neogirl7900: OMG! Okay that is really gross… Seriously, over the years I have become increasingly grossed out by foods done by Chef Boyardee. Everytime I look in the cupboard and that's the only thing I see I'm like, "Mmmft… oh alright… I guess I'll have lunch…." Anyway, Misty's sisters are evil aren't they! No wonder she left them in the first place. Too bad she's stuck with them again… Maybe she'll get sick of them like before and leave the gym again! (Probably not though… which really sucks for us Misty fans.)

Antithesis: Yes, Beedrill always get the bad rap, so I thought for once that Butterfree needed a dark side to them! Hee hee. And the Butterfree are crazy; they're not supposed to make perfect sense. So don't worry, your logic-questioning was right on the mark.

Disclaimer (Hey! I remembered it!): I do not own Pokemon, Charmander, or Cubone. I don't even own a car. I did own a cookie, but then I ate it; so, meh, I got nothin'. Though, my original characters are mine though; through and through.

The Glass Half Full

Ch.7 Charmander's First Battle

Gary practically leaped forward, "I am!"

Mike suddenly stepped forward, his eyebrows frowning, "What! I think I'm the best suited to accept, you've already got plenty of 'prestige' from capturing all those pokemon! I wanna do something!"

Gary chuckled, "Heh, I don't think so! I'm not passing up this opportunity to battle! It will be my first real challenge!"

Samurai walked past them as they argued, and stopped shortly in front of Kayla, who was silently watching Gary and Mike's argument. He wasn't impressed in the least at their display of emotions. "I will challenge you first. Although they may claim to be the strongest, I believe that people who talk very little, are sometimes the wisest, most powerful opponents."

"Uh… okay, I guess," said Kayla, her voice tiny and slightly fearful. The armor that the boy wore was very intimidating, and Kayla had no idea what she might be up against…

"HUH!" yelled Mike and Gary in unison.

"Yes," replied Samurai, pulling out a small lantern from a large gray pack he was carrying with him. After turning it on and up to its full strength, he walked a few feet away and placed the lantern on the ground.

Kayla sighed with a small bit of relief; she wouldn't have been too keen about having to battle in the darkness.

"We will use one pokemon each. Choose your pokemon now. I shall use my newest capture-- Caterpie!" he called, tossing his pokeball to the ground after stepping back a few paces. A bright flash of white light lit up the surrounding area, and then in its wake a small, green caterpillar stood, sporting a relatively tough look for something so cute. It's eyes had an eager, determined look to them, and it swayed the pink antenna on its head back and forth, readying itself for some battling.

Kayla suddenly realized that she was now in her first pokemon battle. She had seen countless battles on television, in real life, and even dreamed them up before; but this would be her first time of actually doing it… She needed some sort of strategy, and she needed it fast. She searched her mind for anything about Caterpie that would help her; but the only thing she could think of were the wild Caterpie that lived around her grandmother's farm… and the trouble they always gave the cattle…

"Well…?" called Samurai, looking annoyed by Kayla's hesitation.

She nervously looked down at her pack, where Cubone's pokeball resided, but then she saw Charmander standing by her side. Fire always has the advantage over bug type pokemon, and besides, Charmander hadn't battled before; this would be good experience for him.

"I choose, um, Charmander," she said, trying to feel confident, and failing. Charmander's head perked up.

(What! I get to battle! Well then, I'll be sure to do my best!) he said happily, jumping out into the space in front of Kayla. It gave a friendly wave to the squishy bug across the way, (First battle too?) he called happily. It would be nice to know that he was not the only beginner.

The Caterpie narrowed its eyes, (Don't talk to me. I must concentrate on the battle ahead….)

Charmander blinked. (Well, just bein' friendly,) it said, feeling slightly put out. He then wondered to himself; was it against the rules to talk during a battle?

Samurai was looking a bit worried, knowing what a Charmander can do to a Caterpie with just one blast of an Ember attack; but after a few moments of thought, his frown quickly dissolved into a smile.

"Heh, your Charmander is at what level?" he asked.

