The leaves of the trees above me rustled with the breeze that blew above, but down in the forest the air was calm and warm despite it being night. I carried Soren in my arms, sleeping soundly.
I hadn't covered much ground since leaving home. On my way through the forest to Cherrygrove – I didn't want to chance anyone on the route seeing me – I had come upon the hat I had abandoned earlier in the day, and knew I couldn't leave it there because it was a clear sign of my direction of travel. I picked it up and backtracked to the forest near the Kanto-Johto border and left it there. While I was there I also disposed of my hair in the lake that separates the two regions. The winds affected the water there because the forest didn't shelter it, and the whitecaps quickly submerged my hair.
I had to look at my PokeGear to find out what time it was (I hadn't considered needing to tell the time at night when I chose not to bring my watch). It was just past three in the morning. I had made my way through the forest in much less time earlier that day, but with my only light source being the quarter-full moon the going was slow.
I hadn't wanted to stop before at least reaching the fence outside Cherrygrove, but my legs were exhausted from a day that had contained much more walking than I was used to, and they were starting to burn. Looking around I found a tree with a large trunk but with few roots sticking out on the ground. I pulled the plastic sleeping sheet out of my bag so that I could sit on it, and settled in. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the trunk, breathing deeply and enjoying the scent of the nearby pine trees. Soren snuggled comfortably in my arms.
We were only there for a minute before I heard a strange rustling in the tree above us. It was different from the wind rustling the tree branches; I could hear some scratching sounds as well. I opened my eyes, only to get a face full of debris that fell from up above. I sat up quickly, swearing as I tried to get some of the debris out of my eyes. The absence of my arms and my sudden movement (which probably squished him) caused Soren to wake up with something between a yawn and a squeak before he wiggled out of my lap and looked up into the tree at whatever was up there. I heard more debris fall on my head, and I stood up quickly to get out of the way, my eyes slightly watering from the sting of the other debris. Wiping away the tears, I looked up and saw a Pidgey in the tree looking down at Soren and I. It was poised beside an old nest, from which I guessed the debris had come.
It extended its wings and let out a screech, trying to intimidate us and scare us away. I lifted my hands into the air, saying "We're just resting, we don't want to hurt you." The Pidgey narrowed its eyes before jumping off the branch and gliding down to the ground about eight feet away from Soren and I. Retracting its wings back towards its body, it charged towards Soren in a Tackle. Soren had time to react, however, and was out of the Pidgey's path long before it reached him. As the Pidgey passed Soren Tackled it from the side, knocking the Pidgey to the ground. Before the Pidgey could get back on its feet Soren Tackled it a few more times, hindering its progress. It was becoming noticeably dizzy and disoriented. "Stop, Soren," I ordered when the Pidgey looked about to pass out. I rummaged around in my bag for one of the Pokeballs I had retrieved from in front of my house, and tossed it underhand onto the Pidgey. It opened above the Pidgey, sucking the Pokemon in in a flash of light before closing and landing with a soft thud on the ground. It rolled side to side slightly before it clicked, confirming my first capture.
A giant grin on my face, I walked forward and picked up the Pokeball. I heard a ding come from my bag. It didn't sound like my PokeGear, so I was confused. Looking in my bag, I saw a light on my PokeDex. Pulling it out, I opened it up. On the screen was information about the Pidgey I had just captured. He was a level 2 male with good perseverance and a naughty nature. I snickered to myself. Good combo. He also had an ability that gave him better evasion when he was confused. I snickered again.
I released the Pidgey, who flapped his wings when he appeared on the ground in front of me. He was still very weak from his battle with Soren, so I pulled a Potion out of my bag. "Hey there little buddy," I said, getting on my knees so that I was closer to his height, and sprayed him with the Potion. He shook his head to try and avoid the mist, but stayed put. "What do you think of the name Victor?" he raised his head, glaring at me. He kicked some leaves into my face. "Pfft," I said, blowing them away and wiping at my face. "Sorry bro, but you're stuck with me," I said, sitting back down on my plastic sheet. Suddenly feeling cold, I pulled my oversized hoodie out of my bag, watching as Soren conversed with Victor with hushed sounds I could barely hear. Victor chirped back in response to what Soren was saying, raising his wings at times to emphasize whatever point he was trying to make. Once my hoodie was on I snuggled into its warmth, closing my eyes and listening to my two Pokemon talk.
