small blue pokemon dashed right out of the bushes and stopped right in front of them. Excited and ready for more the Chikorita leaped into battle position. Callista reached again for her pokedex.
Pokedex: "Marill, the water mouse pokemon. This pokemon's tail floats while it is underwater enabling the trainer to see where it is going."
Callista jumped up for joy. "It's adorable! I want this one too. Go Chikorita, use your tackle attack!"
Chikorita charged at the pokemon as the pokemon, once again, ran off in the other direction. To Chikorita's surprise this pokemon was very fast and it had to stop to catch a quick breath.
"Chikorita, don't give up!" Callista caught up to her pokemon. She saw the Marril attempting to escape. "Hey come back here!" Callista yelled out as she started running after Marill. Chikorita followed behind her.
Callista chased the pokemon all over the forest as Chikorita ran to keep up. When it seemed that Chikorita was falling behind two human hands reached from behind some thick bushes, grabbed a hold of Chikorita's feet and dragged it away into the cover of the forest.
Marill was running out of breath and knew it had to get away so it made a right turn towards the forest river.
"Oh, no you don't!" Callista yelled as she dove to try to catch it. As Callista dove, Marill leaped out of the way and jumped into the water. Callista landed onto the floor with a hard thud and watched as the Marril swam across the river and into the safety of the woods on the other side.
"Ah man." Callista whined. "Well, it was a nice try but we will get it next time right Chikorita," she looked down and all around her, but Chikorita was nowhere in sight. "Chikorita!" Callista called out. "where are you!" Callista shouted at the top of her lungs. "CHIKORITA!"
Marill watched as Callista disappeared in search for her pokemon. When Callista was out of sight the Marill came out of hiding and jumped back into the water and headed back to the other side. It jumped out of the water, shook itself off and dashed back into the forest.
It ran and ran through the trees and bushes until a voice stopped it in its tracks. "Marril!"
Marril stopped and smiled at its master who appeared from the shrubs.
"You did a great job." A young boy, about the age of twelve with blonde hair and a huge grin, knelt down and patted the pokemon on the head. "Now let's take our pokemon home." He stood back up and reached back into the shrubs and pulled out a small cage. Inside was Callista's Chikorita.
With tears running down her bright pink face, Callista screamed frantically for Chikorita. "CHIKORITA! CHIKORITA WHERE ARE YOU?!" She did not know what to do. Chikorita was her very first pokemon and in a matter of a few hours she had already lost it. "CHIKORITA!"
Callista dashed from one part of the forest to another. She searched behind every tree, every bush, every rock, but she no clue of where Chikorita could have gone. Her search led her to the edge of the forest. She wiped a tear from her cheek and looked around. She saw many buildings and homes. Could it be that she was running so hard she already made it to the next city. Maybe there is someone here that can help her? The closest place to her was a small white and pink building right off the road with a giant pokeball on the roof. She sighed as she walked down to the road leading to the strange building.
Opening the door Callista peered inside. She saw many people inside. There were many people inside all of them seemed to be talking about pokemon. Callista stepped in even further and shut the door behind her. Over to the right in the far corner there was a set of swinging doors with a red cross over it. About twenty five feet in front of her there was a large counter with computers on it and with a small door on the side in which to get in and out of the counter. Standing right in front of the counter with her back turned away from Callista was a young girl waiting very impatiently. She was wearing a pair of black jean shorts and a tight red shirt. She had long black hair with blood red streaks which she wore in pigtails. She had red flame prints all over her backpack that she was carrying on her back and a pokemon belt around her waist. Obviously she was a pokemon trainer and she didn't look too much older than Callista herself. Callista did not know what lead her to this particular girl, but something about they way this girl was drew Callista to her. Callista walked up to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. The red haired girl spun around toward Callista and smiled.
"Why hello!" She said as she continued to smile at Callista.
"Hello," Callista said, "hey I had a question."
"Shoot." The girl winked.
"Well," Callista cleared her throat. "I am kind of new to here and pokemon training and all and I was wondering if you could tell me where I am exactly?"
The girl. Turned her whole body around and leaned with her back against the counter. "You have just wandered into Ecruteak City and you are inside a Pokemon Center."
"A Pokemon Center?"
"Yes," the girl answered. "This is where you can heal your pokemon for free so they can be healthy even after a hard battle." The girl answered. "Now I have a question for you."
