Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Nintendo does. Lucky them. xD

Just a small warning. Almost at the end of this chapter is going to be a violent scene that will display panic and fear. No need to get all 'oh, what the hell' and stuff. I hope it's not too forced or anything. I'm not good at battle/violence scenes yet. Enjoy and leave a review, if you would be kind.

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Chapter 2: The Trainer

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"Well, Viridian City looks about the same as before. Not too many people at this hour." Mikoto commented as she entered the local area and looked around. "Squirtle needs to rest before we can go, because he took on all those Pidgeys and Rattatas like that." She told herself as she walked towards the Pokécenter. She noticed the building with the letter 'P' in the front area, which was what made it recognizable to the trainers. Mikoto grabbed the occupied Pokéball and looked at it. "We'll stop for a bit and then continue. I'm sure mom would like me to call her, too." She smiled as she reached for the front doors.

Before she got inside, Mikoto looked around again. Yes, the city was in the same. Some patches of grass here and there; some old people walking by; plenty of houses; the always-closed Pokémon Gym; the road that lead to the Viridian Forest. Yes, everything was about the same. Mikoto smiled to herself and entered the building. Once inside, there was a change. The walls that used to be white were now a faint pink, and the benches were a deep blue color. There were young trainers sitting randomly with their Pokémon, some wounded, others not, but mostly, the place was pretty empty. Mikoto got to the counter and noticed the always warming smile that Nurse Joy carried.

"Well, hello and welcome. How can I be of assistance?" the nurse asked politely.

"My Squirtle needs to get some rest." Mikoto replied, also politely, as she grabbed the Pokéball and handed it over to the nurse.

"Of course. Here, I will take your Pokémon for a few seconds." The nurse grabbed the ball and turned around, meeting a Chansey already waiting. "Heal this Pokémon, please." She requested with her warm voice.

"Chansey, Chan!" the pink bubbly Pokémon nodded and took the ball into a different room.

"There. Your Pokémon will be just fine. I suggest you come by in a few hours to get it back." The nurse explained, always smiling.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Mikoto smiled. "I will run some errands in town, then."

As Mikoto was turning to leave, another Chansey came by with a silver tray. There were four Pokéballs in the tray, all carefully placed so that they wouldn't fall. The girl couldn't help but peek at them. Each one had a sticker with an image of a yellow star inside a dark-blue circle in the red area. It made her curious. The owner of these was most likely a kid who liked playing with the Pokéballs. But it was a good idea, though. Like that, she could recognize her Pokémon from the rest. Mikoto almost lost herself in her thoughts when a voice cut through them.

"Thanks for healing up my Pokémon, Chansey." A male, deep, voice spoke.

Mikoto looked down at her feet quickly, hoping she wasn't staring at the guy's Pokémon in a weird way. But all she could see was green. Not that it was relevant, anyways, because she had errands to run. Yes. Pokémart, oh, and call mother. Mikoto calmly walked away from the counter as she heard the same male voice thanking the Chansey again. It was then that she heard a sound. She recognized it was a Pokémon getting out of its ball. She was curious to see which was it, but then she heard a 'Pikachu' sound, which made her calmer. It was just a Pikachu. She had seen some before. It would be a good addition to her Party in the future. As she thought, Mikoto walked over to the phone area and picked the phone in the furthest corner. There were three phones, each separated by a plastic wall, to give privacy to whoever would want to make a call. Mikoto leaned against the plastic, facing the wall as she inserted her phone card in the machine. As she heard the dial tone of her house, she wondered where she would be going next. That would be the Mart. She would be getting some Potions and Pokéballs. Then she would come back to the Pokécenter to get Squirtle back. Maybe the Chansey would have already taken care of him by the time she was done with her errands, since Mikoto had only left him at their care.

"Hello?" her mother's voice came up on the phone.

"Um, hey, mom, it's me." Mikoto said, facing the phone now.

"Oh, hi, dear! You're always so distracted, even on the phone." the adult seemed cheered. "Is everything alright over there?"

"No, no. I mean, yes. I just called to say that everything's fine and all." Mikoto fumbled with her words.

"Oh, I see." Her mother seemed a little relieved. "I'm glad you decided to call me. Now just don't forget to do so every now and then."

As she spoke with her mother, Mikoto noticed that someone was also on the phone as well. She couldn't see his face, because there was another phone and a plastic wall separating them, but she could tell that it was the same person who was next to her over the counter before. Mikoto didn't mean to eavesdrop on him, but her distracted self got over her. Not wanting, she found herself listening to the other guy's conversation.

"It's me." The boy said. "I'm calling to report that everything's going well so far and that we will be proceeding soon. Yes, Sir. I will call again once it is done." He spoke quickly, yet politely, nodded his head and then hung up.

"Mikoto? Dear?" the girl's mother's voice finally got through her.

