Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Do I own Pokemon and its characters? Heck no! I own my original characters, but Digital Skitty owns Pocky for that is hers. :3 And also thank her for the Bulbasaur's name for I can't think of them for the life of me. XD And yes, I'm going to refer to Lola as Machiko from now on.

Stuck in a Game

Version: Leaf Green

By: LilyChan

Chapter Three:

A Baby Bulbasaur?

Then, Pocky glomped the both of them. "I KNEW IT! I found you!" as Wooper danced around the group that was on the ground, singing some strange song about eggs.

Some passerby looked at the group in shame or amusement, but they didn't interfere. Kouji and Lola exchanged confused looks. She had found them? And where in the world are they?

Lola inwardly cursed. Stupid possessed games...

"I'm so glad I found you!" the girl said as she raised herself off of the couple. "Your parents were worried that you had already left on your journey!" she giggled. Her Wooper was still singing that song about eggs, and it annoyed Machiko.

"STOP IT, you stupid Pokemon." she said, basically ignoring what Pocky had said to her. Wooper continued to sing and dance. "Heeey! Machiko! How come you're so upset now?" Pocky asked as she helped Kouji and Machiko to their feet.

Machiko glared at her. "What are you talking about? I never saw you before in my life." she snapped. Pocky blinked that made a 'plu' sound. "Machiko, I thought we outgrew these games!" Pocky giggled, dismissing the snap. She looked at Kouji who looked confused, if not more, then her. He shrugged. Then Pocky pulled their arms. "Come on! Professor Oak won't wait forever!"

Machiko was surprised when Pocky had accidentally pulled her to the ground. "Ack! Watch it!" she snapped again as she tried to get up. But Pocky kept pulling them. "Come on!" Pocky whined.

"Fine! If it'll get you to shut up." Machiko glared again. Kouji laughed nervously as he was walking pretty fast as Pocky walked towards the lab, or what the two assumed it to be. Machiko was cursing all the gods in the world that she was not only stuck with her crush (which she really didn't mind), but with a blabbermouth. And a very annoying Pokemon.

They walked in with ease and Pocky was waving to everyone and anyone on sight. Machiko sighed, getting more irritated. She tapped her foot angrily and was glaring at any of the poor assistants who DARED to look at this girl as of now. Then she heard the joyful outcry of ...someone who really shouldn't be shouting they way they were. "Pocky!" Machiko turned her head to see the Professor Oak. Oddly enough the animation for Pokemon was quite accurate. Machiko automatically clinged to Kouji – to let the world know that they were a couple although they weren't. Kouji didn't seem to mind though.

Pocky and Professor Oak hugged each other patting each other on the back. They pulled apart and the professor was saying on how much she had grown. Pocky giggled and then said, "Well you've gotten older and more wrinkly!" Machiko and Kouji blinked. They were actually expecting the old man to probably smack her for such a comment. She didn't receive so much as a glare. Again, the couple just stood there and watched. For once, Machiko didn't have any thing smart to say.

Then they turned their attention to the blinking and scared couple. "Are they your cousins?" Pocky nodded quite fast. "Yep, yep!" She pointed to Machiko. "That's Machiko," and moved her finger towards Kouji, "and that's Kouji!" The professor walked towards them, with a hand on his chin as if he's thinking about something. He then nodded at Pocky. As if on cue, she grabbed Kouji and Machiko's arms again and started to follow the professor. The older man stopped before a table with three Poke Balls. Obviously filled with each of the three original starting Pokemon. "You may choose your starting Pokemon." as he acknowledged the Poke Balls. For once, the girl dubbed Pocky was quiet... Machiko turned to Kouji, for assurance that things will be alright if they do this. For some reason he nodded to her, as if he knew what she was thinking.

Machiko gulped and started to reach for the first one. She jumped when she heard a popping sound. She turned to the side to see Kouji examining a Charmander as if he's been there for years. His whole life. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to be reminded of home – especially on what her ...mother did to her. So she grabbed the first one and tossed it open. It was a Bulbasaur. She had turned away because she was afraid that it might attack her. Machiko cracked open an eye and saw a pair of the most innocent ruby eyes a Bulbasaur could have.