I didn't know how long I had been sitting there before they stopped talking and I felt something pushing at my arm. Opening my eyes and lifting my head, I looked down at Victor, who was trying to nuzzle his way under my arm. I lifted my arm to make space for him, and he snuck in gratefully. Resting my hand gently against his body, I stroked his feathers slowly. I looked over at Soren, who had placed himself over my feet (which were cold, now that I thought about it).
I think we stayed there for another ten minutes. By then my feet had warmed up from Soren's heat, and I was ready to get going and cover a bit more distance before the sun rose. I wiggled my feet to signal to Soren that it was time to go, but he didn't budge – he was sleeping again. I smiled lightly and fished his Pokeball out of my bag, returning him to it so that he could keep sleeping in peace. I looked down at Victor, who was staring up at me with big black eyes. "We're going to get moving, okay?" he nodded, and wiggled his way out from under my arm onto my lap, then jumped onto my shoulder. I was afraid he would hit one of my pigtails, then remembered that I didn't have any anymore. I stood up carefully so as not to dislodge Victor and ran a hand through my hair. After rolling up the plastic sheet and putting it back in my bag, I started walking towards Cherrygrove.
When we reached the fence Victor jumped over it before I could say anything or start to walk around it. Looking down at him I saw that there was quite a gap between the bottom wire and the ground; I'd fit through fine. I took my bag off my shoulder and lifted it over the fence to put it on the ground beside Victor. Getting down on the ground, I crawled under the fence. Once on the other side I wiped at my hoodie, managing to get most of the dirt and leaves off. I bent down to pick up my bag, and Victor used that opportunity to retake his place on my shoulder. We kept moving.
I didn't notice that the sun was coming up until the sky above me started to lighten. Turning to look behind me I saw the east sky lighting up beautifully. Within minutes light was seeping into the trees. The air felt colder as dew formed on the ground, but luckily my running shoes seemed to be waterproof. I still tried to only step where there were no leaves, just to be on the safe side. I couldn't use Soren to warm my feet while I walked.
By the time the sun was up I had passed around Cherrygrove through the trees. I decided to stop and make camp just past the city, my eyelids dropping and my body exhausted. Taking out the plastic sheet and down blanket (which I would likely not need now that the air was warming up), I laid down carelessly, and after wiggling around a bit to make myself comfortable (and making room for Victor under the blanket), I fell asleep within minutes.
When I woke up the sun was directly above my head, shining in my face through the trees above me. I rubbed at my eyes, which still felt slightly heavy. I forced myself to sit up, noticing that I had kicked the blanket off my body while I slept. My movements caused Victor to wake up and chirp at me in annoyance. "Oh shush," I said, crossing my legs as I yawned and stretched. It was quite warm out now with the sun on me, so I pulled the hoodie off and stuffed it in my bag before packing away the blanket and plastic sheet as well. The wind overhead was strong, making the top branches of the trees sway back and forth. Sometimes I'd feel some air movement on my face or feel it brush my hair, but it was minimal. I pulled out my hair pick and brushed through my hair. It was strange when the hair stopped suddenly far before my shoulders, but it made for quick work. After putting it away, I stood up and stretched again. My legs were a little sore from yesterday, so I added painkillers to my mental shopping list.
My stomach was stinging with hunger, so I conceded to the fact that I'd have to go into town long enough to get some food. Returning Victor to his Pokeball, I took off my long-sleeved red shirt and replaced it with the t-shirt I had packed. I put the red shirt and the top half of my overalls (they detached, thank goodness, leaving me with what was essentially jean shorts) into my bag. Satisfied that no one would recognize me if they saw me, I released Victor again and started through the forest towards Cherrygrove.
I decided to go to the coffee shop that Soren and I had visited the day before. I bought a sandwich and milk for myself, a Pokemon mix each for Victor and Soren, and a coffee for Soren. I went back out into the forest to eat so that I could release Soren – I didn't want him out in the town because Cyndaquils were so rare, and his presence would be like a blinking neon sign if my dad questioned anyone.
Once we were all done eating I decided that it was time to continue. Returning Soren to his Pokeball until he was needed, I walked with Victor back towards the road on route 30.
With Soren's help, Victor and I battled our way through the grass along the route (Victor was still a fairly low level, but with Soren's help he got stronger quickly). Being early afternoon, there were many trainers along the route. The first one we battled was named Joey, and he had a lone Rattata. He was easy to beat but was fine with it when he lost, and he was so eager for a rematch that I gave him my phone number. The other trainers were equally easy to defeat, and Victor was able to handle a few of their Pokemon on his own without Soren's help, which made him very proud.
