Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pokémon battle.

The sun shone brilliantly on that Sunday morning. The rays of light bathed Pallet town in its splendor. In the distance, a Dodrio from Prof. Oak's lab cried out. The first of the town to wake up, and it crowed again. The large clock behind it struck 7 O'clock, and the bells on the lab rang out, surprising the Dodrio and making it fall off the roof it had worked so hard to climb up. Red awoke from the sounds, yawning and stretching on his bed. He pulled the covers up farther and drifted back to sleep. Squirtle was within its Pokéball, and Eevee was asleep on the couch in the living room. Red's mother, Julia, on the other hand, was already up and about. She flipped an egg in the frying pan and let it simmer. She flipped the other egg, and once it hit the pan, she called for Red, who paid her no mind, he was far to busy dreaming about tomorrow. She called again, still Red did not stir. So she went to plan B. "Eevee, could you come here please?" Eevee awoke to this, and began to tread over to Julia. She sat obediently and awaited commands from Julia. "Eevee, could you go get Red up please?" She said, with a strangely sadistic smile on her face. Eevee yawned and climbed the carpeted stairs up to Red's room. She pushed open the slightly open door and walked in. She then sat near Red's bed. She began to pester him in all manners, but nothing worked. "No need to be gentle Eevee." Julia rang out. Eevee responded, and hit Red with a tackle. Red was defiantly awoken by this, and gripped his stomach in pain. However the pain quickly subsided and he dressed himself, finishing by putting on his hat. He grabbed Squirtle's Pokéball and headed downstairs. He arrived in the dining room, where Julia was setting the table. "Good morning Red!" She said with that same smile on her face.

"Yeah… sure mom." Red said. He'd seen that smile many times before. He sat down at the table and began poking at his egg. He then grabbed the fork next to his plate and began to eat the egg; there was salt and pepper on it.

"So, tomorrow is the day you leave home. Oh, you're all grown up." Julia said, a slight tear in her eye. She missed her only son already.

"Yep. Tomorrow I head out with Squirtle on my journey. It's exciting." Red said. He finished his toast and moved in on the bacon.

"Just remember to stay well supplied on the road. I'll give you some kitchenware tomorrow before you leave. And another little surprise." Julia said.

"Hm? What is it?"

"No, no, you don't get to find out until tomorrow."

"Aw come on!"

"No Red. Now then, since you already inhaled your bacon, why not spend some more time with Squirtle?"

"Uh, sure? I was planning on doing that anyway."

"Just be careful. No roughhousing."

"Okay mom." Red finished. He held Squirtles Pokéball in his hand and headed out the door.

Red walked down the road. He figured he would enjoy his last day in Pallet town, the soft breeze that was blowing was similar to the one a few days ago. Squirtle popped out of its ball and began to walk alongside its trainer. Red walked through the town in blissful unawareness. Suddenly, Squirtle pulled on Red's jeans.
"Squirtle, Squirtle!"

"Hm? What's going on?" Red said. He looked at Squirtle, then ahead of him. Blue was standing in their path; Charmander was out of its Pokéball. The two rivals looked each other in the eyes. "Hello Blue." Red said. Blue just looked at Red's Squirtle.

"You've been training it." Blue said.

"Yeah, what of it?" Red responded. Looking at Charmander, he noticed that it seemed to have grown a few levels as well. "You've been training yours as well."

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle." Blue said. Charmander stepped up in front of it's trainer and growled. Squirtle stepped in front of it's trainer as well.

"Fine, I accept your challenge!" Red said. Here it was, their first showdown. Red was determined to win. He even had a type advantage. There was no way he could lose.

Red ordered Squirtle to use Bubble, and it shot the water attack strait at Charmander, who was ordered to counter with its own attack, Ember. The two elemental attacks collided in the air and canceled each other out. Squirtle was ordered to use tail whip to lower Charmander's defense then went in for a tackle, but Charmander used scratch as well. Both Pokémon took the attacks, along with the damage received from them. Both Pokémon were knocked back from each other, though they quickly got up. Squirtle used bubble once again, this time it made a direct hit, catching Charmander off guard. It was a critical hit, and Charmander fell over, however it still managed to get back up. It used Ember and the attack headed strait towards Squirtle, who took the attack, not taking much damage, but fell to it's knee, it had been burned. It stood back up, but Charmander had already come in for a scratch attack. The attack hit Squirtles burn, causing extra damage. Squirtle fell back on its shell, flinching from the attack. Charmander took advantage of this and used ember. The attack hit at point blank range, Squirtle took the attack, and threw Charmander off of it. Squirtle jumped back to its feet and blew the bubbles at Charmander. Charmander jumped over them and rushed Squirtle, Squirtle responded by going in for a tackle. The two Pokémon went tumbling. Squirtle broke out of the grip and fired the bubble attack at Charmander, Charmander rolled out of the way and hit Squirtles burn with another scratch attack. This last attack caused Squirtle to faint, ending the match.

Red looked at his fainted Pokémon, held out its Pokéball, and recalled it. The small laser hit Squirtle and pulled it back into the ball. Red looked at the transparent top, Squirtle was now resting inside. He looked up; Blue had turned back around and walked the other way, Charmander following him. Red turned his eyes back to Squirtle. "I'm sorry Squirtle." Red said, putting the Pokéball on his belt. He continued to walk down the road. Perplexed on how he could have lost. He found himself walking into the interior of the town, towards the only restaurant in the town. He crossed the street and went inside, found a seat and ordered some food, some for himself, and some potions for Squirtle. When the orders came, Red paid what he could, it took him down to his last penny, but he would be getting plenty of money once he started off tomorrow. He released Squirtle from its Pokéball and began to spray it with the potions. Healing it, or at least partially, by tomorrow it would be just fine. He stayed in the restaurant for nearly an hour. People came and went, but Red stayed there, wallowing in self pity. He had lost his very first Pokémon battle. Before he even started his journey, and by his rival no less, and that realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Squirtle on the other hand, was feeling just fine, now that it had been healed and gotten some food, blissfully unaware of its trainer's mental turmoil. Squirtle yawned and wiggled its way down underneath the table; it retracted all but its tail into its shell, and went to sleep.

The door to the restaurant opened, and Green walked in, Bulbasaur walking by her side. She looked around and saw Red moping at his table. She sneaked over to him, silent as a cat, and then sank her fingers into his back, startling him. He regained his composure and looked to the girl. "What was that for?" Red asked.

"Just getting your attention, why are you so down in the dumps?"

"Because I just got my ass handed to me in a Pokémon battle with Blue, that's why."

"What? Red, we weren't supposed to battle the others in our class, Prof. Oak said so!"

"Well I did. And somehow, Squirtle lost to Charmander."

"Red, you know Blue is talented when it comes to Pokémon, he's lived with them his whole life!"

"That's just it! I was so sure I'd win, I even had the type advantage. Yet somehow he was able to overcome it."

"Like I said, he good with Pokémon, Charmander was probably just a higher level than Squirtle." Green said. "You'll get another chance."

"I guess."

"Come on, why don't we let Squirtle and Flower play for a bit? It's going to be a long time before they see each other again."

"Flower?" Red inquired.

"That's what I named Bulbasaur."

"Oh." Red said. He got up and headed out the door with Green. They came to Pallet Town Park, and let Squirtle and Bulbasaur play in the grass. The idle play that would soon be a rarity, because starting tomorrow, it would be time to train. Red swore to himself, that he'd never lose to Blue again; he wouldn't allow himself to fail the Pokémon that had put its trust in him. He looked at Squirtle, telling himself that he would make Squirtle as strong as it could be.