…
(Ooo! Now I'm Red……… And I lost it…)
Red and Charmander steam rolled their way through Route 1. By now Charmander was overpowered compared to the other Pokémon in the area. Back in Vermilion City, Red decided to check the Mart one more time. He had to get Pokéballs so he could catch his first Pokémon.
The clerk recognized him. "Hey kid!" he hailed, "I just got a shipment of Pokéballs last night." Red wondered at the convenient timing. He didn't dwell on it. He paid for as many Pokéballs as he could afford, thanked the clerk than left. "That kid's gonna make something of himself someday," he said. One of the customers who overheard just scoffed at the ridicules notion.
Back on the secluded Route 1, Red found a wild Pokémon; a Rattata. Red released Charmander. "We'll have to weaken it," he told his Pokémon. Charmander immediately smashed its flaming tail into the target. Unfortunately, Rattata went flying out of sight. "Not… quite," Red decided.
A lot of the Pokémon in the area were now scared of Charmander, so encounters were becoming infrequent. Finally, Red met a Pidgey that not only approached, but seemed to want to fight.
"Try… to go kind of… easyish on it," Red ordered. Red promised himself he would never go easy on anyone as a Pokémon trainer, but to catch his first Pokémon, he kind of had to.
Charmander didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of holding back either, but it obliged. It scratched at Pidgey, but it took to the sky to dodge. From there, it kicked up sand with its wings. Charmander was also able to dodge, which startled the Pidgey. Charmander took advantage of this and leaped into another scratch attack. Pidgey was barely able to dodge and some of its wing feathers were clipped off.
While normal Pidgey would run, this one seemed to enjoy the excitement. It dive bombed Charmander, but it wasn't fast enough. The fire Pokémon sidestepped and Pidgey had to land on the ground to keep from crashing. Charmander took advantage of this and scratched it again. This time, it was a direct hit. Pidgey collapsed from the heavy blow. Red threw his Pokéball. The red and white sphere struck Pidgey. It glowed red, then vanished into the ball. After a long struggle, it gave up and was caught.
Red and Charmander gave each other the thumbs up. Red picked up his first caught Pokémon. The Pokéball wasn't that much heavier than it was before. "Let's go heal it, Charmander." The Pokémon agreed.
Back it the Viridian Pokémon Center, Red's Pidgey was healed back to full health. Once Red got it back, he let it out of its Pokéball to greet it. When it came out it immediately tried to pick a fight with Charmander. The attendant behind the desk scolded it for trying to fight in a place of healing. Pidgey seemed to understand.
"You sure are scrappy," Red told his Pidgey. It seemed to take that as a complement. "Let's see what the Pokédex has to say about you."
"Does not like to fight. It hides in tall grass where it fogies for bugs," the Pokédex reported.
"Doesn't like to fight?" Red questioned, "Well not this one!" Pidgey looked up at Red hoping he was impressed and not disappointed. Red smiled at it, and so did Charmander. Pidgey was so happy it flew around the Pokémon Center at top speed, causing all kinds of havoc.
Later, after Pidgey was rained in, they left Viridian. Red decided to head west. He heard some other trainers mention a "Pokémon League" filled with impossibly strong trainers called the Elite Four. They were the strongest trainers in all of Kanto, Red had to take them on!
Once Red was on the road to the Elite Four, he was stopped by a familiar voice. "Hey, Red!" Blue called. He came running from the path to the Pokémon League. "You're off to the Pokémon League? Forget it! You probably don't have any badges!" Blue laughed.
"And you do?" Red asked.
Blue looked ticked. "The stupid guard won't let you through without them!" he reported with an angry snort.
"And one gets these by…"
"You have to win at these Gyms scattered all over Kanto!" Blue exclaimed. At least it's give me time to toughen up my Pokémon." Red turned to leave. He saw a building marked "Gym" back in town. "That reminds me," Blue said before Red could leave, "I want to see if your Pokémon have gotten any tougher."
Red grinned. He tossed one of his Pokéballs and released his Pidgey.
"Is that all you've got?" Blue demanded, "Check out my Pidgey!" Blue kissed the top of his Pokéball and threw it in the air. From the ball came a Pidgey of his own. It looked a little older and bigger than Red's.
"That's cute how you smooched the Pokéball," Red said sarcastically, "Are you two going to cuddle now or are we gonna get this fight started?"
Blue growled. "Pidgey, Sand-Attack!" he ordered.
"Match it, Pidgey," Red told his Pokémon.
The two Sand-Attacks collided. Blue's Pidgey clearly outmatched Red's in brute strength. At the last minute, Red ordered his Pidgey to get out of the way. It flew around the outside and got next to the enemy Pidgey. Red had to sidestep to avoid the blast of blinding sand.
"Quick-Attack!" Red roared. Pidgey tried to slam its full body weight into Blue's Pidgey, but it took to the sky to dodge.
The two bird Pokémon circled around each other, trying to get the upper hand.
"End this!" Blue shouted, "Tackle it now!"
Pidgey did its best to dodge, but Blue's was just a little bit faster. The smaller bird was glanced by the body blow and fell. Before it could recover its senses from the hit, Blue ordered his Pidgey to attack again.
"Gust, Pidgey!"
The blast of wind whipped up by the bird's wings slammed into Red's Pidgey. It was blown away and into Red's arms. Red recalled his Pidgey and took out another Pokéball. He scowled at Blue as he prepared to throw.
"Honestly, you two," a girl's voice chided, "You just never stop with the fighting do you?"
Red turned and focused on the face of Green. He scoffed and tugged down his hat.
"I figured I'd find you two going after the Elite Four right away," she sighed, "I came to tell you goof balls that the gym in Viridian is closed and the first gym is in Pewter City." She turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, yeah," she continued without turning, "don't overdo it. I don't want to hear either of you get hurt." Then she left.
Red turned back to Blue. "I don't think I can call this a win, but I think I've paid you back for our match at the lab." Red sighed and nodded. Blue turned around and looked up at the mountain towering above Viridian City. "The Indigo Plateau up there," Blue said pointing at the summit, "is crawling with tough trainers. I gotta figure out a way to get past them!" Blue turned back to face his rival, "Red, you should stop dawdling back here and get a move on!" With that, Blue raced off, presumably to Pewter City.
Red shook his head lightly at his friend. Some things will never change he decided. With one last glance at his final goal, Red started this trek to Pewter City and his first true step to becoming a Pokémon Master.
Gah! This took me forever to write! I think this was the longest it's ever taken me to finish a chapter after I've already started it. I think it's worth it though.