She then realized that it was smaller then your average Bulbasaur. By now her eyes were both open and they were blinking, also having the 'plu' sound. "Ah, interesting choice, Miss Machiko!" she heard the professor say. She looked up to the old man and raised her eyebrow. "This is a baby Bulbasaur." Well duh. "This Pokemon's parents were recently murdered by Team Rocket and I found it. I healed it and trained it to at least fight some of your basic Pokemon. He still needs quite a bit of training and a LOT of love."

"Well then, why the HECK are ya even giving it away? I mean, it still needs to be trained! What are you, stupid?" she ranted, unaware the Bulbasaur was staring at her.

The professor stepped back and chuckled nervously. "You s-see, my dear--" "I ain't your freaking granddaughter." she snapped. By now, she was the center of the attention in the lab. But she didn't seem to mind much less care. "Yes. A-anyway, I don't have any more time! It's tough taking care of the ADULT Pokemon as it is! When Pocky said you and Kouji were starting your journey, I'd figured--" "Yeah you'd one of us would take the Pokemon off your hands. I see how it is." Kouji had stepped close to Machiko and whispered in her ear, "Come on, Machiko. It'll be fun. I mean, haven't you been cooing about how awesome it'd be to be able to take care of a baby Pokemon?" She blinked. She glared. No, scratch that. She DEATH glared him. Crush or not, he does not DARE to remind her of it as of this moment.

But, Kouji was used to it. "Just take it, Machiko. Who knows, it might be something really cool." Machiko rolled her eyes. "FINE. I'll take the stupid baby Pokemon." she muttered in her breath, mentally cooing on how cute it was. She was aiming the poke ball at the Bulbasaur to call it back since she decided to take care of it. He didn't want to back in. He was shivering because of the raise of her voice. Machiko was really tempted to kick it. But Pocky came to hug the poor shivering Bulbasaur. "Aw! He said that he doesn't like it when you yell." she pouted as if she was copying the Pokemon's emotions.

Machiko sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry I yelled." She started to rub her brow. She placed the ball in her pocket since she didn't know how to put on her belt loop just yet. The Bulbasaur started to wiggle out of Pocky's grasp to go and nuzzle Machiko's leg. Hesitantly, the girl leaned down to pet the Bulbasaur gently. The Bulbasaur changed from her leg to her hand and started to lick it. "Ew!" she thought as she pulled it back. Of course the Bulbasaur tilted his head out of confusion. She sighed. She knew she was going to have to get used to this yet again. "What are you going to name him?" chirped the voice of Pocky. Crud, and right when the headache was going away. "I don't know." she was looking at the baby Bulbasaur as he started to nudge her arm. Somehow she knew and she picked up the baby.

For a Bulbasaur, even for a baby, he was extremely light. He started to lick her face out of pure love. She turned her face and closed her eyes, for she didn't want Bulbasaur drool on her face. Soon the baby nestled in her arms and relaxed as he watched the world move thanks to his warm transportation. Machiko turned to Kouji, who was either training his new Charmander to dance or stand in a fighting position. Either way, it actually brought a smile to her face. The baby Bulbasaur stared at Kouji. He started to cry out to Kouji. She looked down and blinked. "What do you want?" she asked it. The Bulbasaur was still trying to get Kouji's attention...or something. She turned to Kouji and blinked again. "What about Kouji? Do you want to meet him?"

She then saw the Wooper jumping up and down saying something about seeing the new baby. She wondered why she could understand that annoying Pokemon, but not the others. Maybe it's the after-effects of going into a new world or something. Then again she'd really rather not hear what Pokemon were thinking. "Ugh, get out of the way." As it distracted her to the side. Then she turned and saw Pocky and Kouji...dancing. She glared at the girl again. She humphed and turned away, on her way out. But she heard a "Hey! Machiko!" from Kouji. She ignored the boy – she was annoyed with both of them at the moment. Soon she was stopped by a nervous lab assistant. She narrowed her eyes as if she had a more important appointment.

"U-Uh, Miss?" he asked.

"What?"

