I'm going to take a bit of a risk with this next chapter. I hope this doesn't backfire, but there is nothing worth gaining without a little risk. With any luck, I can pick up the pace of this story else I'll be doing this 'till I'm ninety. Then again, I don't think this chapter will have much movement to it. Oops.
The sight of a populated city after hiking through the jagged paths and dark caves behind Red and Green was a welcome sight. Their first stop was the Pokémon Center in the middle of town. Both of their parties were exhausted. Once their two groups were back to full strength, they used the PC system to transfer some Pokémon. Red dropped off his Zubat and Green switched out one of her Pokémon for the Clefairy she had caught in Mt. Moon.
"Where should we go next?" Green asked as the two stepped out into the early afternoon sun. She looked around and spotted a Pokémon Gym right next door to the Pokémon Center. "I think I'll try to get another Badge…"
"I want to look around for a bit," Red said, glancing around and shielding his eyes from the bright sun with his hat.
"Really?"
"You don't have to follow me around."
"If you insist…" Green shrugged. The two parted ways, Green heading for the Gym and Red rounding a corner to the north. He spied a bridge with what looked like a group of Pokémon trainers waiting for something, perhaps challengers. Red decided to see what was going on at the bridge, but as he approached he heard a familiar voice.
"Yo, Red!" Red tugged his hat down a little lower when he recognized the owner of the voice striding past the line of trainers on the bridge. Obviously he had already beaten them once. "You're still struggling back here?" he asked cockily, "I'm doing great! I caught a bunch of strong and smart Pokémon! Here, let me see what you've caught!"
Without a further word, Blue tossed a Pokéball. From it came a strange yellow and brown creature. It had cat like ears and a human-like form. Red checked his Pokédex. "Abra… Asleep 18 hours a day? You're taking a sleeping Pokémon into battle?" Red asked skeptically.
"Just wait and see what it can do!" Blue challenged. Red sent out his Charmeleon to meet the odd Pokémon. "Your Charmander evolved, huh? That's cool, but it's not as cool as Abra's special move."
"Charmeleon, Slash!" Red ordered.
"Abra, counter with Teleport!"
"Teleport?"
Charmeleon dashed at Abra, claws ready to deliver a single decisive strike. Just before the claws struck home, Abra blinked out of existence leaving only a pillar of light. A moment later, Abra reappeared behind the perplexed Fire Pokémon. "Behind you!" Red warned, expecting some kind of strike. Charmeleon whirled around, but no attack came. Charmeleon attacked again, but just like last time, Abra blinked away. The most irritating thing was Charmeleon and red could hear it snoring the whole time. "Can it do anything other than Teleport?" Red asked irritably.
"Not until it evolves," Blue admitted, "But dodging your little fire bug is good training for it!" Just as Blue started laughing in his superiority, Charmeleon fainted a Slash attack. Abra Teleported again, but this time Charmeleon was ready when his opponent reappeared. His sharp claws raked across Abra, knocking it out in a single blow. "Wait, what happened?"
"Don't confuse us for the jokers running around here," Red warned, "Charmeleon and I are just as serious as you are!"
Blue recalled his unconscious Abra irritably. "Fine! If that's the way you want to play it…" Blue sent out his Squirtle to challenge Charmeleon. True, it had yet to evolve, but it was still a strong foe. "Try out your new Water Pulse move, Squirtle!"
"Charmeleon, use Mega Kick!" The two Pokémon had nearly identical speed. Charmeleon launched forward, ready to kick his rival square in the head haven also learned the technique from the Kicking Master. To counter, Squirtle launched a disk like blast of water at Charmeleon. The Fire Pokémon had no choice but to barrel through the strong blast. To make matters worse, Squirtle sidestepped the Mega Kick. The Water Pulse also made Charmeleon land funny and he was clearly starting to get dizzy. "Try Ember!" Red suggested. Charmeleon did, swinging his tail at Squirtle, but it ducked. Another Water Pulse sent Charmeleon tumbling through the air. As Charmeleon struggled to his feet, it was clear he couldn't tell up from down anymore and was more likely to hurt himself if he kept fighting. Red recalled his partner before he could take further damage.
"Shoot," Blue half complained, half bragged, "And I almost had that Charmeleon of yours. But if I can beat your Charmeleon, I can beat any of your wimpy Pokémon!"
Red only smiled. He tossed his next Pokéball, revealing it to be Pikachu. "Thundershock." Pikachu's blinding speed caught both Pokémon and Trainer off guard. The electric blast zapped Squirtle and it didn't agree with him.
"Where did you get a Pikachu?" Blue demanded before recalling his Squirtle.
"Viridian Forest, actually."