Callista nodded.
"What is your name?"
Callista answered, "My name is Callista and I am from Olivine City," she introduced herself. "I'm training to become a pokemon master."
"Well, I'm Ruby," the girl began. "Nice to meet you."
A ding was heard and a pink haired nurse appeared from the swinging doors. She walked over to Ruby and handed her three pokeballs. "Here are your pokemon, fully healed."
"Thanks a lot Nurse Joy." Ruby said as she took the pokeballs and put them away on her belt.
For a few seconds Callista forgot why she came in this building in the first place.
"Hey," Callista interrupted as Nurse Joy and Ruby both looked at her. "I need help."
"What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked.
"I lost my pokemon in the first. I was the only one I have and I really need to find it."
"What kind of pokemon is it?" Ruby asked.
"It is a small Chikorita." Callista began crying again. "And I don't know where it is."
Ruby's smile turned to worry. She reached over and gave Callista a hug. "Don't you worry." Ruby said as she released Callista from the hug. "I will help you find it."
"Really?" Callista's worry turned to happiness. "You would help?"
"Sure," Ruby said again. "And we can even have my pokemon help us to we can cover more ground."
Callista instantly remembered her new pokemon. She grabbed the pokeball. "Then that means my new Pichu could help out too." she turned to Nurse Joy. "But first I would like you to look at it because I think it is still injured from when I first caught it.
"Of course," Nurse Joy took the pokemon. "Caring for hurt pokemon is what I do."
It only took a few moments for Nurse Joy to fully heal her Pichu and as soon as she was done Ruby and Callista headed off back into the forest.
"I think it would be a good start if you take me to where you last saw your Chikorita." Ruby suggested.
"Um," Callista thought about it for a second. "I think I know where I last saw it. I think."
"Great then lets go." Ruby grabbed Callista's arm and pulled Callista into a much faster walking pace.
While Callista lead Ruby through the forest Ruby kept looking over at Callista. She was obviously worried about her Chikorita so Ruby tried to keep her mind occupied.
"So you are you training?" Ruby asked.
"I want to be a great pokemon trainer and hopefully a pokemon master." Callista answered. "You?"
"I know a lot of people want to become pokemon master just like you," Ruby began. "But I don't think that's for me."
Callista looked at her. "Well, then why are you training? I thought everyone wanted to be masters?"
"Actually, no. Trainers raise pokemon for many different reasons. Some want to be breeders, some want to be gym leaders, while others just want strong companions to protect themselves. You see me, on the other hand, I adore fire pokemon and I love to battle." Ruby said. "I am trying to train as hard as I can because one day while I was at a pokemon center in Goldenrod City I happen to glance up at the TV and there I saw Lance the Dragon master. The way he battled you could tell he knew how to train his dragon pokemon. It was almost like he could look right into their soul. It was totally awesome. One day when I finally run into him I would love the chance to battle him with my pokemon and see just how much power he has and to see if I have what it takes to stand up against him."
'What a wonderful dream,' Callista thought to herself. She was starting to like this girl.
"So that's why I am out here training," Ruby finished as Callista motioned Ruby to stop walking.
Ruby looked ahead of her and saw a river completely surrounded by trees and shrubs. "Is this were you last saw it?"
Callista nodded.
"Okay, then let's get cracking." Ruby pulled out her pokeballs and threw them all up in the air. Three red pokemon appeared. One looked like a large rodent, one looked like a large cute lizard, and the other looked like a little red fox.
"How cute!" Callista said.
"Let me introduce you to my friends." Ruby said excitingly. Ruby pointed to the fox. "This is Vulpix." She pointed to the lizard. "This is Charmander." She pointed to the rodent. "And this is Quilava. My strongest pokemon. They are all fire types." She turned to her pokemon. "Okay, guys we have a lost pokemon somewhere in the forest. I need your help to find it. It's small and green and with a large green leaf on its head." Ruby pointed to the trees. "Now split up and go find it!"
All at once her pokemon all dashed off in different directions.
Ruby looked at Callista, "Don't worry I'm sure they will kind your Chikorita. They have never let me down. Let's go." Ruby grabbed Callista by the arm again as they began their search.
After searching for quite sometime Quilava and Vulpix ended up meeting each other during their search and decided to search together. They walked around a bit until Vulpix thought that it might have picked up a scent of another pokemon. Either it was pokemon instinct or just a guess Vulpix and Quilava decided to follow the scent. They followed it for about a mile into the forest until they spotted a small camp ground.
