The first place Orange, Violet, and Red visited was the Ivadirin City Pokémon Center. The nurse on duty was more than happy to heal their Pokémon.
"So, Orange, Violet," Red said as they all sat down on a comfortable sofa in the center's waiting area, "I've been wondering, why doesn't Professor Redwood give out Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle to beginning trainers?"
"Those Pokémon are almost unheard of in Tanko," replied Violet. "From what my mom told me, that was what he initially planned to do when he opened his lab, but he had so much trouble getting ahold of any semi-decent amount of them that in order to be ready for three starting trainers one day, he had to just go out and catch the first three Grass, Fire, and Water-types he came across. Those happened to be Bellsprout, Growlithe, and 44Hy. It's not all that balanced, considering that Bellsprout isn't very strong to start off with, and 44Hy has incredible psychic power, but he never intended it to be a permanent arrangement."
"So why is it?" asked Red.
"Turns out, those three are pretty popular among beginning trainers. Even if it's weak initially, turns out there's a lot of trainers who love the idea of eventually having a Victreebel by their side someday. And they all think that Arcanine is as close to a legendary Pokémon as they're ever gonna get. And then there's Q-"
"Who?" interrupted Red. His Pokédex, however, answered, as a large square covered in yellow and black pixellated markings appeared on the screen.
"Q, the Deep Sea Pokémon, and the evolved form of 44Hy," stated the Pokédex. "When it starts to use its immense Psychic powers, its entire body lights up. It can dive underwater to great depths."
"Ah," Red stated. "Another one of those."
"You guys talking about Q?" said Orange. "Q is awesome! And the best part is, it doesn't take much to make a 44Hy evolve either!
"So if Q is so powerful and easy to get, why does anyone choose Growlithe or Bellsprout?" asked Red.
"Well, like I said," Violet replied, "Victreebel and Arcanine are some of the most popular Pokémon in these parts, and not far off from Q in terms of power."
At that moment, the nurse approached the group, carrying a tray which bore five Poké Balls, proclaiming the balls' inhabitants to be at full health.
-
"About time!" Orange exclaimed as he burst through the giant "9" which served as the center's front door and into the middle of a nearby vacant lot, the landscape peppered with tufts of grass, chunks of rock, and various sevens and threes. "Let's battle!"
"Will you calm down already?" groaned Violet as she and Red followed.
"Not really," grinned Orange. "Come on, Vi. Battle, you and me!"
"As long as you don't use your 44Hy," replied Violet.
"Aw, come on!" whined Orange.
"Chompy isn't gonna get anywhere if he keeps losing!" exclaimed Violet. "At least with your .4 there's no type disadvantage to worry about."
"...fine," grumbled Orange as he took a Poké Ball off his belt and enlarged it. Orange and Violet then took their places, twenty feet away from each other.
"Relax, Orange," said Red. "You gotta use Pokémon other than your starter sometimes."
"Yeah, I know," conceded Orange as Violet threw a Poké Ball onto the field, unleashing her Bellsprout. Orange sighed, then threw the Poké Ball. ".4, go!"
The Poké Ball split open, and in a flash of light, the hyperactive .4 materialized. Orange then consulted his Pokédex, and brought up a list of attacks his .4 knew.
"Chompy, hit it with Vine Whip!" called Violet.
"Dodge it with Agility, .4!" commanded Orange.
"Bellsprout sprout," said Chompy as a pair of vines emerged from behind its leaves. Chompy then reached for .4 with the vines, but the Caffeine Pokémon began zipping through the air in random directions. Chompy was unable to get in a single hit.
"Now get in close and use TM28!" Orange shouted.
.4 gibbered excitedly as it dive-bombed Chompy and promptly unleashed a small explosion, sending the Bellsprout flying backwards. Though the attack appeared to hit hard, Chompy was able to get back onto its roots, albeit unsteadily.
"Chompy, Vine Whip again!" Violet ordered.
".4, TM05!" commanded Orange.
.4's body took on a mystical-looking blue aura, then zoomed downward, as if to tackle Chompy. It pulled out of the dive at the last second, but then appeared to vanish into thin air.
"What the hell?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow at this unfamiliar technique.
"TM05, an evasive technique," droned Red's Pokédex. "TM05 turns the user invisible, allowing it to avoid oncoming attacks with greater ease."
"Sprooooouuuut," whined Chompy as it flailed its vines around at random, hoping to swat .4 down.
"No chance at all," grinned Orange. ".4, finish it! TM28 attack now!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" squealed .4 as the air behind Chompy exploded. The Bellsprout was thrown into the air, but then, its still-flailing vines appeared to hit something solid. Immediately, .4 became visible again as it fell to the ground.