I noticed as I was battling one of the trainers that I could see Mr. Pokemon's house through the trees to my right. It felt good to see something familiar and to get a bearing of where I was compared to where I was the day before.
Near the next patch of grass was a sign that said Route 31. I was puzzled as to why the route number would change where no landmark or other defining feature existed, but shrugged it off. Victor and I were partway through the next patch of grass when I felt my foot catch on something, and before I could regain my balance I tripped. I broke my fall with my hands, and stood up quickly to face whatever had caused me to fall. I saw something yellow mixed in with the tall grass, so I ran my foot near it.
When my foot approached it a Pokemon jumped up – a Bellsprout. It immediately took a defensive, ninja-like stance, its legs far apart and its leaf arms at the ready. I chuckled at the oddness of this, because the Bellsprout's limbs were stick-thin. Then I noticed that there was something yellowy-orange hanging out of the Bellsprout's mouth, and it was wiggling about as if it were trying to escape. I frowned in puzzlement at this. I reached forward to try and grab whatever it was, but the Bellsprout moved its head away from my hand. I followed, and the Bellsprout kept leaning back until it fell on its back. I noticed then that its feet seemed to be stuck in the ground. I bent down to try and remove the object from its mouth, but when my hand approached its face a vine came up out of the ground and hit my arm very hard, drawing a bit of blood.
"Fuck!" I cursed, drawing back my arm and covering the cut with my other hand. "Victor, Tackle it in the head to try and force the object out." Victor did as I told him, slamming the side of his body into the Bellsprout's head. Its eyes widened as the object popped out of its mouth and landed on the ground beside its head.
It was a Weedle. A very small Weedle, about half the size of the ones we had faced earlier. It lay on the ground barely moving and its eyes unfocused. Seizing the opportunity, I pulled out two Pokeballs from my bag and dropped one on the Weedle. It barely put up any resistance once it was inside the ball, and I soon heard a click. I would have picked it up but Victor and the Bellsprout were still battling it out, Victor Tackling the Bellsprout in the head and the Bellsprout whipping him with its leaves whenever he attacked. The Bellsprout's Vine Whip seemed to be a decent attack – even though Victor was resistant to the grass type attack he was still getting quite a beating. The Bellsprout looked very sick though, and I realized that the Weedle must have managed to poison it while it was inside. According to my PokeDex, the needle on a Weedle's head could be used to poison its enemies, so it would make sense. It looked about ready to pass out, so I ordered Victor to stop so I could catch the Bellsprout as well. I put up more of a struggle than the Weedle did, but eventually conceded defeat and the Pokeball clicked.
I released the Bellsprout briefly to give it an Antidote, and once it was healed I looked more closely at the information my PokeDex gave me about the Pokemon I had just caught. The Weedle was a gentle, somewhat vain level three female, and the Bellsprout was also level three and female, but she was quiet and scattered things often. "Welcome to the team Joseline," I said, running my hand over her head gently because she was still weak. "No trying to eat Kadela though, alright?" her eyes fell to the ground in shame. I laughed. "Hey, don't worry about it, I'm not mad or anything. But you should get back in your Pokeball, you look pretty tired." She looked at me and nodded, so I returned her to her Pokeball so she could rest until we reached Violet City. Looking down at my arm I saw that my cut had stopped bleeding for now. I wiped away the extra blood around the cut, then stood up to continue on.
After more grass and more trainer battles the gatehouse between route 31 and Violet was in sight. I was about to head towards it when I spotted Jared through the open window. I ducked into the trees quickly, peaking out through the branches and listening to what he was saying. Victor alighted himself on a branch beside me.
"Well, if you do see her could you give this to her for me?" he was telling the gate guard, pointing to a small device on the counter. "And when she leaves could you give me a call? Here's my PokeGear number," he said, writing it down on a slip of paper.
The guard was nodding, saying "Yeah, sure, no problem," over and over again, so I guessed Jared had been telling the guard the same thing over and over since before I arrived and the guard was getting annoyed.
After repeating himself one more time, I saw Jared turn towards the door leading to route 31. I hid myself behind a large tree trunk as I heard the door open and then close, my heart pounding as my ears followed the footsteps of Jared and his Marill. I noticed Victor glaring at them, and whispered to him not to attack them. He didn't look happy, but obeyed me anyway.
