Well, it took a while, but here it is, Chapter 5. I will be writing more as the weeks go by, but if I forget for a while or am busy with other stuff, I apologise. It's half-term next week, so expect more writing. Thank you to Tyhe2476 for all the tips. As ever, please rate honestly!

Chapter 5 – The everlasting forest

As I set out to explore Viridian Forest the next morning, I was interrupted by my Charmander pulling on my trouser leg.

"What's the problem?" I asked, looking down to see Charmander pointing at the doors to the Pokémon Centre.
"You know, you are supposed to wait for us you know, Red!" said Blue, with Green scornfully looking at me… again. "Look, you might be excited to get a Mankey, but the least you can do is wait for us."
"Yes, just like you did yesterday, Blue!" I sarcastically responded. Blue opened his mouth to argue but found no words and just hung his head in shame. I then turned to go down the street to Viridian forest and looked behind me to see if Blue and Green were following me.
"We're right behind you, Red!" exclaimed Green, Blue still being too embarrassed to speak. I then reached the entrance for Viridian Forest, waiting for Blue, who had decided he needed to get us some antidotes from the Poké Mart.
"Hey, are you going into Viridian Forest?" asked a familiar voice. I turned my head to where the voice came from and saw the old man from yesterday. "If you're going in, you might want this, just in case you ever need any help." He handed over a small card and pointed to my cross-transceiver. I inserted the card into one of the empty slots and saw an icon appear on the screen. It read "Teachy TV". The old man handed one to Green too. "Say, where's the impatient one? I have one for him too."

"He's right here!" Blue shouted across to us. He walked over calmly (really unlike him) and accepted the card, placed it in the cross-transceiver and shook the old man's hand. "Thank you." By this point I was highly confused as to Blue's change of attitude and looked at Green for help. She looked back at me with equal confusion.
"My son's on that, he has helped many new trainers on their jour-"
"Sorry, but could I ask you to move on? These antidotes are really getting heavy!" interrupted Blue. With that the old man seemed upset that he couldn't finish bragging about his son, but respected Blue's wished and headed back home for another coffee. Blue spoke up again once he was out of earshot, "Ugh, had to get him to go away. I thought being highly polite would make him go away faster. Here are your antidotes," he said, handing us 5 antidotes each. "See you on the other side. I want to catch Pokémon alone, just in case we I catch something awesome." And with that he ran inside the gate and out the other side faster than you could say "Beedrill".
"I'm going to go off alone too, but only to spend time alone. I'll see you on the other side of the forest, around 3 o'clock-ish?" I said questioningly.
"OK, I'll call Blue to let him know the arrangement. You have fun!" Green replied, smiling at me the way my mother would. We went into the gate and both turned away from each other, waving as we headed deeper into Viridian Forest.

As I went deeper into Viridian forest many things were catching my eyes: the beautiful Butterfree gliding overhead, the sudden bursts of electricity from the right, the sight of a Weedle being picked on by a group of Caterpie, the smell of the honey made by the- ah! The Weedle looked to be in trouble. I ran over to it as quickly as my feet could take me.
"Hey! Don't pick on it!" I shouted at the Caterpie, putting myself in the way of any harm that may come to Weedle. The Caterpie responded by giving me a face full of their String Shot. I looked at them sneeringly and they wriggled off, muttering under their breaths. I turned to see Weedle climbing up my arm with a smile on its face. It unraveled me from the String Shot and sort of hiccoughed. I decided to pick it up and cuddle it in my arms.
"There, there. No harm will come now. Say, do you want to be a part of my team?" I asked softly.
"Pika-Pikachu!" said Pikachu, which was a recommendation to join my team.
"Charmander!" agreed Charmander. Weedle looked up at me with tearful eyes and a huge smile.
"I promise, if it looks bad, I'll swap you out for another Pokémon for training, OK?" I promised. To this, Weedle nodded and wriggled out from my arms for the Poké ball. I tapped her side gently with the Poké ball and 1… 2… 3… Ping! I let Weedle out of the Poké ball and let her ride on my left shoulder, whilst Pikachu took back his place on my right shoulder. My team was starting to build up.

