Hey and welcome to chapter 3. I don't really have anything to say, so enjoy reading.
Caleb woke up with the sun in his eyes. He recoiled a little and turned over in his sleeping bag. He had forgotten that he had slept outside all night. Caleb couldn't fall back asleep with the large sun looming overhead, so he decided to wake up and start to get ready to move out.
After he had gotten dressed, he grabbed some pastries that he had packed out of his bag for breakfast.
Hope I have enough food, Caleb thought. He had never been good at estimating at all. He looked up to see that Butterfree was still sleeping in her tree and hadn't been fazed at all by the fact that the sun was up. He wasn't heading out quite yet, so Caleb didn't need to wake her right now.
After Caleb was done eating, he released Chansey from her Pokeball.
"Chansey!" she gave a yawn while stretching.
"What say we get an early head start on the forest today, eh Chansey?"
"Chansey!" she said with a nod. Caleb wasn't surprised by this. Chansey always agreed with Caleb no matter what he suggested.
Caleb turned around to go wake up Butterfree, but almost smacked into her because she was right behind him. Caleb stopped himself right before he hit into her. Butterfree looked embarrassed and backed away. Caleb was starting to get the idea that Butterfree was very shy and didn't like getting in people's way.
"Oh no, Butterfree it's alright. I just didn't know you were there, that's all. Are you ready to head out?"
"Free," she said with a nod.
Caleb went and picked up his backpack.
"You two want to stay out here?" he asked. Both of them nodded, so Caleb, Chansey and Butterfree all went into the forest together.
Caleb had been in the Viridian Forest a few times before, but this was the first time he was going through it alone. Then again, he wasn't truly alone. He was with his Pokemon. Caleb just hoped that he remembered the way out. The forest was quite long and it could take people two weeks to get out if they didn't know where they were going. If his memory held, however, Caleb would be out within a few days.
Caleb always loved traveling through the forest. Hearing the birds chirp, seeing the sunlight flickering through the trees, watching all the bug Pokemon; it was truly an experience that you had to do for yourself. No matter how many times Caleb went through the forest, it was always very refreshing, and this time was no different.
But, however good the scenery was, Caleb's brain couldn't live on it alone for stimuli. Usually he had some of his family with him that he could talk to when he went through the forest. He didn't have his family, but he did have his Pokemon.
"So, Butterfree, why did you decide to join me?" Caleb asked his partner. Up until now, Butterfree had been looking around the forest and staying silent, taking in all of the sights just like Caleb was.
Butterfree didn't answer at first. She stared at the ground while she was thinking of what to say.
"Always…to see…world…" she said slowly.
"You've always wanted to see the world?" Caleb pieced what she said together. Butterfree nodded to signal that, indeed, is what she said.
"You…nice. Decided now…time."
"I seemed nice, so you decided that now was the time?"
Again, another nod.
"Well, I don't blame you. I've always heard that one of the main reasons to go on a journey is to be with nature and to see all the wonders that it has."
Butterfree gave a "Free," of acknowledgement and then went back to viewing the forest. It was, after all, the main reason that she had gone with Caleb.
"So, Chansey, are you excited to get to Pewter City?" Caleb asked. He knew that they were still no where near it, but he wanted to gauge how Chansey felt about it.
"Chansey!" she gave out an excited cry, which was exactly what Caleb had expected. After all, Caleb didn't even think it was possible for a chansey to become sad.
"Wonder what type of gym they have or how strong it is. I just started my journey, so I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to beat it."
As Caleb was thinking this, a boy jumped down out of a tree from seemingly nowhere and landed right in front of Caleb. Butterfree was so surprised by this entrance that she dashed behind Caleb.
Once the kid was on the ground, he pointed at Caleb.
"Hey you, are those your Pokemon?" he asked.
"Um…yeah…these two are mine," Caleb replied. He found the boy's clothes rather interesting. He almost looked like he was going on a safari, what with the brimmed hat and the khaki shorts. In the hand that he wasn't pointing at Caleb with was a long butterfly net. After Caleb had given his response, the boy let out a large grin.
"Alright then, let's battle, two on two!" he yelled and ran a few steps away from Caleb. He took off a Pokeball of his belt and threw it. Out of it came a small, caterpillar-like Pokemon that wasn't quite like a caterpie. It was brown and had a horn on its head.
"Wait, I-" Caleb tried to say.
"You're a Pokemon trainer, right?" he interrupted.
"Well, yeah, I guess I techn-"
"Hah! Then you can't say no to my challenge! It's the official rules."
"There are official rules to Pokemon battles?"
"Of course there are! There's an entire handbook written about them. Now come on, are you going to battle me or not?"