"Y-You need these." as he almost dropped five empty Poke balls. She caught them somehow, even with the baby Bulbasaur in her arms. "Thanks." she said, quite flatly. She turned her heel and walked faster. "Wait! Miss Machiko!" cried out the professor. "God, what now?" she thought as she walked back. Kouji was watching her with saddened eyes, as if she rejected him, but right now she was too mad to care. "As you know that you're now on your way to become Pokemon Master or whatever you wish to be. But you need to a quick favor for me." Machiko rolled her eyes, for she knew what was coming. "I need you to go to Viridian City to pick up a package for me. When you bring it back, a surprise will be ready for you both." He smiled. "And I'll go with you on your journey! I don't like being with the ghosts...they're always talking about their own days as Pokemon Trainers. Nothing beats experiencing it first hand!" she giggled. Machiko, again, rolled her eyes.

But yet she expected Pocky to go with her and Kouji.

The baby Bulbasaur was surprisingly quiet, but it was staring at Kouji – like it wanted to explore him. She almost busted laughing from the thought. The rest of the meeting with the professor was quite swift. Soon they were out of the lab. "So have you decided a name for your Bulbasaur yet, Machiko?" Pocky asked as they were heading out of Pallet Town. She glanced down at the Pokemon. "Yeah. Haru." Kouji turned away. For some reason, he was extremely quiet. "Aw! That's a very cute name for such a cute Pokemon!" as she patted the Bulbasaur's name. The baby seemed to like his name since he was exclaiming his name happily. Soon Pocky turned to Kouji and asked, "What did you name your Charmander?" Machiko thought about chunking the strawberry pocky when she had the chance...Kouji didn't even acknowledged Pocky. "Heey, Kouji! Don't ignore me!" Pocky pouted. He looked up at her. "O-oh. Sorry, Pocky. I named her Flame." he sheepishly smiled.

Pocky giggled again. God, when does this girl stop giggling? "That sounds so predicable!" she said in between laughs. Machiko decided to ignore her and looked at her Pokemon. Then she realized that she still had somehow managed five Poke balls in her hand. "Kouji, can you put my Poke balls in the bag, please?" she asked. Kouji turned to her and immediately smiled. He took them from the girl and the group momentarily stopped. Pocky was too busy dancing with her Wooper. Machiko ignored her and concentrated on...something else. Then she noticed that Kouji had Poke balls on his belt. "Hey! How did you get them on your belt?" she asked, referring to the red and white spheres.

Kouji looked down and shrugged. "I don't know, I just brought them close and it's like they're magnets. This world is strange." Machiko heavily agreed. "Hey! Aren't we going to go get the professor's package?" Pocky asked as she ran up to the couple, obviously confused about the current state they're in. They both nodded. "Let's go!"

oooo

They have been walking all afternoon and they were not even halfway there. They were taking a break under a tree where there was a river or a pond. Machiko had let the Bulbasaur down and it started to chase little butterflies. Machiko was sitting under the tree, watching the Bulbasaur chase a white butterfly. She was hugging her knees and was just, for once, quiet. She was sad mainly. She still can't quite get over the shock of her surprise arranged marriage with some stranger. The thought of it made her shiver and sob quietly. She wiped it away though before the Bulbasaur, or anyone for that matter, caught it. She just couldn't understand what brought her mother into this. Maybe it was a mistake? Her grandfather was a smart man and came a long way with his English, but he still made mistakes. And surely if her father...were still alive, he'd fight for her. He'd object his daughter having an arranged marriage. She smiled at the warm and whatever memories she had of him.

She remembered him taking her to the park and watching her play. She remembered when she hurt herself, when she was crying out of pain, her father would help her up and make it better. She loves her mother very deeply as any child, but she misses her father. She missed his laughter. She missed his trips to Japan and the gifts he'd bring for her. All in all, she missed her father very much. If only he didn't go out that night, then maybe he'd still be with them. Without her realizing, tears were pouring out of her eyes. But she wasn't crying like she was at the funeral. Or even earlier. The tears were just flowing down. She was staring at her knees and her hand was on her head, as if she was going to topple over.

