((A/N: Once again, I apologize deeply for the last chapter. I really didn't like it myself, but I promised you this one would be tons better...so, here we go!)

Chapter Three: A Pokemon, A Battle, A Friend

"Nope. Just Caterpies and Weedles…" Kanith said to himself absently; he could see the exit to Pewter City, but he didn't want to leave until he caught another pokemon. He didn't want any bug types, as they were rather weak in his opinion, though it was justified, since Bagon had defeated at least a few dozen of the critters, and Kanith had easily won many battles with only a few Ember attacks against the trainer's bug pokemon. Kanith didn't want a Pidgey, either, nor a Pikachu; he wanted something else, something different from those two. Something versatile that he could rely on. He considered capturing Pikachu, but decided not to, considering the Gym leader ahead was a rock-type user, according to the Trainers in the forest. Pikachu would be useless there, and Bagon probably wouldn't do much good. Although it didn't have a complete disadvantage, its lack of experience with the formidable Dragon Claw technique would make the battle nearly impossible to win. Therefore, Kanith needed to find something else, something that would give him a complete advantage.

Something else that had been bothering him was Bagon's unusual human behavior. He knew that whatever Kanith gave him was safe to eat, and he didn't fear fire either. And Kanith knew that if Bagon was actually wild, he would have been fearful of fire. Another thing was Bagon acting as if he was a human. And Kanith had recently begun to wonder if Bagon actually thought that he was human. He was pondering this as he leant against a tree, not looking for pokemon, absently fingering the pokedex, ready to scan anything that came in sight. Not that it would help, since he was looking up at Viridian Forest's canopy in thought. Bagon was lying on his back, snoozing lightly.

Kanith snapped back to reality when he heard a scratching against wood, but the sound was somewhat loud. He snapped his head around the forest floor, looking for the origin of the sound. He soon found the source; a purple, horned pokemon with large ears was lightly scratching the ground, as if digging for something. Kanith silently pointed the pokedex at it, and turned off the voice volume, not wanting to scare it away, instead opting to read the text.

Nidoran, male. The male Nidoran has developed muscles in its ears. Thanks to them, it can detect quiet sounds in any direction from some distance. The horn on its head secretes a deadly poison.

"Nidoran, huh?" Kanith asked to no one in particular. He drew a pokeball from his waist, carefully aiming it at the purple, unsuspecting pokemon. He wound up, throwing it as hard as he could, hitting Nidoran square in the face. The poison-type was absorbed into the pokeball with a blinding flash of red light. Kanith looked down at the red-and-white ball once his sight was recovered, only to discover that it was broken in half, and Nidoran was glaring daggers at Kanith.

"What happened?" Kanith wondered aloud. After a moment, he realized that he should have weakened it before attempting to capture it. Nidoran, instead of attacking, maintained it's position, ready to attack in a near-hopeless situation, but not wanting to run away; a pokemon's natural sense of pride.

"Bagon, use headbutt!"

Bagon immediately responded, leaping up from his slumber, and charged headfirst at the Nidoran, it's horn not doing much of anything to Bagon's rock-hard head, as it's horn wouldn't mature until it evolved, in which it would be sharp enough to pierce a diamond. Nidoran was launched back into a tree by the force of the headbutt, and Kanith drew his pokeball, knowing that he'd have to capture it before it had a chance to recuperate and counter Bagon's assault. He grasped another pokeball from his belt, pressing the button to enlarge it from it's usual marble-size, and threw it with as much force as the last time. The red light enveloped Nidoran again, and absorbed it into the pokeball. Kanith and Bagon both watched, the tension becoming nearly too much to bear as the pokeball waggled back and forth, the pokemon fighting to get out.

Soon, Kanith gave a sigh of relief as the white button blinked, signaling that the pokemon was caught.

"Yes! Bagon, we did it!" Kanith yelled to his partner, who grinned. Kanith rushed forward to pick up his prize, and deposited the pokeball at his belt, ready to use. He thought for a moment, quite awkwardly standing in the middle of the woods in simple thinking process. What to do now? He could challenge Brock, the Gym Leader…or, he could train Nidoran. Actually…

'I oughta bring Nidoran and Bagon back to the Pokemon Center in Pewter. Then I'll train a little with Nidoran…'

Kanith nodded to himself, his next action decided. He turned towards the entrance to Pewter, glad that he had decided not to adventure further into the forest. He probably would have gotten lost if he had. As he was thinking this, he passed by several pokemon, not bothering to scan them nor capture them; he was content with his new pokemon, and feeling rather proud of himself at the moment. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, but lost in thought of the new possibilities, the many new doors of opportunity that had just opened up to him with the capturing of this pokemon. Before he knew it, he was at the pokemon Center, still standing there in absent thought.

"Can I help you?"

The kind voice jarred him back to reality, and he nodded.

"Sorry, just thinking…anyway, here's my pokemon…" He said, returning Bagon to his much-disliked pokeball and giving the Nurse the now-filled pokeballs containing Nidoran and Bagon.