Caleb looked back at his two Pokemon. "Alright. I guess." After all, if he wanted to get better, there was nothing better than to practice. Caleb went a sizeable difference away from the boy. He pulled out his Pokedex and examined the Pokemon that he had sent out.
"Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokemon. Beware of the sharp stinger on its head. It hides in grass and bushes where it eats leaves."
"Whoa! Is that a Pokedex?" the boy asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah, it is. I got it from Professor Oak."
The kid was absolutely floored by this.
"You mean the Professor Oak? The world famous Pokemon researcher?"
"One and the same."
"That's so cool! You got to meet the Professor Oak in person. What was he like? Was he cool? Did he know a lot about Pokemon?"
"I think you've forgotten that we are about to battle," Caleb reminded him.
"Oh…right. So…what Pokemon are you going to use?"
"Hey, Butterfree, want to battle?" Caleb asked. He knew that this would be her first battle since she had joined him, so he wouldn't be surprised if she said no. Butterfree, however, nodded her head and got in front of Caleb.
"Whoa! You evolved your caterpie all the way into a butterfree. That's so cool!" The boy finally noticed Caleb's Pokemon.
"Actually, I caught Butterfree as is."
"Oh, really? Well, it doesn't matter, I'll still beat you. Alright, Weedle, use Poison Sting!" he called out without warning. Before Caleb could react, Weedle crawled forward, reared up, and jumped, slamming its horn into Butterfree. She let out a surprised yell and backed away from the attack.
"Butterfree, you alright?" Caleb asked. He didn't expect the attack as much as Butterfree had. She shook it off to signal that she was okay. She didn't have any sign of being poisoned, so Caleb called out his attack.
"Butterfree...uh…how about Poison Powder." Caleb said, more as a suggestion than as a command. He was pretty confident when battling with Chansey, but they had been together a long time. This was only the second day he had been with Butterfree.
Butterfree started to flap her wings harder than she did when she was flying. A small, purple like substance floated off of the wings and covered Weedle.
"Yes! Nicely done Butterfree!" Caleb congratulated. He stopped when he saw that the Weedle didn't even react.
"Hah! Don't you even know that you can't poison a poison type?" the boy mocked. "This will be easy! Weedle, String Shot!"
The caterpillar released a line of string from its mouth and aimed it directly at Butterfree. The string wrapped all around Butterfree, including her wings. Without the ability to flap them, Butterfree was helpless and fell right to the ground.
"No, Butterfree!" Caleb shouted.
"Let's finish this. Weedle, Poison Sting!" the boy shouted while he raised his net to the sky. Weedle ran up to Butterfree to deliver the finishing blow.
"Quick, try Confusion!" Caleb said hastily. Butterfree's eyes started to glow blue and an outline of the same color surrounded Weedle. It stopped charging towards Butterfree and started to be lifted up into the air.
"Wha-How'd you do that?!" the boy asked franticly, his cool and collected attitude now suddenly gone.
"Well done, Butterfree. Now, throw Weedle!"
Butterfree used its psychic power to throw Weedle into a tree, to which it gave out a weak cry of pain before sliding down the tree.
"No, Weedle!" the boy yelled. He frowned and took out a Pokeball. "Weedle, return," he said as Weedle was sucked back into its ball.
"Good job, Butterfree!" Caleb said as he ran over and started to untie the string around her.
"Free," she said with a smile.
"You were great! That was amazing for your first battle."
The boy looked at his Pokeball and put on a small smile. "Thanks, Weedle. You tried your best." He returned the ball to his belt and his serious demeanor instantly came back. "You're not as bad as I thought you were, but there's no way you're beating me." The boy took off another Pokeball and held it in his hands before throwing it and shouting, "Alright, Venonat. It's your turn!"
Out of the Pokeball came a small and round, purple Pokemon with hair all over its body. It had two large eyes along with two antennae.
After Caleb had untied Butterfree, he pulled out his Pokedex and examined the new Pokemon.
"Venonat, the Insect Pokemon. Its large eyes act as radars. In a bright place, you can see that they are clusters of many tiny eyes.
"A Venonat, huh?" Caleb looked back at Butterfree, who was now back to flying. She looked like she could battle again, but Caleb decided against it. "Why don't you sit this one out," Caleb said.
"Free," Butterfree replied with a nod and returned to the sidelines.
"Alright, Chansey, let's do this!" Caleb called upon her. Chansey was happy that she would get the chance to battle.
"Wait, I've only seen Chansey as nurses. I didn't know that you could use them to battle," the boy said in a surprised voice.
"It's a Pokemon, too, right?"
"Well…I guess so. I've just never seen one in a Pokemon battle." The boy pointed at Chansey, "Doesn't matter. We'll win all the same! Since I had the move first last time, it's your turn."
