Yeah, I'm working on posting more and I feel my last chapter was pretty weak. Well, there's more action in this one! I'm so excited, I get to introduce one of my favorite pokémon now!

-=3=-

Red and Reggie stood at the entrance of the forest.

"Well, here we are, eh Red?" Reggie asked, a slow smile touched his lips.

"Yeah, I suppose we're here." Red looked around, his Bulbasaur was learning great moves thanks to Reggie, and fully powering up all of the other moves that it already knew.

"I've had some good times in this forest, you know? This is where I met my Pinsir."

"You have a Pinsir?" Red exclaimed, now even more excited about going into the forest. "I wonder what Pokémon we'll find this time!" Red became visibly excited. "It will be my first real Pokémon battle!"

"Well, what are we waiting for Red? Let's go!"

They stepped into the forest, and the scenery darkened around them. The trees were still, and the forest was oddly… quiet.

"Where are all of the Pokémon?" Red asked.

"There's something wrong here." Reggie looked around, worried. "Mind if we take a look around?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Red smirked "Should we split up?"

"No, that would end very badly, we might get lost. Let's go this way." Reggie said, gesturing towards the right. They went in the direction that Reggie pointed out, and came upon a strange sight.

Sitting in a large cage, was a Growlithe, the Growlithe wasn't in good shape, it looked beaten, and very weak. When Red walked nearer, the small dog Pokémon fired an ember attack at him. Red backed up cautiously, and decided to try a different approach.

"Hey there Growlithe, how did you find yourself in that cage?" Red asked softly. Reggie stood in the background, outraged by the scene. The Pokémon growled at Red.

"I see, you know? I can help you get out of that cage." The Growlithe growled again, but it had less heat in it this time.

"I know you would want to get out of there, so, what do you say?" The Pokémon wagged its tail, and agreed in its Pokémon speak.

"Alright, I'll try my best to do this." Red went over to the lock on the cage and tried to undo it. "Hey, Reggie, could you help me?" Reggie started towards the lock, but the Growlithe growled at him.

"Ah, no. I don't think I can Red, you'll have to be on your own." Reggie slowly backed up from the cage.

"I have an idea Growlithe." The Pokémon twitched its ears tentatively. "I don't want to have to do this, but I could catch you, and release you outside of the bars. The Pokémon growled even fiercer at the thought, and started to tackle the bars in the cage. Red teared up at the Growlithe.

"Please Growlithe, let me help you." Red pleaded. The Growlithe looked at the trainer curiously, thinking hard about what could happen, and in the end accepted. Red held out the Poké Ball towards the Pokémon, and Growlithe placed its nose against it. The ball transferred the energy of Growlithe into the ball. Red promptly turned around and released the Growlithe back into the wild. The Growlithe sniffed the air, looked around, and then turned towards Red. The Pokémon jumped into Red's arms and promptly licked him on the face.

"Well now, you're very welcome!" Red said, as the Pokémon brought him to the ground. The Poké Ball fell to the ground and Growlithe stopped the 'attack' and went over to it. The Growlithe sniffed it, and pressed the button, where it was sucked into the ball again.

Reggie laughed "It looks like Growlithe wants to come with us." Then he looked around again and cleared his throat. "We should probably get out of here Red, somebody may come back."

"You think so?" Red asked, and if they were listening, a duo stepped from the bushes, laughing with two sacks squirming on their backs. The shorter of the two dropped his sack and fumbled at his belt for a pokéball. The sack tore open and a multitude of pokémon scurried and flew from it. The taller one held onto his sack, threw a pokéball, and smacked the shorter one in the head in one quick and swift motion. "You idiot, you let the pokémon loose. Now the boss is going to kill us."

The shorter one tried to stammer out an answer. "B…b…bu…but m…m…maybe if we c…c…catch their pokémon, the boss will forgive us…" The two pokémon faced off against Red and Reggie. A large purple snake pokémon, and a small blue humanoid pokémon took battle positions. Red look at Reggie who flashed him a smile and threw out his pokéball. Cubone burst out in a flash, and brandished his club. Reggie nudged Red and he picked a pokéball from his belt randomly. Out came his Rattata who growled fiercely at his opponents.

Red groaned. "I don't know his moves." He flipped open his Pokédex and looked quickly. These moves would have to do for the moment. "Rattata! Use quick attack on the Ekans!" Red ordered, and Rattata sprinted forward and crashed into the snake pokémon.

