CHAPTER 5

"Thanks, Elm. Hey, uh... Do you know where the nearest Gym is?"

"Dave, you're perfectly fine. You don't need to go to a Gym!" What is he talking about?

"I meant a Pokemon Gym. To earn badges from. I want to try to be the Champion."

"Oh! Sorry. The nearest Pokemon Gym is in... Violet City. It's to the northwest of Mr. Pokemon's house. Don't forget to train your Chikorita on the way there. Bye!" I leave the building. Lyra is right outside, and she seems to be waiting for me.

"Dave! Hi! I want to show you how to catch a Pokemon. Follow me!" She grabs my wrist and drags me outside of Newbark. "First you have to go into the grass, like this! You wait for a Pokemon to show up, and you send out your own Pokemon." A Rattata comes out from behind a tree, and her Marill attacks it. "You weaken the Pokemon by battling it, and then throw a Pokeball. It's best to get their HP down into the red first." HP? The red? Is this some kind of RPG or something? She releases the Rattata, and turns around to face me. "Here. You can have these." She hands me five Pokeballs.

"Wait... Only five?"

"You can buy more at the Cherrygrove Pokemart, I think." She walks off, without even saying good-bye.

"Cilantro, what do you think? Should we get some more Pokemon friends?" He nods, and we head to Route 46 to try and get something good. "Remember, we need Pokemon that are good against whatever the Violet City Gym's Pokemon are. I think it's a flying-type Gym, so I might not be able to use you in it. If I'm correct, there are Geodude on this Route. If we catch one, we can train it and have it defeat the Violet Gym."

The first Pokemon we encounter is a Rattata. I don't plan on catching one, so I just have Cilantro defeat it. The second one is a Spearow. They're pretty good, but I still don't want one. I'd be better off finding a Pidgey on the next Route. Just as I'm about to give up, I trip on a big, gray rock. I land face-first on the ground. Getting up, I notice something. This rock has arm-like things coming out of the sides.

"Cilantro, come here. Aim a Razor Leaf at that rock. The one with the, uh, arms." Cilantro did as I told him. I picked him up and backed up a few steps as the rock started to shake. It slowly rose out of the ground and made an odd noise, then turned around to face us. Cilantro jumps out of my arms.

"Hey, wait! I never told you to-" Without even hearing a command, Cilantro began to spam Razor Leaf. When the Geodude looked weak enough, he stopped attacking it. I pulled out a Pokeball and threw it at the Geodude. I waited one... Two... Three seconds for the ball to click. So be it... I just caught my first Pokemon! The thought kept racing through my head. Maybe it would be with me until I went to challenge the Elite Four. Maybe it would help me become the Champion! No. I tell myself to stop thinking like that. For now, I just have to worry about getting to Violet City before dark. I also had to catch a Pidgey and a Mareep. I had heard rumors of Gastly somewhere in Violet, but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

My third Pokemon was a Pidgey named Faygo. I hadn't really thought of a name for my Geodude, so for now I'll call him Rocky. It suits him well.

Looking up at the sky, I see that us three made good time. It's no where near dark yet, meaning we can train for another hour or so, or explore the city. I had already healed my Pokemon up twice in Violet, and I knew where the Gym was already. There was even a kid in Violet who would give me an Onix if I gave him a Bellsprout.

I had been looking for one for a while, and I had started to think that maybe he gave me the wrong Route. All I had encountered were Pidgey and Rattata, and a Trainer. I had even found a Pokeball just lying on the ground, empty. As I was about to leave to go to the Route south of Violet, I heard a loud screech. Or... Something like that. I decided that whatever it was, it would have to get though Rocky before it got to me. I heard the screech again.

"Rocky, get ready. I don't know what that is." Again, I hear a screech. Than, I see something yellow come out from the grass. It's a Bellsprout! "Rocky, be careful. This thing is a grass-type. It could do serious damage to you. But you know what to do." The battle started off good. Near the end, it got harder.

"Rocky, come back. This thing is too strong for you to battle." But he refused. "Rocky. Come back." Still nothing, and I could tell this was it. A few more Vine Whips from this Bellsprout, and I would be back to two members on my team. "Rocky, come back. Please. I don't want you to leave us. Come back before you have to." But he still refused. I didn't know what to do, or why he wouldn't come back. All I knew was that this Bellsprout was going to die. It was because of some stupid Onix that Rocky was about to die. The stupid Onix, whom I could never trade a Bellsprout for after I remembered its name. Rocky.

Something wet and cold ran down my face as I witnessed my first Pokemon leave us. I knew what it was, but I refused to believe that I was crying. I couldn't help it, though. This Pokemon had been my ticket to victory, and I had lost him. I should've just called him back to his Pokeball. But I was too stupid to do just that.

I had Faygo defeat the Bellsprout. After that was done, he had a nice salad for dinner. None of us wanted to see that Bellsprout ever again, and for some reason, I had a vegetarian Pidgey. Odd.

I dug a hole about twice the size of Rocky, and we buried him. I had Cilantro use Razor Leaf to cut some bark off a tree nearby, and I had Faygo use his beak to carve words into the bark.

Here Lies Rocky

The Best Geodude

You will be missed...