Chapter 2

"Well, aside from losing most of our food, I say that this is turning out pretty good, right Bulbasaur?"

"Bulbasaur," he muttered, in an 'I guess' sort of tone, as they walked along the route. It had only been about 10 minutes, since they had encountered that beat up Rattata, who had darted off after eating their food and getting spooked just from looking at them. Ryan folded his arms behind his head and raised his eyes toward the sky "but I wonder what happened to the Rattata, it looked beat up pretty badly." Bulbasaur glanced briefly at him before facing forward once more, his eyes passing over the scenery as they walked, but the red eyed starter froze when a flash of brown and purple suddenly caught his interest "Bulba?" Bulbasaur blinked as he watched a group of Pidgey had formed a semi circle around their latest catch, poking and prodding curiously at what looked to be, the unconscious form of Rattata from earlier! The cluster of Pokémon were on the side of the road, not too far from where the duo stood now "Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur turned to Ryan to get his attention, but the boy was lost in his own thoughts as he continued to walk, eyes still locked onto the sky above while his body moved on auto pilot "Saur..." Bulbasaur frowned thoughtfully, should it help? Or leave it there and let the Pidgey have at the thing for lunch.

Lunch. That's right, that Rattata had stolen their food not too long ago, Bulbasaur scowled at the thought, but then the scowl left his face and it turned into a thoughtful expression, the mouse had been hungry and who knows where it got all those bruises from, would it be right to just leave it there? Bulbasaur glanced back slightly, he and Ryan having just passed the mouse and birds in question "Bulbaa" Bulbasaur frowned and then made his decision "Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur whirled around with a growl and charged at the unsuspecting flock Pidgey with an attack cry, they all scattered and fluttered back a bit, away from the unconscious mouse. There were five of them in total and the one in the middle stepped forward, that one must've been the leader "Bulbasaur! Bulba!" Bulbasaur took a step forward and glared at the leader, standing protectively in front of Rattata. Annoyed at Bulbasaur for interrupting its evaluation of its soon to be dinner, the lead Pidgey retaliated with Peck, fluttering angrily over to Bulbasaur and jabbing its beak at the bulb on his back.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur countered with Vine Whip, smacking the bird with enough force to send it skidding backwards Pidgey leered at Bulbasaur before attacking again with another Peck attack, hitting Bulbasaur repeatedly in the face "Bu-basaur!" Bulbasaur winced and responded with another Vine Whip attack, catching the bird in the breast and sending it backwards with a gasp. "Gee... gee... gee..." Pidgey panted lightly and glared at Bulbasaur, it then stood up and lifted one of its wings, pointing to the mouse "Gee! Pidgey gee gee pidgey!" Bulbasaur shook his head "Bulba bulbasaur," he then moved to shield Rattata directly out of the birds view, meeting the glaring Pidgey with a hard glare of his own "bulbasaur bulbasaur."

"Gee," Pidgey growled slightly and narrowed its eyes, before huffing and lowering its wing, taking a step backwards and turning towards the rest of its followers "Pidgey!" Pidgey flapped its wings twice and then took off into the sky, with the rest of the pidgey quickly following after, Bulbasaur then snorted at their departure and turned back to study the unconscious Rattata. Somehow, it looked worse than before. How long had it been like this, there were noticeable beak marks on her stomach where the birds had poked at it and even some scratch marks from their talons, some of the scratches were light, while others were deep, Bulbasaur could see little specks of blood lining the thin cuts "Bulbasaur..." Bulbasaur stared sadly at the Rattata before glancing around for his trainer, Ryan ever the oblivious was still walking at his even pace with his head towards the sky, sweat began to form on Bulbasaur's head, had the boy not even realized that his starter was gone and got into a tiny scuffle with another Pokémon?

Shaking his head, Bulbasaur used his vines to gently scoop up Rattata and then ran after Ryan "Bulbasaur!" He ran head first into the boy's leg, causing him to snap out of whatever daze he was in and blinked, glancing down at the Seed Pokémon "Huh? Oh hey Bulbasaur, what's... up?" Ryan trailed off into silence when he glanced at the familiar Rattata that Bulbasaur had carried, his blue eyes scanned the cuts and bruises she received and he bit his lip worriedly "We need to get this Rattata to a Pokémon Center, she doesn't look so good." Bulbasaur nodded and handed the mouse over to him, Ryan cradled Rattata gently in his arm, allowing her to rest at the crook of his elbow while they walked "where'd you find her Bulbasaur?" One of Bulbasaur's vines shot out and pointed in the direction they just left "You mean she was lying on the side of the road?" Bulbasaur nodded and Ryan slapped his forehead "how the heck did I miss that?" Bulbasaur rolled his eyes in response and if he were able to talk, he'd tell him that he was too busy lost in his own thoughts to pay attention.

