Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, I only own Violet Hawke as my OC.

Summary: Violet Hawke wanted nothing more than to be a Bug Pokemon Trainer, but with how people viewed those types all she got was ridicule until the day she bumped into the local Professor. Now on a journey, she tries to make her goal a reality, but with an Organization coming out of the shadows she has to decide just how much she's willing to risk to realize her goal.

Chapter 11: Vermillion Preparations

"Two badges." Violet muttered to herself with a grin, sitting in the waiting room of the Pokemon Center, looking inside of her trainer case.

She currently had Stinger and Parasite with her, the latter not really taking any damage from the Gym Battle. Silk however had to be checked out given the amount of hits she took along with her wings being checked out to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage.

Even though Violet was concerned for her Pokemon, she couldn't be any prouder of Silk.

She'll certainly be sure to use String Shot a lot like that for both her and Stinger, it was too great of a strategy to pass up in case they can't fly in a fight.

Closing it up, Violet glanced up as Misty sat across from her, wearing a whitish blue jacket that she grabbed before leaving the Gym.

She was also holding two cans of lemonade, holding one out to Violet who blinked in surprise before accepting it with a grateful smile.

"It shouldn't take too long for Nurse Joy to check out our Pokemon, your Butterfree just needs time for her wings to dry and I'm certain that my Starmie didn't do too much damage." Misty promised, opening her can of lemonade. "You should really come back once you get all eight badges, I'm positive Dewgong wants to battle you eventually."

"I take it Dewgong is a member of your real team?" Violet asked remembering the Pokemon that Misty rode on before the battle started.

Just like how she saw the Rhydon and Golem that belonged to Brock.

Misty grinned widely at that. "One of them, I caught him as a Seel that was pranking people in the Seafoam Islands, he was the fourth member of my team." She said with a look of fond memories. "He's mellowed out since then but he does love to pull a prank every so often."

Violet imagined that before opening her lemonade to take a sip.

"Hey do you mind if I ask a question?" Misty asked, Violet raising a brow, especially when she forced another grimace down. "Why bugs?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just curious, what made you choose… Bugs to train?"

Seeing how she hesitated when asking that, Violet pondered how to answer.

"Because people always called them weak." Violet finally said thinking back to how she was always picked on long before she got Stinger. "Always put down, back home some people said that real trainers don't use them."

As she spoke, she tightened her grip on the can of lemonade, some of the aluminum bending a bit.

Misty was quiet as she heard that, beginning to see a bit of a picture.

Violet spoke as if she knew how it felt.

"Well I think you've shown that's not true." Misty said in an attempt to change the direction of the conversation and it worked as Violet glanced back up at her. "Was Butterfree your first Pokemon?"

"No Stinger, my Beedrill was."

Again she saw Misty stiffened up, only this one was even worse than the other times as her pupils dilated a bit, something that really concerned Violet.

"Is something wrong?" Violet was unsure if she wanted to know or not.

Going quiet for a bit, Misty sighed and placed her drink down. "It's nothing personal, I just had a very bad experience with bugs in my first month as a trainer," She said, struggling to find the right words to avoid sounding offensive. "I only had a Staryu, Magikarp and a Poliwag before we ended up being chased by a horde of Beedrill."

She left out how she didn't get away and had to spend a good week in the Hospital from all of the stings she suffered.

Since then she has had a severe phobia of Bug types, enough that she would always react rather violently when she was younger.

It's been four years since and she'd like to think she made a lot of progress from there, but show her a Beedrill and she loses it. That's why she always keeps Dewgong out in case one of the challengers does send one out, the Sea Lion Pokemon always helps her keep calm.

Violet seemed to have caught on to the fact that Misty didn't manage to escape the Beedrill as she grimaced. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Misty forced a smile on her face, looking rather eager to change the conversation. "So I take it that you'll be challenging Surge next?"

"He's the Vermillion Leader right?" Violet asked, going with the change. "I heard he's from another region."