"K, Chansey, let's go with Pound!" Caleb commanded. Chansey ran up to Venonat with her hand outstretched in an attempt to hit it.
"Counter with Tackle!" the boy yelled. Venonat ran up and slammed into Chansey as she hit her fist into its body. They both recoiled from the other's attack.
"Another Tackle, Venonat!"
Venonat followed orders and charged at Chansey again.
"Defence Curl!" Caleb ordered. Because of Chansey's very flexible body, she was able to tuck her head down and have Venonat's attack bounce right off of her back. Venonat was flung back and landed on the ground. It was quick to get up.
"Alright, try a Tail Whip!"
Chansey turned around and started to wag her tail back and forth, which made her look pretty cute, Caleb had to admit.
"Don't fall for it, Venonat! It's a trick to lower your guard! Use Tackle again!"
Venonat ran forward and smashed itself into Chansey.
"You use Pound, Chansey!" Caleb was really getting into this battle. Chansey turned around and ran at Venonat like before.
"Not so fast!" the boy shouted. "Venonat, Disable!"
Venonat's eyes started to glow blue and Chansey was outlined in blue, just like Butterfree had done to Weedle. But, instead of being launched into the air, Chansey just stood there until the blue around her had dissipated.
"What was that?" Caleb asked to no one in particular. Chansey tried to use Pound and threw a punch, but it didn't work. She just lightly moved her hand through the air. It was like she had totally forgotten how to use it.
Caleb put on a grimace once he realized what had transpired. Venonat's Disable had done just that, disabled Chansey's pound.
But that's the only offensive move that Chansey knows, Caleb thought. I've got to think of someway to battle without using Pound now.
"Nice going, Venonat. Now, Supersonic!" the boy called out. Venonat caused high frequency waves to be produced from its antennae. The sound waves hit Chansey, making her close her ears. It wasn't enough, and the Supersonic still got through. After the attack had ended, Chansey was wobbling back and forth. She was confused.
"Chansey!" Caleb tried to call out to her.
"Now, Tackle!" the boy called another attack.
Caleb had to think of something fast. Venonat was moving ever closer to Chansey, and Caleb was running out of time. Then, an idea hit him. He didn't know if Chansey could hear him while she was confused, but it was worth a shot.
"Chasney, grab Venonat!"
Chansey was still wobbling, but when Venonat rammed into her, she grabbed onto it.
"What the-?" the boy stammered.
"Chancey, smash Venonat into a tree!" Caleb commanded. With Venonat in hand, Chansey ran towards a tree and prepared to bash it into the tree. However, because Chansey was confused, when she went to ram Venonat into the tree, she ended up not only smashing the insect, but also her into the tree. Both of them fell to the ground after this.
"No, Chansey!"
"Venonat!"
Both of the trainers ran up to their Pokemon.
"Chansey, are you alright?" Caleb asked. Butterfree had come up behind him to see if Chansey was okay as well.
"Chansey," she said with a smile. Not even ramming her head into a tree could remove that smile from her face.
"You battled well. Take a good rest." Caleb took out Chansey's Pokeball and returned her to it.
"Venonat, how you feeling?" the boy asked his Pokemon while helping it to its feet.
"Veno-venonat," it replied weakly.
"You gave it your all, and that's what's important. I'm proud of you." The boy took out his Pokeball and returned Venonat. Then, he stood back up.
"We'll call that match a draw."
"But you don't have anymore Pokemon that can battle, so that means I win the whole battle, right?" Caleb asked because he wasn't too sure himself. The kids confident smile turned to a frown.
"Oh, yeah. Guess that means I lost…"
"It was still a good battle."
"Yeah, I guess it was. Hey, I didn't ask for your name earlier.
"It's Caleb," he answered while shaking hands with the boy.
"I'm Josh. Your Chansey is really strong. There are very few people who can beat my Venonat. Not to say that you weren't any good, Butterfree."
Butterfree blushed a little.
"So, why are you in this forest?" Josh asked.
"I'm making my way to Pewter City."
"Really? I was just about to go back there too."
"Back there?"
"Yeah, Pewter City is where I live."
"Then what are you doing so close to the Viridian side of it?"
"I decided to stay in the forest for a while and be here for a few weeks. I wanted to catch new Pokemon and to train them."
"Cool. So does that mean you'll be travelling with me through the forest?" Caleb asked.
"I don't see why not. It would be cool."
"Hey, Butterfree, are you tired at all? Do you want to rest inside your Pokeball?" Caleb asked. Butterfree thought about it, and afterwards said yes. Caleb returned Butterfree to her Pokeball and the two started to head out into the forest together.
Thanks for reading.