"Oh well, that doesn't matter right now, what's important, is that we get this Rattata to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City." Bulbasaur nodded and they continued on their walk in silence, it isn't until Ryan and Bulbasaur are able to see the outline of Viridian City, that things had suddenly began to perk up and go wrong, for one thing Rattata woke up during their walk and was completely startled to find herself in the arms of a human, she retaliated with Shock Wave, shocking Ryan, literally and figuratively. But soon after she attacked, she wound up falling back in to unconsciousness, which was a good thing, Bulbasaur had laughed at Ryan's unwanted hairdo, for when Rattata shocked him his hair poofed up and stuck out so sharply, that it could've probably been used as a weapon and Ryan made a mental note the get back at Bulbasaur later. Then, as soon as they managed to make it past the sign that indicate Viridian City was just a few more miles ahead, a duo of annoying bullies and their Pokémon decides to block the way. There were a few people gathered around the area, mumbling to themselves and asking why these guys were blocking the way and how they needed to enter city.

"You can't enter the city, unless you pay a fine!"

"Yeah!"

"Charmander! Char!"

Ryan pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the Charmander "Charmander, The Lizard Pokémon. A flame burns on the tip of its tail from birth. It is said that a Charmander dies if its flame ever goes out."

After listening to his Pokédex, his eyes trailed over to the owners of said Pokémon and they certainly were a sight to behold. The taller of the two had short cropped silver hair and blue eyes, he wore a white button up elbow length sleeved shirt, it was unbuttoned and revealed a black beater underneath, along with some black slacks, around his left wrist were some thin silver bracelets. The other one had and outfit exactly similar to the other guy, except his outfit was inverted, with a black shirt, white beater, white slacks and black shoes. His hair was black and also cropped short, even his eyes were blue. They looked like a pair of reject Yin and Yang spokesman or something.

"Pay a fine! Since when? This route has always been free in the past!" Someone spoke up, from the group of people gathered, a brown haired man "Just who are you people?" The two men glanced at one another and then grinned.

"I'm Zek!" said the dark haired one.

"And I'm Reshi!" replied the silver haired one.

"And we're the Ramrom Brothers! So unless you wanna pass, you gotta pay the fine!" They spoke this last line together and stood tall, glaring at the group of people, while their Charmander stood in between them, arms crossed and glaring as well. Having heard enough of this, Ryan stepped forward "look Rek and Zeshi, I don't have time for this! I have an injured Pokémon here and we need to get to the Pokémon Center, so move it or lose it!" The Ramrom brothers looked livid, they glared at Ryan and got all up in his face "first off punk, its Zek and Reshi! Not Rek and Zeshi!" Zek yelled and Reshi spoke up "and secondly you gotta pay the fine, so you either pay up or get out!" Ryan grit his teeth and was about to tell them to battle him and should he win they'd have to let everyone pass, but in his arms, Rattata beat him to the punch, having been woken up due to all the shouting the mouse was thoroughly annoyed "R-Rattata!" she squirmed out of the shocked Ryan's arms and landed in front of Zek and Reshi, baring her teeth, the Ramrom brother's laughed at the Rattata while Ryan and Bulbasaur watched with wide eyes "You think your puny Rattata can stand up to us? It looks so weak all ready, this should be easy! Charmander, show this runt whose boss!" Charmander nodded and took a step forward, baring its own claws and teeth "Charmander use Em— huh! C-Charmander!" Before Reshi even had the chance to tell his Charmander to attack, Rattata had already knocked it out with Shock Wave "What! There's no way that puny rat could beat my Charmander!" At being called a rat, said Rattata growled again and used Shock Wave once more, this time on Zek and Reshi, the two brothers saw stars as Rattata lit them up with the powerful attack, once it was over they collapsed where they stood, smoking rising from their twitching bodies.

