Chapter 2: An Unlikely Companion!

Rattata and Oddish were now registered in Zero's PokéDex. He saw the familiar city lights of Viridian City in the distance, but he didn't feel like staying in a hotel that night. Instead, he took out the handy camping manual he had packed for himself, set up a tent and built a fire. Luckily, Braze was there to light it; Zero's physical strength was a bit lacking, and he could not get enough friction built up between the two sticks and the rock he was trying to light it with.

Zero had found some berries along the route for dinner, but he found Braze was still hungry, so they ran into town quickly to pick up some more food. When he and Braze got back to the campsite, however, they discovered that it had been ransacked and the fire had been put out. The tent had little holes ripped in it as well.

"No way! Our tent!" Zero cried. "And the fire, too! I wonder what kind of jerk of a Trainer would do something like that. How rude!"

As Zero was ranting, he felt a tug on his sleeve from Braze. Bewildered, he saw that his Pokémon was pointing at something on the ground behind him. His eyes widened. A little mouse-like creature was sitting there, berry juice covering its mouth. Its tail had a heart-shaped tip, signifying it was a female. Her little red electric sacs sparkled when Zero looked at her, and she giggled playfully. Zero has been greeted by a Pikachu!

This was strange, however. This was Route 1, and Pikachu usually dwelled in Viridian Forest, a long ways away. Why would she have come all the way out here?

"Hey, I bet you were lost and wanted something to eat," Zero said, crouching down to pet the Pikachu. She cowered away from him, and when he tried again, she sent a little shock up his arm.

"I get it, okay? I won't touch you," Zero said, rubbing his tingling arm. Pixels began to form around it, and he shook it out. The pixels stopped. He was used to this; electrical appliances and static shocks often caused this. He knew this wasn't normal and had been to the doctor multiple times for it, but he was never able to pinpoint what was causing it. "How about some Pokémon food? I bought some for my Charmander, but I bet you would enjoy some."

Zero, Braze and the Pikachu all ate a nice dinner as the sky turned a gentle hue of peach. "Hey Pikachu, I just had an idea—how about I take you back to the Viridian Forest? Would that make you happy?"

Pikachu squeaked happily, answering Zero's question. "Great! We should have you back home in a couple days. It's getting kind of dark, and I have to rebuild my tent and my fire, and we have to go through Viridian City and Route 2. I hope that's alright."

.

The moon was rising over the quiet Route 1. The occasional Rattata squeak or Pidgey chirp sounded in the darkness, but it was otherwise silent. Mark saw that Viridian's lights were still on. This didn't surprise him, though; it was a big city, just like Mauville and Lilycove back home in Hoenn.

He then saw a tent sitting in the middle of the route, and a fire burning low. In front of it, sitting near the fire in a heavy coat and coughing mercilessly, was a familiar face—it was Zero! He left way ahead of Mark; he should have been near Route 2 by now! And it was the middle of the night, as well.

"Shouldn't you be asleep, pal?" Mark asked, startling Zero.

Zero stood up quickly and brushed the leaves off of the back of his pants. "H-hey, Mark. Didn't expect to see you this late at night." This was followed by a series of dry, hacking coughs as the teen reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small apparatus—an inhaler—and took a long, deep inhale. He released the air after a few moments.

Mark frowned. "Asthma?"

Zero shook his head. "I don't know what it is."

"Have you talked to a doctor about it?"

"Yeah. My doctor doesn't know either. He said it was safer if I went on a journey a bit later than normal, for my health, so my dad decided to follow that advice."

Two figures, covered by darkness, emerged from Zero's tent. The campfire illuminated their faces, revealing a Charmander and a Pikachu. Mark was surprised. "You already made it to Viridian Forest? Why would you backtrack?" he asked, gesturing at the Pikachu.

"Oh, I never got past Route 1, actually," Zero replied, picking up his Charmander. "This Pikachu came from Viridian Forest, and she's lost, so I'm helping her get home."

"What the hell, man?" Mark asked angrily, pointing at the little yellow mouse. "You're just gonna let a rare Pokémon go? Just like that? Why not catch it?"

"Um… She w-wants to go home…?" Zero stammered, twiddling his thumbs. His knees began to tremble slightly, and he sat down on the ground. His breath was shaky. "L-listen, it's getting late. If you want, I can lend you my extra tent. It may be a little patched up, though. I had to sew on some of the fabric that ripped after little Pikachu tore through it."

