After the Pewter Gym battle, Leaf met a lot of goals that sauntered about in her mind; seemingly ignoring anything else that got to her way, with her destinations as an exception. With these goals adjoined to her, they almost felt impossible for the beginner – however, with her independence, she felt as if everything she does can lead to success; she can absolutely guarantee that.
While travelling through fringes of Route 3, it wasn't really a long road to go for, based on her prior experience. But she had to stop by and catch some Pokémon to at least progress her Pokédex, perhaps even make up a team already. Leaf had to be picky because a Pokémon team she comes up with has to be the most strategic, just like how she was picky with food.
She figured her two Pokémon is a good start, two rare Pokémon, to be certain. Her Bulbasaur is a dual-type, which could advantage over Fairy-types and Grass-types – she can't worry much about Psychic-types though, to her, they weren't that common. While her Pikachu can withstand some types, she only is weakened by one type so it's wise if she could have the TM Dig to hopefully avoid them – then again, the Earthquake move is possibly frequent to these Ground-types.
Leaf stumbled to a Pokémon Center which was right beside a cave entrance; it looked like it was the only path to progress her journey to Cerulean City. Since it was one of those caves, she figured that there were commonly rock and ground-types so she had her Bulbasaur ready.
As she entered the pothole, its interior looked somewhat vast than the outside. The cave looked lonely but there were vague cries of Zubat lurking in the cave, which Leaf conceived that there were the most common around.
"Man, it's so empty here." Leaf heaved a sigh to herself, almost feeling as if she was the only living thing in the universe because of this eerie aura of the cave. "Maybe I should get out Daisy and Jitters, they'll keep me some company." She whispered, appreciative for having Pokémon for herself.
She hurled two Pokéballs into the air, emitting a vibrant white light that outlined the shape of each Pokémon. Soon enough, the light flashed out of the scene which revealed her only party.
Leaf laughed a bit, crouching down to reach the level of her Pokémon. "Feels good to be out of that ball, right?" She cooed sweetly, flashing a small grin at their slightly awe-struck faces – like they never were in a cave before.
"Oh wow!" Daisy exclaimed with a cry of awe, her trainer quite gave her a surprise of delight. Despite of the cave's eeriness, some people can at least notice its inner beauty. "This is the first time I went into a cave!"
Jitters narrowed her eyes in disinterest, darting her small cute black eyes to observe her surroundings. "I think the forest was much worst." She confirmed for herself – quite honestly, she was actually up for the adventure through the cave.
"Okay, guys!" Leaf hollered determinedly, gathering the attention of her party. "We're at Mt. Moon, pretty big but I know we can get through it!" She assured, giving thrill to her dearest Pokémon; who replied with their settled cries.
The team had to tire themselves out a bit from the annoying Zubat that flew energetically to them, but they were easily told off by Jitters' continuous Thundershocks which was very strategic. As well for the Geodude who came bulging over them, they were degraded by Daisy's Vine Whips.
But then, Daisy was engulfed with light surfacing around and in her, a feeling of surprise and worry shocked her – it wasn't because she didn't want to change her form, it was because she's anticipating for the future she'll receive with this new form. For months being a Bulbasaur, for days being with her beloved trainer in this basic form, she has to evolve to improve herself and give pride for her trainer.
"Daisy, you're evolving!" Leaf said aloud, stating the obvious event. "Relax, relax, it'll be fine." She suddenly calmed herself down, crouching down along with Jitters to observe the bulb Pokémon's transformation.
"Bulba!" Daisy cried out in sudden delight, closing her eyes to compose herself and let the white light change her form.
Leaf knew this would only take a few moments for her evolution to finish, so she had to keep this memorable because this felt like a milestone she accomplished. Honestly, the white-capped trainer can't help herself in being content with this overwhelming occurrence.
The white light distinguished itself from the already developed form of Bulbasaur – Daisy now looked a little more intimidating, but that, of course, won't change how she is. She still kept the blue-green skin she had as a Bulbasaur, and her green patches grew more darkish and enlarged a bit. The bud on her back was a little more developed than her last form; it almost looked like it was about to bloom into a beautiful flower and leaves started to grow attached to it.
"Wow!" Leaf exclaimed in surprise, reaching over to hug her beloved starter Pokémon affectionately. "Look at my Bulbasaur, all grown now into an Ivysaur! You'll definitely do great for the future!" She reassured her Bulbasaur, which lightened up in delight.