"Lava lava." Quilava motioned for Vulpix to move in closer with it. They snuck up behind a small tent and looked around the camp ground. There was no one to be seen.
"Vulpix." Vulpix spotted a human approaching the grounds along with a Marril. The Marril was probably the pokemon that might have been the scent that Vulpix found.
The human and Marill headed over to the tent and stepped inside. Vulpix squeezed its little face underneath the bottom of the tent lifting it up ever so slightly and peered inside. The human and the pokemon huddled around something, but Vulpix just could not see what it was.
"It's almost time to leave Marril. Aren't you excited we finally got our old friend back?" The boy said to his pokemon.
"Marril mar," Marril answered unsure of what it should say.
"We better get our stuff packed so we can get out of here before anyone finds us and takes our pokemon away." When the boy stood up Vulpix got a clear view of the caged Chikorita in front of the two kidnappers.
Vulpix took its head out from under the tent and turned to Quilava. "Vul vul," Vulpix told Quilava what it saw and they both dashed off back to their trainer.
Meanwhile, Callista was more upset than ever. After searching for what seemed like and eternity they found no trace of her Chikorita. Charmander had returned earlier and was inside its pokeball after no luck finding it either. "It has only been a few hours since I left Olivine City and I already failed as a pokemon trainer."
"Don't talk like that. Your doing fine. I am beginning to think that your Chikorita disappeared not because it wanted to. There are no signs of its foot prints anywhere else so I didn't run away." Ruby tried to help Callista feel better. "Besides, you caught a Pichu on your very first try. It's hard to catch electric pokemon. Especially, if you are new to training. That took a lot of skill."
Callista smiled for a minute, but then grew upset once again. Ruby did not know what else to do
"VUL!"
"LAVA LAVA!"
Ruby's pokemon came running up to them. Vulpix looked up at Ruby and started jumping up and down as Quilava pointed in the direction from which they came, both of them trying to tell Ruby what they saw.
"Did you guys find it?" Ruby asked as both of them nodded. She looked up at Callista. "I told you we would find it."
Callista the grabbed Ruby by the arm, "Then what are we waiting for let's go get it!" Callista and Ruby ran off with Quilava and Vulpix on their heels.
The boy and his Marill, by now, had everything packed tightly into his little backpack with enough room for Marril to squeeze in at the top and peek out. He grabbed Chikorita's cage and placed it in the basket of his bike. "Well, it's time to go."
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE," a voice stopped them.
Callista and Ruby appeared on the scene along with their pokemon.
Callista saw Chikorita. "Chikorita!"
Chikorita looked up and smiled. "Chika chika."
"Give me back my Chikorita!" Callista shook her fist in anger.
The boy looked at the Chikorita and then back at Callista. "What are you talking about? This is my Chikorita. Now if you excuse me I have places to go." He raised the kickstand and started to ride away. Quilava jumped into his path almost knocking him over. "Hey!" The boy shouted.
"You're not leaving just yet." Ruby yelled.
"Qui," Quilava grew furious as red and orange flames appeared on its back.
"I want my Chikorita back!" Callista screamed.
"I am telling you this is mine!" The boy insisted.
"Find then we will battle for it," Callista announced as she grabbed her pokeball and released her Pichu. "How about it?"
"No way. I don't have time for this." The boy yelled back.
"Well, my Quilava isn't moving until you cooperate." Vulpix joined Quilava as they both refused to move.
"Fine let's get this over with." The boy got off of his bike and reached for a pokeball. "We will battle once and that's it. Pidgeotto, go!" He threw the pokeball into the air.
Pidgeotto appeared from its pokeball.
"Okay Pichu use your electric attack!" Pichu charged up some electricity and fired it at the bird pokemon.
"Fly!" Pidgeotto bolted into the air just barely missed the shock. "Now use your whirlwind."
Pidgeotto flapped its wing at a tremendous speed and created a large whirlwind toward the mouse pokemon. Pichu tried to dodge out of the way but it quickly got swept up into the whirlwind and got thrown aside. Pichu landed with a hard thud. I could not battle anymore.
Callista called it back.
The boy just smiled. "That was easy."
