A/N Didja miss me? And Barry? Well, of course you missed Barry, that kid is pure dimwit. But, it makes for great entertainment. I mean, he IS fifteen. Read on for more Barry stupidness. Of course, if you get a chance, check out Imperfection, and, as always, R&R. (Quoting my sis, LaLaLaGurl) I'm as hungry for reviews as the late Cookie Monster was for cookies. **** (pardon my language) the Vegetable Monster. I mean, the words vegetable and monster don't belong in a sentence with each other.

Barry squealed like a girl. (A/N Yep, there's Barry again.)

"Imprisoned ghosts!" he cried. (A/N And again. Barry just never gets old. Literally.)

"Imprisoned people, you dunce," April corrected him.

"Cement is pouring down at you! Don't worry! I have a chainsaw!" Barry exclaimed, looking and sounding quite ridiculous.

Barry freed the two and realized that that little encounter would show up on live TV, so he blushed.

When Eric got back home, he apologized to Angela for a long time, explained exactly what happened without lying, and thanked her for being his mom. She didn't subject Eric to anyy punishment, but wore a worried face all night.

After breakfast, Eric's mom gave him a short lecture and Eric insisted that his mom should have some sleep. Eric then headed out.

When Eric got outside, he strolled to Route One, aware of the possibility of a Team Laser Grunt popping out to injure him and glare at his water symbol. Then he realized he did not have his Squirtle with him.

"Hey, dude! I found your Squirtle in the abandoned house!" Barry, arriving out of seemingly nowhere, called to Eric, who obviously accepted his Pokémon.

"By the way, Professor Oak was looking for you. Everyone is waiting for you in the lab," Barry added, then waved and sprinted off.

Eric approached the lab, and gasped at the many large cracks that adorned the walls of the lab. They were probably made by Team Laser. Many carpenters were working on it.

"Are you sure we're allowed to go in?" Eric asked a carpenter.

"Yeah," the carpenter replied.

The interior of the lab was untouched, and he furniture was exactly in the same position. Thankfully nothing was damaged. Alexander and April were sitting down in the couches, waiting for him.

"What happened to the lab?" Eric asked Professor Oak.

"Team Laser came last night, and they threatened me. They shot guns and threw knives at the lab's wall. I have no idea why they are doing this, though I suppose they are weakening the walls for the next attack, but Pallet Town is loaded with extremely talented carpenters that will help the area with any damage," the Professor explained.

"So, Gramps, what are we here for? We already have our starters," Alexander questioned impatiently.

"You will need essential items. I will give each of you 5 Poke Balls, 1 Potion, and my newest invention, the Pokedex version 2.8!" Oak marveled.

Alexander sneered and complained, "Great, more wacko contraptions."

Eric mouthed, "Shut up you freak," to Alexander, who didn't see the signal, as usual, since he was too busy being a douchebag, also as usual. He had spotted a mirror and was now staring dreamily at it.

Oak ignored him and continued his speech.

"As I said, this is a new version. This machine will let you identify any Pokémon you see, native to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova regions. My latest update modified the size of a Gengar, which I increased its height by 2 inches. Gengar is very hard to measure properly," Oak rambled on about his invention.

Oak gave his items to Eric, April, and Alexander. Oak

"Now, I will work on the update, version 2.8.7! When I finished, I will get my aids to track you down and give you the update. I'm thinking of doing a test to see if the Golem weight test I did was accurate, because a week after that test I was told my scale had a minor malfunction, reducing weight by 1.6 pounds," Oak continued, unaware of the fact that the three were extremely bored.

Oak then told them that they were free to go outside, which relieved everybody. Eric trekked towards route one. He was stopped by April.

"Want to battle in the Pokémon center battlefield in Viridian City?" she asked with the same expression as the one Eric had when Eric had just defeated Alexander.

"Why do you think you can beat me so easily?" Eric complained.

"Well it's just a challenge, you don't have to accept," April said.

"But I have a starter disadvantage!"

"But I have a starter advantage! And it's your fault you chose Squirtle," April pointed out.

"You knew I would choose Squirtle! Fine, but I will pwn you," Eric said, enraged, using juvenile language.

Eric stomped away from April. Why did she have to be so good at aggravating people? Eric stepped in a patch of long grass and was unaware he was doing so.

A Ratatta sprinted towards Eric, and he sent out Squirtle immediately, after pausing to listen to Ratatta's Pokedex entry.

"Squirtle, tackle that Ratatta!" Eric called.

Squirtle lunged at the purple rat, but Ratatta dodged with ease. Then the Ratatta countered with Quick Attack, which Squirtle absorbed by going into its shell. Squirtle used Bubble, which hit the Ratatta directly and sent it dragging through the grass. Ratatta then got up easily.

"Squirtle, continue using Bubble!" Eric exclaimed.

More bubbles fired at Ratatta. Some hit Ratatta directly; some just barely hit it, but due to the Ratatta's decent agility, most just missed.

"Finish it with Tackle!" Eric cried. But the Ratatta used its own Tackle attack and collided with Squirtle. Both combatants were unharmed from this collision.

Ratatta tried Quick Attack, but Squirtle hopped on its head and used Bubble on it, knocking it out.

Barry was watching the whole battle.

"You should get an Empoleon," Barry told Eric mysteriously, then sprinted away. It left Eric a little peeved, since an Empoleon wasn't just going to jump out of the wild grass. Wait! Was Barry attempting to trade with him?

Eric then encountered another Ratatta and Pidgey, which he defeated. Then he decided to get a rare Pokémon on route one. He encountered it, and caught it. It was a Spearow. He trained Spearow a little bit, and then took a picnic break.

Eric sent out Squirtle and Spearow and petted them a little bit, and then fed them. He ate his own food and thanked his Pokémon.

"Really guys, I couldn't have done it without you," Eric stated.

Right before he approached Viridian City, he saw a youngster blocking the way.

"Alright guys, ready for battle?"

Cliffhanger, MWAHAHA! Is Eric going to win...OR LOSE? *GASP!* Guess you'd better add this to your story alerts and find out! Will there be more cement poured on his head? Well, as I said before, story alert and review. YES! Yes, you now see your mouse strangely moving towards the review button. YES! Your little fingers are typing up a storm! *Wipes hands against each other* Well, my work here is done, see you in the next installment, from Infernoshot888 and LaLaLaGurl!