"Should we catch one of these weird things?"Megan crouched down next to a tree.
Ellen stopped and turned to see what Megan was looking at. A large, green cocoon was propped up against the trunk of a forest tree. They had actually walked by many of these without giving them a second thought, but now Megan was suddenly interested.
"If you want to," Ellen shrugged, "It's only a Metapod."
"How do you know all these things?" Megan was shocked once again.
"You do have a Pokedex now, you know," Ellen sighed, "You could try using it. It should have all the entries that Red and Blue and Green have filled."
Megan pulled out her Pokedex. It was her first time giving it a good look. It was nothing more than a small red booklet that when opened had a tiny computer keyboard and screen with a few added buttons. She began scrolling through the list of Pokemon until she came to the entry for Metapod.
"So this is a cocoon," she mumbled as she read, "and it will evolve into a bigger bug? But all it can do now is harden its shell?"
Ellen scratched the back of her head and nodded. Megan looked disheartened and decided not to try catching the Metapod. The two continued through the forest.
"So when do you think we'll find Marcus and Alex?" Megan questioned her friend.
Ellen started to open her mouth, but realized that telling her friend the truth might not be the best idea. Megan didn't seem to realize that everyone had forgotten about their childhood promise easily and were probably off on their own now -- not on a Pokemon journey. Megan kept glancing over to her partner for an answer, but Ellen just couldn't think of what to tell her.
Megan looked forward to make sure she wasn't stepping on a passing bug Pokemon when she heard a rustle in the grass in front of her following by a yellow being running past.
Megan jumped and pointed forward, "Did you see that?"
"Yeah," Ellen tried to think of what it could have been, "That didn't seem like something a normal forest Pokemon could do... They're all just slow crawly bugs..."
Before Ellen could even try to think of what it could be, she found herself chasing her hyper friend after the yellow blur, but not only a few seconds into the run, Megan was stopped at a tree.
"Look, it just stopped."
Resting against this tree was a yellow cocoon, much like the Metapod before, but this Pokemon seemed to have sharper features as opposed to round ones, and it was yellow.
Ellen looked at the yellow Pokemon propped up against the tree, "I don't think that's the sa-"
"Shut up!" Megan whispered and swiped in the air for an interruption, "You might make it run again!"
The excited trainer carefully pulled her Poliwag's Pokeball from her pocket and held it in front of herself, waiting to surprise the cocoon creature ahead of her.
"Polly, quick!" The girl hurled the Pokeball in front of her, "Use bubble attack and make sure it can't run away!"
The blue Pokemon appeared from a burst of light and began shooting bubbles ahead of itself. The barrage of water splashed into the yellow cocoon's body and knocked it over. Seeing the unmoving Pokemon plop against the dirt next to the tree, Megan quickly reached for an empty Pokemon and threw it in the direction of the weakened creature. The Pokeball bounced against the tree and rolled into the grass near the fallen cocoon. Megan blushed and immediately tried again, landing the ball on the Pokemon and sending it into a fit of escape. The ball clicked to secure its capture and Megan had caught a Pokemon.
"Do you know the name of that Pokemon?" Megan shouted to Ellen as she danced around with her newly occupied Pokeball.
Ellen sighed and lightly responded, "Kakuna."
Megan tumbled down in the grass into a sitting position and pulled out her Pokedex and hurriedly read the entry for Kakuna. As she read, her face slowly lost its excitement and she fell onto her back in the grass.
"It's just another stupid cocoon?" She whined.
"Well, yeah..." Ellen laughed nervously, "but don't call it stupid. Now that you caught it, you guys are partners!"
Megan held her Kakuna's Pokeball in her hand, twisting it to examine it from all angles. It didn't look much like a partner to her. Just a lame cocoon in a ball.
"I'm really afraid of Rattatas, believe it or not," Ellen offered a hand to prop Megan back onto her feet, "But I'm trying my best to make sure I don't let my Rattata know that -- and I'll eventually grow to love Rattatas even. Even if it's a Pokemon that isn't my favorite, once you catch a Pokemon, it becomes your friend and partner forever."
Megan almost felt bad for calling her Kakuna a stupid cocoon and looked over the Pokeball in her hand again.
"I guess you're right," She tossed the ball in front of her to summon her Pokemon, "This is my new friend."
Kakuna sat still in the grass, staring up at Megan
The girl crouched down next two her yellow cocoon and stared into its eyes, "I think I'm going to call you..."
Ellen crossed her arms as she watched Megan blink at the Kakuna in the grass. Neither the Pokemon nor the girl seemed to be making much progress. After a long wait, Megan finally spoke again.
"Is this thing a boy or a girl?"
Ellen almost toppled over in disbelief.