"The Unovan Region I think, but he's very loyal to the Kanto Region." Misty said thinking back to the stories she's heard about Surge and his guerilla warfare tactics in the war. "He's the first true challenge any trainer faces in their journey."

Violet took that in, knowing the stories from the News Reports as some people have tried to sue the man for extensive damage to their Pokemon, but they never went anywhere as the Lightning Unovan always ensured he never did permanent damage, making it acceptable in the eyes of the League.

It was a good thing that Parasite knew Dig as that would give her an advantage and she knew that Silk would be at a huge disadvantage there.

Especially since she can't see what team he'll use now that she has two badges.

"No way am I giving up now." Violet said, remembering how she nearly did after losing to Green.

Misty gave a nod, her lips twitching at that. "That being said, it doesn't hurt to train your team up a little, but Vermillion is beautiful this time of year, not to say that Cerulean isn't great but it does have the sea."

Violet listened with a curious look as she's never seen the sea before.

There was an ocean out near Pallet Town, but she didn't really explore the small town.

After all, until early this month she never left Viridian-.

Violet tensed as she realized she never once called her Dad since she left Viridian, he most likely had no idea that she was even on a journey, let alone the danger she was probably in due to her luck of running into Team Rocket.

Since she was legally an adult no one called him because she was in the Hospital, it was one of the things she signed when she was getting her license created.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, Violet realized that Misty stopped talking and was giving her a concerned look from how the young trainer was staring off into space.

"Sorry, just realized I haven't called my Dad since I started this journey." Violet muttered with Misty nodding at that.

"You going to call him now?"

"Yeah I should." Just like that, Misty's name was called on the intercom to pick her Pokemon up.

"I should get back to the Gym, there are probably more challengers coming in now, especially since the tournament is this year." Misty sighed given how it was always busy this time of year for Gym Leaders.

As she got up to get her Pokemon, she gave Violet another nod along with a grin.

"If you're ever in the area, stop by the Gym if you need anything."

Violet stood at the Video Phone, her throat feeling dry from her nerves.

She had no idea how her Dad would react to her being on a journey.

Especially if he saw that she was wearing Mom's straw hat.

Would he understand that part or be angry that she took it from the shrine? Would he demand that she return home?

If he did, she wouldn't know what to do because she wanted to continue her journey.

She's seen so many amazing things since starting and has met some great people.

It was almost enough for her not to call.

'Stop putting it off.' Violet scolded herself before she slowly pressed the right buttons for his work number down in Saffron City.

Violet's nerves grew even more with each ring, wondering when he would pick up only for it to go straight to voicemail.

"You've reached Phillip Hawke, I can't get to your call right now, please leave a message and I'll get back to you soon."

Hearing a beep, Violet felt her heart go in her throat.

This wasn't how she imagined letting him know before she swallowed the lump that formed.

"Hey Dad, it's been awhile since I last called so I wanted to talk," Violet got out using her free hand to mess with the bottom of her shirt to keep herself distracted. "You're probably wondering why I'm calling from a Cerulean Number, well the thing is I'm a Trainer now, I've been going on a journey the last few days."

The more she spoke, the more confidence she gained in leaving this message.

"It's been a lot of fun, I'm doing the Gym Challenge and I have two badges so far, I'll be heading out towards Vermillion soon, I'll try to call again while I'm there. I hope that you're doing well in Saffron, I'll be heading out in that direction someday for the Gym, perhaps I can visit where you work when I do?"

She won't lie, the thought of seeing what it was exactly that her Dad does did excite her a bit.

"I should get going, I have a lot of stuff to take care of before I start the journey to Vermillion, I love you Dad."

With that she hung up, feeling better but she also had a sad smile that she didn't really get to talk to him.

But she decided to make one more call and punched in the number.

Before long, Prof. Oak picked up.

The Professor looked a little ragged much to Violet's surprise, but he still smiled. "Violet, what can I do for you?"

"Just checking in Professor." Violet said, shifting a bit.

This was only the second time she called him and she was still rather unsure of what to say to the man.

"Are you okay?" She finally decided on that with Prof. Oak blinking at the sudden question before realization dawned.

