Sorry about this, y'all may hate me, but I mixed up what chapter goes when. In this chapter, Scarlet and Nathan arrive in Pewter and call Scarlet's parents.

Chapter V

"Ugg." Jackie groans, getting to her feet. She looks around her, and seeing dark trees everywhere she looks, she sighs. Stuck in the Viridian Forest again? Fantastic.

Hearing a mumble from her left, she turns to see her twin brother Jace passed out against the nearest tree trunk, their talking pokemon counterpart Zorua leaning on his shoulder.

"Get up you two!" Jackie shrieked, and the two sprung to their feet with a terrified scream.

"Those two punks! I can't believe two kids foiled our plans!" Jackie spat, trembling in anger.

Jace's eyes flashed with terror at her twins anger. "Don't be hasty now Jackie, we can always stay away from them-"

Jackie spun around in shock. "Are you CRAZY Jace? Did you see the power that tiny puppy's ember attack did? It blasted us off faster than a bullet! I want to bring him to the boss."

Zorua snickered. "Indeed! A powerful pokemon like Growlithe will be just what we need to clear our names!"

"No help from Mom and Dad." Jace muttered, but shut up instantly when Jackie shot him a furious stare.

"Right! We'll snatch that Growlithe and prove we are the BEST!" Jackie crackled.

/-/-/-/-/

Our heroes are almost completely through Viridian Forest to Pewter City, stopping only for a short lunch break and for a practise session for Nathan before his contest in Crestfallen Town.

"Nathan Mudkip doesn't know many moves at the moment, how exactly are you going to pull this off?" I questioned, grabbing my father's hat and fanning my face with it to cool down after hours of walking.

Nathan beamed, reaching for Mudkip's pokeball. "I had my father teach Mudkip a move to use during the contest. Wanna see?"

"Heck yeah!" I cried, twisting the hat to land on my head backwards, sitting up interested. "How about you Growlithe?"

"Lithe!" My pokemon barked in anticipation, his fluffy cream tail twitching.

Nathan smiled smugly, his cockiness returning. "Awesome! We're going to be the best team out there! You just watch!"

"And I thought you're arrogance was gone. Darn, I was really liking the new you."

Nathan laughed and threw his pokeball in the air. "Spotlight Mudkip!"

The small mud-fish pokemon appeared, calling out a high pitched "kip!" while landing impressively on his tail, bouncing once before landing on his feet.

"Nice entrance! I heard from you mom that giving a great first impression can never be a bad thing!" I called encouragingly.

Nathan scoffed, completely lost in the flow of competition. "You think I didn't know that?"

"Fine then." I growled, my annoyance rising. "I won't give you advice."

Nathan smiled slightly, and turned back to his pokemon. "Use Attract Mudkip!"

The water type spun in the air, and small pink hearts appeared from all around the pokemon, shooting into the air quickly, only to fall softly, in a fashion similar to that of snowflakes.

I gasped. That must be the move Drew taught Mudkip. It certainly wasn't a move he could learn on his own.

Nathan beamed, flicking hair out of his face. "Now Mudkip, water gun!"

"Mud!" The tiny pokemon cried in delight, waves of water shooting from the pokemon's mouth, making the hearts explode in a cloud of sparkles. Nathan and Mudkip bowed, and I clapped.

"Impressive!" I laughed, running over and patting Mudkip on the head, and he cried in delight. "Great job Mudkip!"

Nathan looked a little disgruntled. "Hey! What about me?"

I just laughed, nudging the unhappy boy affectionately. "You did awesome Nathan."

Nathan did something I had never seen the boy do, he gave me a sheepish look, actually tucking his arm behind his head nervously. "We did alright, I mean we still need to master the spin Mudkip will do during his water gun attack... plus we need to add just a little more grace to the attract attack-"

"Nathan!" I laughed, placing my hand on the boy's shoulder. "Calm down. You're good. You can do it!"

The boy blushed, and nodded. "Thanks... Scarlet."

I grinned and leaned over to grab my backpack, and flicked my hand for Growlithe to walk beside me, who had been watching our interaction with a curious look.

"We better get going! Pewter City is just through these trees!" I laughed, racing ahead of my counterpart with Growlithe by my side.

Maybe I had left to soon to see the gleam of delight in Nathan's eyes as I ran towards the city.

/-/-/-/-/

"Will you look at that." Nathan gasped breathlessly. "Pewter City, otherwise known as the city of stone."

After about another hour of walking, we had reached our destination, the trees broke through to reveal a stone path leading to a large town filled with houses, and in the distance, a trail heading towards the famous Mt. Moon.

