Author's Note: I'm getting back in the groove of things! All three of our heroes have been defeated (in one way or another), but they've learned a lot from their trip to Viridian City. Sorry for the timeskip, but it's about time we start getting back on the road, don't you think?

This chapter is largely uneventful, just the group making it to Pewter City.


Chapter 10
Viridian Forest for the Trees

"Everyone packed?" Eric asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Yep," Rachel said, putting on her shoe.

"Unnecessary items sent to digital storage?" he asked.

"Done," Chris said, jumping down from his bunk.

Eric stopped asking questions, deciding to limit the amount of nannying he did each day. "Alright, then we're off to Route 2." The three trainers nodded at each other before exiting the room, returning the keys to the nurse downstairs, and departing from the Pokémon Center. They headed to the north, passing by an advanced battling center, some houses, and the still-closed Viridian gym. Chris was still a bit upset by this, but kept walking anyway. The three were uncharacteristically silent for a while.

Eric was thinking about his contest. He let his anger disrupt his performance and he tripped up badly. Perhaps Giséle reminded him a bit too much of Mack, though outside of their pompous attitudes, they had little in common. He wasn't sure why he was so bitter, especially when Ditto was as happy-go-lucky as he'd ever been.

Rachel was thinking about the Pokéathlon. She, by all accounts, did very well for her first time, but was still a bit disappointed that Nate took second place instead of first. Still, it was riveting to watch. The raw power of the competitors was something to behold, and she couldn't wait to start training once again.

Chris was thinking about food. Why didn't they have breakfast that morning?

Kanto was beautiful this time of year. Technically, Kanto was beautiful all year round. The temperatures never got very extreme, and the trainers basked in the warm sunlight and cool breeze coming off Route 2. A certain spring developed in their step as they headed north before being stopped by an old man on the side of the road.

"Hello, kids. My name is Olde Mann, and I'm going to teach you how to catch Pokémon!" He seemed... chipper.

A younger woman standing next to him piped up, "That's not your name, Grandpa."

"Then why does everyone call me that?" Olde Mann asked.

"Because that's what you are, not who you are," she replied.

"What's the difference?" Mann argued back.

"The terms people use to describe you are not the name your parents gave you when you were born," she explained exasperatedly.

"I'm pretty sure they named me Olde Mann. That's why all the young ones call me that," he said.

"No, Grandpa, that's not your name, that's your title."

"No, my title is Dr. Olde Mann."

"You're not a doctor."

"Don't question my credentials!"

"Have you had your coffee yet?"

"Don't you worry about my coffee," he shot back. "I'm going to show these trainers..." He gestured toward an empty road. "Um...there were trainers there, right?"

His granddaughter just sighed.


"That was weird," Chris said as they proceeded into Route 2.

"Yeah, slipping away was the right idea," Rachel said.

Eric remained quiet, poking at his Pokédex.

"What kinds of Pokémon live on this route?" Chris asked.

Apparently everyone expected Eric to answer, but he wasn't paying attention. The group remained silent for several seconds before Chris asked again. More silence. "Eric!"

Eric's head jerked up and he looked at the other two. "Huh?"

"I was asking what Pokémon live on this route," Chris reiterated.

"Oh," Eric said, stopping to think. "Um, I don't exactly have all this memorized, but I think Pidgey and the occasional Pidgeotto, some Rattata, Bidoof, Nidoran male and female, stuff like that. We'll see more variety in the Viridian Forest. "Caterpie and Metapod, Weedle and Kakuna, and of course..."

All three at once: "Pikachu." It was clear all of them wanted one.

"I call dibs on all Pikachu!" Chris said, suddenly bolting toward the south gate of the forest.

"Hey! You can't call dibs on Pokémon!" Rachel shot back, chasing after him.

Eric put his Pokédex away and pulled out his PokéNav, keeping his steady pace instead of chasing after the other two. As Chris and Rachel were about to bolt into the gate, Eric called out, "Hold it!" The two stopped short as Eric walked up. "Rachel, you'll want to see this, too." He handed the PokéNav to her and touched the play button on the screen.

"Thank you for tuning into Tournament Circuit, your guide to tournaments all over the country. I'm Sarah Nade." The host tapped her stack of papers to line them up before continuing to speak. "The year's tournaments have started off very hot with some great action. Starting in Kanto, the next tournaments are all in Pewter City. Two weeks from today marks the start of the Pokéathlon. The Pokéathlete Council has announced to us just a few minutes ago that the event's theme is Speed. You hear that, Pokéathletes? Get those speedy Pokémon of yours ready!

"Next up is the Poké Ringer competition, which will be taking place in six days from now. The Viridian Poké Ringer contest was absolutely astounding, so we here at Tournament Circuit will be paying close attention to the winners of that event.

"Finally, the Pewter Pokémon Contest theme has been announced: Cool! Coordinators will be expected to show of their Pokémon's cool factor seventeen days from today! That's it for Kanto this week, so let's move on to the Johto competitions..." Eric hit the mute button and took the PokéNav back.

"So a Speed-a-thon and a Cool Contest," Chris said. "What exactly is 'cool'?"

Eric's face contorted into confusion. "It's hard to explain. It's kind of a balance between Toughness and Cleverness, if I had to explain it. There are entire essays written on the subject, but it's not really easy to lock down. Ultimately, it's kind of up to the judges."

Rachel looked determined as she slammed her right fist into her left palm. "Well, now I definitely need to find a Pikachu."

