Part 2: Catching Pokemon/Viridian City
"Squirtle, Tackle it!" Red commanded as his Squirtle charged at a Pidgey, ready to faint it. It was the perfect way to get his Squirtle stronger. The brown bird got hit and flew higher into the air, then swooped down at it. "Withdraw!" Red yelled at it.
Squirtle withdrew into its shell and the Pidgey bounced off uselessly. "Now, come out!" Squirtle flew out of the shell and hit the Pidgey, forcing it down. It then got up, turned away and flew off in fear, having been overpowered.
"Yes, awesome work!" Red congratulated the Squirtle. It may have run away, but it still was worth trying. That was about the third or so one he fought. Squirtle cheered itself, faced the sky and began to spit bubbles from its mouth for celebration.
Red blinked. "Squirtle, you know Bubble?" Referring to another attack, Squirtle raised an eye and nodded, as if Red should've known that. "Oh, cool! That'll definitely be helpful!"
"Squirtle!" It agreed. That water based attack would be more powerful than Tackle and much more useful.
"Hey, it's you!" Red froze when someone called out to him. He looked down the road of route 1, which was taking him to Viridian City from Pallet Town. The white cat girl, Kitty, had spotted him and must've been around here. She no longer had her Charmander in her arms. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she stopped next to him to talk. She seemed pretty joyful and must've been having good luck for the past hour and a half or so.
"Just practicing." Red answered.
"Have you caught anything yet?" She added.
Red frowned. "No…" He hadn't used any of the Pokeballs he got yet.
"You haven't caught anything yet!" Kitty seemed surprised.
Red blushed, feeling left behind. "Well… I didn't think I was ready…"
"Ha, I already caught another one! Want to see?"
"Um, sure."
Kitty took a Pokeball off of her belt and opened it, releasing not her Charmander, but a little purple mouse. It had whiskers and buck teeth with a swirled tail. "Hua, my Rattata!"
"A Rattata?" Red stared at it. He hadn't seen one while he was training, only Pidgey.
"Yeah! You ever thought of using that Dex of yours?" Kitty taunted, feeling superior.
"Oh, yeah!" Red had forgotten about his Pokedex. He took it from his backpack and opened it, revealing a data screen. He aimed it at the Rattata and the Dex scanned and recognized it:
Entry 19: Rattata, the mouse Pokemon.
Extremely cautious, this Pokemon bites attackers with its huge fangs. They are constantly growing and Rattata must wear them down often.
"Ha, I guess I'm a little bit better huh?" Kitty asked sarcastically.
"No way!" Red argued. "I'll show you, I'll catch the very next Pokemon!"
Kitty raised an eye. "Fine, let's see it." She pointed across the meadow to another Pidgey. "Catch that one." While having the Pokedex in hand, Red decided to use it on the Pidgey as well:
Entry 16: Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokemon.
Extremely common, Pidgey can find its way back home from any distance. Its sense of direction is very keen.
"It's already mine! Come on Squirtle!" Red gestured it too follow him and it did. They ran into battling range of the bird and began their assault. "Go Squirtle, Tackle!" Red yelled.
Squirtle charged at the Pidgey. Luckily, the Pidgey didn't notice them fast enough and was hit directly. It flew into the air and dive at Squirtle, trying to peck at it. Squirtle hopped around it, trying to keep its footing. "Bubble!" Red continued to command. Squirtle quickly spat those bubbles from its mouth again, this time with more force. Pidgey was stunned as they popped on it, stinging it. "Now, hit it!"
Squirtle took advantage and hit the Pidgey from the sky to the ground. "Bubble, again!" Squirtle then moved to the water attack once more, keeping Pidgey from rehabilitating.
Red took a Pokeball from his belt and got it ready for the capture. He aimed and threw the Pokeball. "Pokeball, go!" It flew through the air and hit the stunned Pidgey, absorbing it in a red flash. The ball bounced onto the ground, then began to move as the Pidgey tried to escape and be free again, but the ball held it. Eventually, the ball stopped moving and had secured the Pokemon.
