Chapter 3

Route One – Tall Grass

Rachel stared quizzically at the young man who had only moments ago been practically head-over-heels regarding the journey they were about to embark upon. "You suddenly got really quiet."

Eric shook his head. "It's always the ones that come in with a roar that go out with a whimper. Or something like that."

There Chris stood, his energy gone. He'd never ventured into the tall grass before, and suddenly, he felt his courage and willpower drain. What was going to happen? Would he get eaten by an Ekans? Had his eyes clawed out by a Pidgey? Karate Chopped by a Mankey? His rough start with Charmander was only going to make things harder. What if Charmander didn't defend him when the going got rough? He was suddenly flooded with emotions, the least of which not being pride muddled with fear.

"I'm fine," he finally said, his eyes still not leaving the tall grass in front of him. "Let's go." But even as he said this, he didn't move a muscle.

Rachel grinned. "Performance anxiety," she said. "Always happens to the boisterous ones. They make pills for that you know."

The joke sailed over Chris' head like a Wingull riding the thermals. "I'm fine," he repeated.

"The more you say you're fine, the less I believe it," Eric said, folding his arms over his chest. "Seriously, are you that worried? Would you rather one of us walk in front?"

Of course he did, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Rachel opened her mouth to make another wisecrack, but Eric put a hand on her shoulder and lightly shook his head. Let Chris keep his pride for now, he said with his eyes. Let him have this one.

With a nod, Rachel walked north on Route One, the start of their journey. Eric was right next to her, and Chris shuffled directly behind them. Within a few moments, they were out of the first patch of tall grass, and back on a dirt road. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Eric asked Chris. He didn't expect an answer, but kept walking anyway.

"What kinds of Pokémon live on Route 1 anyway?" Rachel asked Eric.

Eric put a hand to his head as he walked. "I remember from reading a famous Kanto trainer's biography. There were mostly Pidgey and Rattata. But after that incident in Sinnoh where Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina appeared, a lot of Pokémon migrated south to escape the weirdness. I think you can find some Starly, Bidoof, and a few others here as well."

"Oh yeah," Rachel said, remembering the story. "Some freaks. Team Plasma, right?"

"No, they were the ones in Unova. Team Galactic were in Sinnoh. Trying to summon and capture the legendary time/space trio of Pokémon. There aren't a lot of details widely known, but I poked through some of Professor Rowan's research on the subject. He said they opened a portal to another world, but the leader of Team Galactic threw himself in, never to be seen again."

"Creepy," Rachel said as they came to the next patch of grass. "Do you think they…"

Before she could finish her sentence, a Starly leapt from the grass in front of them. "Star!"

Rachel and Eric jumped back a bit, and Chris jumped back further, too engrossed in the conversation to realize what they were doing. As the small bird Pokémon flapped in place in front of them, Eric grabbed his Poké Ball. "Let me handle this one," he said. Rachel nodded and Eric threw the ball. "Squirtle, deploy!" In a flash of light, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon materialized, ready for battle.

Starly swooped in for a tackle attack. "Squirtle, use Tackle!" Before Squirtle could respond, Starly struck, knocking Squirtle back by at least a foot. "I forgot how fast they are. Squirtle, Tail Whip, go!" Squirtle quickly started wagging its tail, which seemed to cause Starly to lose focus for a moment. "Now, Tackle!" This attack was successful, as Starly fell to the ground.

The small bird shook itself off and began to flap once again. "Don't let it into the air! Tackle it again!" Squirtle charged at the opponent, knocking it over once more. "Man, I wish I had an empty Poké Ball or something. Oh, well. Squirtle, end it with one more tackle!"

"Squirtle!" the small Pokémon cried as it charged. Before Starly could get its bearings, Squirtle smashed into it head first, sending the small Pokémon to the ground, dizzy and disoriented. With what little strength it had left, it managed to fly away.

"You did it!" Eric picked up Squirtle and gave it a light hug, which Squirtle rather enjoyed. It returned the hug, then took to Eric's shoulder, where it tried to sit, but kept slipping off.

"Nice work, Eric and Squirtle," Rachel said in congratulations. "That was excellent work."

"You're really good," Chris finally spoke up. "You've done this before?"

"I never went on an official journey," he said, recalling Squirtle to its Poké Ball. "But Squirtle isn't technically my first Pokémon. Once we reach Viridian City, I'll have my Ditto transferred over from Hoenn."

"Cool!" Chris said. "I always wanted to see a Ditto."

The group began to walk once again, making their way north towards Viridian City. "How long is it going to be before we arrive?" Rachel asked.

Eric pulled out the Poké Nav. "About three hours at this pace. It's a relatively short route."

His gusto renewed, Chris took the lead, with Eric nodding slightly to Rachel. Rachel had to admit that he had Chris pegged, as the three of them fearlessly took on several low-level Pokémon. By the time they arrived at the northern terminus of Route One, they'd each fought several Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow, Nidoran of both genders, Starly, Bidoof, and even a few Sentret. As they reached Viridian City and the sun began to go down, they could hear the Hoothoot coming out and calling to each other.

"So this is Viridian City," Chris said as they looked down at the settlement from atop a hill. The street and building lights were just starting to come on, and the town was awash in an orange glow from the setting sun.

"You've never been here before?" Rachel asked. " I thought you were a Kanto native."

Chris nodded. "Yeah, but my family never travels anywhere. The furthest I've been from my home in Celadon is Saffron City a few times, and that was only because my Dad works for Silph Co."

Eric pointed out towards a building with a red roof. "There's the Pokémon Center. They should have rooms for rent, as well as a way to transfer Pokémon and items we weren't able to grab before we left."

"Cool," Rachel said. "I've got some specialty Poké Balls that were custom-made for us. I should be able to transfer them here."

"Really?" Eric said, his interest piqued. "I've always been fascinated by that process. You are talking about the Apricorn balls, right?"

Rachel nodded proudly. "The very same. A few Lure Balls, a couple of Fast Balls, those types of things."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Chris, his excitement and energy returned. "Let's get down there!" Without waiting for a response, he dashed down the hill towards the entrance of Viridian City.

"For once, I agree with him," Rachel said.

With a nod, Rachel and Eric bolted down the hill behind Chris, headed towards their first stop on the way to the Indigo Plateau, Viridian City.