Hey there everyone! Thanks to all those who have followed and read my story so far! Enjoy!
"Squirtle! Water gun!" Blue exclaimed, and Squirtle hit Onyx with a stream of water square in the face.
Onyx writhed and roared, swinging its massive stone tail at the smaller Pokemon.
"Onyx!" Brock yelled. "Use bide!"
Blue saw his opportunity. The Onyx was already tired and low on HP…
"Squirtle! Quick! Use water gun again!"
Squirtle scurried up Onyx's body and hit it in the face with its water gun another time. It hopped out of the way as Onyx collapsed.
"Well done!" Brock praised. "You and your Pokemon work well together."
Blue puffed out his chest with pride.
"Squirtle and I do make a good team!" He bragged.
Brock frowned as he returned the Onyx to its Pokeball.
"Just be careful not to get too cocky." The gym leader warned. "I've seen better trainers fail because of pride."
Blue returned Squirtle to its Pokeball, irritated. Why did everyone have to say that? It's as if Gramps is right here nagging me… Blue thought.
"I'll keep that in mind." Blue said, biting his tongue.
"Good. You'll get the hang of it eventually." Brock said. "Since you've won, fair and square, I feel as though you've earned this badge!"
He walked across the gym and dropped the badge into Blue's hand.
"My first badge…" Blue murmured. "Thank you."
"You've earned it." Brock commented, smiling.
Blue left the gym feeling confident as ever. The badge shined in the light, and he was so proud of himself for defeating Brock. He wandered to the edge of town, and back to Viridian city. He needed to train some more. As he got closer to Viridian Forest, he spotted someone familiar coming through the woods. It was Red!
Blue chuckled. It had taken Red this long to get here? Blue was obviously the better trainer so far.
He dashed up to Red, who was reading the Viridian welcome post.
"You made it here quicker than I thought you would!" Blue teased, and Blue looked up. "I mean, you're a lot more slow, so I thought it would take you longer to figure out how to get here."
Red just looked irritated.
"Blue."
"What do you say? Has your Pokemon gotten any stronger, yet?" Blue asked cooly.
"Look Blue," Red sighed. "My goal in this is not to try to make my Pokemon stronger. All I really want to do is try to complete the Pokedex."
Blue tried not to roll his eyes. How naive! Did Red not realize he'd need to make his Pokemon stronger to get it to evolve?
"Yeah, okay. I get it!" Blue scoffed. "But to complete the Pokedex sometimes you have to battle against strong Pokemon, right? Well, at least you have a good excuse to escape from battle if you wimp out."
Red was clearly not as serious as Blue was.
"What did you say?" Red growled, his eyes narrowing.
"Oh come on. We both know it, Red." Blue taunted, he didn't want Red to outdo him this time. "Truth is you're not confident that you can beat me! In case you're wondering, I won't lose to you. No way, now how!"
Blue could tell he have really angered Red, who was now trembling with frustration.
"All right! I'll accept you're challenge!" Red stammered.
Blue smiled. Beating Red in battle would surely throw him off the trail.
The fight was brief. Squirtle beat Red's Charmander with ease, and Blue hadn't even broken a sweat. He left Red at the edge of Viridian City, but not after making sure Red knew it would be better for him to just head back to Pallet Town.
Blue stalked back through Pewter City. Red seemed pretty shaken after their battle. Had he been too hard on him? He shook himself. No. A Pokemon trainer needs to be tough! He sighed. Red had been right about one thing though. Blue needed to get to work on his Pokedex. How proud would his grandpa be if Red brought back the completed Pokedex before Blue?
In the following weeks, Blue traveled through through Mt. Moon and Cerulean City. He challenged and defeating Misty, its gym leader. Lieutenant Surge of Vermillion was more difficult, but Blue now had 40 Pokemon recorded on his Pokedex, and was able to beat the gym leader with a strong Rhyhorn he'd managed to catch. His Squirtle had evolved on the way to Vermilion, and Blue was very pleased with the progress so far. Professor Oak would be proud!
Blue now turned his sights to Celadon City.
He'd heard mentions and whispers of Team Rocket, a band of thugs who'd set their sights on using Pokemon for personal and monetary gain. Blue had even run into one outside of Vermillion, but he chased it away with the help of his Pidgeotto.
As Blue approached the bright city, he could sense something was off. It was still light out, and no one was out in the streets. He frowned. Could Team Rocket have something to do with it? He walked the streets, looking for someone to direct him to the nearest gym, and found his way into a game corner. There were men and women gathered around tables, playing games and chatting excitedly amongst themselves. He could see a young woman at one end of the game corner, trying to talk to a sailor. She appeared very flustered, and the sailor did not appear to be interested in anything she had to say.
"Please." She was begging. "I need your help! The Pokemon are going missing! I've tried on my own, but they recognize me! I need someone to go undercover!"