After wandering through the forest for ages, battling along the way a few Caterpie, Metapod and Weedle, I stumbled upon a sign. It read, "You are now entering Mankey Beedrill territory." A little confused I saw, quite close to the entrance, a Mankey. I chased after it and engaged it in battle.
"Go Weedle!" I exclaimed. Mankey took a battle stance and the battle began. "Use String Shot!" Weedle sent out a thick string and wrapped Mankey up in it. Mankey broke out quite easily, but it looked a bit more sluggish. It lunged forwards with its leg outstretched, hitting Weedle straight in the face.
"Weedle!" she cried.
"That's the fighting spirit! Use Poison Sting!" I ordered. She sent out a large amount of small, sharp spikes and hit Mankey. Mankey recoiled and looked suddenly quite ill. Nevertheless, it pounced again with Karate Chop and hit Weedle on the horn. Weedle flinched and recoiled backwards, then suddenly got enveloped by a white light. I could see its shape changing from a worm like Pokémon to a Cocoon.
"Kakuna!" she announced, happy to have evolved so quickly.
"Brilliant, Weed- sorry, Kakuna. You've evolved! Now, show Mankey your new power. Use Bug Bite!" I happily ordered, not forgetting I was still in a battle. Kakuna hopped forwards and bit down on Monkey's head, eating its berry at the same time. Mankey started to stumble backwards as Kakuna hopped back over to me. It motioned to leer at Kakuna but suddenly…
"Go, Poké Ball!" shouted a voice from behind the trees. I saw a Poké ball fly out from the left and hit Mankey, sucking it in to the ball. I stormed over to see who has stolen what was potentially going to be my Pokémon, and it started to wobble, 1… 2… 3… Ping! Whoever it was had my Pokémon now.

"Yes, another Pokémon for my Pokédex. Red and Green are going to be so jealous!" said somebody. I think it was, "Blue! You stole my catch!"
"I thought it was a wild battle… Do you want it?" Blue apologetically asked.
"Humph… You might as well have it. I can probably find another one," I sighed.
"Actually, you can't anymore," said a voice from behind us. I turned around to see a ranger midway through his patrolling. "You see, the Beedrill have taken over the Mankey territory, and that was the last Mankey in Viridian forest."
"What caused the change?" I asked.
"Time," he replied mysteriously. I understood what he said, but I couldn't help wondering if other trainers contributed to it. "Anyway, the Mankey now all live on Route 22. Last time I heard, that route was partially blocked off by a landslide." I let Pikachu clamber back on to my shoulder, let Kakuna hang off my backpack and walked off disappointed that I lost what seemed to be my only chance to definitively beat Brock. The ranger walked off the other way, leaving Blue to stand there feeling guilty.

After a few lacklustre battles with a couple of Caterpie and Weedle, got to the gate to Pewter City and looked at my cross-transceiver. 10 to 3. I looked back over the forest with a watchful eye, taking one last look for any glimpse of Mankey. Nothing. I then looked to my right because I saw something moving. Turns out it was Green, walking over with what looked like her Bulbasaur in her arms.
"Hi Red! You seem unhappy… Still upset over Blue catching your Mankey?" she asked.
"How did you know? Yes, by the way, I am a little disappointed but accidents happen I suppose," I replied.
"Blue told me on the cross-transceiver," she admitted. "I see you got a new Pokémon!"
"Yes, meet Kakuna," I said, turning around slowly to show her it.
"Aww… it's so cute! Here, meet my Metapod," she said, turning my shoulders to motion for me to turn around. I saw the Metapod and smiled at it. "Caught him just 15 minutes ago, near that tree shaped like a Butterfree."
"That's where I caught Kakuna, as a Weedle!" I replied. It was strange how things worked out, but nevertheless, I still had a sense of disappointment about losing Mankey.

I then looked up and back over the trees, wondering how I was supposed to be able to beat Brock when I saw Blue scouring the taller grass, hoping to find one last Pokémon before heading into Pewter City. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything, leading him to walk over to us with a slight stomp. He then saw me and promptly stopped, instead hanging his head slightly in guilt.
"It's alright, accidents happen," I comforted him. "Besides, I think I've found a technique for beating Brock.
"Well, what is it?" asked Green.
"You know Red, 'That'd be telling!' he'd say," replied Blue. I nodded in agreement.
"Well? What else have you two caught?" asked Green, getting off the subject before she got too confused.
"Well, you've seen my Kakuna. That's all I've caught here. Besides a Mankey, it was all I wanted from here. Here Blue, have a look!" I said turning slowly away from Blue to show him a happy Kakuna.
"Well, I caught a Caterpie, a Weedle, a Pikachu, a Rattata and of course the Mankey. Talking of which, if you're sure you don't want me to give it to you, I'll be sending this to the PC," Blue inquired. I waved a hand as if to say that it was OK. Blue got out his cross-transceiver and selected the option "send to PC" and hung the antenna over the Poké ball. It seemed to disappear and Green's eyes widened. I wished the Mankey well before walking towards Pewter City, motioning for Blue and Green to follow. I think they hesitated because I wasn't running towards the gym so as to execute my plan, but followed nonetheless. I had a feeling that it was going to be a hefty battle…

Whew! That was a tense chapter! Next time we will only see one battle, as I don't want to bore you all with 3 separate battles. Don't forget to check my forum and vote in the poll. See you next time! Bye!