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

Chapter 6B

Catch, Battle, Evolve

Lexi headed back into Viridian Forest while Jason went to go get his first gym badge. The bugs didn't bug her ever since she caught her Caterpie and evolved it into a Metapod. She knew her Pokemon needed to become stronger, however, so she decided that some extra battles would help.

"Use Tackle!" she commanded her Bulbasaur. She was in the middle of the woods, battling a low level Weedle. Weedle tried to dodge the attack, but Bulbasaur instantly made it faint. Lexi recalled her Pokemon, and went in search for some more wild ones.

She searched the area, but it seemed as if she scared all of the wild Pokemon away, so she moved deeper into the forest. She started to look behind some bushes, when she saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of her eye. Lexi decided to go investigate.

Lexi went in the direction she saw it went, and eventually saw a Pikachu, eating some acorns. I'm going to catch this, she thought as she slowly walked up to it. "Go, Bulbasaur!" She released her Pokemon and the battle was on. Pikachu was surprised and instantly used Thundershock, a bolt of lightning came out of the sky and hit Bulbasaur. Lexi was lucky that electric Pokemon like Pikachu didn't do well against grass Pokemon.

"Bulbasaur, sap it's energy with Leech Seed," Lexi called. Bulbasaur shot spores out of the bulb on it's back at Pikachu. The spores grew into plants that drained Pikachu's energy. Pikachu tried to use another Thundershock, but it had too much of it's energy drained, so it just stood there, staring at Lexi and Bulbasaur. To put it out of it's misery, Lexi threw a Poke Ball and caught it. She was so excited that she now had three Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Metapod, and Pikachu.

Lexi didn't know if her Pikachu was to badly hurt, so she took it to a Pokemon Center in Pewter City. After that was done, she was right back into Viridian Forest. She trained her Pikachu so much that it already learned Quick Attack!

She continued to walk around, that is, until she ran into Team Rocket again! Jonathan of Team Missle was there, he was shouting at a Team Rocket member. What was his name? Lexi thought as she dove behind a tree.

"What!" Jonathan shouted. "You didn't get one Pokemon? You are so stupid, Rick." Rick cowered down low. Lexi sensed a feeling of déjà vu. Didn't Rachel act that way. Why are all of the Team Rocket members afraid of Jonathan?

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Rick whimpered. "I'll do better next time." He tried to slip away, but Jonathan started yelling again.

"Why do I get all of the dumb ones to order around, huh? We helped you and this is how you treat us? Go away!" Rick followed the command a walked away, right in the direction that Lexi was hiding. She tried to go away quietly, but Rick saw her.

"It's that girl again," he shouted. "She was eavesdropping!" He ran toward her to try and tackle her, but Lexi was faster. She slipped right out of his grasp. Lexi was about to get away when Rick threw a Poke Ball, right at her head.

The Poke Ball shocked her, and she fell forward, and out of the Poke Ball came a Grimer, which looked like a glob of purple slime with eyes and a mouth. Lexi couldn't tell if this thing was grosser than bug Pokemon.

"Go! Pikachu!" Lexi released her newest Pokemon. It stood in front of her, ready for battle. "Use Quick Attack," she commanded. Pikachu sped forward at tremendous speeds, right at Grimer. It slammed into it, but instead of doing damage, Pikachu was bounced back, covered in slime. Pikachu tried to wipe it off, but it stuck.

"That Weedle you beat last time wasn't my real Pokemon," Rick sneered. "Now feel the wrath of my Grimer! Use Sludge!" Grimer threw some the weird sludge from it's body right at Pikachu, covering it's eyes and mouth.

"Pikachu, try to get it off," Lexi called. Pikachu was finally ableto uncover it's eyes, so at least it could see. "Now, use Thundershock!" Sparks started to come out of Pikachu's cheeks, then a thunder bolt came crashing down from the sky. It hit Grimer, and seemed to do some damage. This battle wouldn't be so one sided anymore.

"Let's finish her Pikachu, Grimer," Rick said. "Use Poison Gas!" Grimer emitted a weird purple gas from it's body that wafted toward Pikachu.

"Try to get out of the way, Pikachu!" Lexi screamed. But it was already too late, Pikachu had breathed in the gas, and was instantly poisoned. Lexi recalled it, and sent out her next Pokemon, Bulbasaur.

"You really think that will beat Grimer?" Rick laughed. Grimer, Poison Gas!" Grimer once again emitted the purple gas at Bulbasaur, with the intention of poisoning it. However, Bulbasaur was part poison, and was unaffected against the attack.

"Now, use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur used it's new attack it learned while training. Two vines came out of the sides of it's bulb, and went out to strike Grimer. Right when they hit Grimer, it used Harden. A silver glow came over it, and Bulbasaur's vines were stuck to it. Grimer was in complete control.

"Now, slam Bulbasaur on the ground!" Rick shouted. Grimer picked up Bulbasaur by the vines and started to lift him off the ground, and then slammed him back down. This went on until Bulbasaur fainted. Lexi recalled it and had no choice but to release her Metapod.

Metapod looked like a green cocoon, slightly curved into like a moon shape. Metapod's had high defense, but had atrocious attack power. "You're coming at me with that thing," Rick said. "If your other Pokemon couldn't beat me, then that thing sure won't."

"Use Harden," Lexi said calmly. Metapod turned silver for a moment as it hardened itself. Grimer used Poison Gas, but as Metapod really didn't breathe, it was unaffected. Metapod hardened itself again, and Grimer used Sludge, but it also didn't work well now that Metapod had hardened.

"Use Harden one more time," Lexi said happily. For the first time, she was actually in control. As Metapod hardened, Grimer stayed put, Rick didn't know what to command it to do.

"Now, use Tackle," Lexi shouted. Metapod flew at Grimer, but because it hardened, it went right threw it instead of bouncing off. Grimer was knocked out.

"Dang it," Rick said. "I was sure my Grimer would win." He ran off before Jonathan could yell at him again.

Lexi turned to Metapod to congratulate it, when she noticed it was already evolving again! Metapod cracked open and released Butterfree, the butterfly Pokemon.

"Butterfree learned Confusion," the Pokedex said. Lexi was so excited she didn't even notice Jake hop down behind her.

"I guess you didn't need my help this time," he said. Lexi screamed and turned around to punch him, but he dodged it and she ended up spinning in a circle.

"Don't do that," she said. But she couldn't stay mad for long, ever since she saw him, she knew she had a major crush. Jake didn't stay long anyways. He made sure all the bad guys were out of there, and quickly fled. Lexi really wanted to learn more about this mysterious person. But, it was time for her to challenge Brock, so she started back to Pewter City.

Coming Up In 7A: Janelle returns, but what role does she play?

Author's Note: I'm really sorry this chapter was so similar to past chapters, but I promise that was the last time they will be in Viridian Forest. Please Review!