"You got it, Chompy!" encouraged Violet. "Hit it again!"
"Bellsprout sprout... Bell!" exclaimed Chompy suddenly as its body took on a faint green glow. Then, its body seemed to grow out in all directions, its roots thickening, its leaves broadening. After a few seconds, the growing and glowing stopped; Chompy now was equal in height to its trainer's waist.
"Did it evolve?" wondered Orange.
"Does that look like a Weepinbell to you?" Violet replied. "I think Chompy learned how to use Growth! Chompy, Vine Whip once more!"
".4, dodge it!" exclaimed Orange, but the order came too late; Chompy unfurled a pair of thick vines and slammed them into .4, who was still reeling from the last hit. This attack plowed .4 halfway into the ground, where it ceased to move.
"DAMN IT!" roared Orange as he withdrew .4.
"Now we're even," smirked Violet as Bellsprout shrunk back down to its usual size; as the battle had ended, its Growth had worn off. "What did you think of that, Red?"
Red, however, did not reply. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"...Red?" asked Orange. "Hello?"
"Guys, I just thought of something," Red frowned. "The town with Professor Redwood's laboratory, what's it called again?"
"Talpel Town. Why?" replied Orange.
"And what's this city called again?"
"Ivadirin City," Violet answered.
"Could you spell those for me?" Red asked.
Violet and Orange exchanged confused glances, but obliged to Red's request and spelled out the names. Red regarded this new information, and for a few moments, closed his eyes and appeared to think about it. Then, his eyes flew open.
"I knew it," he said. "Something's been nagging me about those names and I finally know what it is."
"What?" asked Orange.
"First off, the little bit I know about this region's locations seemed vaguely familiar to begin with," Red started. "I wasn't sure what it was, mainly because the whole alternate dimension thing was kinda freaking me out, not to mention Orange's weird Pokémon."
"My Pokémon are not weird!" Orange exclaimed indignantly.
"And then the names, something about them was bothering me, and now I know. Talpel Town- you rearrange the letters in that, you get Pallet Town. Same with Ivadirin City- in Kanto, the city closest to Pallet Town is Viridian City. And what was the name of the island Professor Redwood mentioned?"
"B-Bincanar," Violet answered, still surprised at this revelation. "Spelled B-I-N-C-A-N-A-R."
"I thought so," Red grinned. "Across the sea, directly south of Talpel Town?"
"Yeah," Orange said.
"Let me guess, in Kanto, there's an island across the sea, directly south of Pallet Town?" asked Violet.
"Cinnabar Island," Red nodded. "Rearrange the letters in Bincanar, you get Cinnabar."
"OK, this is freaky," Orange sighed, shaking his head.
"For once in your life, you're right," Violet said, earning a dirty look from Orange.
"That was a cheap shot!" Orange snapped. "Hey, Red, why don't you battle Violet now?"
"Hmm?" Red blinked in surprise. "Oh- oh, sure. Fine by me."
"Works for me, too," Violet agreed. With that, Orange walked off to the side as Red took his place.
"Same rules as before," Orange stated. "One Pokémon each."
"Let's go, Chompy!" exclaimed Violet.
"Sprout!" replied Chompy as it made its way back onto the battlefield.
Red took a Poké Ball off his belt, enlarged it, and tossed it out in front of him. "Rattata, let's go!" he shouted.
The ball split open, and Rattata was unleashed in a brilliant flash of light.
"Rattata!" it called out in a shrill voice.
"Aww, you're using Rattata?" whined Orange. "I wanted to see you cream her with your Charmander!"
"Charmander's battled before. Rattata hasn't," Red replied. "I can't just rely on one Pokémon all the time."
"Chompy, Growth!" Violet ordered.
"Rattata, Tackle attack!" Red commanded.
Chompy's body took on a faint green glow, then nearly doubled in size within seconds. Though a bit unnerved at this, Rattata lunged forward regardless and plowed into the large Grass-type, sending it flying backwards.
"Chompy, you got this!" encouraged Violet as the Bellsprout climbed back into an upright position. "Vine Whip now!"
"Bellsprout... Sprout!" exclaimed Chompy as it unfurled a pair of thick vines from behind its leaves.
"Dodge it and use Quick Attack!" Red ordered.
"Rrrrattata!" the Mouse Pokémon cried out as it scrambled away from the oncoming vines and charged at Chompy with great speed. The Bellsprout hastily tried to slap Rattata out of the way with Vine Whip, but its target was moving much too fast. The purple blur that was Rattata slammed Bellsprout backwards. It skidded across the field and stopped at Violet's feet, unconscious.