He watched as she placed them into a machine that glowed a bright, white light over the pokeballs. As this happened, Kanith wondered…wasn't this the same Nurse as before?

"Hey…aren't you from Viridian? I mean, aren't ya the same Nurse?"

"Everyone asks that! Oh, no dear, she's my sister…there are about 14 of us Joys in Kanto, all of us operating the various pokemon healing facilities…Pokemon Centers."

Kanith gave a simple "Oh.", unable to think of anything else to say; 13 sisters! He could hardly stand his brother as it was, and to have that times thirteen…well, he knew his parents would have had trouble keeping things civilized, and he knew that he would have probably gotten very little for his Birthday or Christmas! He was lucky he only had one sibling, this he was sure of.

As he was thinking this, the machine stopped it's bright white glowing, and Nurse Joy retrieved the pokeballs, handing them to Kanith, who released Bagon. Bagon shook his head rapidly, disliking pokeballs quite a lot. He glared daggers at Kanith, who smiled sheepishly, only to get a small Ember flicked at his hand, singeing one of his fingers. Now it was Bagon's turn to smile as a distressed Kanith sucked his burnt finger in a babyish way.

Kanith left the Center without another word, heading to the woods to train.

"Nidoran, come out!" Kanith yelled, the pokeball in his hand releasing the purple horned pokemon out. Nidoran seemed more content with Kanith now that he had been in his ball for a while. Kanith thought for a moment…was it really fair to do this to a pokemon? To take it away from it family and natural environment to unwillingly fight? It all sounded so wrong to Kanith…almost like slavery. But, if he was going to beat Brock, he'd need this pokemon…

"Look, Nidoran. Once I defeat Brock, you can go back into the wild with your family. But until then, will you work together with me?"

Kanith asked the pokemon. Nidoran nodded, seeming to be happy with this agreement. Kanith smiled in return.

"Alright then…let's see what you can do…"

Kanith said, scanning Nidoran with the pokedex…apparently, it learned Horn attack, Double kick, Poison sting, and Take down. Its natural strength would be useful against Brock as well, it's techniques could damage the rock types he used.

"Right…let's start! Aim poison sting at these!" Kanith commanded, grabbing a handful of leaves and throwing them up into the air. Nidoran charged, and was able to spear all the leaves onto it's horn…

After many hours of training, Kanith thought that he was definitely ready for Brock; he trained with Bagon and Nidoran quite a bit, and had gotten the hang of all of Nidoran's attacks. He also had a few battles with several trainers, and hadn't lost, although most of the people he fought had weaknesses to the pokemon he had, so maybe it was simply the type-matching aspect. Either way, he felt that soon, he would be ready for Brock. He was certain that he and Nidoran had already developed a sort of bond, but Nidoran seemed to be somewhat restrained, as if he wasn't interested in being his pokemon. But, as long as it would help him defeat Brock, he wasn't complaining.

"Right…return, Nidoran!" Kanith said, pressing the pokeball's button to return Nidoran to its artificial slumber. The pokeball reverted to it's marble size, Kanith storing it on his belt. He was happy with the amount of training he had done today, and was ready to go to bed, though it had only just occurred to him that he should have gotten a tent…a life as a trainer pretty much demanded it. He would need a sleeping bag, too. Kanith soon found himself listing off a multitude of things that would be needed if he was going to become a trainer…cooking pots, sleeping bags, tents, food…

'What am I aiming for anyway? I guess I could just take the Gym Leader challenge, like I planned to…'

Kanith was left to ponder this and many more deep questions as he watched the Pidgey fly from tree to tree in flocks. It felt so natural, yet so different from the pampered life he had lived up until only a few days ago. What was he there for, anyway? He simply left with no notice to his mother, and ditched his old life…but, why? Was it just an in-born sense? Or was he there for something else? Maybe…maybe he was just there to prove that he wouldn't lose to his brother, but it didn't matter. He could only afford to keep his mind on the present, and he knew this, so he kept his mind off these questions whose answers only led in circles. So, instead, he thought about getting a tent. He had just enough money for it and some food from the money he had won in the pokemon battles from the previous hours. So, he decided to head for the pokemart, and found himself there quicker than before; apparently he had gotten used to the route from Viridian Forest to Pewter, memorizing the turns; left, left, left, right, straight…it was easier once one had been in the forest environment for a period time, almost like a sixth sense, it was.

After leaving the pokemart, he found himself in possession of a bag of Pokemon food that was ideal for pokemon in the Dragon breeding group; there was a type for every breeding group, used to optimize the pokemon's proper development and performance in battle. He didn't read the whole bag, but Kanith knew that it would be best for Bagon, because he was obviously in the dragon breeding group. Also among his new possessions was a small, collapsible tent that was quite small when not in use, a Technical Machine case, and several berries that were the favorites of pokemon; Kanith had bought a few of each, wanting to see which kinds Bagon and Nidoran liked. Lastly, he got a few cups of stew that could be easily heated up with hot coals.