"Heh… thanks, man," Mark said, wincing. He would be slightly chilly that night, but he decided he didn't mind, as long as he got a place to rest.

.

The next morning, Zero woke up to raindrops slowly dripping from a small leak that had formed in the roof of his tent during the night. Braze was still sound asleep in his Poké Ball, but the little Pikachu was full of energy. She raced around outside, her cheeks sparkling. Zero chuckled and snuck over to Mark's tent to wish him a good morning.

To his surprise, Mark was already awake. He was standing in the rain, holding an umbrella with different forms of a Pokémon Zero had never seen before, so he went over to ask what it was.

"Oh, these?" Mark said, bringing his umbrella to Zero's eye level. "These are Castform. You've never seen one?"

Zero shook his head. "They're from Hoenn," Mark explained. "I got this umbrella from the Weather Institute while visiting with my dad. He bought it for me at the souvenir shop." Mark looked down at his feet and smiled, as if he was remembering a heartfelt moment. Zero couldn't help but smile as well.

"Well, should we get going?" Zero asked. His voice was hoarse from the lack of water he had during the night. He groaned quietly; he had forgotten his water bottle at home. Guess I'll have to buy one in Viridian, he thought bitterly.

"Yeah," Mark said. "Let's go."

The teens collected their belongings, dissembled the campfire and tents and gathered their Pokémon. They made it to Viridian City fairly quickly, which allowed Zero to buy himself a water bottle at the Pokémon Center. He was content with his choice; it was tall, with pictures of various Water-type Pokémon native to Kanto. It even came with a complimentary sleeve that had a painting of a Lapras on it.

Mark also took the time to register himself for the Pokémon League Challenge, which didn't really suit Zero. He politely passed up Mark's offer to help him register and decided to explore the city by himself while Mark finished his registration papers.

He passed by a large building with a Poké Ball symbol engraved into the top. The double doors were closed, and the lights were off. This looked like a Pokémon Gym. But why would it be closed in the middle of the day? That didn't make any sense to Zero. Pikachu was on his shoulder, and she must have sensed something sinister coming from the building, because she bared her teeth and growled. Zero walked away quickly before he and the Pikachu made too large of a scene.

As Zero turned to walk back to the Pokémon Center, he saw a tall man in a suit walking slowly toward him. Swarms of people surrounded the city, blocking Zero off from moving freely. He wanted to run, but with this many people around, he would risk getting lost. The man walked closer, and Zero's throat tightened. He had an eerie presence to him, like he could kill a man just by looking at him. But when he finally reached Zero, he looked down at him and smiled kindly. Not a large, goofy grin, but not a cold, menacing snarl either.

"Are you lost?" he asked in a deep, smooth voice that sent a chill down Zero's spine.

Zero didn't answer; his throat felt like it was in knots and his hands and forehead glistened with sweat. The man repeated his question. Zero finally replied with, "A little. B-but I think if I can get through the crowd, I can… uh…"

The man nodded in understanding. Zero then noticed a gold band on the man's ring finger. A ruby gemstone was fitted into an R-shaped cavity in the center, shimmering in the morning sunlight. The man saw Zero admiring it and slipped it off so he could examine it better.

It was a lovely ring, carved with a pattern that looked like dry, cracked ground. "Do you like it?" the man asked, snapping Zero out of his trance. "My personal jeweler made it." He then paused thoughtfully, thinking carefully about something, then abruptly took Zero's right hand, faced it palm upwards, placed the ring in it and wrapped Zero's fingers around it. Zero was speechless.

"I have many more of these," the man explained, curing Zero's curiosity. "You can keep it, if you'd like." He paused again, then opened his mouth to speak, but thought against it.

"Thank you…" Zero said, almost in a whisper.

"Of course, young man. The Gym is closed today, by the way. I saw you looking at it."

"Oh, no, I was just going to tell my friend there was one here. I'm not taking the Gym Challenge."

"Shame. You remind me of someone. Very intelligent. A good Trainer." He chuckled. "Had a way with words, too." He then waved briskly and walked away, leaving Zero alone in the sea of people.

As Zero made his way back to the Pokémon Center, he turned the ring over in his hand. It was cool to the touch, and the gemstone looked lovely in the gold band. He then saw some writing engraved on the inside—a name: Giovanni. Was this the name of the jeweler, or the man that gave him the ring? He slipped the ring onto his finger and decided not to think too much of the kind gesture.