"Yeah!" I grinned in determination. "Also the city where I am going to get my first of eight badges!"

Nathan laughed. "Yes, but don't forget our first stop is the Pokemon Centre, you need to call you're parents remember?"

I gasped, my hand flying sarcastically to my mouth. "Oh HOW could I forget?"

Nathan and Growlithe chortled, and the three of us raced down the path that led to the city.

"I can't wait to see Brock again!" Nathan laughed, gaining an impressive lead on me as we ran through the city, looking for any familiar faces.

"Don't forget about Forrest and Bryce." I added as somewhat of an after thought.

Bryce is our "cousin". He is Brock's nephew, who dreams of following Brock's footsteps as a breeder, and since he was twelve year's old, he already had a few pokemon.

Nathan skidded to a halt. "Pokemon Centre dead ahead!" He grinned, nudging my arm.

I smiled upon entering the hospital, and per usual, a smiling Nurse Joy greeted us. Walking over to the counter, she looked up from the Chansey she was giving instructions to.

"Oh, hello! How can I help you today?"

Nathan beamed, and handed her two pokeballs. "Can you heal my pokemon please?"

I grinned and handed her Buizel's pokeball, and Growlithe jumped up onto my shoulder. "Mine as well please?"

The Nurse grinned and took the pokeball's and Growlithe leaped up onto the counter, and sat beside the Nurse. "I would love to! Are you two going to challenge the gym?"

Nathan shook his head, but I beamed. "Yep! But we have to meet up with some family first. Do you mind if we come back later?"

"Not at all! Take all the time you need."

"Thanks! Be good okay Growlithe? We'll be back later."

"Growlithe!" The puppy grinned toothily, before following the Nurse behind the centre doors.

Nathan grinned crookedly at me. "Don't think I forgot about what you're parents said. Go to the phone Scar."

I groaned but approached the phone anxiously, dialling the number of my home in Cerulean City.

-Ring.-

-Ring.-

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom!" I smiled as the familiar face of my mother appeared on the end of the line.

"Scarlet!" She beamed, her eyes reflecting mine. perfectly. "How are you dear? Get through the forest without any problems? I assume you are in Pewter City?"

I nodded, smiling at her. "Yeah, I wanted to call you in Viridian City, but Team Rocket blew up the centre entrance so I assumed we had over-stayed our welcome."

Misty's eyes flashed in alarm. "Team Rocket?"

"Don't worry Mrs. Ketchum." Nathan beamed from beside me, "Scarlet and I blew them to bits."

Misty grinned at the brown haired boy. "Ah Nathan, so Scarlet didn't push you off a waterfall?"

Nathan gave Misty a bemused look. "Pardon?"

I flushed a deep scarlet, earning my name, and my mother laughed. "Never mind. Tell me about Team Rocket."

"Did I hear someone say Team Rocket?" The familiar unkept black hair could be seen from behind my mother and I grinned from ear to ear. "Dad!"

"Scarlet! How are you Princess? Did I hear you mention Team Rocket?"

"Yeah, two kids named Jackie and Jace about three year's older than us appeared in Viridian, trying to steal the centre's pokemon. We fought them together. Speaking of fighting, I caught a Buizel dad!"

"And I caught a Wurmple sir!"

My Dad rubbed under his chin. "Impressive! I see the Pokemon Leagues idea worked!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What idea?"

"You see, we have an idea that all trainers should be able to capture pokemon from every region. They brought over two of each gender from every region, they bred, and then released them into the wild. Catching a Buizel, wild in fact, means the pokemon chain is stable, and there is plenty for every trainer." Ash beamed.

"So we can catch practically any pokemon we want?" Nathan asked and his mouth dropped in a comical fashion.

Ash nodded. "Within reason."

Misty smiled at us. "You two better get going, it's getting dark. I already called Brock and let him know you two were coming to stay with him, and Scarlet, you'll need a good sleep if you're battling a gym tomorrow."

"Ok Mom."

Ash and Misty smiled. "We'll see you soon dear. Good-luck."

The screen turned to black, and my parent's were gone.

"That's really cool. We can catch pokemon we might not even have heard of!" Nathan awed.

"Yeah yeah... let's get going contest boy, I want to go see Brock!" I beamed.

Question of the day!

What pokemon do you think Bryce will have upon meeting up with Scarlet and Nathan?

a) Larvitar and Fletchling

b) Larvitar and Rhydon

c) Munchlax and Noctowl

d) Munchlax and Trapinch

If you get the right answer, I'll give you a shout out in the next chapter!