As we walked through the grass, Green was chattering away about how much fun she was having. Blue just kept quiet, though his eyes were shifting, probably looking for pokemon. That was exactly what was on my mind: pokemon.

"Oh my gosh! I can't wait until we run into a cute, little pokemon!" Green gushed.

"That's why I'm going on ahead. You know, to scout out the area." Blue said.

I gave him a look. What was he up to?

"Hey, I gotta make sure everything's safe for our lovely lady here." He smiled slyly.

"Blue!" Green huffed in an exasperated tone. But he was already running ahead.

I sighed. "Don't let him get to you, Green."

Green and I walked for a few minutes in silence. We could see the next town in the distance.

"We're almost there, Green!" I said, smiling. "Just a little-" but I was cut off by Green's surprised yelp.

I turned to see a Rattata biting at Green's legs, obviously not too happy. It turned to me and snarled, ready for a fight.

It happened so fast. In a panic I reached for Charmander's pokeball and sent it out.

"Charmander! Scratch it away!" I yelled. Charmander swatted its claws at the Rattata and quickly dodged its Tackle.

"Okay! Use Scratch again, Charmander!" Another swat with its claws. This time the Tackle hit. Charmander stumbled backwards. I pulled out an empty pokeball and threw.

It drew in the Rattata in a flash of white light, then shook once, twice, three times, then clicked.

I exhaled. That was close.

"Are you okay, Green?" I asked, holding out my hand. She took it and I helped her up.

"Yeah, I think so. Just a little roughed up." She got up, then winced in pain. I looked down to see that the Rattata's bites had broken the skin.

I pulled my first aid kit out of my backpack. No trainer should be caught dead without one, especially out in dangerous places like this.

"Don't worry, I'll have it patched up in a second." I said, dabbing some ointment on her wound. Green winced even more. I wrapped her leg up and smiled up at her.

"See? All done!" I gave her a reassuring nod.

"Thanks Red…" Green whispered.

Once we were on the edge of the city, we could see Blue tossing a pokeball in his hand.

"About time you two got here." he said, not looking at us, though he did have a playful smile on his face. "I've already caught myself another pokemon!"

"So have I!" I said quickly. Green giggled.

"We'll just have to battle to test them out then." Blue retorted before running ahead again. This time we were hot on his tail.

We ran into town, all the way up to the Pokemon Center, where Blue turned to us.

"I'm going to get my new pokemon healed up! You should too if we're gonna battle." he said, rushing inside.

Green and I stepped in and collectively gasped. The place was so big! Nurses scurried around, tending to injured pokemon. We stared in awe until the lady at the counter beckoned us over.

"Hi there! Welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center. What can I do for you?" she chimed.

"We'd like to get our pokemon healed, ma'am." I said.

We handed her our pokeballs and she placed them in the machine. Once they were done she said goodbye to us, the same smile as before, and we were on our way.

Once out, we made our way to a plaza where people we letting their pokemon out to run around, so we did too. It was then that I noticed something.

"Rattata's nipping at everything that moves." I said with a sigh. "I wish I could make it stop."

"Cut Darcy some slack, Red!" Green exclaimed.

"It's terrorizing the-! Wait, Darcy?" I said, confused.

"Yeah!" Green said, smiling. "It's got to have a nickname, doesn't it?"

I couldn't help but smile. "I just wish we had some chew toys or something…"

"You could see if the pokemart has some." Green suggested. "Anything to keep from having a repeat of last time!"

So I headed for the pokemart.

"What can I help you with?" The man at the counter asked.

"Well, you see…" I began. "I have this Rattata, and it won't stop biting things, and…"

"Say no more." he interrupted. "Rattata need things to bite on to file its teeth. These wooden blocks should do the trick."

I payed and thanked him, ready to go on back to my journey.

I had barely stepped out the door when my pokedex started vibrating. I pulled it out and saw a message from Green:

Headed off to the forest

Let's battle when we get the chance

I smiled. It was then that I noticed another message, this one from Blue.

Come to the pokemon league gate

I want to battle

When I got there, Blue was standing there smirking.

"What are you so happy about?" I said eyeballing him.

"Nothing," he said, "I just think it's funny. Funny that you think you even have a chance with Green. You just wait! I'll pummel you!"

And with that he sent out his Pidgey, ready for our battle. I shrugged.

"Charmander! Let's go!" I cried, sending said pokemon out.

They stared each other down for a moment, then, with a silent confirmation, charged.

Charmander batted at Pidgey with its claws, scratching and leaving broken skin behind. Pidgey did not seem fazed, however, as it started flapping its wings rapidly, kicking up a cloud of dust. Charmander was blinded. Pidgey took the opportunity to peck at its eyes, doing major damage.

"Why not give up now, Red?" Blue taunted, "There's no shame in losing!"

"Charmander! Ember!" I screamed angrily.

Charmander shot a ball of fire that hit Pidgey square in the face. It plummeted down to the ground with a crash. It was down.

"Pidgey! Come back!" Blue yelled, returning Pidgey to its pokeball. He then threw his second pokemon out, once again yelling, "Alright Squirtle, let's cream 'em!"

Before I could even yell out a command, Squirtle was pummeling Charmander with jets of water. It never stood a chance.

"Charmander, return." I said weakly, sending Charmander back into the pokeball.

This was bad. All I had left was the Rattata I barely knew. How was I supposed to win? Reluctantly I sent it out.

Before I could even mutter a command, Rattata rammed itself into Squirtle, knocking it back a few feet. Squirtle didn't even have time to get up before Rattata had sunk its teeth into Squirtle's cheek. It writhed in pain, trying to shake it off.

Blue finally couldn't take anymore. "Red! I forfeit! Just call your damn pokemon off!"

"Rattata! Get back!" I yelled. Rattata came back into the pokeball in a flash of red.

"You need to learn to control your team better." Blue snarled, turning and walking away, leaving me to process this.

I sighed. "Ho boy, this is gonna be harder then I thought."