Scene 32: A Rocky Start
On the outskirts of Lavender Town Lyrik stops at the Kanto Power Plant. She walks in with her Pokémon at her side. The wild Pokémon all give them a warm welcome. Inside, Zapdos lands atop the destroyed console to join in on the conversation. Lyrik has to come clean… she tells them about her departure.
In the past couple years since she first made friends with them all, Lyrik has come at least once a week to play with the Pokémon and to get some Training in. But today would be the last day she would see them for a very long time.
Some of the other Pokémon have tears in their eyes as they say their goodbyes, especially her Bulbasaur, but he's always been a bit sensitive. After an hour of playing together Lyrik prepares to leave. Outside they all hug once more. She leans into Zapdos' beak and something catches his eye. He recognizes the scent of her scarf immediately. Lyrik nods, "This was hers." She looks Zapdos directly in the eyes. "I may not have known Gramma Pearl, but I know she was a kind and wonderful person. I promise to do my very best out there just like she did… You just wait and see." Zapdos nuzzles her with his beak, happy for her.
Just outside, the Pokémon all wave them off as Lyrik turns to Route 10. Just a ways down the road Lyrik reads the sign for the Rock Tunnel. Though it's extremely dark inside, according to the old map she received from Grampa Fuji, Lyrik knows that this is a shortcut to the next town over. She walks in, following the light of Charmander's flamed tail. Lyrik holds her head up high, refusing to show just how scared she really is. Bulbasaur is walking close to Squirtle, his vine in Squirtle's hand for comfort.
Everything seems fine for a while. She turns and looks at the others wanting to reassure them when a squeaking sound catches her attention. They stop and look up. High above their heads is a hoard of sleeping Zubat. Lyrik gulps. She looks around, maybe there's a way out of here that won't wake them up? Charmander sniffles. She looks down and sees the look on his face- it's as if he's holding in a tremendous sneeze. "Oh no…" Charmander sputters all over the place with his sneeze, the flame on his tail bursting out suddenly. The Zubat are freaked. One by one they all start swooping in, going for the nearest target. The Zubat chase after them all until they manage to escape to an wide cavern.
Lyrik stops to catch her breath alongside her Pokémon. Squirtle is arguing with Charmander. Bulbasaur tries to settle them down. Lyrik doesn't really know what to do with them, "Hey!" A girl wearing all green walks up to them. She introduces herself as Martha and looks around at them all, "By the looks of things, I think you all can use a bit of a break..!"
Martha invites them to picnic with her. Lyrik hadn't thought about preparing food for the journey. Lyrik talks to her about how this was their first day away from home.
"Wow! Really? You're Pokémon look really tough. I'm surprised." Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle look at each other a bit bashful at her compliment. Martha suddenly stands, "Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we have a battle?" She explains to them that the Rocky Tunnel is full of eager Trainers that are also starting out on journeys and each of them Training towards different dreams. Lyrik stands, "Ok! Let's do it!"
The battle is a quick one: Martha uses an Oddish and Bulbasaur, but they're no match for Charmander's powerful Fire Type moves. And after her first official victory, Lyrik is wanting more…
She thanks Martha and the group run off farther into the cave. Along the way her and her team meet with several Trainers and somehow she manages to beat them all. She's now on her 7th battle with a man carrying a large backpack named Allen. It's his Geodude against Lyrik's Squirtle, "Use Bubble!" Geodude barely manages to dodge and prepares for a Slam Attack, but before it lands something pink steps into the crossfire. Allen calls to Geodude who slams into a boulder nearby. Lyrik recognizes the little Pokémon. It's a Male Nidoran..!
Allen wipes some sweat off his brow, "Glad we didn't crush the little feller..!" Lyrik watches as Nidoran scratches his ear. It's as if he has no idea he just almost got squished by a heavy-weight Rock Pokémon. He yawns, turns, and scurries off. Lyrik smiles, "I'm sorry! Maybe we can battle another time!" She waves to Allen and runs off in the same direction. Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle follow after her. Squir-Squirtle-Squir?
"Sorry guys, but…" They see that she's smiling. "I wanna catch him!" Around bend after bend and through the thinnest of passageways, Lyrik follows after Nidoran. It's a good while before he even realizes that he's being chased, but when he does, he takes it as a game. Nidoran runs ahead and waits for her to appear. As soon as she almost has him, he scurries off with a laugh.
"Sorry! 'Scuse me!" Lyrik and her Pokémon dodge in and out of other Trainers and their heated battles, refusing to fall too far behind Nidoran. Just up ahead she sees him down below. Lyrik looks to Bulbasaur, "Can you get us down there with your Vine Whip?" Bulba! Bulbasaur shoots out his vines, wrapping them tightly around a spire above their heads. Lyrik and the others hold on tight as they take off over the rocks, dropping down out of nowhere in front of Nidoran. He slides to a halt, shocked. Nidoran tries to turn around, but Squirtle and Charmander are there. Finally, they've cornered him.
Lyrik pulls out a Pokéball, "I wanna battle you, Nidoran. And then I'm gonna catch you!" He seems pleasantly calm about the challenge. Lyrik gives her commands to Bulbasaur, dodging and attacking perfectly in-sync. Although Nidoran is fast, they have more experience in battling. And with one final Razor Leaf attack, Nidoran is weak enough for the Pokéball. They wait and watch as the ball twitches, once, then twice, then- Lyrik jumps up and down, "We've caught it!"
They hadn't realized just how far the game of chase had taken them. Lyrik turns and sees the exit of The Rock Tunnel. A journey that took other Trainers possibly several days only took them several hours of running around. Lyrik exits the tunnel with her Pokémon and sees the moon shining high above them. She looks down at the Pokéball in her hand. She grins, "The first of many..!"