"Haha, see!" Red exclaimed as he took the Pokeball back. "I caught a Pidgey!"
Kitty smiled. "Congratulations, but that's too much of an accomplishment." She chuckled.
"I know, but I'll get better." Red told her. "I'll train this Pidgey to be stronger than your Rattata."
"We'll see about that." Kitty replies.
Red returned his Squirtle to its ball and began to head off again to Viridian City. "Wait, where are you going?" Kitty asked as he just left her.
"To Viridian City." Red answered.
"Can I tag along?" Kitty asked, then took her Rattata back and caught up to him.
Red raised an eye. "Why?"
"I'm heading that way too, so we might as well stick together. Right?" She smiled nervously, hoping to get a wanted answer.
Red sighed. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad, being with another person. It could help him find his way through Kanto and lose any loneliness. Maybe see more Pokemon as well! "Fine, you can come with me." He allowed it.
"Oh, thank you!" Kitty cheered. She herself really just wanted a companion to catch Pokemon with, maybe help her with badges too. Red seemed like a good trainer after beating Blue and Kitty didn't know her way around Kanto at all or if she'd be safe. This, she thought, would be for the best.
"Just don't get in the way." Red told her.
She nodded. "I won't. But, who gets to challenge the gym first?" Kitty grinned.
Red glared at her with a smirk. "I do, of course!"
"But it's ladies first!"
"Who cares, you won't beat the leaders anyway." Red laughed, joking.
"Hey!" Kitty raised her voice. "We'll see about that wise guy!"
Break
"Pidgey, peck it down!" Red ordered his new Pokemon as it swooped down on Hua, Kitty's Rattata. The mouse was already weakened, unable to do much to the flying Pidgey. The bird hit Hua in the head and knocked it onto its back. The Rattata didn't have energy to get up after that. "Yeah, I win!" Red cheered.
Kitty sighed. "Sorry Hua, come back…" She took the Rattata back into its ball. Both she and Red were now right outside of Viridian City, where they decided to have a battle after some more training. Red came out victorious obviously. Red grinned at her. "Don't rub it in…" She mumbled.
"Bah, I won't." Red replied and took his Pidgey back. It was much stronger than when he first caught it. He had gone wild training it and Squirtle, but now they both were tired. "We should get into town now, it's getting late." Red noticed. The sun had begun a decent into the horizon already.
"Oh yeah!" Kitty agreed, seeing as well.
The new found trainers entered the buzz of the city from the quiet of the outdoors. Neither was hungry, already having eaten. They needed a place to stay for the night though. "Where to first…" Red wondered.
"The Pokemon Center, duh!" Kitty exclaimed as they got into the city. Viridian City wasn't a skyscraping town like others, but merely a big outpost. There were roads and businesses and everything a city could have, including the Pokemon gym.
"Pokemon Center?" Red raised an eye, feeling dumb. He had never left Pallet Town before, and there was no such building there.
"Yeah! That's where our Pokemon can rest!" Kitty explained. "We need to go there to heal them."
"Oh, okay!" Red chuckled nervously, acting as if he knew already as Kitty glared at him. "Then… lead the way!"
Kitty shook her head, disgusted that she lost to him in that battle. She took Red to the Pokemon center, which looked like a hospital. Inside, Red gapped at the sight of tons of Pokemon! Indeed it was a hospital, but filled with tons of Pokemon and their trainers, some he'd never seen before!
While Red awed at the Pokemon, Kitty lead him to the front desk. There, a young pink haired nurse stood with an endless smile on her. "Hello there," She introduced herself, "I'm Nurse Joy, may I help you?"
"Yeah," Kitty answered, "we need our Pokemon checked up." She nudged Red to pay attention and he nodded.
"Um, yeah!" He agreed, confused.
