Chapter Two

More friendships, more Rivals?

Gary tossed his Pokeball up into the air, while Tony unclipped his from his belt, hurling out. With a flash of light two pokemon appeared, Eager and ready for a battle.

Gary's Pokemon, a small brown cat-like pokemon, with a white lions mane type of neck, strutted out onto the field, while Tony's Pokemon, a small blue turtle, stood watching.

"Alright! Eevee tackle!" Gary shouted, pointing at Tony's Squirtle. The Eevee rushed forwards, smashing headlong into the Squirtle, who fell back.

"Squirtle! Tackle him Back!" The Small turtle recovered quickly, charging at the Eevee and tackling with its shoulder. The Eevee fell back itself, before shaking itself and staring daggers at Squirtle.

"Uh…Well…Eevee, use tail whip!" Gary Yelled, and the small cat-like pokemon, strutted onto the field, wagging its tail around. Squirtle watched the Eevee wag its tail in confusing, temporarily letting his defense down.

"Squirtle, Tackle again." The Squirtle shook its head and charged into the Eevee again, the Eevee recoiled slightly, standing up off the ground.

"Oh dang, um, I dunno, use Tail whip again!" Gary said, panicking slightly.

The Eevee continued to prance about, his tail wagging slower. The Squirtle charged, again striking the Eevee, sending it sprawling. The Eevee got up more slowly; tired from all the hits it had taking, and tried to focus on the Squirtle.

"Gah! Attack him again!" Gary shouted.

The Eevee got a look of determination in his face and charged forwards…straight into a bookshelf, the Eevee fell backwards, right as Squirtle rammed into him again, knocking the small brown cat out.

"Yeah…well…uh…that's just beginners luck, you couldn't beat me normally, hmpf, smell ya!" Gary pouted, recalling his Eevee, and storming out of the lab.

"Good job Squirtle! You did…" Tony began, patting his Squirtle head.

"Spectacular!" Professor Oak cried happily, "This is exactly why I choose you! Because I knew you would have a special kinship with pokemon. I could sense it!"

"Huh? What are you talking about professor?" Tony asked, recalling Squirtle.

"You, my boy! I wanted you and Gary to do a task for me! I wanted you two to go in search around the world, and I wanted you to try and capture as many pokemon as you can!" Prof, Oak said happily, " I want you to complete my dream!"

"Well, sure, I mean I don't know if I could do it but, I'll try." Tony said.

"Nonsense, you'll do fine!" Prof. Oak said, turning to the two boys, "What are you two planning to do?"

"Ha! I'm going to become the strongest pokemon trainer in the world, and I want to become the league champion!" Johnny said suddenly, raising a fist in the air before bringing it down. Lloyd shrugged his shoulders while hi fingered his pokeball.

"Ah…such…youthful? Ahem, yes, youthful dreams, well, I wish the three of you the best of luck, especially you Tony." Prof. Oak said.

As Tony was leaving, one of Professor Oaks Aides came up to him, handing him 5 pokeballs.

"I know what your doing for the professor, and I'm very thankful, this will push our studies forward tenfold!" The aide said, shaking Tony's hand, before going back to his studies.

Exiting the lab, Tony was about to exit the town, when a loud blaring of a boat shot up behind him, making him jump. Turning around swiftly, Tony spotted a boat departing from Pallet town, while three girls approached the lab. Suddenly a noise behind him made him jump again, this time when he turned, the two boys from the lab were there.

"Enjoying the view?" The taller boy asked, holding his hand out, "I'm Johnny Bruce, and that's Lloyd Right." Johnny introduced, jerking his thumb towards Lloyd, who waved lazily.

"Uh…hi, Tony Johnson." Tony said shaking Johnny hand.

"Listen, we were thinking, since we are starting off at the same time, how about we travel together. Plus you're a natural at training, and we figured having a helping hand couldn't hurt." Johnny asked.