"Ah, yes, yes, mom. I won't forget." Mikoto fumbled with her words again. "Sorry, I was.. distracted."

"Yes, I can see that. Well, take care and be safe. I'm rooting for you. Bye-bye now." her mother smiled at her daughter and hung up the phone.

When Mikoto looked to the side again, the boy was already gone. She looked back at the room and noticed someone leaving through the front door. Maybe it was him, but that wasn't important now, because she had an errand to run. Mikoto walked to the outside of the Pokécenter and looked around again. From what she recalled, the Mart should be a few streets upwards, so she began walking.

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"Hey, Squirtle." Mikoto greeted. "You're looking better now. Did you take a good rest?" she smiled at her Pokémon.

"Squir, Squirtle!" the blue turtle replied at her trainer, as if saying yes.

"Okay, then, we got to keep moving. Viridian Forest isn't exactly small." Mikoto said as she pointed a Pokéball at him. "Squirtle, return."

"Squir." The blue turtle disappeared into the ball.

"Okay, I'm all set now. Thank you, Nurse Joy." Mikoto bowed her head politely.

"You are most welcome, miss. I hope to see you soon." The nurse bowed back and smiled.

Mikoto bowed her head again as she smiled and then took off. Once outside, she noticed it was getting dark. Upon checking her Pokégear, she saw that it was little past 6:20 in the afternoon. No big deal. It wasn't like something bad would happen at nighttime to her. She took her brother's note book from her bag and opened the first pages. As she walked towards Viridian Forest, she read some of the notes that her brother made. In Viridian Forest you can find Forest-Type Pokémon, such as the Bugs Caterpie, Weedle and the Mouse Pikachu, if you're lucky enough to find one, that is. It would be common to see plenty of Kakuna and Metapod hanging from the tree branches as well. Mikoto would settle just fine with a Caterpie. She had seen plenty of Butterfree on the television, so she'd always want to catch one, but soon she learned that Butterfree was the final evolution of Caterpie and that she had to train the Pokémon until it evolved. Mikoto was well up for that. Training and some battling with other trainers. It should be fun. As Mikoto mused about these new future experiences, she realized that she had already walked through the entry to the forest. She put the note book back inside her bag and looked forward, towards the forest that extended before her eyes. She took in the large trees and the varieties of the bushes. She felt slightly anxious because she never encountered any wild Pokémon in this kind of environment. Before, she battled Pidgeys and Rattatas, but it was in the open air and she was able to see where she would be going next. In there, she couldn't see the sky so clearly because the trees were so high. Well, she had Squirtle to protect her, so she tried to calm herself. Once she took a few steps, Mikoto felt a gust of wind pass by her. She saw the grass that extended until the eyes couldn't see no more. There was a road in between, and Mikoto would be taking that. But, after a moment of walking, she noticed that something wasn't right. It was as if that the more she walked, the more lost she became, and darker the forest became.

"It's just my imagination. I've never been here, so it must be normal that I feel a little lost. Plus, it's almost night time, too. Yeah, that must be it." Mikoto told herself as she continued to walk and looked around.

It wasn't long before she came across a crossroads. One was leading to the left and the other road to the right. It was either one of those or return back to Viridian City. Mikoto didn't know where to go, so she took the left road, but little did she know that it was the wrong way that she was going. The more she walked, the more anxious she felt. And the more she looked around, the more nervous and panicky she got. After she looked around for the 100th time, Mikoto began to feel like someone, or something, was watching her.

"Ah, I've barely just begun my journey and I'm already getting paranoid over nothing." Mikoto told herself as she crossed her arms against her chest defensibly and took a deep breath. "This is not good. Maybe I'm not ready to begin, after all. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a Pokémon Trainer like Onii-chan was. Maybe I should just go back home and-" she spoke to herself as she turned around. Her expression turned into a scared one as she spoke again. "Where.. where is the road?" Mikoto asked to the air in a breathe.

She looked to where she thought she had come from, but the road was gone. Had she taken a wrong turn somewhere? It was a plausible idea, but now, she didn't know where to go, or how to go back. Where it was supposed to be road was grass, and from looking it didn't look like any way was the right one, because all she could see was trees, bushes and more grass patches. Mikoto tried to check her Pokégear, but it didn't show her any map. Ah, crap. She had forgotten to ask her mother to load one into it. Mikoto felt her knees begin to tremble out of nervousness, and to her misfortune, she began hearing sounds.

"Aah, what could that be?" she asked to the air again. "A-A Caterpie? O-Or could it be a P-Pikachu..? With my luck it's most likely a Weedle."

She took a few steps backwards when she saw a close-by bush's leaves moving around. In her fear, Mikoto stepped on a small branch, making the bush's sound get louder all of a sudden. But then it stopped. Mikoto almost felt relieved, but as she took another step backwards, a large Pokémon jumped in front of her.

