"Ugh, my everything…." Christie moaned as she woke up, she had no idea how much time had passed since the Beedrill attack but she knew one thing, she was in a different place still in her outfit from earlier and her ribs where bandaged up. "Hello? Is there anyone there?" Christie called out as she tried to sit up but a sharp pain in her ribs prevented that, seconds later the door opened up and Steven entered the room. "Steven?"
"Good to see you're awake the doctors said that you were lucky to escape with minor injuries." Steven said as he entered the room and Christie blinked. "You don't remember the Beedrill attack?" Steve asked and Christie winced before nodding as the memory came back to her. "I arrived just in time, another minute and…." Steven trailed off and Christie shuddered. "I bet you have a few questions so go ahead and ask."
"Err, yeah, where am I exactly?" Christie asked and Steven sat down on a chair.
"You're at Viridian City's Pokemon Center, these places usually have rooms for trainers to stay at, and Evee and the two Pokemon you caught are with Nurse Joy downstairs." Steven explained and Christie sighed in relief. "We took you to the hospital but a quick check up revealed that you just had some bruising around the Ribcage so they bandaged you up and discharged you."
"Thanks." Christie thanked him as she leaned back on the bed. "Wait, we?"
"He's talking about me." Ann's voice rang out and Christie looked up seeing a young girl in her preteens with shoulder length red hair and blue eyes who was wearing a red dress. "Hi, I'm Ann Steven's little sister and a fellow Pokemon trainer."
"Oh great, another trainer who got an earlier start than me," Christie moaned and Ann giggled. "My name's Christie, thanks for your help."
"I know that." Ann responded as she handed over three Pokeballs. "Here, your Pokemon are fully healed, I volunteered to take them up to you."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Christie said as she took the three Pokemon. "So Steven, what happened exactly?"
"I saw you catch the Pidgey and the Spearow within a few minutes of each other, nice catch by the way." Steven complimented her and Christie grinned before gritting her teeth and sitting up. "By the time the swarm attacked I was halfway up the hill and I was only close enough to send out my Pokemon by the time you had tripped, honestly I think you're lucky that I arrived when I did."
"You think?" Christie sighed as she swung her legs over. "If my Evee was in better shape then I would've tried to at least capture one of them."
"I kind of beat you too it." Steven responded as he held up Beedrill's Pokeball. "Litleo managed to catch one of them with an Ember and I kind of jumped at the chance, my Pidgeotto blew the majority of them away with a Whirlwind so if you're still interested in capturing one you may want to hurry."
"I think I'll just stick to raising a Weedle." Christie moaned as she folded her arms. "Does my mom know I was attacked?"
"Yeah, we were looking through your contacts to see if there were any family members nearby and when we found your mom's phone number we called her." Ann answered and Christie sighed. "She's downstairs at the moment; do you want me to get her?"
"Yeah, that'll be great thanks." Christie sighed and Ann left the room in a hurry. "Great, barely five minutes into my Pokemon journey and I get injured after capturing my first two Pokémon." Christie sighed as she rested her arms on her legs. "Can this day get any better?" Christie asked sarcastically and Steven shook his head.
"Like I said, it could've been a lot worse if Ann hadn't told me about the recent Beedrill attacks." Steven responded and Christie grinned at that. "So what's your plan now?"
"Soon as I feel better I'll head back to Route One and try to get me a Water Type for the Pewter Gym." Christie responded with a grin. "My mom packed an old rod for me for it should be pretty easy."
"If capturing Pokemon was that easy I would've caught a lot more by now." Steven sighed and Christie nodded in response. "So why did you start so late in the first place?" Steven asked and Christie sighed.
"Would you believe I slept in and got a cold on my tenth birthday?" Christie asked and Steven laughed at that. "I'm serious, by the time I got to Professor Oak's lab all three starters and the two backup Pokemon where already claimed."
"That's some rotten luck." Steven admitted and Christie nodded in agreement. "You didn't try again afterwards?"
"Twice, once when I was fourteen and again when I was sixteen." Christie sighed as she shook her head. "And both times something got in the way, I slept in too late, I had a bike accident the week before and broke my leg, yeah really, it's almost like some higher power decided that no, Christie Monroe won't get her first Pokemon until she was eighteen!"
"Well, at least you got your opportunity in the end right?" Steven asked and Christie nodded in agreement, before either of them could say anything else the door opened and Christie's mom entered the room clearly concerned for her daughter.
"Hi mom," Christie said as she looked up at her mom. "My Pokemon journey hasn't exactly gotten off to a great start."
"So I noticed." Her mom responded before taking a seat. "Christie, what were you thinking? You know how dangerous Beedrill can be in a swarm."
"I didn't know there was a Beedrill swarm in the area I only went there because Steven here told me that he had spotted some Pidgey and Spearow in that area." Christie sighed in response and her mom turned to Steven.