"Huh… Didn't know you could find Pikachu there." Blue cleared his thought and got serious again. "But either way, I can still beat it just as easy as Charmeleon! Go on out, Rattata!" Blue's Rattata appeared, but it was unlike any of the common children's playmates or wild Pokémon Red had seen. Frankly, it looked like it could tear that "Rocket" weirdo's evolved Raticate to shreds! "Rattata, Quick Attack!" This time it was Red and Pikachu's turn to be surprised by their foe's speed. Rattata's attack hit even before Pikachu knew an attack had been launched.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack as well!" Pikachu started darting after his foe with the same kind of eye-straining speed. The two Pokémon battle vigorously for the upper hand. Passersby would stop for a moment to watch the two Pokémon in their high-speed dance. Pikachu had the edge in speed and was just as hearty as Rattata. For a while, it looked like Pikachu would come out on top. But the more Rattata got its occasional hits in on Pikachu, the more Pikachu slowed down. Finally Rattata's superior brute strength wore Pikachu down enough to get a solid hit in. That was all it took.
"Great work, Rattata!" Blue congratulated his exhausted Pokémon, "I knew you had that in the bag!"
Red recalled Pikachu and readied his last Pokémon. Sure, Charmeleon still had some strength left to battle, but he was in worse shape than Blue's Rattata. It was all up to his Pidgey. Red sent out the bird Pokémon, who was more than ready for a rematch with Blue.
"Rattata, Super Fang!"
"Pidgey, Gust!"
It was more a formality than a battle. Pidgey's Gust attack picked up and threw Rattata almost all the way back to Blue (who was standing some distance away). Blue sighed as he recalled his Rattata.
"It was worth a try," he said wistfully. He perked up when he drew his last Pokéball, "Oh, well. I guess my bird's just going to have to beat up on yours again. Go, Pidgeotto!" Blue's newly evolved bird Pokémon appeared before the smaller Pidgey. Pidgeotto was more than twice the size of Pidgey with a long red crest of feathers flowing towards its back. "You're mine! Wing Attack, Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto's wing came down quickly on Pidgey. He was able to dodge one swing, but not the second that followed. Pidgey tumbled toward the ground, just managing it right itself before hitting the ground. "Finish it with a Tackle, Pidgeotto!" Blue's Bird Pokémon dived at Pidgey. It took to the sky before it got hit, but Pidgeotto banked up after it.
Just as it was about to get clobbered, Red called out to it; "I know you've got what it takes! Tackle it back!" It seemed completely desperate, but neither Pidgey nor Red showed any sign of faltering. Pidgey started to glow as it dove after his rival. Pidgey was lost in the growing light and started to get bigger. The talons of the two Bird Pokémon locked as Pidgey's evolution concluded, revealing an almost identical Pidgeotto. Red's Pidgeotto easily overpowered his stunned foe, slamming it into the ground. Red contained his surprise long enough to tell his new Pidgeotto to finish the battle, "Use Twister!" The powerful attack caught Blue's already winded Pokémon and flung it into one of the bridge's posts. The battle was over. "I knew you could do it!" Red smiled at his Pokémon as it flew towards him. It tried to land on his shoulder, but it was far too big for that now. "I guess you can't roost on my shoulder anymore…" Red teased. Pidgeotto decided to try roosting on his head instead. "Cut it out!" Red told the mischievous bird in mock anger, "Get off, that's even worse!"
"I can always know where to find you two," they both heard Green say, tapping her foot, "Just follow the noise."
"Whatever. I'm outta here," Blue scoffed. He had already recalled his Pokémon and was starting on his way. "Oh by the way," he said before leaving, "There's a cottage on the cape northeast of here. It's Bill's house. He's the guy who made the PC storage system. You should go thank him for letting you use it."
"Bill?" Green asked, "What's he like?"
"I donno. He wasn't there when I stopped by," Blue shrugged, "Just some weird Pokémon."
"Then why don't travel with us?" Green suggested, "We were heading that way anyway." Red and Blue didn't seem too keen on Green's plan.
"Travel with you?"
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!" Green encouraged.
"You're not going to take no for an answer," Red bemoaned as he tugged on his cap, "are you?" Green shook her head.
"Well, too bad," Blue waved, "Smell ya later!" He started off again, but Green caught him by his shoulder.
"Why wouldn't you travel with your best friends?" As if the question wasn't already asked in a sickly-sweet way enough, Green even batted her eyelashes at Blue for emphasis.
Blue was unaffected by Green's antics. "No offence, but you two would just slow me down!"
"Oh really, Mr. Rapidash? Than how come you just lost a battle to one of us 'slow' Trainers?"
"Well…"
"Then it's settled!" Green decided before even letting Blue answer, "Off to Cerulean Cape!" Without another word, Green started marching toward the bridge.
Blue and Red followed behind mopeily. "How does she sucker us into these things?" Blue asked. Red just shrugged, hiding under his hat.
Well, at least that wasn't pointless like the last chapter! Hopefully this next chapter will set the pace for the rest of the story minus some possible plot twists to come. I like the battle itself, which is good, because this chapter is almost all battle. Then again, that's really a good thing. I've noticed a lot of fanfiction tend not to have much content that pertains to the genre of the original work. A Pokémon fanfiction should be able to tell story through Pokémon battles. With any luck, I'm doing well in that regard.