I saw the new Black and White version starters. Gotta say, I'm disappointed. If that's the best Nintendo can do then this generation is shaping up to be as bad as gen. 3. They are really out of Ideas.
Red headed north to Pewter City. The path was straight and opened. Well, it was until he got to the Viridian Forest. The wood was, so he heard, twisting and hard to navigate. It sure looked like it. All the trees looked three feet thick, and there were so many you couldn't see past a few feet. The one thing that made it look navigable at all was a small path winding through the trees. That was the way in, and through.
Red entered the forest cautiously. Soon he found several wild bug Pokémon. They were no match for Pidgey and Charmander. He caught a Caterpie and a Weedle with ease. He didn't intend to use them though, not just yet. He needed a well balanced team he could rely on in any situation.
Red also met a few trainers in the forest, but none of them were serious. That was the problem: no one was serious about Pokémon Training. The only people who could really call themselves Trainers were the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. Red was going to change that!
For now though, Red had to deal with the few bug catchers the Viridian Forest had to offer. He was glad for the opportunity to start Pidgey off easy. He could tell it was really unhappy that it lost to Blue earlier. He could see his young Pidgey mature and get stronger with every battle. Charmander grew too, but not nearly as much.
Viridian was long and winding, and after most of the day was burned catching Pidgey and battling Blue, the sun began to sink. Red didn't know how far into the forest he had ventured. He hoped it had been at least half way. He set up camp, and with Charmander's help, set up a camp fire.
Red and his Pokémon stayed up to watch the stars and the moon raise. Even Pidgey calmed down and sat still on Red's shoulder. Charmander fell asleep after a few minutes. Red noticed how it kept its tail up to not set the forest on fire, even when asleep. Red took out his Pokédex to see if that was in it. It wasn't, so he decided to add to the entry. It read "Even when asleep, Charmander has the self control to keep its tail up to keep from burning its surroundings." That was what Professor Oak wanted, to learn everything he could about Pokémon he could. And if Red could help with that, he'd be happy to.
Pidgey was out not long after Charmander. Red was about to turn in when he heard rustling in the bushes nearby. He curried both his Pokémon with him and hid behind a tree to see what would appear. A small yellow Pokémon stepped into the light of the campfire and sniffed Red's tent, perhaps looking for food. Red recognized the mouse like creature as Pikachu, an electric Pokémon. Red found this strange because he was under the impression Pokémon like Pikachu lived near power plants and the like.
He studied the Pikachu, it had a zig-zagy tail and bright red cheeks. Red quietly woke up his Pokémon. He wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him by. Charmander woke up without a fuss, but Pidgey made far too much noise to let his Trainer remain stealthy. Pikachu's long, straight ears perked up to locate the source of the noise. Red and his Pokémon stepped out from behind the tree.
Red knew that Pidgey was a bad match up against Pikachu, but that didn't stop the aggressive bird from charging the foe without Red's orders. Pikachu loosed a jolt of electricity that engulfed Pidgey. It hit the ground with a thud, smoking and out cold. I'll have to teach him not to do that, Red thought to himself. "Charmander," he said out loud, "Let's go."
Red recalled Pidgey and ordered "Charmander, Ember!" It swung its flaming tail at Pikachu, but the electric mouse ducked and body slammed Charmander. They both fell to the ground and Pikachu, still clinging to Charmander launched another Thundershock attack. The shock was short, and when it was over Charmander scratched Pikachu to make it let go and kicked it off. The two Pokémon squared off, both ready for more. This is going to be fun, Red decided.
He was wrong. Immediately, Pikachu turned and ran through the trees. There was no way Red could follow through the thick forest at night. It got away. Red recalled Charmander, doused his campfire, and turned in for the night.
The next morning he learned he was not half way through the forest. He spent half the day winding up and down the trail through the otherwise impassable wood. Red was getting tired of the doldrums of a seemingly endless forest. He sat down to eat his lunch when he heard rustling in the undergrowth. Red was elated to see Pikachu pop out into the forest path.
Red stood and released Charmander, but Pikachu ran at the sight of the duo. Red and Charmander sighed. Easy come, easy go…
Later on, Red heard the same rustling as before. Once again, Pikachu crossed his path. Red couldn't believe his luck. He reared back to throw the Pokéball that contained Charmander, but Pikachu saw him and ran… Again!
After another hour or so, Red saw Pikachu again. This time it didn't even wait for Red to move before it ran. Red leaped forward to try to grab it so it couldn't get away, but he missed and plowed face first into a tree. He could hear Pikachu laughing at him somewhere nearby. That was it, no more messing around!
Red crawled through the trees after Pikachu. A less then dignifying moment, but he had had enough of that Pikachu. He finally caught up with it, but he remained hidden. When it got out into the forest path, Red pounced on it.
Pikachu zapped its attacker, but he wouldn't let go. Pikachu zapped again, then again, then again before Red's grip loosened. Pikachu barely wiggled free, but before it could run, Red grabbed its tail. Pikachu stood straight up on its hind legs, then turned around and bit Red's hand. Finally, Red let go, but this time Pikachu didn't run. Red looked into its eyes and saw a fire had been lit inside it. Pikachu doesn't like to be grabbed by its tail, Red realized.
Red sent out Charmander, but Pikachu didn't back off. "Ember!" Red ordered. Pikachu dodged every swipe of Charmander's tail until it had to jump to avoid a low sweep. With no way to change direction, Pikachu had to take a full force smash of Charmander's tail. When it hit the ground Red through a Pokéball and Pikachu disappeared into it. The Pokéball wiggled on the ground, but it wasn't enough to contain the tenacious mouse.
When Pikachu broke free, it tackled Charmander with amazing speed. It was incredibly fast. Charmander tried to scratch it but it darted away and zapped him. Charmander could take plenty more of those, but Red couldn't risk him getting Paralyzed. Then he got an idea.
"Charmander, find a long stick and drive it into the ground!" Charmander didn't know why he was gardening at a time like this, but it complied. Pikachu didn't get it either, but it didn't really care. Charmander was able to drive a stick almost as tall as he was into the ground just before Pikachu launched its attack. "Now duck!" Charmander ducked and the electric attack bolted toward him. Just before it struck it curved and hit the stick like a lightning rod. "Finish it!" Red ordered. Charmander, who had crouched into the perfect position, spring boarded at Pikachu and raked its claws across Pikachu's face. Red threw another Pokéball and this time, after a hard struggle, the Pokéball (and Red) won.
Red released Pikachu to greet it. When he did he saw the same fire it its eyes as before. When Red looked closer, however, he saw the fire wasn't anger. It was passion, the same kind of passion that burned in him. He didn't know if it had changed, or if that was how Pikachu felt all along. Pikachu didn't really know either. But that wasn't important anymore. Pikachu was part of the team now. And that wasn't going to change any time soon!
That took a while. Bloody power outage nearly destroyed the whole thing. Lucky autosave kicked it! Good thing too, I like this chapter. Is it just me or do Red's Pokémon have more personality than he does? No, just kidding. I hope his personality is showing from in between the lines. It'd be nice to know it anyone else can see it. (Fel-light, you don't count. I already told you my version of Red's back story.) (P.S., there are exactly 1,400 words in this chapter without the A/Ns)