"Bulbasaur?" she heard the baby Pokemon call. She looked up through foggy eyes and saw the worried Pokemon. She sniffled. It nudged her, stood on his hind legs, leaned against her leg, and started to lick the tears off of her face. She laughed a little bit at the gesture and patted the Pokemon with her free hand. Haru wasn't satisfied. He started to nudge her and she wrapped her arms around him and started to cry. She clutched the baby, even though he didn't know why she was crying. But he stayed still. He knew something was bothering her and she needed to cry. Then he heard grass rustled and footsteps approaching.

"Machiko! What's wrong?" cried the worried Pocky. She wrapped her arms around the crying girl and Machiko just cried harder. Poor Pocky was so confused on what made Machiko so sad. Perhaps it was the incident with the baby Pokemon – maybe she felt guilty for it or whatever. She was clutching to the baby Pokemon for dear life. Then Kouji, along with his Charmander appeared. It looked as though Charmander had won a battle and she was dancing around Kouji, unbeknownst to the crying girl under the tree. Kouji stared at her as the wind blew. He sighed. She really did miss him. He felt a small tear coming out, but he stopped himself. He remembered the funeral as though it was yesterday.

Flashback

The early morning was gloomy and it looked about to rain. Plump 5 year old Kouji was looking down at a box with a lot of flowers and even the American and Japanese flag. He knew it had Machiko's dad in it. His parents explained to him that it was time for Machiko's dad to leave the earth. Of course he won't understand for a long while what they meant by that. All he knew was that everyone was really sad, and they had to wear black. They also had to be really quiet. He looked to the side where the man in the funny looking robes was saying something about something called God or whatever. By him was a little girl, about the same age, but she was crying her eyes out. There was another little boy but he was silently crying – like his mother.

The little girl had her hair in pigtails and she was wiping her tears on her sleeve of the black dress she wore. There was an extra seat, and the little boy figured that it was for someone. But wanting to comfort the little girl, he got up and walked towards her. He didn't seem to care that his mother was hissing at him to get back to where he was. He sat down and hugged the little girl. The girl automatically hugged him back and cried on his chest. They stayed that way for quite a while until they started to get up. He pushed her away, only for her to run to the box and clutch to it – as if she was waiting for her dad to come out and tell her everything was going to be okay.

But he didn't.

Her mother ran to her daughter and tried to pry her off. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE DADDY!" she yelled as she clutched to the box tighter, as if her life depended. He didn't know what to do. He heard words from his mother about going off, but his attention was too focused on the little girl and her mother crying. Her mother had given up and was now on her knees and was bawling as much as she was. But she was saying that it would be okay. But it seemed that she was trying to convince herself more then the little girl.

End Flashback

He saw Pocky rocking Machiko forwards and backwards, and stroking her hair. Kouji got more worried and ran to the girls. Apparently Machiko either fell asleep or passed out. He sat down and stared at her. "I don't know what happened! I think she was upset over what happened to Haru." Pocky said, still rocking her to and fro as well as stroking her black hair. It was too soon for Pocky to know the truth, and he was sure that Machiko didn't want him to tell her about what happened. "Yeah. She's...really sensitive about that." He turned his gaze to Flame and Haru. It seemed that Flame was assuring Haru that his 'mommy' was going to be okay. He smiled, vaguely remembering how he'd do that to Machiko.

"So that's why she named him Haru." he thought to himself as he looked back at the sleeping girl.

oooooo

Ending Notes: To be honest, I didn't mean to add that bit of angst, but...I decided it seemed appropriate after her finding about Haru. And I apologize for the late update. I hope you can forgive me...In any case, since Ff net decide to be even more stupid, I'll try to reply reviews as they come with the new reply system. In any case, I hope you liked this chapter and post a review! I would like that very much. Reviews inspire me to write more. ;D

' - I do not know any Japanese or Asian phrases PERIOD, so I'm going to have this little apostrophe after every quotation markings in case there is a language change. This will make everybody happy. XD; (It might include Pokemon, but I'm not too sure.) And yes, I realize I cannot do accents. Forgive me:3?

Next Time: Kouji and Machiko realize that things are not always what they seem – especially if they're from their favorite game. And since when does Machiko sing and dance for money? Oh look, a Caterpie and Weedle.