Pikatwig: Chapter 2 is here. *simply waits for KKD to show up* …

KKD: *walks over* Hey. Sup?

Pikatwig: Alright, it's time for chapter 2.

KKD: Ok. Anything to say first?

Pikatwig: Prepare to see changes from the Kanto you thought you knew…

Disclaimers: Neither Pikatwig nor KKD own the rights to anything in this story except for the original concepts within. The rest belong to their respective owners including Nintendo, GameFreak, the Pokémon Company, etc.

Red and Blossom walked through Route 1, attempting to locate the proper direction to the next town. However, Red didn't seem to know how to go.

"Yeah… I'm bad at directions…" Red admitted to Blossom.

Blossom sighed, not sure how to respond before she noticed something moving in the grass. Blossom quickly got off of Red's shoulders and stood ready for battle as a Pokémon ran towards them.

"Oh!" Red gasped, quickly scanning it.

-Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon, Kantonian Form. A Normal-type. They scurry around quickly, searching for hard objects to gnaw. It appears to be jittery and unable to remain still. They tend to gather food in packs, but on occasion, steal food from stupid travelers.-

"Kantonian form? I… well, either way, I guess we can try to- ...what do you mean, stupid?" Red spoke before realizing what the Pokédex just said.

Blossom gave a small sigh as the Rattata stared her down, and then got into position.

"Whatever. Blossom, use Tackle!" Red shouted as the Bulbasaur rushed in and hit the rat with her head, knocking it into a tree and knocking loose some green and yellow shells, "Huh?"

With that, Red quickly got out his Pokédex and scanned the new ones.

-Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon. A Bug-type. It prepares for evolution by hardening its shell as much as possible to protect its soft body. A well known battle occurred in the Viridian Forest between two trainers who simply had their Metapods harden for several hours. No victor was decided.-

"What kind of idiots would just do that for HOURS?!" Red questioned.

-Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokémon. A Bug/Poison-type. Because it is virtually motionless, it may appear dead. Inside, however, a new body is being made. When threatened, it calls upon ally Beedrills to drive away what is threatening it.-

Red then paled as the Kakuna turned towards him and Blossom. He quickly grabbed Blossom and they ran off as fast as they could before more trouble could show up.

"Well… that could've gone better…" Red sighed.

"Saur…" Blossom similarly sighed.

"Sorry, Blossom. I've had run-ins with hordes of Beedrills before. It was not fun…" Red explained as they continued to walk, "There has to be some Pokémon we can catch to help with the first gym… whatever it may be…"

The two then stopped upon hearing a horn nearby. Red turned and saw the entrance to Viridian City, and in the center was the gym itself. The Gym didn't have any features to indicate what the type of it was, so Red looked to his partner and they saw the nearby Pokémon Center. The trainer picked up his partner and walked over to the Pokémon Center in hopes of healing up Blossom.

"Good day, young trainer," the nurse greeted. She had pink hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a pink and white dress, but noticeably had a green sash on her arm to indicate she was the one for this center, "Oh, Red! It's good to see you!"

"Hello," Red smiled, "Finally started my journey. Sorry I took so long to start, Monika. ...or should I call you Nurse Joy since I'm a trainer now?"

"Whatever you think works best. How have your parents been?" she asked as she took Blossom behind the counter.

"Mom's fine… still getting used to my change and all, even after… five years, but still supportive. Even got me a little nifty patch on my bag. As for my Dad? He hasn't written lately, but Mom says he's been doing fine with his job," Red informed, "And this is sort of the newest member of my family, Blossom. She's a good girl."

"She's a cutie," the nurse giggled before noticing something, "...you sure Blossom's a girl?"

"Yeah. She motioned to my patch's pink area to tell me that on the way here."

The nurse simply looked at Blossom for a moment, but decided to prioritize making sure she was healed. Thus, she motioned for a Chansey to come over.

-Chansey, the Healer Pokémon. A Normal-type. Chansey is a kind Pokémon who shares her egg with those who are sick or injured. Chansey, and it's pre-evolved and evolved forms, are an all female species. They are well known for being aids to the Nurse Joys of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh.-

"That's cute to hear. But wait… are Chanseys really Normal type? I swear I recall a quiz question on a TV show that somebody got right saying they were Fairy…" Red asked.