"Don't worry, I just had a few all-nighters doing some research." Prof. Oak reassured her with a smile. "I did this all the time in my youth."

Sometimes discoveries or science don't wait for anyone to be well rested.

"I take it that you just gained the Cascade Badge?" Prof. Oak asked with Violet nodding in confirmation. "I should be receiving the footage soon enough, I'll be sure to look into it soon."

If anything he was really looking forward to it as both Violet and Green have shown good strategies during the Pewter Gym and Green's battle for the Cerulean Gym was rather remarkable.

So Violet's should be just as remarkable.

"I also see that you have a Paras, the data was sent to me the moment you caught one."

"Parasite is an amazing member of the team," Violet's smile got wider as she began to talk about her recent addition. "It was a tough start, but she's really showing a lot of strength in her battles now."

Prof. Oak gave a nod at that. "Though they're not used much in a battle sense, researchers always examine the mushrooms on the back of Paras allowing for medical breakthroughs to reach new heights," He explained to Violet who was listening with rapt attention. "Their mushrooms are used in a lot of the potions that are available to trainers."

"I never knew that." Violet looked rather awestruck at that.

"Not many people do, it's because of Paras that our natural lifespan was extended quite a bit. In ancient history the natural lifespan of humanity was at most forty years." Prof. Oak explained, making Violet's eyes widen in shock.

"Forty years?" Violet whispered, not expecting that.

"That's not to say that there were some people who aged past that back then, but in ancient history things weren't as peaceful as they are now, Humanity was rather new and the world was full of strife, disease, ancient Pokemon being predators," Prof. Oak listed as times were harsh back then. "Nowadays we're in a time of peace, Humanity and Pokemon live alongside each other and our natural lifespan has increased quite a bit since then. Pokemon such as Chansey and Paras are responsible for that and they're still making strides to this very day."

Prof. Oak held a nostalgic look at that before coughing as he was getting rather carried away.

He really needed to stop giving out lectures every now and then.

"Enough about that, how have you been enjoying Cerulean? Did you explore the area already?"

"I explored all the way up to Cerulean Cape," Violet grinned, remembering the meeting with Bill, almost laughing at thinking about it. "But the sign confused me about it being a spot for dates."

Hearing that, Prof. Oak had to stop a chuckle from escaping. "I think you'll understand when you're older."

Violet blinked before shrugging it off.

"I did meet Green before that," Just like that Violet had a sour look. "I lost against him."

"Ah, I remember Green mentioning that." Prof. Oak said in a careful tone, not repeating how annoyed he was with the 'easy' fight.

It seemed that Violet guessed that the Professor wasn't saying what was actually said, but she gripped the phone rather tightly. "I'll beat him the next time we battle."

Prof. Oak raised a brow, having a bit of a flashback to his old rival back when he was a trainer.

He could see some similarities between his rivalry and the one that bloomed between Violet and his Grandson.

Hopefully they sort it out better than he did as while his old rival was doing well she was rather bitter towards him for a few reasons.

A beeping sound made Prof. Oak glance to the side. "It was nice talking to you Violet, but I need to get back to my research," He said knowing that this couldn't wait. "I wish you luck on getting your next badge."

"Thanks Professor, be sure to get some sleep too." Violet said, showing that despite his reassurances she was still a little concerned for the man who chuckled in response before the video call cut off.

That evening, Violet had Silk back with explicit instructions not to let her battle for the rest of the day as the powder should be back in her wings by tomorrow, something that she was grateful for.

Violet didn't know how she would feel if her strategy ended up crippling Silk for life.

But right now she had Parasite out who was clinging to her shoulder as she walked around Cerulean doing some last minute preparations before she headed out towards Vermillion the next day, knowing that it would take her at least nine days before she got there.

If she ended up in a lot of battles on the way there was no question that Parasite would definitely evolve right before she gets there and she was excited about that because evolving would help Parasite gain the strength she needed to win more battles.

