I like Fire (by which I mean this story, though I am a major pyromaniac). I'm glad when I get around to it. This is when the story should take off. I feel distant from Fire sometimes, but I hope some others can enjoy this as much as I do. Wow. That was way too sincere. Um… Underpants. That is all.

Red spent one last night in Pewter City Pokémon Center since it was getting late. The next morning, Red made his way to the Pewter Museum. He probably wouldn't be back for a while, so why not stop in to see the sights?

When he paid addition, someone behind the counter stopped him before he could enter. He saw the badge on the man's lab coat that said he was a member of the museum's research staff. "You're a Pokémon trainer, aren't you?" the scientist asked. Red nodded. "Where are you from?"

"Pallet," he said.

"Than you must know Professor Oak!" Red nodded again. "I need your help. This…" the scientist handed something to Red, "needs to be delivered to the lab on Cinnabar Island." Red looked down at the item he had received. It was a transparent yellow-orange stone. It had been polished into a glossy oval that reflected the light of the florescent bulbs above. The closer to the center, the more the yellows turned to orange and the oranges turned to red.

"Cinnabar is pretty far south of here," Red noted, "Across the sea."

"That's right!"

"I'm sorry," Red tried to hand the item back, "I can't. I'm not going to Cinnabar yet. I won't be for a while."

"That's fine," the scientist replied, "This 'Old Amber' has waited over 90 million years to get to that lab. Take your time."

"Alright," Red said, putting the Amber in his backpack, "I won't let you down."

"I'd expect nothing less from a friend of Oak!"

Red never recalled saying he was Oak's friend, but since he was he just decided to forget it. If he was ever in Cinnabar, he'd find the lab and drop the Amber off. Easy enough. Red continued inside, to the exhibits. They had everything from ancient Pokémon fossils, to deep sea exploration vehicles, to models of spacecraft. Red took a liking to a particular Pokémon skeleton. It was about five feet tall and long fingers that would have supported wings. It had a long, aero-shaped tail and menacing tooth lined jaw. Red would have liked to have met a Pokémon like this. Too bad they were all extinct…

Red left Pewter City behind around noon. He began down Route 3 where he met a familiar face. Green was at the beginnings of the rocky path to Mt. Moon talking to a girl Red didn't recognize. She looked about the same age as Green and was the same height. Her hair was a different shade of brown than Green and had blue eyes. Her clothes looked expensive; the absolute worst attire for rough terrain. The expressions of the two girls were a stark contrast, Green was just as chipper and lively as ever, while the other girl just showed a disapproving frown at anything she saw. He continued down the path, waving lightly when Green noticed him and called him over.

"This is a friend of mine," Green said to the girl she was talking to.

"Call me Red."

"This is Lane," Green said, gesturing toward the other girl, "I'm helping her out."

"I need a bodyguard," Lane said. Red didn't like her tone, just short of condescending. "There are several… undesirable characters along this path."

Red looked at Green with his usual blank expression. "How much is she paying you?"

Green held up two fingers and wore a goofy grin, "Two thousand." Red shook his head. "Why don't you join us?" she asked sweetly, "Just us two girls all alone? Who knows what could happen."

"You're a black belt in a bunch of martial arts, some I can't even pronounce," Red said, "I think you'll be fine."

"You are?" Lane asked.

"My dad was kind of overprotective…" Green said quietly.

"I don't want any part of one of your shenanigans," Red crossed his arms, "They never end well."

"Aww, come on," she started batting her eyelashes at Red. He looked away as soon as he recognized Green's routine. "You're going this way anyway. And it's not like it'd be that much…"

Red groaned. "Fine." He conceded not because he knew she was right, but because he knew that if he refused, she'd just grab him by the shirt collar and drag him along anyway.

"Great!" Green happily exclaimed. She turned to Lane and turned away from Red. "So since there's two of us now…" she whispered.

"You can split the two thousand. That's the amount we agreed on."

"Shoot. You drive a hard bargain."

"I know."

"Are you two done yet?" Red called from a fair way down the path.

"W-wait up!" Green called. The girls caught up to Red. They walked down the mostly straight path chatting, though Green did most of the talking. Finally, they reached one of the many small, craggy plateaus that cross the path. It was only two, two and a half feet tall, so Red and Green easily vaulted up the minor obstacle.

Before they could take a step, the two heard a sharp "Ahem!" behind them. "A little help?" Lane ordered impatiently.

"With what?" Red asked, doing his best not to lose his temper.

"I can't jump over a hill like that in this dress," her tone was condescending and Red lost it for just a moment.

"Than maybe you shouldn't be hiking in a nice dress," Red snapped.

Green quickly jabbed him in the side and offered her hand Lane. "It's not a problem at all, don't mind him."

Green helped Lane up the crag and the trio continued. After an awkward silence, Lane spoke up. "So Red," she asked easily "You think my dress is nice?" Red just ignored her.

Just as the three were about to look for a place to rest and eat, a young trainer appeared before the group. "Oh, look," the kid said in a snotty tone, "Little Laney has found some friends. Are they as bad at Pokémon battles as you?"

"These are my personal Pokémon trainers," Lane said stepping forward (Green had to hold Red back from protesting), "They are going to be your opponents in this Pokémon battle."

"I didn't even challenge you to a battle yet…"

Red leaned over to Green. She caught his clearly displeased expression out of the corner of her eye. "I get the feeling that we're being used…" he whispered in a less-than-friendly tone. Green could only grin sheepishly and start batting her eyelashes again.

"Green," Lane snapped her fingers, "Aren't you going to send out your Pokémon?"

"That's it," Red growled.

"It's okay," Green assured as she withdrew a Pokéball from her bag, "I'll handle this."

"That's not what I…" Red started, but by then she was already squared off with her opponent.

Lane took the two steps back to stand next to Red and be out of the way of the battle. "You didn't need a bodyguard at all, did you?" Red asked, trying to dull the edge in his voice.

"Well, maybe not need," Lane said, "But this boy and his friends do pester me a lot. You can never be too careful, and if I happen to give him a few good lumps, it's a bonus."

Green and her opponent had already released their Pokémon. The boy had a Rattata, standard for the area. Green's Pokémon on the other hand, was one nobody recognized. It was a green, speckled, quadrupedal dinosaur-like creature with a red blossom on its back.

"Get ready, Ivysaur!"

"Rattata," the young trainer ordered, "Use Tackle!"

"Stop it with Vine Whip, Ivysaur!" Green's Ivysaur responded promptly, launching vines from under its blossom. The vines connected with Rattata's head, stopping it dead in its tracks. "Now lift it up." Again, Ivysaur reacted swiftly, coiling its vines around Rattata's midsection. Before it or its trainer could react, Rattata was lifted over everyone's heads. "Do you surrender?" Green asked confidently, "Or does he have to drop it?"

The boy hesitated, than recalled his Rattata and ran.

"Oho ho ho ho! That's right, little boy," Lane cheered, "Run home to mommy crying! Oho ho ho ho ho ho!"

Oh yeah, we're being used…

Despite what I said at the beginning of the chapter, I didn't expect this much of the story to be told this quickly! My predictions about this story are getting scary. Like Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny. Hopefully this story won't go crazy and start blowing up people tied to powder kegs… Unlikely. Green's full of personality. That's good. And I got some ideas for later in the story.

Yeah, and for those of you noticed, (not that anyone actually reads this to notice it at all, but whatever) yes, that was Mai Kujaku's laugh verbatim. It's the standard laugh for Lane's character archetype, so I was lazy and just used the template. I know that must be a shock, me being lazy…