"I didn't know either ma'am, I only learned after I got a call from Ann and by then your daughter had already left." Steven added as he shifted his weight. "By the time I got close enough to attack the swarm Christie had tripped and fallen allowing the Beedrill to attack her at once,"
"I think you know the rest." Christie added with a wince as she felt up her ribs. "Well, the Beedrill swarm is gone from that area anyway so I'll be going back there so I can get me some Water Type Pokemon."
"Absolutely not young lady, you could've been killed by that swarm!" Her mom asserted and Christie winced.
"Ma'am, it's fine, we talked and agreed that me and Ann should accompany Christie on her journey." Steven interjected and Christie's mom sighed in relief.
"We did?" Christie whispered to him and Steven turned to her.
"Just go with it." Steven whispered back before turning to her mom. "Trust me ma'am, your daughter's in good hands with me around!"
"It's were those hands are going that concerns me." Christie's mom responded and the two teens blushed when they realized what she meant.
"That wasn't what I meant." Steven said with a laugh as Christie just shook her head at her mom's comment. "She has potential as a trainer and I and Ann have a lot more experience than she does and we could help her bring out that potential."
"You're really not helping my frustration over my late start as a trainer, you know that right?" Christie whispered to him and Steven shook his head.
"Well, if you say so Steven." Her mom relented and Christie sighed in relief as she stood up. "I'm heading back to Pallet Town but don't forget to call me Christie, and if he gets you pregnant don't say I didn't tell you so." Her mom added ignoring the embarrassed looks on the teens faces as she left the room.
"You're not actually going to get her pregnant, are you?" Ann chimed in and Steven shook his head.
"It's a bit too early for that in my opinion and I think Christie agrees with me." Steven responded as he turned to Christie who nodded in agreement. "Look, sorry for springing that on you Christie but I could see no other way of assuring your mom that you'd be safe on your journey." Steven added as Christie finally got out of bed and walked up to the window so she could get a view of the town. "If you don't like the idea then we'll go our separate ways."
"As much as my ego says that I'll be fine on my own I realize that you have a point there." Christie responded as she turned to them after thinking for a couple of minutes. "But if we end up qualifying for the Pokémon league and end up facing each other I won't hold back, I've been fantasizing about winning that thing ever since I was a little girl!"
"I think most trainers would say the same thing but you have a deal." Steven responded with a nod as he stood up. "So do you want to do now? Do you want to rest for a bit or head back to the river."
"Head back to the river I'm getting a bit restless being cramped in here." Christie responded as she looked up. "By the way, do either of you know where I can get my hands on a Torchic?"
"Yeah, there are a few wild ones in Viridian Forest." Ann responded and Christie grinned. "Hoping to raise a Blaziken?"
"Yeah, I was hoping to get a fire type as my starter but I had to settle for my Evee." Christie responded with a frown as she turned to them. "I didn't think I'd be able to get one out of its home region so I'm relieved to hear that."
"Well there are a few Kanto native Pokémon back home in Kalos so there's that." Steven responded as he stood up. "So just to recap, you want to head to the river and hope to catch some wild Water Pokemon and then head to Viridian Forrest to catch some Torchick and some other Pokemon, am I right?"
"Yeah, for once….." Ann teased him and Steven gave her a mock death glare. "So what kind of rod do you have?" Ann asked and Christie checked her backpack.
"Err, just an Old Rod." Christie responded and the others frowned. "It was a gift from my mom."
"No offense Christie, but you're not going to catch any decent Pokemon with that thing." Steven said as he put his hands in his pockets. "If you still want to use it go ahead but just to be safe I think we should stop by the Pokemart downstairs and buy you some more Pokeballs."
"I still have four left." Christie said after checking her backpack. "But having some spare balls to hold onto would be good…..what I just said never leaves this room, got it?" Christie asked when she saw her two companions snickering at her comment. "Can we just go already?"
"Well if you're feeling up for it." Steven said as he and Ann stood up. "Let's go." Steve added and the three of them left the room.
*some time later*
"So, any luck?" Steven asked as he and Christie waited for the Water Pokemon to take the bait, they were back on Route One and where currently fishing near the location of the Beedrill attack, fortunately for them Christie had been correct in her assumption that the Beedrill swarm was gone.
"No luck so far." Christie said as she rested her chin on her hand. "I mean, as much as I like sitting around and grasping a rod as hard as I can…oh damn it, not again!" Christie moaned as she face palmed whilst Steven laughed. "What I'm saying this that I'm starting to get pins and needles in my legs."
"You could always spread your legs a bit…and that sounded even worse." Steven realized and Ann giggled at that. "Look, we'll wait a few more minutes and if we don't catch anything we'll move onto a different spot, deal?"
"You have a deal." Christie nodded before she felt a tug on her fishing rod and grabbed onto it with both hands. "Oh, I got something!"
"Hold on, I'll help!" Steve said as he grabbed her from behind and pulled.
