Dave and I ran like lightning to the Pewter City Gym, and dominated the first trainer that we came across. We had forty-five minutes to get to Cerulean City in time for Joel and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my best friend. It was unlikely he would join us on our adventure through Kanto, much to my dismay. I'd been missing Joel ever since he moved away, and having him with us would have been hilarious.

At the end of the large room designed to look like a cave, was Brock. The toughest guy in Pewter City. There weren't many serious trainers in Pewter by the looks of it and I had had enough of the boring-ass place.

"Hey!" The Brock called to us. Dave backed away. It looked like I was going first. Okay. Deep breaths. I could do this. "I'm Brock, and I believe in rock hard defence and determination! That's why my Pokémon are all the Rock type! Still want to challenge me?"

"I'm Darrell. Nice to meet you. Let's go, man," I said, holding Storm's Poké Ball in my hand.

"Fine then! Show me your best! Go for it, Geodude!"

I had to admit. The guy sounded brainwashed, but damn, he seemed like a good trainer. Not many people had his ferocity and passion. I looked back at Dave, who gave me a nod for good luck. Yeah, like that was going to help me now. Had to appreciate him, though.

"Let's go, Storm!"

My monster of a Pokémon roared loudly and I felt a new found pride wash over me, and grinned. Brock seemed unfazed, and laughed heartily. He was impressed, but not enough to let me win. I commanded Storm to Bite the thing, hoping that it would maybe do some damage - but that Geodude knew a few good moves and was beginning to overpower him.

"Fuck," I murmured. My heart began to tug. I wasn't winning this. I couldn't let Storm faint, not now. "Storm! Tackle, with all you've got!"

He heard me, but he didn't obey. He raised up as far as he could go, and all of a sudden, a huge burst of water exploded from his mouth, blasting into the Geodude and smacking it against the wall. "Holy hell!" I heard Dave cry out. Storm had learnt Water Gun.

"Yeaaaah!" I couldn't help but cheer as Geodude was returned to its Poké Ball.

"Well done, Darrell. But you haven't won the battle yet!" he grinned, and threw out another Pokémon. A huge snake-like creature made of rocks, about the same height as Storm, now stood in front of Brock. I'd seen these on the TV. An Onix.

"You know it, Storm!"

He launched out another Water Gun or two, and Onix's last attack managed to bring my beast down. Storm's eyes shut tightly in pain and as he fell, I reached up with both arms and caught his head, cradling him. Dave was smiling. I looked at him.

Shit. I'd won the battle. I'd won the goddamn battle!

"Fuck yeah!" I cried out, but didn't let go of Storm. He needed taking care of. I stroked his head, and for such a ferocious beast, it surprised me that he let me do it. I returned him to his ball and Brock was still grinning, holding out a small, shining, brown badge.

"This is the Boulder Badge - and you rightfully earned it, Darrell."

Now I was the one that couldn't stop smiling. I genuinely couldn't take the grin off my face. I must have looked like an idiot as I took the badge from him and pinned it on, the wave of pride washing over me once again. I wanted to dance and jump for joy. Man, was I happy. The first time I'd ever fought a Gym Leader, and won!

"Thanks, man!" I grinned, shaking his hand.

"It was fun battling you," Brock replied. "You're different from other challengers I've seen. Much stronger and much more passionate. I suggest you go to Cerulean City and test your abilities there. You're tough enough to get there."

Dave stepped forward, Poké Ball in hand. "I don't mean to break this up," he said innocently, a sweet smile forming. "but it's my turn."

With Boulder Badges pinned to our identical Iron Maiden shirts, and our Pokémon out of their balls, the sun shining, the afternoon was happy. In fact I was so happy that I literally jumped and skipped, and then took a break to phone Joel as we entered the next route.

"Ahoy-hoy!"

"It's Daaaa-relll!" I sang loudly and deliberately off-key. "Guess what!"

"Darrell! Are you in Cerulean yet, is that what? Oh, wait, you can't be, because I'd hear you from the other side of the city. No, what is it, my boy?"

"I beat Brock! I have my first badge!"

"Fuck yeah!" Joel cried happily. "Damn, I'm proud of you! Hey, man, listen. I've been sitting here with my parental units all day, and I am so bored. Can I come and meet you? You know, I'll go to Mount Moon, and you go to Mount Moon, and we'll meet like, halfway or something. I could do with a walk."

Joel had no Pokémon and there were bound to be Pokémon on the way to Mount Moon, and it was guaranteed they would be in the cave too. I bit my lip. That had to be even just a little dangerous. But then I talked myself out of that mindset: Joel was a smart, tough guy. He could easily overpower a Pokémon. Unless a whole swarm of Geodude decided to attack him.

"Yeah, fine," I replied after a few moments of frantic thought. "Go into the entrance from your side and hang about there, we'll meet you there."

After a little more talk - in which he added new jokes to his repertoire and tested them on us - he hung up and we were on our way to Mount Moon. Dave and I ate a late lunch, and while I was busy eating a roll as we walked onward, it was difficult to chew and swallow. There was a horrible, aching knot tying itself up tight in my stomach, out of fear.

There were, unfortunately, many young trainers on the route to Mount Moon. Dave and I took turns battling them, and eventually they began avoiding us after witnessing a few battles. I didn't really care. Storm didn't need any more training for now, and he was the highest levelled dude on the team. Judging from Flame's new behaviour - much more aggressive and his tail burned brighter - he was ready to evolve. Ace wouldn't evolve until I found a Thunder Stone and I wasn't sure if I wanted a Raichu or not.

But why I was thinking about evolution now always puzzled me.

"You know," Dave began as we walked into the Pokémon Centre to heal up and rest. "There were some suspicious dudes in Mount Moon when I went through it. And I still didn't see a Machop!" He threw himself down on the sofa and put his feet up on the table.

"Suspicious people?" I raised an eyebrow and the knot in my stomach gripped its hold on me harder than ever. "What kind of suspicious people?"

"All dressed in black," Dave shrugged. "They looked real uneasy, always lookin' around, like something was gonna bite them from behind. They were probably from Team Rocket. God knows what they're trying to do in there. There isn't really anything rare in Mount Moon other than Clefairy. Does Joel have any Pokémon?"

I shook my head. "He likes them, though. He's just like how I was."

Dave said nothing.

"I mean," I kept going. I couldn't hide anything from Dave if I was going to be spending the rest of my journey with him. "I used to hate battling with a fucking passion. I hated how cruel it was. And yeah, I know. I've battled. But I'm trying to be careful. I can't prevent my guys fainting but I'd do everything in the damn world to stop them dying and I've seen that so many times. I don't get how people are just so fine with it - they're not just lives we can throw away, you know!"

My voice had raised a little too much and there were people staring at me - but they turned away when I glared and the small chatter began again.

I sighed. Kept going. "With Flame, Ace and Storm," I sighed. "I feel different. I feel like I depend on them just as much as they depend on me. All that stuff about battling, all that hatred I felt…it just disappears. Those boys…they make it disappear."

Dave didn't look surprised or shocked: he was smiling at me, and he nodded, a pouty little grin on his angular face.

"Preach it, brother," he smiled. "I always felt the same. I felt like shit if Jett or Shadow ever fainted. Felt like it was my fault, you know? But it's what happens on every journey, Darrell. Shit happens. Deal with one problem at a time. You helped Storm out when you were fighting Brock - little things like holding them when they're weak, that builds a lot of trust and love. It's worth it, dude. That's what I believe."

Man, I loved this guy more and more with everything he said.

"Now, are we gonna meet Joel on time or what?" he flashed another wide grin.

We hit each other a high five and were on our way.