Important! I do not own Pokemon nor am I associated with Nintendo or Game Freak.

Chapter 5

Caterpie Catastrophe

Jason and Lexi had just gotten by a Crazy man who wouldn't let them through. They were now on their way through Viridian Forest.

"That guy was weird," Lexi said as they continued on their Pokemon adventure.

"Yeah, but his granddaughter was cute," Jason said. Ever since he saw Janelle, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. He really hoped to meet her again.

They walked up to a building that read: VIRIDIAN FOREST- PEWTER CITY. The building was fairly large with a door and a window. "I guess we go through here," Lexi said. They entered the building, but there was only a woman behind a desk.

"Be careful in the forest," the woman said sweetly. "There are a lot of poisonous bug Pokemon in there." They exited, but Lexi had a horrified look on her face, and she walked slowly.

"What's the matter?" Jason asked her as they entered the forest. He was really worried about her, he had never seen her act this way the whole time he knew her.

"I. Hate. Bugs," she said slowly. She walked forward a couple of steps and stopped. "Isn't there another way to Pewter City?" She already knew the answer was no, but maybe by some miracle Jason would say yes.

"Not that I know of," he replied. He took her by the hand and helped her walk in and through the forest. They got through it for awhile, there were a lot of trees that made it kind of dark, but other than that, it was fine. If you didn't count that Lexi was shaking and never said anything.

Things started going bad when they reached the middle of the forest. It was a big clearing, with no grass, just dirt, and about 50 Caterpie. Lexi was so nervous, she couldn't even scream. She tried to run, but Jason held her back.

"We have to go on," he said as he dragged her back. They watched as the Caterpie started to dance around in a big circle.

"This must be some kind of ceremony," Jason said, but Lexi had covered her face with her hands, trying to go to a "happy place".

"Right you are," somebody said that came up behind them. It was a boy a little older than Jason and Lexi, who wore a white t-shirt, jeans, and a straw hat. He was even carrying a net. "I'm Don the bug catcher, by the way," he said happily. Jason introduced himself and Lexi, as she was still freaking out.

"These Caterpie are doing their annual hatching ceremony," Don explained. "The Butterfree came through here a month ago and laid their eggs, and now the Caterpie just hatched. I'm came here to see if I could catch one."

Jason and Don watched the dance take place, it was a wonderful sight that Lexi didn't want any part of. After the dance ended, the Caterpie went their separate ways. However, one decided to come right up to Lexi.

"He seems to like you," Don said. The Caterpie started to rub up against Lexi's leg, it took all she had not to scream. The Caterpie crawled up her leg, and she burst.

"Get off of me!" she screamed. Reacting on instinct, she threw an empty Poke Ball at it to keep it away. The Poke Ball turned twice before it clicked shut.

"Guess you caught yourself a Caterpie," Don said. "I'm jealous!" He and Jason started to laugh.

"Stop laughing!" Lexi yelled at them. "I wasted a Poke Ball on a stupid, no good, Caterpie!" She went and sat down on a tree stump, she could barely afford food, and now she had to buy another Poke Ball for the one she wasted.

"Oh, come on, lighten up," Jason said. "If we keep walking, you'll soon forget about it." Jason once again took her hand and led her away, out of the clearing, and back into the forest.

Don decided to join them, since he was going that way anyway and liked the company. They didn't pass too many more bug Pokemon, and Lexi seemed too angry about wasting the stupid Poke Ball to care about the bugs.

They were almost out of the forest when they heard someone mumbling on the other side of some bushes. "This is going to work," the person said. "I'll be promoted for this!"

Lexi, Jason, and Don looked to see who it was and discovered, it was another member of Team Rocket! The man was short and skinny, somebody that you would expect to get pushed around a lot. The more surprising thing was what he was doing. The man was stuffing Caterpie into a big sack, stealing them for his own good.

"We've got to stop him," Don whispered.

"By doing what?" Jason asked. Don shrugged his shoulders, and still jumped behind the bushes to confront the Team Rocket member.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked the Rocket. He ran over to try and take the bag away, but the Rocket pushed him back.

"I'm doing the good work for all trainers everywhere," the rocket replied. He then released a Weedle, a small, beige, caterpillar Pokemon with a stinger on it's head. "Use Poison Sting!" he commanded.

The Weedle shot a stinger at Don, knocking him back. Don started to get a purple tint to his face.

"He poisoned Don," Lexi said, astonished. That of course gave their cover away, so Lexi and Jason got up from behind the bushes.

"You poisoned our friend," Lexi shouted. "Now we'll see how you like it! Go! Bulbasaur!" She grabbed a Poke Ball and threw it, but the Caterpie came out! I must have thrown the wrong Poke Ball, she thought nervously.

"Use Poison Sting," the Rocket commanded. Weedle once again shot a stinger, this type at Caterpie. It hit dead on, but luckily didn't poison it. Lexi checked her Pokedex and noticed Caterpie still had a lot in him.

"Use Tackle," she said. Caterpie flew at Weedle, sending it spiraling. "Good job, now use String Shot!" Caterpie shot a sticky, stringy substance at Weedle, so that it was unable to move.

"Why you," the Rocket growled. "Break free, Weedle." The Weedle wiggled around, but the strings held tight, it was stuck.

"Caterpie, useTackle one more time!" Lexi's Caterpie once again slammed into Weedle, this time knocking it out cold.

"NO!" the Rocket shouted. He quickly recalled his Weedle, but before he ran off, he had something more to say, "You'll me remember, I, Rick, of Team Rocket, the best there ever was!" He then ran off into the forest. But before he could, a Beedrill came and tore open the bag, letting everything go free.

"What was that?" Jason asked. Lexi smiled because she knew exactly what it was.

Jason ran over and had Don drink an Antidote, he felt better instantly.

"Good job Caterpie," Lexi said as she turned to it. Once she saw it, she gasped, so that everyone turned to see what she saw. They all gasped too.

Caterpie was shooting a String Shot at itself, so that now you could barely see it. Once it was completely covered, it started to glow, and it turned into a Metapod!

"Yeah, my first Pokemon evolved!" she screamed.

Author's Note: You will see that Rocket again, in the next chapter to be exact. I'm sorry Caterpie evolved so quickly, I needed her to have a Butterfree before Brock, like in the game. Also, Jason may face Brock next chapter, and Lexi may catch another Pokemon, so keep reading!