Parasite seemed to be rather enjoying riding on her shoulder, especially with the sun shining on her back to keep her warm.

Thankfully it wasn't harsh sunlight as that would actually injure her thanks to the Dry Skin ability, but right now it was nice.

She also seemed to have a sense of wonder on her face as she looked around the area.

"We have plenty of food and medicine to last us all the way to Vermillion if we're careful and we also have quite a bit of money due to both the battles and the two jars of honey we sold." Violet was looking through a notebook she bought in order to keep her thoughts organized.

This was one she bought for preparations while she also bought another one to list out training and ideas for strategy.

She already had ideas she wanted to implement, like with Stinger she would train up his Poison Sting and String Shot as Poison Net, to combine the moves. There were also ways she wanted to list the ways to use String Shot, to shorten the commands up and not call out what she was doing.

For example back when he used String Shot to have a makeshift Rock Throw, she wanted to make it into an official move for him to use.

She also wanted to make a few for Parasite once she learned enough moves, but perhaps she could do something with Dig?

Just like that an idea of how to use Dig came to Violet that she had to write down to avoid forgetting it.

She already had five strategy codewords she wanted to train her team up in.

Parasite tilted her head as she looked at what Violet was writing even if she couldn't read it, her mushrooms twitching with curiosity.

Seeing her trainer in one of those 'moods' that both Stinger and Silk warned her about, Parasite gazed upwards to see the clouds passing by and that captivated her.

To think she missed something like this by staying inside of Mt. Moon as the humans called it, always burrowing underground to keep from being eaten by Zubats.

Now here she was knowing more than Scratch and holding her own in battles with powerful Pokemon.

And soon she'll be even stronger.

"You comfortable Parasite?" Violet asked, glancing at the Paras who gave a small cry of confirmation. "That's good."

If there was one thing she missed about being away from the city it was the fact that she can't let Stinger out without causing a panic, same way about how some trainers can't let Pokemon like Onix out due to their size. It was something that Violet thought was rather unfair towards the Pokemon, but she could see why they had something like that put in place.

The moment she begins her journey to Vermillion she does plan to let Stinger out to fly around, same with Silk.

It's more fun with all of her Pokemon being out in her opinion.

That night, Violet looked very surprised when she saw on the News about the Elite Four taking down a Rocket Base that was hidden in Cerulean, most likely getting the information out of the guy she helped capture.

It seemed they were looking into Cerulean Cave due to the amount of powerful Pokemon there, it was enough to have a warning for everyone to stay away unless they were trainers for years or had enough badges.

Due to Team Rocket taking an interest now, it seems that they were placing a Ace Trainer base there to ensure that they don't disturb the cave.

Good thing too, the last thing Kanto needs is for Team Rocket to have access to the Pokemon inside of there.

"I wonder how many bases they have in Kanto?" Violet pursed her lips in concern, not wanting to think about it all that much but she couldn't help it.

With how long they've been around they have to have a few of them where they could hide out and recover if the League goes after them.

While it's good that one was taken down, unless they find more Team Rocket will remain a constant threat to various trainers.

She was included due to her actions this month even if they were accidental.

"Just need to avoid them." Violet whispered to herself.

As long as she stays away from them she'll be fine.

Surely her luck can't be that bad… Right?

Shaking her head with a yawn, Violet figured she should probably get some sleep so she'll get a head start towards Vermillion.

Placing her hat on the nearby desk, she began to undo her hair before realizing that it was starting to grow out a little.

Her hair was beginning to reach her shoulder blades now when last she checked it barely touched her shoulders.

And her bangs were starting to get in her eyes, something she tried to brush away.

A part of her wondered if she should get it cut while here before deciding she could do that in Vermillion.

She didn't want to waste any more time.

To Be Continued…

Party Data

Starter

Name: Stinger

Species: Beedrill

Type: Poison/Bug

Gender: Male

Nature: Naughty (Up Attack/Down Sp. Defense)

Characteristics: Capable of taking hits. (Up Defense)

Lv. 25

Caught at Lv. 3

Ability: Sniper

Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Harden, Fury Attack, Focus Energy and Twineedle.