"Good job, Rattata," smiled Red as he held out the Poké Ball and recalled his Normal-type.
"You did the best you could, Chompy," sighed Violet as she withdrew Bellsprout.
"OK, now let's hit the gym!" Orange exclaimed. Violet responded to this with a withering look.
"You're joking, right, Orange? Chompy is my only Pokémon. Chompy is unconscious. How do you expect me to win a gym battle with a knocked-out Bellsprout?"
"Oh, yeah," Orange replied, grinning sheepishly.
Half an hour later, the trio exited the Pokémon Center for the second time that day. It didn't take long before .4, Chompy, and Rattata were completely refreshed.
"OK, NOW let's hit the gym!" Orange exclaimed, now with a tinge of whininess in his voice. "Come on, guys! I want to earn me a Soil Badge already!"
"Orange. Relax," Violet sighed. "It's not like the Gym Leader is gonna go anywhere."
"Uh... Yeah... About that," Red chuckled weakly; at that moment they had arrived at a large and imposing structure. Above what appeared to be an assortment of roofing tiles glued to a wall hung a large wooden sign, with the words "Ivadirin City Pokémon Gym" painted on it in large black lettering. On the aforementioned roofing tiles was a small piece of paper, attached to what Red took to be a door with duct tape. Orange approached the gym and read the words printed on the paper out loud.
"'I'm away on business. Until my return, Ivadirin Gym is closed. Signed, the Ivadirin Gym Leader.' What the hell?!" Orange demanded indignantly. "Vi, I TOLD you we should have hurried!"
"I doubt he left two minutes ago," Violet snapped, rolling her eyes. "We probably would've passed him on our way here."
"Well, this is disappointing," Red sighed as he looked over the note again, despite having already read it twice.
"I know, right?!" exclaimed Orange. "What are we gonna do until this guy gets back?"
"I guess we gotta go to Rewept City," shrugged Violet. "There's a Pokémon Gym there, too."
"What... you mean we gotta go through Ivadirin Forest?" asked Orange, trepidation in his voice.
"Rewept City... Is that spelled R-E-W-E-P-T?" asked Red.
"Yeah," Violet said.
"I thought so," Red smirked. "Rearrange 'Rewept' and you get 'Pewter'. In Kanto, north of Viridian City is Pewter City."
"Yeah, yeah, fascinating," Orange said dismissively. "But... Can't we just, like, go around Ivadirin Forest or something?"
"Oh, yeah," Violet grinned evilly. "I forgot. You don't like Bug Pokémon, do you, Orange?"
"Shut up," Orange snapped, his face reddening.
"What?" Red asked.
"Look, Bug-types bug me, OK?" Orange said loudly.
"They do?" Red asked. "Why?"
"Because-" Violet started.
"Don't!" Orange yelled. "Look, we can go through the forest, OK? Just keep the Bug-types away from me and don't say another word about this!"
"Fine, fine," Violet replied. Red seemed taken aback at Orange's unexpectedly violent response, but said nothing as Violet led the way.
Before long, they had left Ivadirin City, and were standing before a thick grove of badly scrambled trees. Each tree looked as if it had been chopped into little pieces and glued back together randomly. Just like the trees on Route -1, but worse.
"OK, seriously," Orange said quietly, "I think there's a path that takes us right around this forest."
"You are such a big baby," Violet replied. "Come on."
"It'll be fine, Orange," Red added. "I got Charmander with me. Bug-types won't dare mess with us once I let it out."
"Fine," Orange conceded as he followed Red and Violet into the arboreal maze before them.
Inside the forest, it was dark. Though the trees were horribly jumbled, most of them still had their leaves on the top, and were thus able to block out most of the sunlight. As the trio walked down a narrow path lined with trees, Orange glanced nervously in all directions, and had to fight off the urge to scream when a faint buzzing noise could be heard off in the distance.
After several minutes of walking, Orange spoke up. "Um... You think maybe we could, you know, speed it up a bit? I'd like to get to Rewept City, you know, before it gets too late."
"Before it gets dark and we have to camp out in the forest, you mean," said Violet.
"Orange has a good point," Red stated. "If we had to stop to camp, we might lose our way through the forest, and it'll take us even longer to get to... what was it... Rewept City."
"Fine," Violet sighed. With that, she quickened her pace. Orange hastened to keep up, still glancing around nervously. Then, Red was forced to stop short as Orange screeched to a halt, pointing shakily at a small, green creature which had fallen out of a tree and onto the ground before him.