"Yea, that's something that is stuck with the local Pokédex. Can't get the fix until you get the National Dex, and even then, there are still some type errors.

Red just exhaled a little as he watched the Chansey go off with Blossom in tow.

"Are you intending to take on the Gym challenge?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yeah. I was hoping that I could get a hint about the Gym type."

"Sorry. My association with the League Committee means I'm not allowed to tell trainers that information."

"That stinks. You know who can drop that hint?"

"Well… the gyms tend to have signs to say the typing, but Viridian has had its Gym Leader change so many times through the years that it's hard to say," Nurse Joy informed, "Last guy who was in charge was supposedly a Ground-type expert, but I haven't heard who the new one is."

Red simply nodded his head, brushing some of his long hair out of his face.

"...were you not able to afford a haircut, or…?"

"My hair just keeps getting so long that it's just a waste of energy and money to get it cut. There was one time we got it cut, and it nearly regrew back to full length a week later."

"That has to be a pain. I'm sorry for you on that. I do hope that you at least don't get too many mistakes along your travels," Nurse Joy told him.

A chime came from nearby and Chansey soon wheeled Blossom over on a stretcher. Red quickly scooped up his partner, as the Chansey handed a test paper over to Nurse Joy.

"Thank you," Nurse Joy smiled.

"Thank you so much," Red smiled. He then noticed the paper and gave a confused look, "What's that?"

"Oh, it's just a document confirming Blossom that Blossom is a girl. With Bulbasaur, it's a bit harder to tell. When it starts evolving, it does look a bit different," she explained.

"Oh~. Ok. I'm curious to see how pretty you'll look after evolving, Blossom. Well… it's off to the Gym for us," Red smiled as the duo headed out.

Once Red was gone, though, the lights began to flicker. Nurse Joy gave an annoyed sigh as she headed outside to see what was the cause…

With Red and Blossom exchanging a nod, they walked on into the Gym and saw what appeared to be a typical athletics gym with ropes, balance beams, trampolines, and a horizontal bar.

"Well… Fighting-type is what I think we're dealing with…" Red guessed.

However, this was disproven when a gust of wind blew by and she could see various Flying-type Pokémon. A male figure then took grip onto a horizontal bar, did a few flips, and landed in front of Red. The male figure had a cape and red hair, but the cape was obscuring the rest of what he looked like.

"Good day, challenger. And welcome to my gym; I am Lance," he greeted, revealing himself in what appeared to be a skin-tight, two piece, blue outfit with dark blue highlights.

"Wait… LANCE?!" Red gasped, "You're a Gym Leader?! I thought you belonged to the Elite Four!"

"No. I've never been a part of the Elite Four."

"...then that quiz show I saw either got you confused for someone else, or they had a LOT of incorrect questions answered correctly."

"Regardless, I welcome you, challenger. Do tell me; are you ready to take on my Gym?"

"...you use Flying-types…" Red remarked.

"Indeed I do," Lance nodded as a Swablu flew over to his side, landing on his shoulder. Lance gently pet it, the bird cooing.

Red scanned it with his Pokédex, only for an error to pop up. He just sighed and shook it a little bit, but found nothing.

"Oh, sorry. I don't think I'll be facing you with any of my friends from other regions today…" Lance informed.

"And I need prep time anyway… my only Pokémon is this one," Red informed, with Lance seeing Blossom.

"Very well then. Take your time and come face me when you're ready," Lance nodded.

With that, Red and Blossom took their leave from the Gym. They walked back to the edge of the city and sighed.

"Ok. So Lance has Flying-types. Chances are we need an Electric-type to help take him out. I'd only use you as a last resort in an emergency. No offense, but… well… Flying beats Grass."

Blossom gave an understanding nod. The two were about to walk off, but they then heard a Pokémon weakly crying out. Red turned around and saw a small Pokémon was floating before it collapsed to the ground. He gasped and quickly scooped it up, then hearing some electrical energy nearby. Next to them was a horde of Pichus, with a leader Pikachu that had a wicked grin.

"Hey, no need to be a bully!" Red yelled, holding the injured Pokémon closely.