I waited until I couldn't hear them anymore, then peaked out of the trees and saw them walking towards where Dark Cave had been marked on my PokeGear's map. I was glad I had decided to skip it.
I looked back inside the gatehouse and saw the guard standing around looking incredibly bored now that Jared was gone. The device Jared had left for me, as well as the slip of paper with his PokeGear number on it, lay on the counter, untouched. Perfect.
I searched the ground for a large rock as I walked through the forest to the other side of the gatehouse. Finding one that fit comfortably in my hand, I pulled my arm back and threw it through the closed portion of the window. Ducking down so as to not be visible from the inside, I ran along the edge of the gatehouse back to the other side where Victor sat in wait for me. Once I heard the guard go through the door on the other side I entered on my side, going straight for the counter and sweeping the items nonchalantly into my open bag before walking casually through the gatehouse and exiting. I heard the guard banging around in the bush looking for whoever had thrown the rock. I continued on without even glancing at him.
The Pokemon Centre was straight ahead, so I went in immediately so that I could get everyone healed up. While the nurse was working she told me about the city while I read a poster about local Pokemon in the area. She said that Bellsprout Tower to the north was excellent for training before facing Falkner, the city's gym leader. I asked her what his speciality was, and she said flying Pokemon. Looking at the poster, I saw that Mareeps were quite common on route 32, west of Violet. Sounds like a plan, I thought with a smirk as I waited for the nurse to finish up.
Once they were all healthy I released Joseline, planning to train her while searching for a Mareep. Even though she was healed Kadela still didn't look very good, so I kept her in her Pokeball. I kept Victor out so that he could assist Joseline against strong opponents.
I walked through town quickly, stopping only to grab some food for everyone at a chip wagon. I got some fries and a drink for myself and some Pokemon treats for my Pokemon. I also had them fill up my water bottle for me, and they even added in a few ice cubes to help counteract the heat and sun that were prevalent that day. After thanking them and paying (and adding salt and ketchup to my fries), I carried our food towards route 32 so that we could eat where it wasn't so busy.
We had to pass through another gatehouse to get out to route 32, but the guard didn't give Joseline and I a second glance. I guessed that word didn't pass quickly between gatehouses, or maybe they just didn't care that much about vandalism. I'm a vandal, I thought with a thrilled grin as I found a spot where my Pokemon and I could eat that was out of sight of the main road. Breaking rules felt great.
I leaned against a tree as I ate, closing my eyes and enjoying the cooling breeze that was blowing from my right. My bag was on the ground at my feet, laying open from when I had retrieved Soren and Kadela's Pokeballs. Remembering about the gatehouse, I bent forward and pulled out the item Jared had left for me. According to the instructional screen that came up when I turned it on, it was a Vs. Recorder, and would allow me to keep track of battles I had done and people that were looking for rematches. Useless, I thought, throwing it back on top of my bag and closing my eyes again. I hadn't slept very well earlier, so it felt good to rest again. My legs were also thankful.
I think I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew I felt something (that wasn't Soren) on my feet and I could hear the sound of rummaging. Opening my eyes I saw Soren, Victor, and Kadela talking idly, but Joseline had her head in my bag and most of its contents were scattered out around her legs. I blinked and sat up straight, looking very confused. "What the hell are you doing, Joseline?" I asked. She looked at me blankly with innocent eyes. I remembered her PokeDex entry: scatters things often. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly before opening them again, moving forward to start putting things back in my bag. "Please don't do that again Joseline," I said as I threw stuff carelessly back into my bag. "Scatter the leaves or something if you feel the need to cause chaos." She looked to the ground, ashamed again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be mean," I said, stopping to pat her on the head. "Now, how about we get battling?" She nodded eagerly, standing up to her full height.
I returned Kadela and Soren to their Pokeballs and threw them into my bag along with what was still left on the ground. Giving Joseline one last pat on the head, I was reaching over to grab my bag when I saw it move. "Did you guys see that?" I asked, and Victor chirped in response. Joseline shook her head. My bag moved again, and I heard a high pitched squeak come from inside.