"What? Oh… um, level 5," replied Kayla, blushing a bit, and hoping she wouldn't get laughed at.

Gary snickered, Mike stifled laughter. Even his Bulbasaur had leveled up a bit since he had walked in the forest.

"Novice! This will be easy! Your Charmander is a fire type pokemon, but without a fire attack, you'll be hard-pressed to defeat me!" laughed Samurai, his confidence overflowing, "Caterpie! String shot!"

(Right my Master,) piped Caterpie, sounding very obedient. Caterpie threw back its tiny green head, and tensed up its body; then threw itself forward and released a steady stream of white string from its stubby mouth. The sticky web attached itself all over Charmander's stomach, arms, and legs. He looked as if he had been attacked by silly string wielding teenagers! Kayla's eyes widened with recognition.

(Ewww…! This is so gross!) yelled Charmander, bending down to grab the stuff off.

Kayla called urgently to Charmander, "No! Wait don't pick it off! If you do, your hands will get all sticky too, and then you'll be so busy trying to get it off that you won't see its next attack!"

Charmander did as he was told and resisted touching the sticky web; though it was quite annoying.

Gary blinked, "What? You mean you can tell your pokemon to do that kind of stuff? I always just figured an attack like that could never be stopped." He was a bit impressed; though only a bit. Mike brought out a pad and pencil from the dark blue backpack on his back.

"What are you doing?" asked Gary, giving Mike a look of utmost disbelief.

"Huh? Oh, I'm taking notes," he replied, scribbling down words about String Shot.

Gary rolled his eyes. "Whatever…! That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. What trainer takes notes? I just keep everything in my head."

It was now Mike's turn to roll his eyes. "Well let me just bow to your genius!" he said sarcastically, continuing to write his notes.

"Um… could you do a Scratch attack?" asked Kayla, feeling a bit less confident than when she had said her warning to Charmander a few seconds earlier.

Charmander nodded and curled his claws as he had before with the Butterfree leader. He darted up to Caterpie, hoping that he would get there before Caterpie could use another attack.

Samurai called to his pokemon, "Caterpie! That String Shot should have slowed it down, attack with a Tackle!"

Caterpie nodded in agreement, but Charmander was too quick for it. Soon enough his nails had sunk into the Caterpie's soft skin, and Caterpie let out a cry.

"What! How did String Shot not effect its speed!" Samurai said in surprise.

Kayla looked up at Samurai, "I used to live on a farm. The wild Caterpie around my grandmother's Miltank and Tauros used to spray String Shot as a defense mechanism. So I was always seeing them get hit with it. They would want to try to attack the Caterpie back, but since the sticky web on them was so annoying, they became obsessed with trying to get it off. The Caterpie would then have time to run away, and then my grandmother and I would have to wash it off of the livestock. So when Charmander got hit with the string, I figured that if he didn't bother with it, it wouldn't effect his speed as much."

"I see…" said Samurai, smiling at Kayla, "Very wise. As I had predicted."

Kayla blushed a bit. She had hoped her first battle would be a good one, and not full of blunders and failure. She ordered another Scratch, as Samurai ordered a Tackle.

Charmander charged at the small green pokemon, but the little worm seemed determined to at least get one good attack in.

It came racing up to Charmander. (Out of my way! My Master wishes to win this battle, and I'm not about to let him down! I underestimated you before, and it won't happen again!) the little bug whispered dangerously.

Charmander hesitated for a moment, the Caterpie's determination had caught him off guard, and he soon paid for it in a painful way. The ball-shaped head of the small pokemon rammed into Charmander's mid-section. Charmander staggered backwards, clutching his stomach.

(Oh… those Raviolis… if I'd have known I was gonna battle… I wouldn't have eaten so much…,) he groaned, wobbling as he tried to regain his lost footing.

Kayla frowned. If she was going to win this battle, she would have to act fast. The tiny Caterpie couldn't be much higher than Charmander, so maybe one more Scratch, but winning didn't mean anything to her if Charmander was feeling so bad…

"Charmander? Are you okay?" she asked him, feeling a bit concerned about how nauseous he was looking.