"Get lost." The sailor grumbled. "I don't want any part of it."
Undercover? Missing Pokemon? Blue frowned. What was she talking about?
He approached the young woman.
"Excuse me miss," he began, leaning against the wall next to her and folding his arms. "I'm Blue of Pallet Town. It sounds like you're having some trouble."
"Pallet Town?" she inquired, looking suspiciously at him. "Well that's odd. I just gave a badge to another trainer from Pallet Town just today."
"Another trainer?" Blue gulped.
"Yes." She sighed. "I guess I shoulder introduce myself. I'm Erika. I'm Celadon City's gym leader. A kid named Red battled me today, do you know him?"
Blue frowned. Had Red beaten the Celadon gym leader before he had? Even after such a humiliating defeat outside Viridian City?
"So what is it you need help with?" Blue asked, changing the subject. "Why do you need someone to go undercover?"
"It's Team Rocket." Erika explained, lowering. "They have a hideout here in town, I think. People are having their Pokemon confiscated for no reason at all, and large numbers of Pokemon have been going missing next to the forest. I told Red that I thought it was probably Team Rocket, and he just rushed off! I wanted somebody to go investigate a building behind the game corner, but it would be best to do it as subtle as possible. If Team Rocket gets word that I'm investigating, I could be in major trouble…"
Erika seemed really worried. What if Red just burst in and the situation got worse?
"Leave it to me." Blue said, and he turned to leave. "I've got you covered."
It wasn't difficult to think of a way to sneak into the hideout. The sun was setting, and the streets were now crawling with members of Team Rocket out on break. Blue figured if he could get his hands on a Team Rocket uniform, he could follow someone back to the hideout and sneak past whatever security they had.
Blue approached one of the members with mock excitement.
"Excuse me sir!" he called to the blue haired man.
"What is it, twerp? Lost your way to the candy store?" the man said gruffly. "Get lost!"
"Sir! I am Team Rocket's biggest fan!" Blue cried. "How do I become a member of Team Rocket?"
"Become a member?" the man repeated, confused. "Are you serious?"
"Yes!" Blue piped up. "Do you think I could?"
"Sure." The man sighed. "You'll just have to follow me."
This is going to be easier than I thought. Blue thought.
He followed the man to a building behind the game corner, just where Erika had suspected. He followed the man past a locked door and into a locker room with more members of Team Rocket inside.
"It's actually pretty easy." The man explained. "I'll grab you a uniform, and we'll take you to Arianna to get your paperwork started."
Blue smiled. Piece of cake. Once I have the uniform I'll blend right in…
After he had changed into a black Team Rocket uniform, the man hurried off to see if Arianna was available to talk to them.
Suddenly, an alarm went off, and an electronic voice boomed: INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. All of Team Rocket sprang into action, and Blue saw his chance! He hurried out of the locker room and into the maze-like Team Rocket hideout…
Erika had said that they were stealing Pokemon, so they had to be keeping them locked up somewhere. He shuffled down the hallway, peering in through doorways and being careful not to set off booby traps. He passed a hallway and saw Red battling a Team Rocket grunt. Figures. He's always gotta be the hero…
He dashed by, pulling his hat over his face just in case Red recognized him. As he passed one door, he noticed a squeaking sound was coming from inside. He paused and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear Pokemon inside!
He quickly turned the knob and found massive amounts of Pokemon in cages!
"Don't worry guys!" He whispered, hastily getting to work unlocking the cages.
Pokemon after Pokemon leaped out and hurried out the door. Blue moved as fast as he could, but there was still one Pokemon left!
The Growlithe pawed at its cage, whining.
"Hang on!" Blue called, working at the latch.
"Stop! What are you doing?!" a voice came from the doorway. "Traitor!"
Blue turned to see the blue haired man from earlier, looking appalled. The man threw a Pokeball.
"Go Koffing!" the man yelled.
Blue paused and tossed a Pokeball as well.
"Go get 'em Wartortle!" he commanded.
The Wartortle and Koffing fought as Blue fumbled at the latch. With a click the cage swung open, and the Growlithe joined the fight, tackling the Koffing to the ground!
"Koffing, come back!" the man called. "You win this time."
Blue called Wartortle back as the man ran off, and the Growlithe sat staring at him.
"Why aren't you running?" Blue wondered. "You need to get out of here!"
The Growlithe stood, but fell back down, licking its hind paw. It must be injured!
It sat, whining, and Blue knew he had no choice. He scooped the Growlithe up and made his way back throught the hideout. He could hear footsteps following hard on his heels but he just kept running. He needed to get this Growlithe to safety!
He scrambled up the stairs, trying not to drop the fluffy Pokemon. He burst out of the doors into the cool night, and sprinted down the street and around the corner towards the gym. He caught a whiff of something acrid, and Blue wrinkled his nose. It was coming from the direction of the gym. Blue sniffed again and his eyes widened.
Fire!