"Hey, thanks a lot kid." One of the spectators murmured, before the crowd that gathered dispersed and made their way towards Viridian City. "Whoa... that was cool," Ryan whispered in awe after watching Rattata totally own those jerks, before it turned into a cry of worry when the heavily panting mouse collapsed where she stood "Rattata!" Ryan ran over and picked the mouse up, cradling her in his arms once more, he turned to Bulbasaur "C'mon Bulbasaur, we gotta get to the Pokémon Center fast!" Bulbasaur nodded and the two ran as fast as they could to the Pokémon Center. "Nurse Joy! I need some help!" Ryan and Bulbasaur burst through the doors and handed the injured Pokémon over to the Nurse, who gasped was what she saw "what happened to her?"

"I don't know, me and Bulbasaur found her like this, can you help her?" Nurse Joy nodded and took the Rattata off Ryan's and handed the Pokémon over to her assistant Chansey, frowning thoughtfully "I see, Chansey, please take Rattata to the emergency room."

"Chansey!" The pink nurse Pokémon saluted at took Rattata away "we'll have her fixed up right away," Nurse Joy said, turning to Ryan, who sighed "That's good, thanks a lot Nurse Joy." Ryan then turned around and headed towards the video phone, deciding that since he was here, he would call his mother. With Bulbasaur in his lap, Ryan phoned home, the machine rang twice, before the familiar face of his mother popped up "Hey Mom!"

"Hi dear," she smiled at Ryan and then her gaze shifted down to Bulbasaur "oh, whose that cute little guy on your lap?" The Seed Pokémon flushed bashfully in response and gave a small wave "Bulbasaur." Ryan grinned "So, how've things been since I left?"

"Quiet. I've never had this much quiet time to myself, its great!"

"Ouch mom, that hurt." Ryan clutched at his heart and his mother stuck her tongue out playfully at him, there was silence for a beat, before Ryan spoke up again "Have you heard anything from Dad?" At the mention of Ryan's father, she paused "Pssh, that insufferable man. No, I haven't and frankly I hope I don't." She huffed and crossed her arms, a scowl forming on her face as she thought of Ryan's father "He hasn't contacted me in months! I bet that jerk is out there messing around and faking injuries so he could get some cute young nurse to baby him!"

Ryan felt a bead of sweat form on his head and he laughed nervously as his mother began to grumble about how his father probably forgot about them and ran off with some young girl "Aww mom, you know Dad would never do that..." he coughed and then added "Jelly would probably kill him if he did," at the mention of Jelly, Ryan's mother stopped her grumbling and then smiled. "That's right! Jelly wouldn't betray me! Good to know I can trust someone!"

"Hey! What about me?"

"What about you dear?" Ryan sighed and shook his head, while Bulbasaur stifled a snicker "Never mind mom, I should get going, I gotta register for the Pokémon League." With that said, Ryan bid his mother farewell and cut the link, he hung up the phone and leaned back in his seat "Jeeze, I wonder what exactly dad is doing that he can't even say hi to mom... she's gonna be livid when he gets back home" Ryan paused thoughtfully as a bead of sweat appeared at the side of his head "and I hope I'm not around when that happens, mom is super scary when she's angry."

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur smiled up at Ryan, who smiled back in response before standing up "C'mon Bulbasaur, let's go get registered!"

"Saur!"

"Well Ryan, everything is all set and you are now officially registered for the Pokémon League" Nurse Joy handed Ryan back his blue Pokédex, which he fiddled with, scanning Bulbasaur and his moveset, before pocketing the device. "Thanks a lot Nurse Joy!" Ryan smiled and then stared at the pink haired woman "Hey Nurse Joy, how's that Rattata I bought in here earlier doing?" Nurse Joy gave him a thin smile "well, she's looking a lot better than when you bought her in, she seems to have suffered from numerous blows to the head, neck and back area, not to mention she seems to have been starved! Whoever her previous owner was sure did a number on her, that poor Rattata. I'm glad you managed to bring her to us when you did, who knows what would've happened if you didn't."

"Bulba bulbasaur" Bulbasaur muttered with a flat stare, but both trainer and the Nurse ignore him, since they had no clue what he said anyway.

"Well, I'm glad we were able to help, but we've gotta get going. C'mon Bulbasaur" Ryan motioned for his starter to follow him, which he did without word, but Nurse Joy faltered "y-your leaving Rattata here?" Ryan nodded "Yeah, I wasn't gonna keep her or nothing, I just wanted to get it some help and I know she'll be a lot better off in your hands, so thanks a lot Nurse Joy! See ya!" With that said Ryan and Bulbasaur exited the Pokémon Center and headed straight towards Viridian Forest, their next stop Pewter City.

x-X-x

"We are not lost..."