Oddly enough, Kanith had no trouble in fitting all of these things in his backpack with space to spare; compact things were quite useful, and he made a mental note to never buy anything too big.

As he was heading back to Viridian, he was stopped by a familiar voice…

"Hey, I know you!"

Kanith whirled around to see…

"You're that kid I lost to! I hate losing, and what's worse, you had to sneak off like that! You could at least give a handshake!"

Kanith snapped to the black-clad teen. Dante had a sheepish look on his face, embarrassed at something.

"Sorry, I got a really urgent call, and I had to leave…if it makes you feel better, we could fight one-on-one again."

Dante replied. Kanith grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry for being a jerk before. Anyway, let's go, Bagon!" Kanith commanded, Bagon charging in front of his trainer. Dante released his Houndour, and wasted no time in delivering a white-hot flamethrower at Bagon. Luckily enough, Bagon's speed had improved somewhat, and was able to avoid the scalding flames.

"Houndour, use Bite!" Dante commanded the black wolf, who charged at Bagon at a great speed, able to get a hold on his front leg, Bagon didn't do anything, not even attempting to get out of the deadly, ever-tightening hold. Kanith was in a cold sweat; what to do? Houndour was a Dark and Fire type according to his pokedex, and the pokemon's teeth were getting ever-deeper into Bagon's leathery flesh…Ember wouldn't work…Kanith had an idea, but it was pretty risky…He hadn't practiced the move much, but it was worth a try. He thought intently, wondering what exactly to do…he didn't have any moves good against Houndour's types, and after a moment, he decided to just go through with his plan.

"Bagon! Use your Dragon Claw as an uppercut!" Kanith commanded, watching intensely as Bagon's free claw glowed white, and launched upward, knocking the wolf's grip off of Bagon, and throwing it into the air.

"Good, now wait….!"

Dante was helpless; in the air, Houndour couldn't use any attacks, and it took a hard blow to it's jaw. Bagon was waiting for the command, and as soon as Houndour was near the ground, Kanith gave his command…

"Headbutt!"

Bagon charged forward headfirst, Kanith's timing was perfect, as Houndour was hit by the headbutt as it was still falling, which sent it flying in another direction, and it was stopped by a tree, taking a great impact which knocked it out. Kanith cheered, and Bagon ran back to its trainer, who was laughing at his victory. Bagon leapt towards his trainer, hugging his leg and giving an odd noise that sounded like laughing. Dante returned Houndour back to it's pokeball.

"Great battle!" Dante said, not sounding phased by the victory at all. He offered his hand, and Kanith shook it, unable to stop grinning.

Dante had stuck around for a while, talking about pokemon in general, talking about their respective lives. Kanith found himself acquainted with the trainer quickly, and Dante had learned a bit about Kanith, too. They were in Viridian Forest, Dante had shown Kanith how to put up a tent properly, how to cook some basic dishes, which even Kanith had the incompetence to burn, and how to find pokemon berries. They were around a campfire Bagon had lit, sending the radius of their campsite into a glowing red light. Bagon was busy hiding in Kanith's new sleeping bag, and Kanith had made friends with Houndour, and learned that Dante other pokemon was Poliwag. Houndour was sitting at his master's side, licking one paw, and Poliwag was busy diving in and out of the small pond near their campsite.

"So, uh…where are you headed now?" Kanith asked his friend who was beginning to doze off.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking, maybe I could go with you? I want to keep my eye on you. Where are you going, anyway?"

Kanith found it odd that he had made friends with a guy he had first assumed to be a jerk, but now he was traveling with him? Kanith wouldn't mind; in fact, he would welcome a friend, but it was just different for him.

"Cool. I'm goin' to take on Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader. I'm gonna be in the Indigo League!" he replied excitedly.

"Wait…Brock doesn't run the Pewter Gym. He's in Hoenn, but his brother Forrest is the new Gym Leader. You're going in the Kanto League?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I'm aiming to find as many undocumented pokemon as I can…it was my father's dream, and he documented about 80 of current existing information on Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. I want to learn about them, and catch them if I can." He said, seeming like he was choosing his words slowly for some reason, absently stroking Houndour's head.

"Wow…" Was all that Kanith could say, and he realized something…

"Don't they have like, almost no information on those birds?" He asked, making a good point. Dante simply gave a "humph".

"Whatever, I'm tired…'night, Kanith…" He said, going to his tent after retrieving his pokemon to their artificial slumber in the pokeballs. Kanith poked the fire with a stick, overturning one of the logs, and went to bed as well, getting into his sleeping bag, but not without difficulty removing Bagon from it, who seemed to like hiding in the bag. Finally, Kanith decided to let Bagon crawl on his chest after he was in the bag, and feel into a peaceful slumber.

((A/N: Hey, Moon, hope you like this backdrop for Dante! Anyway, my reviewers, sorry it took me this long to update.)