Chapter Three
New Pokemon, Strategic plans
"Ready?" Tony asked, staring into the eerie, looming forest, before all three of them took a step in at the same time. A crisp scent hung in the air while a few bird chirped in the distance. Sunlight peered through the treetops whilst leaves gently drifted downwards, landed softly on the ground.
"Ok, ok, this forest is pretty big, and a valuable training experience we cannot ignore!" Johnny proclaimed.
"Yeah, we should split up." Lloyd suggested, and Johnny nodded vigorously, "Yeah! Lloyd you go left, I'll head forwards, and Tony, go right! We meet back here in an hour or so." Johnny explained, already striding forwards.
Johnny continued forwards until he reached a left turn, and took it.
"Oh great, a dead end…what excitement…" Johnny sighed, as he approached a think mass of trees that were too thick for any normal human being to squeeze through. Suddenly movement from behind him caused him to spin. Spotting a small Weedle that was perched on a large blade of grass, facing away from him. Silently releasing his Ratatta into the grass he whisper for it to attack. The tiny rat dodged passed leafs and branches and leapt towards the non-alert Weedle. Right as the Ratatta was about to strike the small bug, its sharp tail glinted dangerously as it plunged out into the Ratattas shoulder. The Ratatta squealed and only clipped the Weedle, sending it flying off its leaf.
"What? The bug knew we were coming?" Johnny yelped, "Tackle it!"
Rattata jumped up and smashed into the Weedle, the Weedle flung backwards. When the Rattata landed, it stumbled a bit, and stared at the Weedle, panting slightly.
"Ack! Rattata must be poisoned!" Johnny cried, checking his pockets for any spare antidotes, but to no prevail.
The Weedle rose up on its hind legs, and a thick, sticky colorless spray shot out of its mouth and at Ratatta. Rattata barely managed to get out of the way, and the sticky gunk stuck itself onto Ratatta's tail. The string on the tail weighed down the Rattatas back end, causing it to move slowly. Regardless, the Rattatas determination sent it attacking the Weedle again, this time knocking it out.
"Alright, that must have been a critical hit! Good job Rattata. " Johnny congratulated, before the Rattata swayed slightly, falling down to the ground, the poison taking its toll. Sighing, Johnny recalled Rattata and decided to train his Bulbasaur a bit.
Meanwhile, Lloyd had been doing his own training, and after frying countless bugs and beating up other bugs, he decided it was time for a lunch break. Lloyd sat on the ground and pulled out some sandwiches to feast upon. Setting his food down, he pulled some pokefood out and broke some pieces off the main pokemunch bar. Handing it to Mankey and Charmander, he reached for his own sandwich he was surprised to find it was no longer there.
Standing up, he looked behind him and spotted a small yellow rodent chewing on his sandwich.
"Psst! Mankey, karate chop!" Lloyd whispered.
The Mankey looked up form its food and spotted the small mouse. Leaping into the air and screaming loudly, and frightening Lloyd, Charmander, and the Pikachu out of their minds, the Mankey drove its hand into the Pikachu neck. The Pikachu cried silently, and simply fell over sideways. Standing up to get a better view, Lloyd saw that the Pikachu was still awake. Suddenly the Pikachu glowed and a bright wave of electrical energy blasted out of the Pikachu, passing through the Mankey and stiffening its muscles.
Lloyd threw a pokeball at the mouse, promptly capturing the electric rodent in the mechanical ball.
"Heh heh heh!" Lloyd laughed; turning around to find Charmander had shuffled through his backpack and ate the remainder of his sandwiches.
Walking carefully through the underbrush, Tony was following the trail of a particularly sly and quick Caterpie. The Caterpie had strung shot Tony's shoe to the ground, then fled in the cover of the brush around him. Wrenching his foot free, Tony had begun to vigorously search for the small bug. Pushing aside some grass he spotted the Caterpie drinking out of a small puddle, no doubt all that running tired it out. Sending Squirtle out, Tony commanded the Squirtle to tackle. Hearing his voice the Caterpie jumped up and looked in Tony's direction, just in time to be smashed by a charging Squirtle. The Caterpie smashed into a log and rose up on its tail, glaring at Squirtle. It suddenly leapt out and landed on the Squirtles back. Aiming down, the Caterpie sprayed a ling on string at the Squirtles tail, sticking it into the ground. The Squirtle smiled before leaning back, breaking the strings and smashing, back first, into the ground, with the poor Caterpie under it. Throwing a pokeball out at the dazed and injured Caterpie, Tony swiftly captured it, just as a net hit the ground where the small bug just was.
"Hey! That was mine!" A whiney voice came from the rather angry-looking bug catcher who stood in font of Tony.
"No it's not!"
"Yes it is!"
"Nuh-uh"
"Uh-huh!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Fine!" Tony shouted, realizing this was going nowhere, "How 'bout we settle this with a match! Winner gets my Caterpie!"
"You mean my Caterpie."
"Whatever!" Tony shouted, throwing up his pokeball up in the air, releasing Pidgey.
"Go Weedle!" The Bug-catcher called.
"Pidgey tackle!"
The Pidgey dived down at the Weedle, hitting it so that the Weedle flew up into the air. The Weedle, who was now hurtling, and spinning, back towards the ground, tried to shoot a sheet of string at the Pidgey, but missed completely. The Pidgey swooped around and hit the Weedle again, while the Weedle was still mid-air, sending him higher. After that gravity did its work and the Weedle hit the ground with a dull thud.
"Gah!" The bug-catcher cried, before sending out another pokemon, this one being a Metapod. The Pidgey dived in for another tackle, and sent the Metapod spinning across the ground. Righting itself, the Metapod gleamed metallically, and remained where he was. The Pidgey struck again, but this time the Metapod barely moved, and shined again. The Pidgey, looking a little dazed, flew into the Metapod again. This time the Pidgey struck with a resounding clang, and it was clearly noticeable that the Metapod hadn't even moved. The Pidgey fell back, unconscious, while Tony gaped in shock.
"Wha…what just happened?"
"Ha! Haha! My Metapods harden worked like a charm! He's Unstoppable!" The bug-catcher laughed, as his Metapod gleamed dangerously. While the bug-catcher laughed in glee, Tony simply smirked, tossing out another pokeball, to reveal Squirtle.
"Bubble." Tony commanded.
The Squirtle unleashed a small volley of bubbles, which crashed against the Metapod, the water surpassing his defense. Surprised at the sudden burst of pain, the Metapod did the only thing it could do. It hardened. Of course, that did no good when the next volley of bubbles hit the Metapod, knocking it out.
"Fine! Fine! Keep the Caterpie, I didn't need it anyway!" The bug-catcher cried, sulking off into the woods. Tony turned from where he was and walked back to where his friends were waiting.
After a few hours, and trainer battles, the trio emerged from viridian forest, and straight into Pewter. After a quick visit to the Pokecenter, both Johnny and Tony were prepped up for the gym, while Lloyd, who didn't really care, started off towards the museum. Before entering the gym, Johnny took a second off to the side, speaking to all his pokemon. After a bit of conversation, and what looked like strategic planning, he recalled all of his pokemon, and entered the gym, Tony following behind.
The gym, darkly lit, with rocks and various boulders of different sizes lay littered about. Swiftly walking behind a trainer, they both approached a tan man, who stood with his arms crossed at the end of the room. As they approached, the man spoke, "I am the first of eight gym leaders, my solid defense is unbreakable, and I will defeat you. I am Brock. Who challenges me first?"
Johnny stepped up, smirking, and lifted his hand, which had a pokeball in it. From the pokeball came his Rattata. "Go, Rattata." Johnny said quietly.