"..."

"Bulbasaur..."

"Okay fine, so maybe we're a little lost!" Bulbasaur rolled his eyes and watched as Ryan folded his arms irritably whilst glancing around the forest, seeing nothing but trees. He was trying to figure out where they had gone wrong, they were doing fine when they first entered the place, following the signs and the dirt path and all, but then they hit that weird fork in the path and somehow wound up in an empty clearing "Maybe if we head this way, we might find a way out of here." Ryan was pointing to a clump of tree's facing east, Bulbasaur just sighed deeply, this wild guessing was going to do nothing but get them lost even further, what they needed was a map or a guide. Maybe if they were lucky, someone who was familiar with these parts could help them.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here, a couple of bugs got lost in the forest." Bulbasaur frowned, perhaps he wished too soon and Ryan shared the frown with his Bulbasaur, he recognized those annoying voices and glared at where they were coming from beyond the foliage "Oh great, its Rek and Zeshi, the Nimrod Brothers."

There was a noticeable tick on Reshi's forehead while he stepped out from his cover behind a large tree and growled at Ryan "you dumb kid! Its Zek and Reshi! We're the Ramrom Brothers! Get it right!" Ryan shrugged nonchalantly "eh, what's the difference?" Reshi growled and reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a Pokéball, while his brother, who had came out from his hiding spot, did the same "that's it, I've had it with you! Charmander I choose you!"

"Charmander Char!"

"Jolteon lets go!"

"Jolt!"

Jolteon was a fierce looking Pokémon with yellow spiked fur and a very short tail and a spiky white collar. Ryan pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the Jolteon "Jolteon, the Lightning Pokémon. When angered or frightened, the hairs on Jolteon's body become like needles that are fired at its opponents. It absorbs charged atoms and can produce 10,000 volts of electricity." Ryan glanced at the two Pokémon and then at his lone Bulbasaur, two on one definitely wasn't fair but he didn't really have much of a choice, having a feeling that these two wouldn't let him escape without some sort of confrontation "what, are you guys so weak, that you have to team up to beat me?"

Zek snorted disbelievingly "Us, weak? As if! I don't see that puny half dead Rattata from before either punk." Zek sneered at Ryan "what, it ran away from you or something?" Ryan folded his arms and smirked smugly at the black haired bully "says the guy that got fried by said half conscious Rattata." Zek grit his teeth in response and pointed to Bulbasaur "Jolteon, use Pin Missile!" Jolteon gave a short bark, before the spines on its back began to glow and stand erect, the Lightning Pokémon shook its fur and several needles shot themselves at Bulbasaur, who jumped towards the side, without being told "good job Bulbasaur, now use Leaf Storm!"

"Bulbasaur!" The bulb on Bulbasaur's back was suddenly outlined in green and a cyclone of leaves appeared, twisting around the bulb briefly, before they were launched at Jolteon, hitting the electric type hard in the face "Jolt!" The spiky Pokémon grunted as it endured the attack "Charmander use Ember!" From its docile position slightly behind Jolteon, Charmander perked up and opened its mouth, releasing several orange pellets that flew at Bulbasaur "Bulbasaur dodge it!"

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur leaped out of the way just in time to avoid the deadly flame pellets "Tackle!" But sadly, could not dodge the mid-air tackle from Jolteon, this send Bulbasaur flying backwards, causing him to skid to a halt right in front of Ryan, who glanced at the Seed Pokémon worriedly "You alright Bulbasaur?" Bulbasaur nodded, not feeling injured in the slightest "alright great! Now Vine Whip!" Ryan pointed at Charmander and Bulbasaur's vines shot out, wrapping quickly around the lizard Pokémon, who struggled to get free "C-Chaarmander!"

"Jolteon, ThunderShock!"

"Use Charmander as a shield!"

Jolteon had attacked first, its body glowing yellow as a bolt of lightning shot itself at Bulbasaur, who used his vines to throw Charmander in the way of the oncoming attack, shocking the lizard instead of him "Chaa" Charmander twitched from his spot on the ground, little bit of electricity trailing along its orange form "Charmander!" Reshi cried out worriedly to his Charmander, who grunted before slowly standing back up, shaking off the effects of the shock, while Jolteon looked sheepishly at its partner "Jolteon!" Charmander gave the Lightning Pokémon a thumbs up, before glaring at Bulbasaur and Ryan "Chaar."