"Fine, I'll take them then." Joy took their request. Kitty and Red gave both of their Pokeballs to Joy, two each. She took them away and held on to them. "They'll be done in a couple of minutes." She turned away to handle it.
"So, what now?" Red asked Kitty. They didn't have any Pokemon at the time, so neither could practice.
"I'm going to go shopping a bit." Kitty replied. "We'll need to get some Potions and stuff if we want to be careful."
"We do?" Red frowned.
"Yes! You don't want your Pokemon to get hurt without a way to fix them!" Kitty yelled.
"Fine, sorry!" Red admitted defeat to her. "You can go do that, I'm going to go check out the gym!"
Kitty nodded. "That's a good idea, finally."
Red glared at her and left her without another word to go see where he'd be earning his first Pokemon League badge.
Break
"Come on, please?" Red begged as he tried to open the front door to the gym, which looked like a palace. The owner must've been wealth, yet the front door would not open. It was clearly locked.
"Hey, kid!" A man caught his attention, making him look away from the door. The man looked like a business man, just stopping to help him. "That gym has been closed for over a week…"
Red winced. "Oh… why?"
The man shrugged. "Don't ask me, the leader just left."
"How dumb…" He mumbled, but sighed and decided he wasn't going to get any luck in this town. He'd have to consult Kitty to see what she thought they would do.
Red successfully found the cat back at the Pokemon Center. She had a bag of stuff, probably from the Mart. "So?" She raised an eye at him.
"The gym was closed." Red explained. "Apparently it's been like that for a while."
Kitty didn't seem to like that news, having looked forward to the battle herself. "Well… then I guess we might as well move to the next one."
"Where is that?"
"I think Pewter City… but we'll have to go through Viridian Forest…"
"Viridian Forest?" Red was no sure what the big deal of that was.
Kitty seemed uncomfortable about it. "It's a forest full of bugs and I've heard it's very easy to get lost in."
Red shrugged. "I guess we'll have to take that challenge then. But what did you get?"
Kitty showed him the bag full of potions and antidotes. She had said these would help their Pokemon on the road, so Red decided not to ask about them. "Now, we should get our Pokemon back." She told him.
"Hey, I'm hungry…" Red complained.
"Me too…" Kitty said herself. "Let's get something to eat then."
Red nodded and they both returned to the front desk, where they got their two Pokemon back and then set out of the Center to the north, in the direction of Pewter City and the Viridian Forest. Both seemed confident, wanting to catch some more Pokemon along the way.
"Hey, Red!" They both froze and Red shivered as he heard the bothersome voice of Blue. The blue fox approached the two from the side.
How long has he been here? Red wondered and growled.
"Have you gotten any worse Red?" Blue asked tauntingly.
"By far better." Red answered.
"He beat you…" Kitty added.
"Bah, that was just luck." Blue threw it off. "I've gotten much better now. Want to battle again Red and see if you'll get so lucky this time?"
"I'll battle whenever and where ever Blue!" Red exclaimed. "You're on!"
Blue took a Pokeball off of his belt, ready to battle as much as Red. "Fine, then let's get started."
As in Pallet Town, the two stood apart, enough room to battle. They were almost outside of the city now, so there as no one to get in the way of. Kitty sighed and sat to the side to let them settle the dispute.
Red decided to go first. "Pidgey, you're going first!" He threw a Pokeball into the air and it opened to reveal its brown and tanned bird, which flapped its wings to fly. "Pidgeee!" It announced in a rough, yet small voice.
"Wow, what a coincidence! I have a Pidgey too!" Blue threw a Pokeball himself and revealed his own Pidgey, almost identical to Red's!
Red frowned. "Shoot…" How was he going to tell them apart? "How do we know whose is whose?"
"Ha!" Blue laughed. "Keep track, duh! Now, Pidgey Peck!"