Charmander nodded his head slowly and took a deep breath. He didn't want to fumble his first battle either.

Kayla searched her mind quickly of what she could possibly do to stop Caterpie's advances. Charmander really didn't look like he could take much more, and she just knew that Samurai would order another Tackle. She thought of Charmander's other attack; Growl. If she used Growl, then maybe Caterpie's attack power would be weakened enough to not take Charmander out.

"Charmander?" Kayla asked softly, "Do you think you're up for a Growl attack…?"

Charmander nodded again, attempting to quell his sloshing stomach.

Samurai had heard Kayla's conversation and began to chuckle loudly, "You novices never surprise me! My Caterpie has your Charmander on the run; no mere defensive attack would help you! Caterpie! A final Tackle attack!"

Kayla looked a bit worried; but she had already made up her mind.

"Charmander, if you would please, a Growl attack!" she called, hoping she had done so in time.

Charmander nodded; still holding his stomach with one hand, and took in a deep breath.

Caterpie was the one to pause now; the little pokemon was easily intimidated by evil growls, and was unsure of what Charmander's would sound like.

"Rraaaahhhhrrrr!" growled Charmander, using all his strength. But his growl did not sound menacing, nor was it very deep. Charmander's tiny voice had created a squeaky, high-pitched squeal that more resembled a baby pig's growl rather than a vicious lizard's.

But it had done its job. Caterpie's attack force had been lowered; in fact, it had been lowered so much that it had stopped attacking completely. Instead it had started laughing!

Mike and Gary were also laughing, tears of joy forming at the corners of their eyes.

Samurai just stood there emotionless. His pokemon had stopped in mid-attack, and this was not what he wanted.

(What!) squeaked Charmander, feeling himself blush, (I growled didn't I!)

"Charmander," called Kayla, for she was not laughing either; she didn't want to make Charmander feel embarrassed more than he already was, "Can you please use a Scratch attack?"

Charmander shook off his embarrassment, nodded, and gave another swipe at Caterpie. Caterpie didn't even see the lizard coming, for it was still laughing so hard about the 'growl' that it's eyes were closed all the way. It opened them just as Charmander's tiny nails began to graze its skin. It tried to wriggle away, but Charmander had it. And with a final cry of both pain and laughter, the small worm was down for the count.

(We did it! We did it!) cried Charmander, forgetting his embarrassment for a few moments. He jumped up and down happily.

"Wow…" said Kayla, feeling the tension that had been building release her from its hold, "That was a little intense wasn't it?" She smiled down at Charmander. She would have to remember to give him a special treat of some kind for being so brave…

Samurai returned his injured Caterpie. "Very well. I see I still have a lot to learn. You used a defensive attack when I could have easily used one as well. But I didn't. I had no idea that defensive attacks could be used in that manner. You may go now, and please, take this as a prize for defeating me."

He handed her a small bottle. It was a light blue color with a small window that showcased the liquid contents of the inside. The round nozzle on the front looked like it could spray like a squirt bottle.

Samurai nodded as Kayla looked the object over. "This is a Potion. It will heal any pokemon's lost energy," he paused, "I hope to battle you someday once again," he said, then extended his hand.

Kayla timidly, but happily, shook his hand, and then watched Samurai turn to Mike and Gary.

"Who is to be next?" he asked, making it seem as if he had been the victor and was now free to be challenged.

Gary and Mike began to fight over who was to go next, and Samurai told them to draw straws.

Kayla looked down at Charmander again, who appeared to be exhausted from running and battling, and decided to go find somewhere to sleep. Charmander was sitting on the ground holding his stomach, his eyelids beginning to slowly creep down…

"Come on Charmander, let's go to bed," she said, patting him on the head.

As much as she wanted to see Gary and Mike's battle skills, she knew that getting some sleep and giving Charmander some peace and quiet was the top priority. They started to walk away from the battle scene; Gary and Mike's arguing still audible.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it. I tried my best to keep it interesting with such low-level attacks. Next chapter will bring a couple new characters into the story, and make things a bit more dangerous! So stay tuned!