DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, I do own this storyand the main characters and anything that's not on the show
Chapter 2 now, and Tom is starting his journey through the Viridian Forest...
Chapter 2: Through the Forest: Pt. 1
The Viridian Forest was a huge place, about 50km walking, using the paths provided by the Kanto N.C.S (National Conservation Society). Thomas was walking through the forest, which was abundant with Pokemon of various species. He heard some Pidgeotto flying overhead and shortly afterwards a Mankey swung through the trees right in front of his face. But he loved it. Tom thought that there was no better place than the great outdoors, breathing fresh air and seeing various Pokemon going about their day-to-day lives. 'Hmm...wonder if I'll see any bug Pokemon in here?' said Thomas. And right on cue, just at that moment, out came a swarm of Beedrill. And they were heading in his direction! 'I gotta hide, fast!' said Thomas as he was being chased by the Beedrill. He found a bush and decided to hide in there. They flew straight past the bush. Tom breathed a sigh of relief. 'Well that was close' he said. He continued his trek.
Nighttime came and Tom decided to camp in an area of grass near to a river. He'd only been camping once or twice before with his parents, when he was very young. So this was all a new experience. He set up his sleeping bag, said goodnight to Charmander and went off to sleep. The next morning he was woken up by the sound of a passing Fearow. The sun was just rising, although Tom couldn't see it. (It's hard to see the sunrise in the middle of the forest.) He decided to make breakfast. First of all he let out his Charmander to give him some food that Todd had provided. Just then, a sound frightened both Tom and Charmander. He looked behind to find his sleeping bag had a fishing hook attached to it. He looked further along to find a girl fishing. 'Don't cast out!' shouted Thomas. She looked behind to see her hook attached to his sleeping bag. 'Whoops. Silly me!' said the girl, smiling. Then they both broke out in laughter. 'Sorry about that' said the girl. 'No problem' said Tom. 'Just some bad...hey is that a Pokemon? It looks so cute.' cried the girl. 'It's a Charmander,' said Tom, 'I'm starting out on my journey.' 'Really. What's your name?' asked the girl. 'My name's Thomas' said Tom. 'Are you one of the new bunch of trainers to come out of New York?' asked the girl. 'Yes I am' replied Tom. 'I heard all about it in the news the other night. By the way, I'm Sammy.' said the girl. 'Cool...anyway, gotta get going now...'
At that moment he heard a sound. 'Did you hear that?' said Tom. 'I heard it alright,' said Sammy, 'It sounds like an injured Pokemon.' 'Where is it though?' wondered Tom. 'I think it came from over there' said Sammy, pointing towards some trees. Tom crept up and saw the Pokemon. 'Come over here.' whispered Tom. Sammy ran over there. 'It's a male Nidoran' said Sammy. 'How d'you know?' said Tom. 'Oh I've lived here long enough to know about Pokemon. I'm not a proper trainer yet though. I hope to be one day. At the moment though we've gotta help this Nidoran,' said Sammy. 'But we're days away from civilisation,' said Tom. 'That's OK,' said Sammy, 'I'll call the Pokemon Emergency Dept. They go out to emergencies in the forest.' Sammy got out her phone and dialed the number. 'It's an emergency...a sick male Nidoran...Area C...Sammy. See you.' She put her phone away. 'They'll be here any minute now' said Sammy. 'What do you mean by Area C?' asked Tom. 'The forest is split into different areas, 12 in all. It's so the emergency services know exactly where to go.'
Just then a car came up behind them. A nurse got out of the car. 'Hey Nurse Joy' said Sammy. 'Hey Sam, long time no see. Where's the Pokemon?' she asked. 'It's here.' said Tom. 'And who are you?' asked Nurse Joy. 'I'm Thomas,' replied Tom. 'I'm just starting out on my Pokemon journey.' Nurse Joy got out her emergency first aid kit. The Nidoran looked up at her. 'Should get it sorted in no time,' said the nurse, 'How did it end up like this?' 'I don't know,' said Tom. 'We just found it here,' continued Sammy. 'At least it's not that bad' said Nurse Joy. 'Should heal up soon,' she continued. 'Thank you Nurse Joy' said Sammy. The Nidoran gave Nurse Joy a little nudge on the leg as if to say 'Thank you.' She looked down at it and said 'No problem,' then she set off. 'Should we capture it and look after it until it gets better and then we can release him?' wondered Tom. 'No, a battle would weaken him even more than he already is. I know, just throw your Pokeball and see if you can capture him.' 'OK,' said Tom. 'Pokeball..go!' He threw the Pokeball at him and he went in. It shook about for a bit before finally settling. 'Well done Tom' said Sammy, 'we can look after him now. Is that your first capture?' 'Yes it is actually,' said Tom. 'Hey I might as well come along with you,' said Sammy after some deep thought, 'after all, we could travel the world. I've never been really much further than Cerulean City, which is the next major city after Viridian. Do you mind?' asked Sammy. 'No of course not, I could do with some company,' said Tom. 'OK then...I caught some fish earlier, fancy some lunch?' asked Sammy. 'Oh yeah' cried Tom. Sammy got out a porta-oven and cut the fish into chipstick-type slices. 'Fish sticks,' said Sammy, 'a local delicacy.' She handed some to Tom, who tried one. 'Mmm...delicious,' he said. 'I know, they sell them all over town,' said Sammy.
As they were eating, a Pidgey flew right down and almost blew Tom's bag away. 'Looks like he wants a challenge?' said Sammy. 'Ooh...a Pokemon battle. Alright then...I could use a challenge. CHARMANDER, GO!' shouted Tom. Charmander came out of his ball. 'Charmander, ember attack' said Tom. Charmander released a fireball from his mouth. The Pidgey kept dodging the fireballs as Charmander kept firing them. Then, right on cue, one of them hit, causing Pidgey to fall to the ground, but it was still awake. 'Throw your Pokeball, now!' cried Sammy. Tom threw the Pokeball at the weakened Pidgey. It went inside the Pokeball, the Pokeball shook for ages but finally settled down. 'Yahoo! I caught a Pidgey,' said Tom. 'That makes two Pokemon caught today' said Sammy.
They continued the walk through the forest, when suddenly a net fell down from above Tom and trapped him. Two masked people came out of the bushes. 'Yes! We got him!' said the one. They grabbed Tom's bag and ran off. Sammy just stood there, shocked at what had happened. She ran after them. 'Hey! Get back here with his bag!' she shouted. 'Ooh...a little girl's trying to fight for her boyfriend!' 'Wha...he's not...I'll have you know that he's a Pokemon trainer and I'm just an acquaintance!...' said Sammy. Then a second net fell down and trapped Sammy. With both of them trapped it seemed that all hope was lost...
Dun dun DUNN! How will Tom and Sammy fare in this latest situation? Find out in Part Two of Through the Forest! R and R