Hey there reader, it's me, Akhil100 here! I once again present you with another new chapter of Pokémon Blaze. This is going to be a special chapter. Like I said earlier, this will be the chapter where the female lead will make her debut. Want to know her name? You have to read the chapter for it.

Major Events of Last Chapter

1. Aki meets his childhood friend Emma who also came to Kanto to compete in PWC tournaments.

2. Aki meets Kai, Jackie and Shun, three ninjas under training at the Fuchsia Gym.

3. Aki delivers the letter to Koga.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokémon franchise, but I do own Aki and Emma.

So, let's get on to the chapter. Read and enjoy!

Chapter 16 – Together on a Journey!

Route 18

A young girl was walking through Route 18 with her Bulbasaur. The girl was none other than Emma, Aki's childhood friend. She walked slowly, observing the view of the river nearby. She was about to reach the bridge when suddenly a Doduo got in her way.

"Oh look a Doduo!" She said to herself. The Twin Bird Pokémon looked at her for a second before running away. Emma realized that it was running scared of something. She soon found out what.

"Wait right there, missy" a muscular voice told her. She looked up to see a gang of several bikers in front of her. They were all wearing jackets. All of them except one were riding bicycles. The one who seemed to be the leader was riding a motorcycle instead.

"Do you have a bicycle?" The leader asked. Emma replied no. The bikers suddenly began laughing. The leader then spoke again, "Then I'm sorry, but you cannot cross this bridge without a ride."

"What? That does not make any sense" Emma protested.

"This bridge is called the Cycling Road. You have to ride a bicycle to get through this bridge. That's the rules"

"Who even made these stupid rules?"

"Hey, don't question the rules. Get a bicycle and then we'll talk"

"And where can I get one?" Emma tried asking nicely.

"You can have one on rent…" The leader began. "…for 1,000,000 dollars!"

"WHAT!?" Emma's jaw dropped after hearing the amount.

"Or you could always get one for free…" A smirk appeared on his face. "…by defeating us in a battle"

"Now that's easy" Emma took out Snivy's Pokéball. The other bikers moved away from them to make space for the battle. The leader and Emma were now about 4 meters away from each other.

"This will be a single battle with each Trainer using two Pokémon each" a biker who came in between them said out loud. He then backed for the battle to begin. "Let the battle begin!"

"Go Snivy!" Emma called out her Grass Snake Pokémon. It came out and made an elegant pose.

"Go Magmar!" The leader too called out his Pokémon. It had a red body with flames sprouting from its head and tail. The leader made a small chuckle and then said, "Get ready to be burned girl. And the name's Glenn by the way"

"Who cares?" Emma then ordered her first move. "Snivy, use Leech seed!" "Sni…vy!" Snivy tail began to glow green and it released three seeds at Magmar by slashing the tail in air. The seeds landed on Magmar and green vines sprouted from the seeds and wrapped from it. They then began to drain energy from Magmar.

"Hey that's not fair. Magmar, use Flamethrower!" Glenn ordered. Magmar breathed fire at Snivy who easily dodged them. "MAGMA!" Magmar suddenly cried in pain due to the vines draining its energy.

"Snivy, use Leaf Blade!" Snivy jumped up and did a front-flip and slashed Magmar with its glowing tail. "Magma!" Magmar once again let out a cry, which was weaker this time, indicating that it was running out of energy.

"This is impossible. How can a mere Grass-type weaken my Magmar?" Glenn was worried about his Pokémon. "Magmar, use Flamethrower!"

Magmar once again breathed fire at Snivy. This time it hit Snivy with full power, also leaving a burn on Snivy. Magmar was also drained by the effects of Leech Seed.

"Oh no! Hang on, Snivy, and use Tackle!" Emma commanded.

"Sni-Ivy!" Snivy gathered all its strength and tackled Magmar. The attack and the energy drain knocked out Magmar. Snivy too fell to the ground due to the effects of the burn left by Magmar.

"Snivy, oh no!" Emma ran to her Pokémon and applied a burn heal on its burned spots. She then recalled Snivy and looked at her Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur knew that he was up next and nodded at her.

"Magmar, return! Your next, Weezing!" Glenn recalled his Magmar and called out his next Pokémon, which was a Weezing.

"C'mon Bulbasaur, let's show them what we're made of" Bulbasaur came forward to battle Weezing. "Let's start! Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!"

"Blind him with Smokescreen" Glenn countered. When Bulbasaur was about to use the attack, Weezing released thick dark green smoke from its mouth that blinded Bulbasaur and Emma.

"Now use Sludge!" Glenn ordered again. Weezing spew dark brown sludge at Bulbasaur which landed a critical hit on the Seed Pokémon.

When the smoke cleared, Emma made her command, "Bulbasaur use Sleep Powder!" Bulbasaur then released some light blue coloured powder from its bulb at Weezing, which put the Poison Gas Pokémon to sleep.

"Great! Now finish it off with Double-Edge!" Emma followed up with a life-risking move. "Bulba…SAUR!" Bulbasaur charged at Weezing with full power and knocked it out.