Reggie smirked and ordered an ice beam attack to hit Machop. The ice beam hit straight on and the Machop crumpled under the attack. Cubone held back for a moment and let Rattata fight on his own. The snake wrapped itself around Rattata and squeezed hard. "Rattata, are you okay?" Red asked. The rodent let out a shrill cry as it was squeezed harder. "Cubone, use headbutt on the Ekans, and help Rattata out." Reggie finally said and the skulled pokémon slammed into the snake at full speed. Ekans released Rattata, who slammed its tail into Ekans' face. "Alright, finish this up with fire blast." Reggie said, and a five pronged fire attack burned the pokémon to a crisp.

"Who are you?" Red demanded of the strangers.

"Who we are is of no importance. However, know this! We are Team Rocket, and you will fear us!" The taller one said, and threw his sack at Reggie. Red looked towards his friend who crumpled under the weight. There was a tearing sound, and numerous pokémon ran from their prison. When Red looked to where the rockets where, there was nobody to be found. He sighed and fell to his knees. Rattata giving him some much needed comfort. Reggie however took action and sprinted off towards where the rockets left. Cubone settled itself on a log holding its club at the ready.

Reggie burst through the brush, trailing him was his Kadabra, they looked angry. "Come on Red, let's get out of here and set up a camp." Reggie said, and silently led Red away from the clearing.

Leaf jumped at the howling that followed her. These were foreign pokémon and she couldn't remember what they were exactly. She kept her westward direction and crested a hill, she could see the surrounding area from there. She scanned the valleys below her for some landmarks but found none. That is until she felt something land on her shoulder.

Leaf jumped and swatted the creature from her shoulder and turned to face it. Beyond the green caterpillar she noticed a fire flare up and smiled. Tossing a pokéball at the Caterpie she made her way towards the fire.

"Excellent job, Growlithe!" Reggie praised the small dog pokémon and scratched behind his ears. "You'll be in charge of the fires from now on!"

Growlithe barked it's agreement and curled up next to his handiwork. Reggie was boiling a pot of water and broke of a block of ramen from his little pouch. He chose a few berries from Red's bag for spices and added them to the now boiling water.

The scent of something simmering over the fire was overwhelming, Leaf couldn't believe how hungry she was, spending the night in the cold forest was a terrifying experience. One that Leaf hoped she wouldn't have to go through again tonight. At least not alone this time. She tripped over something and stumbled a bit. Leaf stopped to look at what it was in the fading daylight. It was a small yellow cocoon.

"Uh, oh…" Leaf said, and was accompanied by the sound of angry buzzing. Swooping down from the trees were several large Beedrill. They fired poison stings at Leaf, who bolted from that area as quick as possible.

"Do you hear something?" Red asked Reggie. He was standing next to his tent with Bulbasaur at his feet. Rattata was already inside snuggled up under Red's blankets. Reggie stood up, and pulled a pokéball from his belt. He let loose Kadabra who gazed into the darkness. The noise got louder and louder, until a girl broke through the tree line and made for the fire. "Beedrill!" she shouted, and Growlithe was roused from his sleep barking. The girl wasn't right and right after the girl came a dozen Beedrill. "Red, take them down!" Reggie called out, and Bulbasaur fired off a barrage of leaves at the pokémon. Growlithe followed suit and attacked with ember. Kadabra focused and fired a psybeam with immense accuracy at the closest Beedrill. The battle ended quickly, and Red took this opportunity to toss a pokéball at one of the weakened Beedrill. The ball shook violently and finally stopped ensuring that Red had captured the pokémon. Grinning like a fool, Red looked to Reggie who gave him a thumbs up and smiled. Red then looked towards the girl who had entered their campsite. She had collapsed. "Reggie! She needs help!" Red called to his friend, who looked back and ran to the girl.

Leaf slowly faded into unconsciousness. It was funny she thought she heard Red's voice through the fog. And another strange voice conversing with him.

"Will she be alright?"

"I don't know what… Ah... I see now."

"What?"

"She was poisoned."

"Will she be okay?"

"Of course, a little rest, some food. She'll be right as rain."

That sounded good. Then everything went black.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to my favorite pokémon in this chapter? If you guess it right I'll let you have an OC in the story! If I like them enough, I might make them a large supporting force, or a rival. Who knows? Anyways, please review more.