The leader Pikachu simply gave Red a dirty look as it generated electricity. Blossom quickly got in the way and glared at the Pikachu.

"Blossom, we're getting this fellow to the Pokémon Center," Red told his partner.

Blossom nodded. The Pikachu then gave the horde of Pichus a motion to attack, but Red and Blossom quickly started running for the center. Suddenly, the horde was distracted by a smokescreen…

"Easy there… you're going to be okay…" Red gently told the injured Pokémon, who weakly whimpered. They managed to get into the Center and hurried over to the nurse, "Hey. I found this Pokémon getting bullied and it's really weak."

"That Pikachu again…" Nurse Joy sighed. Chansey quickly hurried over and took the injured Pokémon before rushing over to the emergency room.

"How long has that Pikachu been a problem?" Red asked.

"Nearly two months. It's either stealing electricity from the center, or it's bullying other Electric-types that it managed to dupe into coming here. We don't fully understand why it's doing that, or why it's corrupting cute little Pichu into helping, but it's been a problem we don't know how to deal with. I've requested help from the Pokémon Union, but they've not responded because they deem it a 'low priority' problem…" Nurse Joy explained.

Red exhaled a little as Blossom looked over at the ER entrance and looked worried.

"You scared for our new friend, too?" Red checked, earning a nod. He then looked over to the nurse, "Can we at least make sure it's going to be okay? It looked so hurt and I don't want to leave it alone."

"Of course. We'll set you outside so you can keep an eye on it."

Red and Blossom sat outside the treatment room and watched the Pokémon being cared for and slowly being recharged. Red, out of curiosity, got out his Pokédex and scanned it.

-Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon. An Electric/Steel-type. It is attracted by electromagnetic waves. The units at the sides of its body generate antigravity energy to keep it aloft in the air. However, if the energy is rapidly depleted, it finds itself incapable of flying. Magnemite are genderless Pokémon and can usually be found by powerlines. Due to their small stature, they are frequently targeted by other Electric-type Pokémon as a power source.-

"That's interesting… hope the little guy will be ok," Red sighed as he watched the Magnemite be tended to… and saw the Chanseys with batteries, "...the heck?"

-If you give batteries to a grounded Magnemite, it'll start moving again.- the Pokédex chimed in.

"...huh."

The Pikachu that was causing trouble got smacked to the ground and began to glare at its opposition. The Pichu horde that was behind it got in line to defend it, but were swatted aside. The Pikachu looked over in concern before giving a command to fall back.

"Ok, you're going to be mine!" the trainer declared.

Red simply remained watching the Magnemite be tended to. He nervously watched as it slowly began to wake up. After a bit of quiet, Red ended up walking in.

"Hi…" he greeted, with the small Magnemite looking a little worried, "No, please don't be scared. I don't mean you any harm. Looks like you're going to be okay…"

"Mag…" the Magnemite worriedly spoke.

"Are you hungry at all? I can get you some food."

The floating orb looked uneasy, but seemed less so upon the offer of food.

Red, Blossom, and the Magnemite arrived at a food area of the center and looked over the options. The Magnemite sort of shied away from some of them.

"Come on… please eat something…" Red gently told the electric type.

The Magnemite saw the concern that Red had and slowly got closer. The small Pokemon then saw some liquid options and seemed to perk up.

"...oh. You must be young then…" Red realized.

Soon, the Magnemite had a cup of milk with a bendy straw that it was drinking out of. Red simply gave a perplexed look at it, seeing as the Pokémon did not have a visible mouth. Blossom just shrugged as she started to eat a salad and Red had a sandwich.

"Well, hopefully we can make sure you are going to be okay," Red smiled.

The Magnemite closed its eye in a way to indicate a smile, which Red simply giggled at.

Outside of the center, the Pikachu and the Pichu horde had managed to get away from the trainer. The Pikachu panted, clearly exhausted and struggling to stay up when they reached the circuit boards for the Pokemon Center. The Pikachu gave an evil smirk as it said something to the Pichus before they got closer.

Red watched as Chansey approached the Magnemite with a towel, only for the Magnet Pokémon to shy away from the Chansey. Blossom soon used a vine of hers to comfort the little Magnemite and let the Magnemite hold it as it was cleaned. Red simply smiled at the two before the lights began to flicker a little.