Jitters sauntered over to them with a half-smile, looking at Daisy's new form in interest. "Wow, you look cool!" She praised gleefully, genuinely grinning at Daisy's success. "Now that you evolved, I'm now in deep thought for me…" She mused.
Daisy smiled a bit at her compliment and happily replied. "It's your choice! It won't affect you or any of us; you'll stay as the same Pikachu we know and love!" She sang sweetly, rising up Jitters' self-confidence.
"Gee, thanks!" Jitters thanked bashfully, twitching her pointy ears to expose her embarrassment. The Pikachu really liked compliments, it surely raised the bar for her – she felt as if she could be inspirational like Daisy, for once.
Leaf patted the heads of her two Pokémon, standing up finally as she made up her mind. "Alright, let's continue forward!" She said earnestly, drawing her Pokémon to follow her lead.
It was almost the same cycle of defeating Zubat and Geodude, additionally Paras as they reached a new floor – again, it was easy for Daisy to defeat a Paras because of its double weakness to Poison-types. Leaf surely felt lucky today, but she heard rumours of aliens lurking in the mountain but weren't commonly found. Well, there's another goal for her.
"Clef, clef!" An unfamiliar cry distinguished the silent aura of the cave, appearing to be the only sound source at the time.
Swiftly, the team jumped behind the cave to observe the tactic of the unfamiliar cry's owner; it sounded innocent than they expected, though it could be false, in a way.
As expected, a bipedal, pink Pokémon walked out from its usual spot. Not looking aware of the trainer and Pokémon spying about at it, though it looks a bit happier with its surroundings than being afraid from it.
"Alright, I think that's the one." Leaf whispered to her Pokémon, facing them to start up a plan to capture the cute, bipedal Pokémon. "Who wants to make the first move?" She asked.
Jitters immediately stood up as command and raised her paw in protest. "Pika, pika!" She cried, which translated from; "I volunteer as tribute!"
Leaf chuckled at her Pikachu's positivity – the cute little rodent was ever so optimistic when she's around, with her in hand; she knows she can trust her team.
"Alright, alright." Leaf trailed off with a believing laugh. "Get outta there!" She called out with determination, holding up a finger to gesture her beloved Pikachu onto battle.
The Clefairy was a little apathetic at first, but upon hearing the voice of a command – she suddenly got panicked and swiftly started to attack by releasing a voice that seemed to take away the turn of Jitters.
Leaf tried to be indifferent by commanding to her Pikachu to counter. "Jitters, use Quick Attack!"
Enlightened by the command, Jitters crouched down and began to dash rapidly to the aware fairy Pokémon, clashing against it to procure damage to weaken the target.
"Clef!" The fairy Pokémon cringed in pain before hastening her paw up, swiftly slapping Jitters twice. Planning to do more than two slaps, it raised its paw again only to stop in place which shocked it.
Leaf felt bursting with courage at this point. "Must be your static, Jitters!" She yelled as it's a matter of fact. "Now, use Electro Ball!"
Jitters nodded in understanding, jumping high enough to at least make the move have a greater damage; an electric ball formed on her tail along with several statics to intimidate how strong the move could be, after the orb was full developed, Jitters quickly took the opportunity to hurl the electric orb by slapping it down with her tail.
"C-Clefairy!" Clefairy quivered in pain, a few burn marks stinging its skin as it slowly fainted quite dramatically.
Leaf ran up and threw a Pokéball in the air, absorbing the fainted fairy Pokémon inside the capsule. With only a few light shakes, the Pokéball glowed red to signal it was successfully caught.
"Oh yeah!" The white-capped trainer cheered jubilantly, swiping up the Pokéball as she raised it up to show her team that they finally have a new teammate. "Great job, Jitters!" She praised, patting the head of the rodent.
"Yeah, I did it!" Jitters cried in delight, grinning sheepishly at her trainer.
Daisy walked up to them with leisure with a smile. "You did awesome, Jitters! That Electro Ball sure was scary, heh!" She chuckled quite nervously, but that sweet smile never left her face.
Leaf smiled down at her team communicating with each other but felt a light shine down at them; quickly noticing, she looked up to see Mt. Moon's exit which filled her relief. "Hey, guys! There's the exit!" She signalled, standing up while grabbing out two Pokéballs. "Here, have some rest! I'll do the walking!"
"Aye!" They both called out in delight, before being sucked in the capsule.
The trainer smiled and approached the cave's exit with caution and pride. "Cerulean City, here I come!"
A/N: Well, now I have a name suggestion! Thanks to some close friend from Wattpad! ;)