"You realize how dirty that looks, do you?" Ann giggled but they ignored her.
"It would look even worse if my hands were around her chest and not her waist!" Steven responded as Christie nearly fell into the river.
"If they where I would've kicked you in the balls by now!" Christie retorted before pulling out the Pokemon with one mighty pull…..and getting a Magicarp. "I wait all this time and get a Magicarp?"
"You win some, you lose some." Steven said as he let go and Christie stood up before stretching her legs for a bit. "So you want to toss it back?"
"You're kidding right?" Christie asked as she grabbed an empty Pokeball and threw it at the Magicarp the Magicarp entered the ball mid splash and stayed in there. "At this point I'll take any Pokemon I can find!" Christie added as she picked up her newly captured Pokemon.
"Yeah but I wouldn't count on that being any help when we reach Pewter City." Steven responded as he sat back down. "Magicarp are pretty much the weakest Pokemon in the world, it's only saving grace is its evolved form."
"All the more reason to catch it then and besides, I'll catch better Water Pokemon before we reach Pewter City." Christie responded as she watched Steven resume fishing.
"You'd better save a spot for the Torchic you want otherwise it'll go to Professor Oak." Steven responded and Christie nodded.
"Steve, I may be an ammeter at this but I know the basics, my mom's a retired Pokémon trainer." Christie explained as she put the newly caught Pokémon in her backpack. "She retired to raise a family, namely me, but she still has a lot of her Pokémon from back then."
"Sounds like Pokémon Training's in your blood." Steven commented as he waited for a Water Type to take the bait. "So what about your dad, I would've thought that he'd have come up with your mom as soon as he heard that you were injured." Steve enquired not noticing that the expression on Christie's face had darkened as soon as he asked that until after he had finished speaking. "He's dead, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he passed away just before my tenth birthday." Christie sighed as she sat back down and got her fishing rod out. "My mom told me that he died of an illness that he had for a while but never went into the specifics." Christie added and Steven shook his head.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Steve apologized and Christie shook her head.
"Don't worry about it I've had nine years to get over his death." Christie added as she shifted her weight. "That's part of the reason my mom retired, the original plan was for her to accompany me for the first length of my Pokémon journey but…..well we both know what happened there." Christie added and Steve nodded.
"If it helps I think he'd be proud that you're finally going on your journey." Steve responded and Christie grinned at that. "Well, I'm not making any progress so far." Steve added as he stood up and got an idea. "Maybe you should grab my rod and try it…yes I realize what I just said Ann, shut up!" Steve said as he started blushing furiously.
"I'm not saying anything." Ann said with an innocent look on her face as Christie took Steve's fishing rod.
"Might be worth a shot I guess." Christie shrugged as she set her old rod aside and started using Steve's fishing rod instead. "So why did you guys come all the way from Kalos anyway? Aren't there a few countries in between Kalos and Kanto that you could've gone too?"
"There are." Steve nodded as he sat back down. "But the cheapest way for a Pokémon trainer to leave Kalos was the St. Anne cruise ship and we pretty much got a one stop trip to Kanto because it was the only one available." Steve explained as Christie waited for something to tug at the rod. "I'm not complaining since it led to me meeting you but still."
"I'll never been to Kalos so I'll have to take your word for it." Christie responded as she waited for a couple of minutes. "Okay, it doesn't look like anything's going to take the bait." Christie said as she reeled it in and handed the rod back to Steve. "I say we move on."
"I was about to suggest that." Steve responded before checking his Town Map. "Okay, our next stop is Viridian City where we've already stopped by and after that there's Route 2 and Viridian Forrest and we both know that you wanted to head to the forest as well." Steve added and Christie nodded. "Well, there's a lake we can try just to the north of Viridian City, might be able to get a few battles in whilst we're at it."
"As long as I win my first trainer battle I'm not complaining." Christie responded and Steve nodded in agreement. "What time is it anyway?" Christie asked and Steve checked his watch.
"Late afternoon/early evening…." Steve responded before noticing Christie's surprised look. "We spent an hour in the hospital and the rest of the day at the Pokémon center."
"Wait, you mean I was out for at least four hours?" Christie asked with a raised eyebrow and Steve nodded. "Okay, two questions: one: why didn't you take me back to the hospital? Two: you didn't do anything inappropriate, right?" Christie asked as she folded her arms.
"In order: the doctors said that that was normal for multiple Beedrill stings so ask them and two: NO! I usually wait until after the first date before doing anything like that with a girl!" Steve asserted and Christie sighed in relief. "Anyway, let's get going, it's not like we're going to find any decent trainers or Pokémon here."
"Did you suddenly forget that I met you here?" Christie asked with a cheeky grin and Steve paused for a minute.
"Okay, we won't find any decent trainers besides me, you and Ann." Steve corrected himself and the two girls nodded in approval before the trio walked off.