Zero entered the Pokémon Center just as Mark finished registering for the League Challenge. "Thanks for waiting, Zero," Mark said. "Sorry about the wait."

"No worries," Zero replied. "I got to explore a bit. It was nice."

"The nurse told me there's a Gym here. Did you see it?"

Zero nodded. "It's closed today, though. Why don't we head to Pewter City? It's close, and Viridian Forest is on the way. I promised Pikachu she'd be home soon."

"Alright then," Mark said. He didn't look it, but Zero knew Mark was disappointed.

The two young men left the Pokémon Center. The few clouds that had been lazily floating in the sky were now gone, and only blue was above them. Route 2 was ahead, and then, the forest.

Pidgey, Rattata and Spearow flocked in the tall grass. Nidoran and Oddish slept in the bright sunlight. They seemed calm and happy. Zero noticed his new accessory glinting faintly in the sunlight. He decided not to tell Mark how he had gotten it. He bet Mark hadn't noticed, anyway.

Speaking of Mark, Zero saw him wading through the tall grass. He was in pursuit of a Pidgey that had attacked Tulip, how Mark had let out of her Poké Ball for some fresh air. The battle went fairly quickly and ended with the Pidgey captured.

"Score!" Mark exclaimed, holding the Poké Ball up like a trophy. "Now that's how you catch a Pokémon. Good work, Tulip!"

"You going to name it?" Zero asked.

"Hmmm… I don't know. Any ideas?"

"Falcon sounds cool."

"Then it's settled. Pidgey, your new name is Falcon!"

Mark let Falcon out of his Poké Ball to show him off to Zero and allow him to register him and Tulip into his PokéDex. Mark registered Braze and the Pikachu for himself, and then the group made their way across the first half of Route 2.

The dark forest loomed ahead. Zero never thought he would be back here so soon, and he knew the trail almost by heart at this point. "I can navigate it easily," he told Mark. "I came through here on my way to Pallet Town."

"Where are you from? Pewter City?" Mark asked, curious.

"Cinnabar Island, actually," Zero replied.

"Why didn't you just come to Pallet by boat?"

"The port was closed the day I set off, so my dad just had his friend take me back to Vermilion City with him. I'll introduce you when we get there, if you want."

"Sure. He sounds like a nice guy." Mark paused, then sighed. "If this is anything like the Petalburg Woods, there'll be bug Pokémon everywhere.

"Petalburg Woods?"

"They're in Hoenn. Don't worry about it." He sounded almost sad.

"You homesick?" Zero asked softly.

Mark blushed heavily. "N-no," he stammered. "I refuse to go back there. No questions."

The two silently walked into the forest, their Pokémon behind them. Pidgey hooted off in the distance, and Oddish ran past, chasing each other. Weedle happily chomped on leaves, and Caterpie nibbled on Oran Berries strewn about. Beedrill and Butterfree swarmed in the sky, and Kakuna and Metapod were patiently waiting in their hard shells to evolve. It was a peaceful place.

Pikachu, who had settled herself on Zero's shoulder, abruptly leapt off and dashed into the bushes. He jumped back, startled at the sudden movement, but then relaxed and smiled softly. He knew that Pikachu just wanted to be home, but he had gotten attached.

As he and Mark began walking on through the dense, thick trees, they heard another rustle in the bushes. Out jumped a little golden-yellow blur that headbutted Zero. He lost his balance and fell, the creature landing in his lap. It was the Pikachu! Had she decided to stay with Zero after all?

She squeaked happily and pushed a loose Poké Ball out of Zero's backpack. She rolled it to him, signifying she wanted to be captured.

"Are you sure?" Zero asked, shocked. He looked at Mark, who just shrugged, then at the Pikachu, who nodded and nuzzled the Poké Ball.

Zero smiled and tapped the button of the Poké Ball against Pikachu's little black nose. It shook once, twice, three times, then settled in Zero's hand. Pikachu was his. He released his unlikely new companion from her new home to get a good look at her. Braze was let out of his Ball as well so he could become accustomed to his new teammate.

"How does Glo sound?" Zero asked the little mouse. She squeaked happily, approving of her new name, and nuzzled his hand, the one with the ring on it. Static ran up the arm, causing the hairs on it to stand up. But this time, no pixels rose from it.

"How peculiar…" Zero whispered softly to himself.