"Heh, we're doing pretty good, huh Bulbasaur?" Ryan noted and Bulbasaur nodded, they weren't doing bad for their first official battle, especially since the two Brothers were double teaming him. "Well, you won't be doing so good this time! No more games, alright Zek." Reshi turned to his brother who nodded and glared at Ryan "You might think your strong brat, but that's only cause we've been messing around with you. Prepare to be beaten! Jolteon use Pin Missile!" Jolteon grunted and shook its fur, causing several thin needles to come shooting out at Bulbasaur, who easily dodges this by jumping out of the way "Ha, you'll have to do better than that!" Reshi smirked viciously "Flamethrower Charmander, before it gets a chance to counter!"

"Chaarrrr!" Charmander opened its mouth and released a powerful red-orange flame, it hit Bulbasaur dead on, causing the seed Pokémon to cry out "Bulbasaur! Are you alright?" Ryan looked worriedly over to his Bulbasaur, who winced but slowly nodded "B-Bulbasaaa!" Bulbasaur cried out suddenly because a wall of flame erupted around it "Oh no, Bulbasaur!" That flamethrower attack had unfortunately burned Bulbasaur "Jolteon ThunderShock!" Jolteon fired off another bolt at Bulbasaur, which hit him full force this time "Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur groaned, shaking off the electricity but winced again when his burn struck. The seed Pokémon began panting, that burn was affecting him heavily, not to mention that ThunderShock was a force to be reckoned with "Heh" Reshi rubbed the bridge of his nose cockily "There's no way you can win now brat, you should just give up!" Reshi pointed at Bulbasaur "Now Jolteon, lets finish this! Tackle attack!"

"And Charmander you finish it with Ember!"

"Jolteon!" Jolteon began charging at Bulbasaur and was about to ram its head into his face, sending him flying so Charmander could hit him with Ember and finish Bulbasaur off, but a purple blur came flying a Jolteon, ramming the Lightning Pokémon in the side, effectively knocking the electric type off course in the middle of its tackle. Jolteon wound up tumbling and rolling until it hit a nearby tree stump "What the…" The spectator's and their Pokémon were clearly confused, even Charmander had stopped its attack to stare, no one was expecting a purple blur to come flying out of nowhere and save Bulbasaur's butt "Grrr." said purple blur was growling at Jolteon, whom had shot quickly to its feet, shaking off the surprise from being blindsided "Jolt!" Jolteon glared at the newcomer, not taking too kindly to its sneak attack "Hey, its Rattata!" Standing before Bulbasaur, who winced once again as its burn spiked up, was the Rattata they had rescued only hours before looking as good as new, or at least better than the condition it was found in and judging by the way it still had bandages hanging off its form, that Rattata had escaped the Pokémon Center.

"Rattata, what are you doing here?"

Rattata said nothing and instead fired a blue bolt of electricity at Charmander, Shock Wave, catching the lizard Pokémon off guard as its body was suddenly surrounded by the electric aura. Charmander cried out and then stumbled backwards once the attack stopped, it too soon began glaring at Rattata, along with its trainer Reshi "What, you can't beat us yourself, so you have to call reinforcements? Tch, no matter we'll crush you!"

Ryan blinked and then glanced at Rattata, who was panting slightly, but didn't seem deterred from its task at hand, it charged again this time launching itself at Charmander, biting the lizard on the arm with its sharp teeth and Charmander howled with pain in response, Zek then called on his Jolteon to help his brother's Charmander out, by using Double Kick, but Rattata quickly moved away, causing the Jolteon to kick its battle partner. Ryan and Bulbasaur watched this all with wide confused eyes "why is Rattata helping us?"

"You annoying little pest! I'll pulverize you! Charmander, Dragon Rage!" Charmander nodded and the flame on its tail began to grow, its eyes suddenly started glowing white and then a ball of red orange flame appeared. Charmander then roared and the flame suddenly turned into a miniature inferno like flamethrower, the flame slammed into Rattata, sending the mouse flying back into Bulbasaur who at the time was just watching, both Pokémon were soon tangled in an array of limbs as they fell back against the grass. "Bulbasaur! Rattata!"