"No way," Chris said. "I'm getting one!"

Eric mused out loud, "Pikachu are really cool. Having one would be a real boon to my Contest performance."

Rachel grinned. "Then may the best Trainer catch one."


The Viridian Forest was a daunting sight. Tall trees cast nearly complete shadows over the floor. This extremely contained maze of trees was just barely lit well enough to navigate. Skittering and other light noises compounded on top of each other to become a cacophony of insectoid noises that made the entire forest a little unsettling. Leaves and twigs crunched under the teens' sneakers as they passed through the gate into the woods. They stood for several seconds, taking in the scenery.

"Cool..." Chris said, the first to speak. He walked forward, taking in all the surroundings.

"Be careful," Rachel warned.

"I can't wait to see all the Pokémon who live here," Eric said.

Chris was enamored. "Maybe I'll catch a cool bug type, like a Beedril or a AAAAAHHHHH!"

Chris' sudden blood-curdling scream caught the other two off guard, causing them to instinctively jump back. Their eyes darted to Chris, who had managed to walk into a giant spiderweb. He struggled like a madman, but the web had no give. "Get me out of here!" he screamed.

"Calm down!" Eric yelled, trying to calm the boy.

"I can't reach Charmander!" he yelled, his hand twitching toward his belt.

"Eric, use Ponyta!" Rachel said.

But Eric shook his head. "No. One slight miscalculation and we burn this entire forest down."

"We have to do something," she pleaded. "Are you just going to let him get eaten by whatever made that web?"

"Ariados," Eric said.

"Whatever, Ariados. Are you... wait, how do you know it's an Ariados?"

Eric pointed to the upper trees where an Ariados was starting to descend onto the web. Chris' scream became more intense, and several Pokémon in the immediate area began to flee into deeper parts of the forest. "IT'S GOING TO EAT ME!"

Rachel screamed, too. Eric grit his teeth and grabbed Rachel's shoulders, shaking her just enough to get her attention. When she finally paused her screaming, he said, "Use Bulbasaur!"

She paused for a moment, not sure what he was planning, but once she calmed down a bit, it clicked. "Right! Right. Bulbasaur, help Chris!"

Bulbasaur appeared on the forest floor, ready to go. "Razor Leaf!" Bulbasaur immediately complied, firing razor-sharp leaves at the webbing. Unfortunately, they bounced right off, making a loud clanking noise. "It's too strong!"

"I've heard Ariados webbing is as strong as steel. Never thought it was true, though."

But Rachel wasn't giving up. "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's whips wrapped around the webbing, and with Eric and Rachel's help, the three pulled as hard as they could. But the webbing just wouldn't give. Worse, once they stopped, Bulbasaur couldn't free his vines from the web. "Bulbasaur, come back!" Rachel recalled the little grass-type into its Poké Ball.

While Eric was thinking hard to get them out of this situation, Chris felt something strike his head. "Ow! What was that?!" Eric looked up to see that Rachel had thrown a Poké Ball at Chris.

"What? It was worth a shot," she said.

"This is no time for jokes!" Chris yelled as Ariados got closer. "Aaaaahhh!" His scream echoed through the trees. Rachel and Eric had taken to grabbing Chris' legs and pulling. Ariados got closer and closer, though, and...

Its legs spread across the webbing and pulled it together, bunching it above Chris. It used its pincers to slice through the webbing, causing it to essentially break and send the kids flying. Ariados instantaneously spun a new web and took off back into the canopy, disappearing into the leaves.

Rachel was too stunned to speak. Chris was trying to pull the remaining webbing off himself. Eric was lost in thought for a few moments before saying, "Oh yeah. Ariados don't have a history of eating people."

Chris, face deadpan, slowly turned to look at Eric. Glaring, he said slowly, "That would have been nice to know SOONER!" Rachel just started laughing as she fell backwards onto the ground, staring up into the canopy. Eric chuckled before standing up and offering a hand to Chris.


"Look out! Beedril!"

"An army of Spinarak!"

"That tree is on fire!"

"More Beedril!"

"Pidgeotto is trying to eat me!"


They had been in Viridian Forest for less than an hour, and disaster had plagued their stay. And for once, it wasn't all Chris' fault. While he had nearly set the forest on fire twice, Rachel kept bumping into Beedril nests, and a Pidgeotto had tried to carry Eric off for some reason. Between all the thrills and spills, the group was exhausted. Not one of them had caught a Pokémon or even battled another trainer. Anyone remotely interested in battling them usually didn't bother to challenge any of them when they were on fire or being swept away by a giant bird.

The tattered, dirty, hurt, and tired group approached the home stretch. Ahead, they could see the northern exit to the forest, and the north half of Route 2. Within a few minutes, they could be in Pewter City.

"No battles," Chris said.

"No Pokémon," Rachel contributed.

"Eyes forward," Eric added.

"Let's go," they all said together. In a row, the three marched forward. A nearby bug-type specialist opened his mouth to issue a challenge, but a resounding, simultaneous "No" from the group shut him down rather swiftly. Just a few more feet left. Almost there.

"Pika?"

The group stopped short, turning to look. A wild Pikachu stood at the edge of the path, licking its hand and grooming its ear. Their eyes widened. Without looking at each other, all three bolted toward the small mouse.

They crashed into each other hard, tripping, and landing in a massive, tangled pile of limbs and hats. Pikachu gave them a confused look before calmly returning into the sea of trees.