"Did Soren somehow release himself from his Pokeball?" I wondered aloud as I pulled my bag towards myself to look inside. I saw something purple moving underneath my blanket, and I was about to reach in when there was a flash of light and the purple disappeared. A moment later I heard the click of a Pokeball and the ding of my PokeDex. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and confusion, and fished out my PokeDex from the depths of my bag. It had registered a level 4 female Rattata. I ran my hand through the contents of my bag, pulling out each Pokeball in turn until I found one with a Rattata inside. I glanced back at the PokeDex entry. She was relaxed and somewhat of a clown. "Forcing herself on me is seriously not funny..." I lamented the waste of a Pokeball, but planned to keep her with me until we went to the Pokemon Centre. I wouldn't train her though; I still had some standards. I named her Felni so that I wouldn't constantly have to think of her as "The Rattata."
"Well, that was...interesting," I said as I stood up after putting the Pokeball and PokeDex away in my bag. Joseline looked up at me, nodding in agreement. Victor chirped and accidentally hit my head when he spread his wings. "Watch where you put those things bro," I said as I started to walk out of the forest. "I don't want to get stabbed in the eye."
We stayed out there for most of the day searching for a Mareep, but didn't come across a single one. There were Ekans (I thought they could only be obtained in Goldenrod from the Game Corner...), Bellsprout, Rattata, and even one sleeping Wooper (it woke up and ran away when Joseline hit it with a Vine Whip), but not a Mareep to be found.
All that time wasn't wasted, though: Victor learned Gust, and Joseline became a lot stronger by sharing battles with Victor. At one point I was going to trade out Joseline for Kadela and start to train her, but Joseline insisted on staying out and leading the party. As we battled I decided that using Kadela in battles was likely not a good idea anyway – her types made her weak to a lot of things, not to mention that her size would make battling difficult.
At one point I got a phone call from Youngster Joey, claiming that his Rattata must be in the top percentage of Rattata because it's so amazing. It made me smile.
Eventually Victor ran out of PP for Tackle and Gust, and I decided that it was time to head back into town for healing and some food. I was also thinking about taking on the gym even without a Mareep; Victor was up to level 12 and had excellent offence. Even though he wouldn't have a type advantage I was still confident he could take the gym on alone (Joseline was weak to flying type moves, so she was out, and I still wasn't crazy on using Soren in battle).
As Joseline and I walked into town I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of my father or any police officer – my escape would certainly have been noticed by that time, but I had no idea how they would handle searching for me. I went to the Pokemon Centre first, considering having fully healed Pokemon a priority if I had to make a quick escape. Once everyone was healed (and Felni put away in a PC box so I wouldn't have to worry about feeding her) I went back to the same chip wagon as earlier for some food. By then the sun was starting to fall in the sky, the air cooling and the rays no longer as harsh. I had switched out Joseline for Victor at the Centre, allowing him to rest perched on my shoulder as I ate.
After getting my food I walked away from the chip wagon slowly, looking around the city and trying to decide what to do next, whether to go into the forest to sleep, continue on to the next town, or challenge the gym. It occurred to me that perhaps challenging the gym was not a good idea, because if my dad came in later to question people Falkner might mention me (it made me wonder how many challengers they got per day, or even per week).
Victor chirped, tapping the side of my face gently with his wing before pointing to my fries. "You want one bud?" I asked, picking up a ketchup-free one and holding it up in front of his face for him to grab with his beak. He leaned forward and did, lifting his head up so that gravity would make the entire fry fall into his mouth and throat. He gave a happy chirp and I laughed. "This stuff's more expensive than Pokemon food, so you won't be gettin-" I stopped when I saw the door of the gym open and my dad walk out.
Author's Notes – I love writing Sy in the forest and nature; I get to apply my knowledge about weather! xP ...I'm an odd one. And dew is dumb, it appears out of nowhere and all of a sudden your shoes are soaked. Grr.
Ahh, too many new Pokemon and not enough stuff happening Dx I promise that there is much more plot (and other exciting things) in the next chapter! (gym battle yay~)
I did catch Kadela and Joseline on different routes (30 and 31 respectively) but writing separate encounters for all my new Pokemon this chapter felt tedious so I decided to combine them. Their original stories can be found in Testing 1, 2, 3, 4.
Interesting typo: Wine Whip
Also, I forgot to mention in the prologue that Leon's hair is closer to that of the rival in the original Gold and Silver (more straight down to the shoulder, and no ahoge) than to the remake's art =) His clothes are the same as the new art, except his jacket closes all the way at the bottom. Also he has silver eyes (as previously mentioned) because the manga is beast.