"There we go. All done," Red smiled as the Magnemite looked and floated at him, cuddling him. Red smiled and gently petted the Magnemite before the power suddenly shut off. The Magnemite then fearfully held onto Red with its magnets, shaking nervously, "Shh, shh. It'll be okay. We'll make sure the bad Pikas don't get to you."

"Everyone stay calm. The little Pika-nut has been messing with the power again. We'll get power back on soon," Nurse Joy called out.

Red looked at Blossom, who then looked at the fearful Magnemite. The duo exchanged a nod, then Red gently looked at the Magnemite, "Hey. We're going to head outside and deal with those bullies. I promise that I'll be back as soon as I can. Ok?"

The Magnemite looked scared at the two, shivering in place before nodding. Red and Blossom then headed out, as Chansey did her best to keep the Magnemite calm.

Outside, the Pikachu simply smirked as it drained electricity and some of its injuries began to heal. Suddenly, it was rammed into by Blossom, sending it tumbling over and away from the circuit boards.

"Pika…" the Pikachu growled angrily.

"You little troublemaker. We're not gonna let you be a bully anymore!" Red shouted. He then quickly got out the Pokédex and scanned it.

-Pikachu, the Electric Rodent Pokémon. An Electric-type. Normally docile and cute, Pikachu is considered to be the world's cutest Pokémon and is commonly sought after as a first partner. However, not every Pikachu is friendly. Commonly, pulling on its tail will result in a bite or electric shock. Pikachus that are male have a lightning bolt shaped tail, while Pikachus that are female have a heart tip. It has a signature attack to its line, Volt Tackle.-

"Noted…" Red muttered, tucking the dex away, "Ok, Blossom, let's teach this mouse a lesson! Tackle it!"

Blossom then charged full tilt towards the Pikachu, but it was beaten to the punch by it using Quick Attack. Blossom shook its head a bit, only to get smacked by a Fake Out, which stunned Blossom.

"Wait… what was that?" Red muttered, scanning the attack.

-Fake Out. A Dark-type attack. If contact is made, this causes the Pokémon struck by it to flinch and be unable to attack.-

"Peachy…" Red muttered.

Inside, the Magnemite worriedly floated around. It tried to mutter something before peeking outside and trying to calm itself.

"Blossom, use Dig!" Red commanded.

"Bulba!" Blossom nodded as she got into the ground.

The Pikachu simply scoffed a bit before it started to spark. It then fired off a Thunderbolt, not into the ground towards Blossom, but nearly striking Red.

"HEY! NOT COOL!" Red yelled. He then growled, "Blossom, let 'em have it!"

Pikachu simply stood at the ground, but then got struck by Blossom, which knocked it back.

"Alright! Hit 'em with another Tackle!"

Blossom nodded and struck at the Pikachu again. The Pikachu skidded across the ground, clearly starting to look worn down before a few of the Pichus approached it and zapped it with Thundershock, which seemed to reenergize it.

"Ok, that's not fair," Red sighed as he scanned the Pikachu again.

-Lightning Rod. An ability some Electric-types have. If hit by an Electric-type attack, it will energize the Pokémon.-

"Peachy…" Red exhaled.

The Pikachu's cheeks sparked before it fired off a Thunderbolt at both Red and Blossom, which made them both yell in pain.

The Magnemite heard the screaming from outside and, with a brave look, flew out of the ER. Chansey tried to catch it, but the Magnemite was too quick.

Red let out a cough as smoke came out and his hair now stood up wildly, while Blossom ended up struggling to be able to move. The Pikachu simply smirked as it generated more energy, firing off another Thunderbolt… only for something to stop it.

"Huh?" Red gasped, seeing the Magnemite was absorbing it with one of its magnets.

"Mag…" it managed to utter.

"What are you doing here?!" Red gasped.

The Pikachu stopped its attack and smiled. It then motioned for the Pichus to bring the Magnemite to him, the little mice running over to the baby steel/electric type, but Blossom got in their way and growled at them.

"You're not hurting this Magnemite ever again!" Red yelled, standing in front of it, "You are going through me and Blossom, and we're not going to let you get through!"