Blue's Pidgey flew at Red's and tried to hit it. "Quick, get out of there!" Red yelled. His own Pidgey flew back. "Now dive Tackle it!" The bird dived and hit Blue's Pidgey, almost knocking it to the ground, but it recovered and came back, hitting Red's back. The blow was much stronger and Red's Pidgey DID hit the ground.
"Come, get back at it!" Red told it. It got back into the air and flew at the other Pidgey, trying to peck at it, but it was too fast. The other Pidgey hit Red's harder this time and forced it back to the ground. This time it went after it and pecked it down.
"No, Pidgey!" Red exclaimed. When Blue's Pidgey flew away, Red's Pidgey was frozen on the ground, unconscious. "Oh… return…" Red took his Pidgey back into its Pokeball in defeat.
"Haha!" Blue laughed. "You're just too weak!"
"We'll see about that…" Red took out his second Pokeball and threw it into the battlefield. "Go, Squirtle!"
Red's trusted blue turtle came from the ball and ready to battle. "Squirtle!" It said confidently.
"This time it's going down!" Blue yelled back.
"You'll see! Squirtle, Bubble!" Red called out.
Squirtle blew its rage of bubbles at Pidgey at a high speed. There were too many of them for Pidgey to dodge and was hit directly by a good amount of them. "Now, tackle it!" Red added.
Squirtle head butted the Pidgey as it came closer to the ground and knocked it down. This time, Blue's Pidgey was the one that wouldn't get off the ground.
"Shoot!" Blue exclaimed. "Come back Pidgey!" He took his Pidgey back into its Pokeball, tying their score to one Pokemon each and Red knew which one he'd us next. "Alright, Bulbasaur, get in there!" Blue threw his next Pokemon in and indeed it was his green Bulbasaur from the last battle, against his Squirtle too.
"Ugh, here we go again…" Kitty sighed, seeing the same battle as last time.
"But this time I'm going to win!" Blue was confident. "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!"
The Bulbasaur sprung vines from its back bulb, thin yet pliable. It launched them at Squirtle. Red was smart enough to know Vine Whip was a Grass attack and Water had a serious disadvantage here, as he had studied these type of battle strategies. "Withdraw, Squirtle!" Red called and his turtle flew into its shell to hide. The Vine Whip merely hit the shell to the side, not harming the creature inside.
"Now, Bubble it back!" The Squirtle jumped from the shell, giving it some air. It blew the bubbles and distracted Bulbasaur, though not hurt it much. "Now, tackle down!" Squirtle then turned its back to Bulbasaur and blew the bubbles as hard as it could, then recruited into its shell. The force from the bubbles propelled Squirtle in his shell like a bullet, sending him straight into Bulbasaur, who had just noticed the action. The result was an explosion of dust that attracted watchers and made Kitty stand up in awe.
"No, Bulbasaur!" Blue exclaimed. After the dust cleared, his Bulbasaur was on the ground, not standing. It had taken a serious blow from that hit. Squirtle was standing in front of it triumphantly. "I-Impossible… how did you do that?"
"Ha, I thought of it a while ago and it worked!" Red celebrated. "And I won!"
Blue growled and took his Bulbasaur back. "Next time Red… you'll go down!"
"Whatever." Red checked on his Squirtle to see if it had been hurt, which it hardly had been at all. He took it back into its Pokeball as well.
"Smell ya later…" Blue shrugged Red off and went on his way.
"Wow that was amazing!" Kitty commented after the battle. "You really showed him!"
Red nodded with a smile. "Sure did."
"But now we have to go get your Pokemon fixed again!" Kitty's mood turned into a complaining one.
Red frowned. "Oh yeah… but it was sure worth it!" He raised a fist in victory. "Like that, I'll become the Pokemon League Champion! No, the most powerful trainer in the world!"
Kitty chuckled. "Sure… we'll see about that big guy."
Red glared at her. "I'll show you, and you'll be sorry you ever made fun of me."