"Scy..!"

"Oh no, it's a.. a Scyther." Mikoto said, as her Pokédex gave out the mantis' description.

"Scyther. This Grassland-Type Pokémon is very intelligent and possesses a ninja-like agility and speed. It can create the illusion that there is more than one, making it nearly impossible to parry its attacking scythes. It's very proud of its speed and it moves so fast that its opponent does not even know what knocked it down."

"W-Wait, G-Grassland? What is a Scyther doing in a forest if it doesn't belong here?" Mikoto asked.

She felt as if the air in the area was gone, because she was beginning to have trouble breathing properly. Mikoto wanted to adjust the collar of her shirt, but was afraid that if she made any kind of movement, the Pokémon would attack her. She tried to take another step back, but she somehow tripped over a rock or a log and fell backwards, landing on her butt. That didn't seem to stop the Pokémon as it got closer to her.

"Scy!" it roared and swung its arm a little.

It looked like it wanted to attack her, and Mikoto wanted to call out Squirtle, but she was feeling as if her reflexes were numbed out. What was she supposed to do in a satiation like this? Battle? Run? Play dead? Something then came to her mind. Her brother once told her that wild Pokémon usually don't attack humans, only other Pokémon. They would attack a human if someone hurt it, but Mikoto had done nothing to this Scyther. Heck, she didn't even know that it was around the area, since its territory is supposed to be in the Grassland. Her panic streaked as the green Pokémon came yet a little bit closer to her. She thought about trying to reason with it, but it didn't look like a good idea. The blades on its arms looked really sharp, so maybe trying to reason wasn't the best idea. Battling didn't seem the best option either because this Scyther seemed to be too strong for Squirtle. Before she could try to figure out any other escape option, she saw the Pokémon lifting up its left arm. Now she really stopped breathing as her fear rose to an upper level. Her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly.

"Onii-chan..." She could only say. "Save me. Anyone..!"

As the Scyther swung down its left arm, Mikoto could only shut her eyes, turn her head to the opposite side and try to defend herself from the swing with her bare arms. She knew it would be helpless. She knew that it wouldn't do anything. Heck, maybe she was already dead. Her fear didn't allow her to feel anything, so she wasn't sure if the Pokémon had even finished its strike. She was too afraid to open her eyes again. She could only listen to the forest sounds, until another sound came to her ears.

"Go! Iron Tail!" a male voice was heard.

"P'kachu!" there was something dashing on the grass as well.

She could listen to thuds and clacks, so someone must have found her. Oh, that was good. As relief began to take over her like a tsunami, Mikoto was able to open her eyes again. It was there that she noticed that she was being held by someone. Well, she still felt her legs and hands, so she was still in one piece from that attack. Wait, one piece? Attack? Her eyes shot open as Mikoto sat herself up, but as soon as she did that, a sharp pain shot up to her brain. Instinctively, she grabbed at her stomach, but it only did worse, because the pain became sharper.

"Ah! What the-?" she gasped as she looked at her hand, and to her panic, saw her palm covered in her red blood. She almost stopped breathing again, but another voice caught her attention.

"Hey, hey, don't move too much. I'm going to take you back to the Pokémon center. I'm sure the Nurse Joy will be able to fix you, so just stay calm and breathe."

"What.. happened?" she asked in two gasps as she looked upwards to the source of the voice.

Mikoto looked up at the boy who had found her and realized that it was the same person that had been at the Pokécenter before. At the counter, next to her, and at the phone afterwards. As he looked down, back at her, she also noticed that his eyes were blue, like the ocean. Mikoto liked the ocean. It had a lot of Water-Type Pokémon that she wanted to catch someday. She looked back at him with her ruby-red eyes and she was about to say something, but then a spike of the pain returned to her brain. Damn it, it hurt. Mikoto clenched her teeth and hands, and looked down at herself. Then, she finally saw it. There was an almost horizontal cut over her stomach area, and crap, the thing burned. It didn't seem to be all that deep, or big, but it was more the blood than anything else. She tried to shift herself to try to make the pain ease, even if just a little bit, but she failed.

"Ow, ow..." she whimpered.

"Hey, try not to move too much, okay? That Scyther hit you good, but I was able to drive it off." the boy said as he applied a piece of cloth to her wound.

She whimpered again, and he removed it for a second. When it seemed better, he put it again, making her moan in pain again. It hurt so much that she didn't know she should be screaming in pain or be thanking him for driving that Scyther away. Either way, she began to feel strangely sleepy. Her eyes were too heavy for her to continue to look at his ocean-blue eyes for much longer. She noticed that there seemed to be some kind of blue powder in the air. As she fell asleep in the boy's arms, Mikoto found that her cut didn't seem to hurt all that much anymore.