"Yes, we won!" Emma ran to her Pokémon and hugged him. "Bulb-Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur smiled as he was being hugged. Emma then looked at Glenn and asked, "Now, can I get a bicycle please?"

"Not yet! You have to beat the whole gang to get one" Glenn said with smirk on his face.

"WHAT!? That's not fair. Bulbasaur's already tired. He cannot beat all of your Pokémon" Emma reasoned.

"You either battle the whole gang or go home. You can choose" Glenn crossed his arms and waited for a reply. Emma was about to say something, when somebody spoke before her.

"She's right, you know" Everybody looked at the source of the sound. They saw a teenage boy of about Emma's age sitting on top of one of the light arcs above the bridge. It was none other than Aki. Flame was also beside him.

"How did you get up there?" One of the bikers asked. Aki jumped down from the light arc and walked towards them. He stood beside Emma and asked, "More importantly… Are you gonna let her go?" "Only if she can beat us"

"You sure wanna get beaten, ha?" Aki let out a small chuckle. He then looked at Emma. She asked him, "What are you doing here, Aki?"

"Helping you get past these jerks" he said. "Hey, watch your tongue, you little pest" Glenn warned him after he called him and his gang 'jerks'. But Aki ignored him.

"Have you been following me?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. I just came by and saw you in need of help"

"Who told you I need help?"

"It's called common sense" Aki then turned towards the bikers.

"So are you going to beat all of us alone in a battle?" Glenn asked him.

"I was hoping more of a real fight" Aki smirked as he rolled up his sleeves.

"So you wanna fight us in a fist fight, ha? Bad idea kid" Glenn made his hand into a fist and looked at his gang. They too got ready for a fight.

"Aki, you don't have to do this" Emma said quietly to him. Aki looked at her by the shoulder and told her, "Get back. I haven't been into a real fight in months. My fists are hungry." Flame ran towards Emma and hid behind her along with Bulbasaur. Aki then turned towards Glenn and smirked, "Come at me bro!"

Glenn charged at Aki to punch him in the face. But Aki caught his fist easily and countered with a punch of his own at Glenn's stomach. Glenn fell to his knees after taking the punch. Aki followed up with an uppercut to his jaw and then with a kick to his chest, knocking Glenn out. The other bikers watched in horror as their leader fell to the floor. One of them tried to attack Aki, only to receive a kick from Aki to the ribs. A third biker successfully kicked Aki in the thighs and then followed up with roundhouse kick to the head. Aki fell to the floor but got up quickly. He dodged the next kick from the biker and then punched him the chest. Aki then knocked out the third biker with a power-packed kick to his stomach.

The fourth biker didn't dare to attack Aki. The other two girls in the biker gang watched in horror as their gang had been beaten by kid.

"Are you all right?" Emma ran towards Aki. He had a small bleeding on the lips. Emma offered him a handkerchief which he took. "I'm alright. But I don't think they are gonna say the same" Aki said pointing at the beaten up biker gang. They were able to get up only with the help of their team members.

"Now can we go through?" Aki asked them politely with a smile.

"Just get away from us" Glenn said but he could barely look up at them.

"Thank you!" Aki said as he walked towards the bridge, followed by Emma and Bulbasaur. Flame ran up to them and jumped onto Aki's shoulder.

"That fight was amazing. Have you learned karate?" Emma said as they walked along the bridge.

"No, but I always wanted to" Aki replied. They walked along the bridge to reach Route 16. Once they reached the gate at Route 16, Aki stopped and turned around to face Emma.

"Emma, I'm gonna ask you again" He began. "Would you like to travel with us?"

"Aki, I told you…" She began. But Aki spoke before she could finish, "I could be your bodyguard"

"What if you I don't need a bodyguard" Emma stood with a hand on her hip.

"Then I guess you could always beat those guys yourself, ha?"

Emma thought for a while and then let out a sigh and said, "Alright, you can travel with me"

Aki smiled at first, but then raised an eyebrow. "I could travel with you? More like you can travel with me"

"Don't forget who the bodyguard is" Emma shot back. And they kept arguing as they made their way to Celadon City.

TO BE CONTINUED...

And they are together at last. From this chapter on, Aki won't be alone on his journey. And one more thing… In the next chapter, Aki's second Charmander is gonna get healthy again. And also, Aki and Emma are going to meet someone special. And now the usual stuff:

Aki's Team

Flame – Male – Ember, Scratch, Incinerate

Charmander – Male - Ember, Flamethrower, Dig (injured)

Herien's Team

Bulbasaur – Male – Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, Double-Edge

Snivy – Female – Vine Whip, Leaf Blade, Leech Seed, Tackle

Glenn's Team

Magmar – Flamethrower

Weezing – Smokescreen, Sludge

And now for the trivia –

Pokémon Trivia

Did you know that Koffing and Weezing were originally named as 'Ny' and 'La' respectively to represent the polluted air of New York and Los Angeles?

So, this chapter too comes to an end. Don't forget to review. If you review, you will get a virtual (imaginary) Weezing. So long guys. This is your friendly-neighbourhood Akhil100 signing out!