"Bulba!"

The Pikachu just scoffed before it fired off another Thunderbolt at the two, but the bolt ended up hitting the Magnemite instead. It gave a look to Red and Blossom, which indicated it wanted to help.

"You sure?" Red checked, earning a nod, "Ok. If you say so. Give us a hand however you can."

With a nod, the Magnemite gained a determined look in its eye before it let off a screeching sound at the Pikachu, which left it dizzy. The Pikachu was about to move, but ended up punching itself.

"Supersonic," Red realized, "Alright. Blossom, use Dig! Magnemite, do something from a distance that's not electric."

Blossom dug again as Magnemite focused on what it could do before shooting off a crescent wave of energy.

"Sonic Boom, eh? Well, trouble keeps us moving faster," Red joked. The Magnemite titled a little in response, "I'll explain later."

The Pikachu was clearly confused as it got hit by Blossom's Dig. It then grabbed onto Blossom and zapped her with Thunderbolt, but Blossom managed to use one of her vines to divert the electricity at the ground. After the Pikachu glared at her, it ended up flinging Blossom into the ground before zooming with Quick Attack.

"Blossom, hold on and use Vine Whip!" Red commanded.

Blossom managed to swing its vines at the Pikachu. Magnemite flew up and then fired off small orbs of energy at the Pikachu, which then seemed to explode.

-Magnet Bomb. An energy attack useable by Steel-type Pokémon.-

"Nice," Red smiled.

The Pikachu just growled and then zoomed over at the Magnemite with Quick Attack, grabbing onto it. The Magnemite began to panic, with electricity flowing off of it that flowed into Pikachu.

"Oh, no you don't!" Red yelled, flinging a Pokéball at the Magnemite. The Pokéball made contact with Magnemite and sucked up the magnet while Pikachu dropped, and soon crashed at the ground. Blossom managed to grab the Pokéball as it gently shook a few times in her vines, before it then confirmed the catch. Red simply stared a little, "Oh… whoops."

The Pikachu growled in anger as it glared at Red and Blossom, only for another Pokéball to get flung, this time hitting the Pikachu. Blossom turned to Red, who shrugged in response. The Pokéball shook a few times before the catch was confirmed.

"Nice! Caught a Pikachu in time to take on Lance. Thanks for wearing it down for me to catch it, Red," a familiar voice said as the new owner of the Pikachu walked over… Blue.

"Wait, what?" Red gasped.

"I tried to catch it earlier, but it managed to get away. Little guy was causing a lot of trouble with that pose, so I figured catching it would be a good way to get trouble to stop. Thanks for the help."

With that, Blue ended up leaving. The Pichus ended up all getting fearful and then made a run for the Viridian Forest. An exhausted Red walked over to the Pokéball and flung it, making Magnemite appear.

"Hey… um… I only did that to keep you safe from the Pikachu…" Red began to explain, but the Magnemite just smiled as it cuddled into him, "Sorry. I was going to ask you first, but I didn't want you to be hurt anymore."

The Magnemite simply continued to cuddle its new trainer, Red smiling as he held the orb and carried it to the center with Blossom close behind.

An hour later, both Pokémon were healed and Red was bandaged up himself. Magnemite happily floated over to its new trainer and smiled.

"Congratulations on your first catch," Nurse Joy told him, "Also… let's keep what happened here between you and me. Wouldn't want your mom to come breathing down my neck for letting you get zapped like that."

"Agreed," Red nodded as he petted his new Pokémon, "Alright. How about I call you… Zappy?"

Magnemite smiled and spun midair like it liked it as Blossom jumped over to Red's shoulder.

"There's a Gym we're going to deal with, and you're gonna be amazing for the job, Zappy. I trust you," Red told Zappy in a calm tone.

"Mag!" Zappy cheered as Red hugged both it and Blossom.

To be continued...

This chapter is dedicated in loving memory to Chamchu the Pikachu, Zigette the Zigzagoon, and Leo the Shinx from my Pokémon Blazing Emerald save that disappeared.

December 14th, 2020. 1:09pm-December 14th, 2020. 1:50-ish pm.

You are missed.