"I'm not really sure." Ellen looked at the Kakuna, "They all look the same, so I guess you can't tell until it evolves."
"Well I'll just name it Speedy, then."
Ellen's face winced as she tried not to laugh, "Speedy? Why?"
"Don't you remember when it was running?" Megan shook her head at Ellen's forgetfulness, "It was so fast and speedy. And Speedy works as a name for a boy or girl."
"You know..." Ellen stopped herself, deciding it was best to let Megan think the lightning-fast Pokemon from before really was Speedy the Kakuna.
Before anything else could happen, a voice shouted from in front of the two girls, "Hey, do you like bug Pokemon, too?"
The girls almost jumped backwards in shock as they looked up to see a young boy and girl standing in the path they needed to cross.
"We're the best bug trainers around here!" The girl bragged, pointer to her bright green shirt.
The boy in a neon yellow shirt next to her laughed, "You want to try to battle us?"
Megan and Ellen didn't really know what to say. Two strange kids had just appeared in front of them, and already they were asking to battle?
"Okay, let's go!" Megan stood up, picking up her newly-caught Pokemon in her arms. Polly waddled up behind her.
"You have to battle in a team, only one Pokemon each." The girl crossed her arms.
The boy pointed at Megan, "How much will the winner get?"
"How about 150 Yen?" Ellen blurted before Megan could try to place an outrageous bet.
The boy and girl looked at each other and nodded.
Ellen reached for her Pokeball and held it in front of herself waiting for Megan to choose a Pokemon. The bug Pokemon duo had already prepared their Pokemon, too. Megan stood around watching what everyone was doing and wondered why they kept staring at her.
"Which Pokemon are you going to use?" Ellen grumbled at her battle partner.
"Oh!" Megan's face lit up, "I'll use Speedy."
Ellen's heart sank as she realized that Megan really intended on sending a Kakuna into battle -- and a weakened one at that. Kakuna's only attack, if you could call it an attack, is to harden its body to raise defenses. Sometimes, well trained Weedles would evolve into a Kakuna that could shoot a web-like string called String Shot or sting the Pokemon with a poisonous point on its body called Poison Sting. Megan's Kakuna seemed to barely be able to harden at all.
"I'll use Oddish, then." Ellen sent Oddish from his Pokeball into the grassy battlefield.
"Okay! Go!" The two bug collectors shouted in unison, "Lemon and Lime!"
"Today has to be the day for stupid nicknames..." Ellen mumbled to herself.
The duo's Pokeballs hit the ground simultaneously, released two bug Pokemon: a yellow one and a green one. The yellow one had a horn on its head that looked good for stinging and poisoning its opponents; the green one had a feeler on its head and looked like it was smart.
"I know those!" Megan flailed her arms in excitement, "Caterpie and... Weedle!"
Ellen sighed at the fact that knowing the name of a common worm would excite anyone. As she turned back to the grassy area laid out in front of them, she noticed that the bugs were already crawling toward Megan's Kakuna. Megan happened to look up too.
"Look out!" She shrieked, "Run, Speedy!"
Kakuna sat.
"Why isn't he running!"
"I told you, he's just a cocoon." Ellen frustratedly explained, "That running Pokemon we saw wasn't that Kakuna."
Megan stared at her friend for a second, "So... he can't run at all!"
"Pay attention!" A voice shouted as a thud echoed off the trees.
The Caterpie had tackled Speedy, who was now tumbling right towrad Weedle. Megan stepped forward and tried to think of an attack that Kakuna could do, but it seemed hopeless. The yellow worm lunged forward, but the Kakuna naturally hardened his body as it rolled toward the oncoming needle. The cocoon manage to harden himself enough to avoid horrible damage, but the Weedle's stinger pierced deeply into the outer shell of Megan's new Pokemon.
I couldn't do anything, Ellen's head spun as she watched her friend's Pokemon topple over, out of the fight, All I did was stand and watch...
"Oddish!" As she shouted, her Pokemon was braced for battle, "Go after the yellow one with a Sweet Scent!"
Oddish started to sprint toward his opponent, but only a few steps and he had tripped, falling into the grass. A sticky white string was wrapped around his legs.
"Good job, Lemon!" the boy congradulated the green Caterpie on his String Shot attack.
"Now attack, Lime!"
"Oddish! Quick! Make Posion Powder!"
Before Oddish could regain balance, the Weedle had pricked the plant Pokemon in his side, sending poison into his body. A bead of sweat started to trickle down Ellen's face from her temple as she tried to think of her next move. She looked over to her friend, and realized she had fallen to her knees, shocked.
How am I supposed to fight two at once? She couldn't think of a way out.
String Shot was coming from both Pokemon, and soon enough Oddish couldn't move at all. The battle was over.