Route 25
Before heading East towards Bill's, there were a few things I wanted to do.
The first was to catch new Pokemon in the area. On the other side of the Nugget Bridge, I walked towards the base of Mt. Moon again and found where the river curved Southward. It was in the grassy area here that I was able to catch a whole plethora of new Pokemon I hadn't seen before: Oddish, Bellsprout, Tangela, and Abra. With Charmander, it was easy to catch the Grass-type Pokemon with ease. I used my gigantic Butterfree to put the Abra to sleep before it could teleport away.
I also tried to see if I could catch some Water-type Pokemon here near the river, but as the river met Mt. Moon, it turned viciously quick into rocky rapids. There was no way I could safely go into the water, and my Squirtle was too small to carry me with him safely. There goes the second thing I wanted to do. I couldn't check out the mysterious cave until later on in my journey. Convinced anything else was a waste of my time, I turned Eastward.
The roads on Route 25 were partially paved, but you could tell that it was not often used. The grasslands and trees provided some run-ins with wild Pokemon, which explained the trainer presence here.
The first I ran into approached me with some apprehension, but seeing no Team Rocket pin on my clothes, addressed me more warmly.
"Hey! How did you get past the assholes on the Nugget Bridge?!" He asked me.
I didn't want to gloat, so I just said that they were gone when I crossed over.
"That's a relief," he replied. "A bunch of us were going to camp out for the night, hoping to go all the way East towards the old bridge route."
He explained that there was a passage that led to the old bridge no longer in use. I assumed this is the route that you take after visiting Bill's house that takes you back to Cerulean.
"Hey, why don't you come join us?"
He led me to a group of 4 other trainers. They were gathered around a small campfire, hanging out. They were also waiting out the punks on Nugget Bridge.
"Why didn't you guys just battle your way back to Cerulean City?" I asked. "Five of you certainly could've made it past the little kids on the bridge."
"Oh, the little kids, we don't mind," one of the older dudes in hiking clothes said. "It's the older kid that we're trying not to mess with."
"He's with Team Rocket," the girl of the group explained. "It's not so much the guy himself, but all the other Rockets he will call for backup. They usually come and harass you if you don't join their gang or give them money or something like that."
The others all agreed.
"But say," a young man said. "You're definitely not a punk. Let's battle!"
With this, all five of them asked to battle with me, in a fair one-on-one style. I was happy to oblige and help them part with their money. For these battles I mainly used Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander.
"Wow, you're one tough kid," was the general consensus.
They were still happy about being able to use the Nugget Bridge on their way home that they didn't mind losing too much. I was going to need a bigger wallet with all the money I was raking in. I couldn't wait to get to the department store in Celadon City.
After parting with this group, I kept on walking along the path Eastward, running into more trainers. I avoided the guy who, by the process of elimination, I deduced, was the youngster with a Slowpoke.
The only new Pokemon that I saw was a Machop, a Pokemon that looks like a gray, lizard-human kid. It was a good idea that I used Charmander's boxing techniques to fight against him. Charmander was able to evade Machop's grasp. I shudder to imagine what might have happened if the super-strong Pokemon got a hold of Charmander.
An hour or so of brisk walking brought me in front of a large, private cottage in the woods. It was a beautiful summer cottage, complete with a lovely front garden. A postbox marked "BILL" was on the low fenceline, and I walked up to the door without hesitation.