Another last-minute update, but Fire is easy for me to write. I've been kind of wondering about the pacing. Should I go fast, should go slower. A little feedback would be nice, but fortunately for me it's kind of been writing itself.

Red spent the night at the Pokémon Center. No sense getting two hundred feet into Mt. Moon and having to stop and make camp. Inside the Center there was a man trying to sell a Pokémon, but Red ignored him and turned in early. Some of the Trainers were woken up by the inexplicable arrival of a helicopter, but other than that, the night was uneventful. The next day Red left the Pokémon Center to see Green waiting for him, tapping her foot impatiently. "You're late."

"I didn't know we were meeting."

"Well I didn't think I had to," Green sighed, "I thought it would be obvious we were going through Mt. Moon together." Mt. Moon wasn't the biggest mountain path in Kanto. Far from it, but for a wayward traveler or inexperienced Trainer could get lost and the mountain was filled with wild Pokémon.

"I didn't know you needed me to hold your hand," Red grinned briefly.

"I don't need you to protect me!" Green returned defensively. Red turned toward the mountain entrance and rolled his eyes remembering the conversation they had had only a day ago when they met up on Route 3. "Hey! Wait up!" Green stomped before running to catch up.

Mt. Moon, being a cave, was fairly dark. It wasn't too hard to see after your eyes adjusted to the low light, but you couldn't see very far. It was easy to see how people got turned around in a place like this. It didn't take long for a flock of Zubat to appear for Red and Green. Red's Pikachu was more than enough to dispatch the group harassing him. He even caught one. Green and her female Nidoran had just a little more trouble without the aid of any electric attacks, but they were also able to defeat the Zubat and caught one as well.

Red wanted to examine every inch of the cave, but Green was far too impatient for that. He had to settle for a brief glance into the many natural chambers of Mt. Moon hoping there would be something in plain sight to warrant further investigation. Most of the time there was nothing. Green did, however, find an odd, pitted rock. It was smooth, black, and seemed to sparkle when it caught light.

"You're rock collecting now?" Red asked.

"Buzz off," Green pouted, "It's not just an ordinary rock." Green took a closer look at the rock to make sure she recognized it. "It's a Moon Stone."

"Are you trying to tell me that thing's from the moon?"

"I don't think so," Green admitted, "But I heard it can make some Pokémon evolve." That was good enough for Red and he turned to leave the chamber they found the Moon Stone in. Green easily caught up, "Stop trying to ditch me!"

As they continued toward the exit, they came across a few Trainers. Nothing too noteworthy. That is, until they came across a strange man in a black jumpsuit with a big red "R" emblazoned on his chest. "What do you kids think you're doing here?" the man demanded.

"Passing through," Green shot back defensively, "What's it to you?"

"You're not going to get your hands on those fossils!" the man told them, apparently not hearing what Green had said, "They all belong to Team Rocket!" Immediately, he sent out a Raticate, a 2 foot tall, pudgy, light brown-furred rodent with large, menacing buck teeth.

"Well, that settles that," Red sighed as he drew a Pokéball.

"Oh, no you don't!" Green cut him off, "You got the last three battles, it's my turn." Green withdrew a Pokéball. From it appeared a Butterfree, a three and a half foot tall butterfly.

"You can't make sport of us Rockets! Raticate, use Super Fang!"

The foe's Raticate lunged at Green's Butterfree, but the nimble bug Pokémon danced through the air to dodge. Butterfree even seemed to be enjoying toying with the Rocket's Raticate. "Butterfree, use Stun Spore!" Green ordered. After a few more flips to avoid another few bites, Butterfree raised altitude a little and started beating its wings at Raticate, losing a sparkling goldish powder. As the spores began to cover and cling to Raticate's fur. As the move started to take effect, the rat Pokémon seemed to seize up in pain. "Now Tackle it!" Butterfree responded dutifully with a charge.

"Tackle it back, Raticate!" the Rocket ordered. The two Pokémon collided and even though Raticate was paralyzed by the Stun Spore, its greater bulk gave it the advantage. Raticate easily knocked its opponent away, Butterfree tumbling through the air.

"Shoot. Butterfree, try your Gust attack!" Green ordered. Butterfree started batting its wings again, but this time, instead of a cloud of toxic powder, a small hurricane blasted at the nearly immobile Raticate. The attack hit dead-on and sent Raticate into a rock wall some ways away. "Gotcha!"

The Rocket begrudgingly recalled his unconscious Raticate. "You haven't seen the last of Team Rocket!" the stranger promised before throwing something at the ground and disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

"That was weird…" Green noted, Red nodding in agreement. "…But at least we won! Way to go, Butterfree!" Red couldn't help but smile at his friend's enthusiasm. Red was expecting to see Green recall her Pokémon, but instead, she let it land on her arm. She pulled something out of her bag, a purple spray bottle, and started spraying her Pokémon with the contents.

"What on earth are you doing?" Red asked his friend.

"Using a Potion, of course," Green answered easily. She finished with the item and recalled her Pokémon. "That Raticate was pretty tough," she admitted, "That Tackle took more out of Butterfree than it should have, so I healed it." Surprisingly, Green knew Red well enough to tell one of his seemingly blank expressions from another. "Potions restore some of your Pokémon's strength lost in battle. Didn't you know that?" Red instantly turned on his heel and continued through the mountain path. "You totally didn't know! I bet you used all your money on Pokéballs, didn't you?" Red's pace sped up. "You did! And you made fun of me for my mistakes!"

Green kept on the subject, but Red stopped when he encountered a distraction… Rather, when he encountered another new Pokémon. Never a dull moment…

I suppose I could continue, but that might end up being 2000 words or more. My intent is after I finish my stories, I'll go back someday and fix them up a little, so I wonder if this and the next chapter won't be one someday. I also could extrapolate on things from the last three chapters, so I could theoretically turn this into two chapters on its own if I really tried (thought that's unlikely). With the help of some constructive criticism I feel I could make this something really worth the time I spend on it.

Huh. I'm getting this done with hours to spare. That's a new one for me…