"Hmm?" Violet asked as she turned around. "Orange, what's wrong?"
"Th... th... th... tha!" stammered Orange as he backed up (nearly knocking Red to the ground in the process) and continued to point. The Pokémon at which Orange was pointing had a body composed of small green spheres. It had big black eyes and a red, "Y"-shaped antennae on its head.
"Oh!'' exclaimed Violet as she looked down and pointed her Pokédex at the newcomer. "A Caterpie!"
"Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon," droned Violet's Pokédex. "A very docile Pokémon of the Bug type, Caterpie feeds almost exclusively on leaves. When threatened, it unleashes a horrible stench from its antennae to drive off the threat."
Violet looked at the Caterpie, who was glancing up at the three humans. Then, she betrayed a small chuckle.
"Orange, I knew Bug-types freaked you out, but a Caterpie? Come on! You're acting like it's a Pinsir or a Z4 or something! Caterpie are the definition of harmless!"
"Bugs are bugs." Orange replied as defiantly as he could while cowering behind Red.
"Well, this bug's gonna be mine," grinned Violet. "Maybe if we have a Bug-type with us you'll actually clam up once in a while!" Wasting no time, Violet stepped back, creating a good distance between herself and the wild Caterpie, then took a Poké Ball off her belt, enlarged it, and threw it. "Chompy, I choose you!" she called.
In a flash of light, Violet's Bellsprout materialized. It stared down the Caterpie and flexed its leaves as if they were arms. Caterpie responded to this by turning to face its adversary and assume what was evidently supposed to be an intimidating battle pose.
"Chompy, Vine Whip now!" ordered Violet.
"Sprout!" exclaimed Chompy as a pair of slender, dark-green vines extended from behind its leaves. The vines zipped forward and slammed into Caterpie. Though the attack knocked Caterpie on its back, it got right back up and charged forward as fast as its stubby feet would carry it (which, Red had to admit, was actually a little faster than he had expected).
"It's using Tackle," warned Violet. "Chompy, block it!"
"Bellsprout sprout," Chompy replied as it moved its still-extended vines so they were positioned directly in Caterpie's way. The Worm Pokémon struggled valiantly, but ultimately, the Bellsprout was able to stop the Tackle attack completely. As Chompy retracted its vines, however, Caterpie showed no signs of giving up, and blasted several strands of what appeared to be white silk threads from its mouth. Within seconds, Chompy was encased in some sort of cocoon. It struggled to move as Caterpie charged forward for a second Tackle.
"Looks like Caterpie used String Shot," Red observed. "Chompy can hardly move.
"Fascinating," Orange replied; he was determinedly looking in any direction other than the battle.
"Chompy, Growth!" Violet commanded.
"Sproooooooouuuut!" bellowed Chompy as a greenish glow peeked through the sticky silk strands. Then, the String Shot was ripped right off as the Bellsprout's small form doubled in size. At the sight of its enemy becoming even larger, Caterpie screeched to a halt and squeaked feebly. As Chompy looked down on the Caterpie it now towered over, the latter Pokémon promptly fell over and was still.
"It's over, Orange," Red said, tapping Orange on the shoulder. "Caterpie passed out from sheer fright!"
"Oh, good," Orange sighed in relief. "As long as she doesn't try to-"
"Poké Ball, go!" Violet called as she heaved a red-and-white sphere at the unconscious Bug-type.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" bellowed Orange as the Poké Ball split open and sucked Caterpie inside. Violet, however, did not answer; her eyes were intently fixed on the ball as it wobbled back and forth, a red light blinking on and off on the button. And then, it was still.
"I caught a Caterpie," smirked Violet as she walked over and scooped up the ball. As this happened, Chompy's body shrunk back down to its usual proportions. "I think I'll name him 'Flutters'."
"'Flutters'?" repeated Orange. "You realize you caught a Caterpie, right? Not a Butterfree?"
"It'll become a Butterfree, moron. I'm planning ahead," Violet answered smoothly. "Same reason Bellsprout's name is Chompy. It's Victreebel who are known for chomping. I don't want to give Pokémon nicknames that won't suit them after they evolve."
"Like naming a Magikarp 'Fails'." nodded Red. "Suits it as a Magikarp, but once it evolves..."
"Exactly," smiled Violet.
"Look, can we just get the hell out of here?" pleaded Orange.
"Yeah, let's get moving," Red agreed.
"I guess so," sighed Violet. With that, she once again took the lead as the trio continued through the forest.