"Bulbasaurrrr" Bulbasaur had swirls in its eyes from its spot on the grass, he had clearly been knocked out, while Rattata was panting heavily, it really looked ready to collapse, all this strain it was putting on itself wasn't helping the healing process "Bulbasaur" Ryan muttered softly with a slight smile, before pulling out the Pokéball and recalling his starter "you did a good job, you deserve a nice rest." Ryan then stood and glared at Zek and Reshi, who were smirking smugly at the boy, they had recalled their Pokémon as well "Heh, looks like I was right, you are weak!" Reshi spat with a triumphant grin "even with the help of that annoying little pest, you still lost, all bark and no bite." he glared pointedly at Rattata, who bared her fangs and Ryan scowled at them "I only lost, because you two double teamed me! I bet if we had a one on one, I'd wipe the floor with both of you!"

Zek snorted "Ha, as if! You won't be wiping anything with that weak Bulbasaur punk, you should just give up on battling," Ryan grit his teeth and clenched his fist, he pointed a finger at both of them "the next time we meet, I'm gonna cream your clocks! Just you wait, then I'll show you whose truly weak." The Brothers burst into a fit of laughter and it was then that Ryan stormed off angrily, in some random direction not noticing that Rattata was right at his heel, he didn't really care, he just had to get away from those two jokes that called themselves trainers. A real trainer had honor and didn't double team people "their nothing but a couple of sore losers." he snorted at the thought and then leaned against a nearby tree, sure he was out of their area, having walked for a bit to get away from them. Sighing Ryan pulled out Bulbasaur's Pokéball and slumped towards the ground, legs akimbo, his bag sliding roughly against the tree bark as he did so "Regardless of what those cheats said Bulbasaur, I think you did a great job, even though we were outnumbered 2 to 1."

Glancing up from staring deeply at the Pokéball, Ryan was a bit startled to find Rattata by his side, sitting back on her hind legs staring up at him, red eyes blinking. Ryan blinked back slowly at the mouse, before he put Bulbasaur's ball away and gently placed a hand on her head, the Rattata smiled and nuzzled his hand, which gave him the incentive to gently rub her fur and scratch behind her ear "You like that huh girl?" Rattata nodded and tilted her head for more leverage, Ryan just grinned widely and continued to scratch her ear before speaking up "thanks a lot for coming to our rescue when you did Rattata. You didn't have to though and by the looks of it I don't think you should have…" he glanced pointedly at her bandages the ones wrapped around her neck her tightly secured, but the ones that were on her torso were loose, damaged and falling, no doubt from the short battle she just got into.

"Hey, maybe I can help you out a little." Leaning forward Ryan grabbed his bag and then reached into it, he pulled out a roll of bandages, some scissors and a Potion "I'm used to treating wounds, especially my own," he laughed at his own inside joke while Rattata blinked. "Okay, now I can't do as good a job as a Chansey or Nurse Joy, but the least I can do is give you some fresh bandages, so c'mere," he motioned for the mouse to sit on his thigh, which she did as told, surprisingly, considering that hours earlier she had been afraid of him "I wonder what changed?" Shaking his head at the thought, Ryan twirled the scissors in his hands briefly before getting to work.

In less than 5 minutes, Ryan was done cleaning and rewrapping up Rattata's torso with fresher bandages. He rebagged his stuff and slipped the pack back on and in response the Rattata smiled and nuzzled his hand again, to which he complied by scratching her behind the ear. So now here he sat in the middle of Viridian Forest with an injured Rattata in his lap, with him idly petting her "Too bad Pokémon can't talk Rattata, I always wonder what you guys are thinking," said Ryan after a few moments of silence, he stopped petting the mouse and sat gazing blankly at the tree's thoughtfully "I need to catch another Pokémon, but Bulbasaur needs to rest some more after our battle…" thinking back to the battle, Ryan glanced back down at the mouse on his lap "speaking of that battle… I wonder why you suddenly came, I mean why would you want to help us?"

Because I wanted to pay you back.

Ryan blinked and then looked around the area questioningly, was he hearing things?

"What are you deaf? I said I was doing it to pay you back!" Ryan froze and then glanced down on his lap, to see the Rattata peering up at him "what, never saw a talking Pokémon before?" Ryan yelped and jumped back with a start, his eyes widening and mouth flapping like a Magikarp, he pointed a shaky finger at Rattata "y-you can talk!" Rattata rolled her eyes and muttered flatly "yes genius, what was your first clue."

This was new.

Edited 2/5/11: The obvious grammatical issues were fixed and I added more to Pidgey and Bulbasaur's confrontation.