"Uh, sure, the more the merrier." Tony said, looking at Johnny's pokeball, "Who'd you get as a starter?"

"Bulbasaur, he's grass type."

"I got a Charmander!" Lloyd said.

"Should we get going?" Tony asked, and while all three of them departed for pallet town, The three girls exited the lab, two with brand new pokeballs on their belts, and the third holding a teddy bear to her chest.

"Alright! Bulbasaur Tackle!" Johnny yelled while the small green dinosaur hurtled forwards, smashing into the small rat that lay, already injured on the road. The Ratatta looked angry, but only succeeded in wagging it's tail feebly, while Bulbasaur looked unharmed.

"Yes! Go Pokeball!" Johnny yelled, tossing a pokeball at the Ratatta. It connected with the rat's body, and then fell on the ground. It shook once. Twice. Three times before blinking, the pokeball remaining motionless on the ground.

"Freaking Awesome! I caught a Ratatta!" Johnny yelled, shoving the pokeball in Lloyd's face, while he waved it away.

"Yeah? Well I already caught a Pidgey." Tony bragged, holding the Pokeball in front of Johnny, who scoffed.

"Pidgey can suck, my," "

"Hello." A voice spoke from behind them, and the three girls approached our heroes.

"We heard yelling, and thought a Ratatta got the best of you. Is everyone ok?" The red-haired girl in the front asked, sarcastically. The girl clutching the Teddy Bear giggled, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a Teddiursa, not a stuffed animal.

"Actually, we're doing just fine, thank you." Tony smirked, ignoring the girls insult and stepping forward, "I'm Tony."

"Oh? Tiffany." The girl smiled, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Same here." Tony responded while Johnny stepped forward.

"Name's Johnny, and how do you ladies fare this fine day?"

The same girl giggled again, "I'm Valerie." She said quietly.

"I'm Lloyd." Lloyd said, stepping forward himself.

"And I'm Kat." The last girl said with a smile.

"We'll see you boys later." Tiffany said, as her and her friends walked up th path.

"i don't doubt it!" Johnny said, giving a bow, while Tony punched him on the arm, "Stop acting like an idiot." He said, walking up the path while Lloyd followed.

"Ow…my pride…" Johnny said, turning and following after.

It was night when our heroes finally reached Viridian city, only to find the rooms at the Pokecenter were full, accompanied by three girl who had arrived only moments before them. Forced to camp outside while Johnny and Lloyd visited their parents for the night, Tony set up a small space near the Pokemart.

During the night, Tony was woken by a crashing noise. Looking up sleepily, he saw a floating coin. It drifted sluggishly around, apparently rummaging throughout some garbage cans before floating into the underbrush.

In the morning, Tony met with his friends and they all went to the shop to buy some supplies. As Tony paid for his items, the shop keep approached him with a package.

"Um, excuse me sir, but do you, by chance, know professor Oak?"

"Yes, yes I do, why?"

"Because this parcel arrived and I was wondering if you could deliver it for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Tony smiled taking the package, then meeting up with his friends outside.

"Hey, guys, I gotta deliver this package to Prof. Oak, so just hang out a bit, will ya?" Tony explained, before running off to Prof. Oaks.

When Tony arrived at the lab, he found Prof. Oak talking to Gary. Tony advanced with the package in the air.

"Hey, Professor! I've got this parcel for you!" Tony said. Oak gleefully opened the package and gave a relieved sigh. He pulled out two red computer-like objects.

"Finally! Tony, this is yours, it's a Pokedex! The #1 guide to almost every pokemon…almost an encyclopedia, if you will." Oak explained, handing it to Tony, who put away with his other stuff.

"Aw Gramps! Why does he get one?" Gary whined, but stopped when Oak handed him his own Pokedex, "Relax, I got one for you too." Oak said, turning to Tony, "I want you to fill this device up with all the information you acquire."

"Ha! I bet I can get more than you!" Gary challenged.

"But, this isn't a competition Gary!" Oak tried to explain, but Gary wouldn't hear it.