Became Violet's Starter in Chapter 01: The Phantom Pokemon.

Evolved into Kakuna and again into Beedrill in Chapter 03: Dangers of the Forest.

2nd Pokemon

Name: Silk

Species: Butterfree

Type: Bug/Flying

Gender: Female

Nature: Bold (Up Defense/Down Attack)

Characteristics: Thoroughly Cunning (Up Sp. Attack)

Lv. 26

Caught at Lv. 5

Ability: Compound Eyes

Moves: Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Confusion, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Supersonic and Whirlwind.

Joined the team in Chapter 03: Dangers of the Forest.

Evolved into Metapod in Chapter 03: Dangers of the Forest.

Evolved into Butterfree in Chapter 04: Rock Hard Determination.

3rd Pokemon

Name: Parasite

Species: Paras

Type: Grass/Bug

Gender: Female

Nature: Naive (Up Speed/Down Sp. Defense)

Characteristics: Hates to Lose (Up Sp. Defense)

Lv. 22

Caught at Lv. 7

Ability: Dry Skin

Moves: Scratch, Stun Spore, Bide, Leech Life and Dig.

Was captured in Chapter 06: Trials of Mt. Moon

Okay this has to be the shortest chapter in this story, I'm sorry it took so long only for the chapter to be pretty short. I didn't want to have her begin the journey to Vermillion in the middle of the chapter, so basically this one was showing her resting up and preparing for the journey ahead as well as some one-on-one bonding with Parasite. Plus some more world building, mostly to explain the ace trainer presence in Cerulean Cave, I figured with the strong Pokemon there it would make sense for Team Rocket to be interested, too bad Violet inadvertently ruined their chances by getting one of their members caught.

Also a bit more development on Misty explaining her reasons of being scared of bugs, which I think is realistic because I myself was terrified of wasps because earlier last year I was helping my Dad move firewood and didn't see a nest above me, it was hidden in a tree and the wood I was carrying was big enough to smack it.

Long story short I got stung four times and was terrified of anything buzzing for a good while, good news is that I found out how fast I can run so there's a bright side.

So I have a bit of experience with being scared of bugs which helped me write out the reasons for Misty's fear.

Oh and if you like MHA I started a story where I added the Elemental Heroes from Yu-Gi-Oh GX to the mix, so give that a read if you want.

Alright let's get the reviews and then post the chapter.

Pokemonking0924: I know right?! So many missed opportunities in the anime and people don't realize it because they stick with the game versions. Oh yes she is a trouble magnet, she wasn't even on a journey and she interfered with them catching Mew in the beginning for crying out loud. And it's only going to get worse for her down the road. Misty will like Silk soon, but her bug phobia is a bit more severe due to the reasons shown in this story, even if she's better than how she used to be.

Starlord Master: THanks and I have no clue how many chapters this story will have.

Pyrojack25: Yup, Croagunk was always amazing when it came to Brock and I guess the Black and White Anime is good for newcomers and it has its moments but watching it annoys me because of how it has Ash makes stupid mistakes he should've learned from in the past, but looking past it I do enjoy it once I get into it.

Kunoichi69: It was a slow start for Parasite, but it's finally showing results, especially with her knowing more than three moves that can give her more to do in a fight. Silk was really the big MVP of that fight, especially with how she set the traps and contaminated the water to help even things out-or make it one sided on Violet's end really. Oh Stinger will definitely play a big role and more when it comes down to it. Misty might be hot headed in the Anime but this version is more based on the Manga/Game version and she's a few years older which had her mellow out and mature when it comes down to it, though she is still uncomfortable with bugs at the moment.

BradiLain: Thank you, I'm happy I was able to keep the Gym Battle interesting, it was a lot of fun to type once I got into it.

Basjetball: Thank you, typing the story of an underdog bug catcher was something I was very interested in once I got into my playthrough of Fire Red. Plus with how much lore I can expand on as compared to everything else I type about Pokemon is my passion which really helps this story.