Pikatwig: So… I played my first rom hack. And I don't know what happened, but the save data… disappeared. I saved it. Multiple times. But the data was just… gone. There was no "continue" option when I opened it back up. ...I may try it again one day, but the three Pokemon I had in my first run are gone. Chamchu managed to paralyze the first encounter with Static and managed to beat May's Bulbasaur with ease. ...while Zigette and Leo didn't get to do much, they were a part of the new family… and they're gone. *sniffles and then salutes to the air* Wherever you all are… I hope you're happy. I ate a meal in your honor...

KKD: I'm sure they'll be fine, Pika. I'm not being callous, it's just that Pika's more passionate about Pokémon than I am these days, and I think the save thing might have been more on the emulator he attempted to use or something since I tried similar things before, but I don't want to risk too much.

Pikatwig: Um… I think there's a quote that I heard that was decently timed for this, since it made me feel less like I failed as a trainer. "When something bad happens, we need to remind ourselves of this, we are not defined by one thing." *takes a moment of silence and just continues to salute the sky*

*KKD and Hinata then did the same, out of respect, before they stopped*

Hinata: That was a nice quote, by the way.

KKD: Yea, I'm in agreement there, that was a good quote.

Pikatwig: Let's just say it came from a good doctor. *rubs away tears* Anyway… let's get back on topic to this chapter here, shall we?

KKD: Good idea.

Pikatwig: The idea of the Viridian Gym being first was actually because, in an earlier build of the game, it was. Giovanni was set to be a Fighting-type Gym Leader and the first guy you fought, while Brock was second, Misty was third, and so on. As for why Lance is the Gym Leader? Well… we said this was Kanto unlike what you've seen before.

KKD: Wait, Fighting? Then why did we make Lance into a Flying-Type expert?

Pikatwig: Look at his Gen 1 roster for a moment.

*Hinata pulled it up, which consisted of Gyarados, Aerodactyl, two Dragonairs, and one Dragonite.*

KKD: Oh, yea. It's more Flying than Dragon-type. I mean, I knew there weren't that many Dragon-types in Gen 1, but still.

Pikatwig: Also… Lance was voiced by Wayne Grayson when he appeared in the anime.

KKD: Joey Wheeler?!

Pikatwig: Yeah.

*This made Hinata start laughing and she fell onto her back*

KKD: What?

Hinata: Just… imagining Lance with Joey's accent… *laughs*

KKD: Yea, that would be silly given Lance's position officially.

Pikatwig: So, let's go into why it is Blue ended up with a Pikachu and Red ended up with a Magnemite. Simply put, subverting expectations of the protagonist getting a Pikachu. Plus, it's a nod to how both Ash's Pikachu and Pika from Pokémon Adventures had bad attitudes at first. That and, apart from the Magnemite that Celmont used briefly, there's never been anybody in any spin-off that used a Magnemite on their roster. As somebody who grew fond of the line thanks to my playthrough of Pokémon Sun, I wanted to give them a nod.

KKD: I see. I suppose that makes sense. We don't always need to have the expected 'mons on the main team; so many Pokétubers did so many runs where they put different rules on themselves and had different challenges resulting in different teams.

Pikatwig: Yeah. And, I can let you know this, we will eventually be adding non-Kanto Pokémon onto Red's roster. You'll see who in due time.

KKD: I'm kinda curious to see which Pokémon will be included, but knowing you, it may be some Gen 4 reps.

Pikatwig: Given how Blazing Emerald's use of the Gen 4 soundtrack made me misty-eyed with nostalgia, maybe.

KKD: Figures.

Pikatwig: As for favorite parts, I gotta say it was when Red caught Zappy to protect it. Loosely inspired by how, in the anime, Ash caught his Cyndaquil to protect it from an exploding Team Rocket mecha. I just thought it would be sweet for Red to catch his newest partner to protect them.

KKD: I'm in agreement. Zappy just ended up being such a cute addition to the team.

Pikatwig: Glad you think so. And thanks for allowing me to have the dedication here. To quote a song, "you make everything okay, okay, okay. You take all of the pain away, away, away."

KKD: No problem, man.

Pikatwig: Well, let's wrap it up. Just Live More.

KKD: Jaa ne.