"I'll smell ya later, Sparky!" Gary smirked, calling Tony by his oh so hated nickname.

Tony walked back to Viridian, and then met back up with Johnny and Lloyd.

"Hey, I caught a Mankey!" Lloyd boasted, smiling broadly.

"Really? Where?" Tony asked, looking around.

"Over here!" Lloyd called, heading to the left of Viridian with Johnny following.

As they trudged through thick grass, a drawling voice came from behind.

"Man, what are you stalking me? Besides isn't it a bit early to go the Pokemon League?" Gary smirked, as he stepped forwards, unclipping a pokeball as he did.

"That's it, I'm taking you down! I'm tired of your crap!" Johnny growled, unclipping his own pokeball, and tossing it into the grass, and a small whit rat appeared. Gary's own pokeball released a brownish bird, but it wasn't a Pidgey.

The Ratatta hopped back and forth while the Spearow ahead jumped up in the air.

"Tackle!" Johnny yelled, and the tiny rat, flying through the air, landing hard on the bird back.

"Spearow, Peck!" Gary called, and the Spearow tried to knock the Ratatta off of it's back by desperately flapping its wings, but Rattata held on.

"Rattata Tackle it again!" The rat jumped off the bird back, before crashing down again on its head, flipping the bird in a somersault, before it frightfully flapped into the air, and landed softly a bit away.

"Haha! Now! Peck!" Gary whooped and the Spearow drove its beak into Rattatas side.

"Hmpf, Tackle it a last time!"

The Rattata did just that, and bashed the injured bird into the dirt. It was unable to get back up, and both trainers recalled their pokemon, Gary replacing his with his Eevee, while Johnny sent out his Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" Johnny called, and vines whipped out from Bulbasaur, slapping Eevee hard across the face, making it growl in anger.

"Eevee, Sand-attack!" Gary called, and the Eevee turned, kicking up clouds of dirt and sand. Bulbasaur tried to shrug off the sand, but it's vine whip missed, striking the dirt right next to the Eevee, while directly after, the Eevee struck hard into Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur shook the attack, and shoot another vine, this one striking hard on the very top of the Eevees head, making it tumble into the ground, and it didn't get back up.

"I…lost…again?" Gary said quietly, looking at all three of our heroes, before turning on his heel, recalling his Eevee. As he was leaving, Tony heard, "Pshhhh, those guys are lightweights…next time…"

"Ya know he was right, the Elite Four is a little advanced for us now." Lloyd said quietly, walking back towards Viridian.

"Yeah…" Johnny said, looking longingly in the Elite Fours direction, before following after.

"So…what's our next stop?" Tony asked, as Johnny swiftly responded, "Viridian Forest. We tried going there earlier, but this crazy old man was complaining about coffee or something, and he wouldn't let us past."

As they were walking towards the forest, Johnny suddenly veered right, inspecting a strange tree on the side of the road. He commanded his Bulbasaur to try and bite down the tree. Lloyd looked on impatiently, while Tony waited Patiently.

"What are you doing?" Lloyd finally asked, as Johnny tried to squeeze by the tree, to no prevail.

"This tree looks funny, I wanna get past it! Lemme borrow your Charmander for a sec!" Johnny explained.

"What? Start a freaking forest fire? No thanks, I'll pass. Besides, you're being stupid, that tree has no relation to anything at all, and we'll never need to use it!" Lloyd said, walking away, while Tony followed.

"Aw…but…oh come on! Guys! Bloody Hell!" Johnny said angrily, running after his friends, to find them standing before a large forest.

"Ready?" Tony asked, staring into the eerie, looming forest, before all three of them took a step in at the same time.

Well…that was fun, and yes I know that a lot of that stuff might have been switched around from the actual game, so what? Ya wanna fight about it? Anyhoo, R&R!

Oh! And by the way, I DO NOT own pokemon or any of Nintendo and Gamefreaks creations, nor do I take credit for them.