Ruby stepped up. "That's not fair you know how to battle and she is just a beginner who has never battled before." Ruby was outraged. "You have to battle with me to make it a fair fight."
"No way."
Ruby crossed her arm and glared at him.
"Fine." The boy finally agreed again. "Get ready Pidgeotto."
"Go Vulpix!" Ruby called as Vulpix left Quilava's side and prepared for battle.
"Pidgeotto, fly back up into the air!" The boy called out as his pokemon darted back up into the sky. "Now use your double edge attack!"
Ruby calmly looked at Vulpix. "Get ready."
Pidgeotto was closing in on Vulpix.
"Now Vulpix use your flamethrower!" Ruby called out as Vulpix released a mighty burst of flame striking Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto no!"
Pidgeotto landed hard onto the ground in front of its trainer.
"Pidgeotto return," he called is pokemon back. He looked at Marril. "It's your turn now."
Marril nodded. "Marril." The water pokemon leaped into position.
"Vulpix return. "She called it back and Vulpix returned to its pokeball. "Now it's your turn Quilava."
"Quilava!" Quilava got into battling stance.
"Marril water gun."
"Quilava dodge and tackle!"
Marril shot its water gun directly at Quilava as Quilava dodged out of the way. Quilava quickly changed its footing and raced back toward Marril and hit it with its tackle attack. Marril got thrown to the ground, but then quickly jumped back up.
"Marril use your bubble!" The boy shouted.
Marril released a powerful burst of bubbles.
"Quilava," Ruby ordered. "Use agility!"
Using its tremendously fast speed Quilava dodged each one of Marril's attacks.
Ruby shouted out again. "Take down!"
Quilava charged at Marril and struck it with a take down attack with all its might.
"Marrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiillllllllllll." Marril screamed as it got thrown aside. Marril tried to get up, but its energy was too low and it collapsed onto the ground.
The boy ran to his pokemon and picked it up. "Marril are you okay?"
Callista saw this opportunity and raced for Chikorita. The boy, seeing this, got up and raced to stop her. But Ruby was too quick. "Quilava use fire spin to surround him."
"Quilava," the pokemon obeyed and surrounded the boy in a circle of flames.
With no way out, the boy and his Marril were trapped leaving Callista to rescue her Chikorita. Callista used a rock from the ground to smash the lock open leaving Chikorita free once again. Chikorita leaped into her arms and laid its head on her chest. "Chika chika."
"I am so glad I have you back." Callista whispered to her pokemon as a tear rolled down her cheek. Callista turned serious and looked back at the boy. "Who are you and why did you steal my Chikorita!"
"I am Stanley from Ecruteak City and I didn't steal your pokemon I was returning my pokemon to me."
"But this is my pokemon." Callista said, a little confused.
"No, its mine. I lost mine a long time ago and I finally found another and I wanted it." Stanley looked down at his injured Marril which was still in his arms. "After an extremely tough battle my Chikorita disappeared. I assumed someone stole it from me. I saw that Chikorita and I knew I had to have it. Since I captured it now it belongs to me"
"I don't think it quite works that way," Ruby paused, "But I think I understand." Ruby looked at her Quilava. "Quilava use your sand attack to clear the fire."
Quilava obey an in a matter of seconds the flames were gone.
Ruby continued. "You wanted Callista's Chikorita thinking it would ease the pain of losing your own." She stepped up to Stanley. "But you know what? Even if you did happen to get away you know that you would be causing the same kind of pain you felt when your Chikorita was taken from you. It's the exact same thing except you could be the cause of her pain."
"I never thought about it like that." Stanley said as he looked down at Marril.
"Now then, since I think you have learned your lesson. My new friend and I, along with HER Chikorita are going to walk away like nothing happened." Ruby shook her finger at him. "Just don't let me catch you sneaking around her again."
The boy nodded and Ruby motioned for Callista and Quilava to follow.
As they headed back to the pokemon center to make sure Chikorita was not hurt Callista wanted to say something to Ruby. "Thank you Ruby. I never would have found Chikorita if it wasn't for you." She gave Chikorita a big hug.
"No sweat. By the way, I was being serious about watching out of you."
"Huh?"
"I was thinking. Since you and I are heading in the same direction I was thinking maybe we could travel together for a bit. You know just so I could show you're the ropes." Ruby winked.
"That would be awesome." Callista smiled as the two new friend walked back to Ecruteak City.