I do love this story. With any luck, I should be getting some movement in this chapter. I kind of need to do a quick pace since I'm basing Red in this off of how I play the game myself. I'm a grinder. So yeah, there might be a lot happening in this chapter, so I hope I can pull it off.
The five trainers on the bridge were no match for Red and Green. As it turned out, they were part of a contest, so they had all the items they needed to battle one trainer after another. Not that being at full strength mattered much. They noticed someone at the end of the bridge after they defeated the last trainer. Three someones actually.
"Congratulations!" the one in the center said as they all tried to hand over a small gold orb over to Red, Blue, and Green. "You've defeated the five contest trainers. Please accept this fabulous prize!"
Green and Red accepted the gifts, but Blue declined, "I already got mine." Red and Green looked over the weighty gold ball. "It's a nugget. You could sell it for a high price at the mart in town. It's what I did with mine." Tactful as ever.
"By the way," the stranger in the middle spoke up again, "how would you like to join Team Rocket?" Red and Green recognized the name immediately.
"Hey, aren't you those weird fossil enthusiasts from Mt. Moon?" Green asked.
The stranger cleared his throat, "Our operation in Mt. Moon was thwarted by some pesky kids, unfortunately. But in reality, we are a group of professional criminals specializing in Pokémon! Want to join?"
"Join criminals? Not a chance!" Blue scoffed as he brushed past the three (as he did the first time he met them).
"Same here," Green agreed, "Go find someone else." She too walked past the strangers. Red didn't even bother turning them down. He just shot them a dirty glare as he followed his friends.
"Are you sure?" the Rocket asked, following them. No response. "Come on, join us!" Nothing. "Fine, it looks like you need some convincing…" They heard the crack of a Pokéball releasing its Pokémon. Green saw the jaws of the purple snake Pokémon Ekans just before its poisonous jaws were about to clamp down on her leg. She jumped out of the way, and in the same moment, Red was already throwing the Pokéball containing his Charmeleon. The other two Rockets sent out a Zubat each that surrounded Charmeleon. They were countered by Squirtle and Spearow, a red and brown, crow-like Pokémon sent out by Green.
The trainers gave their orders. Spearow took to the sky with one of the Zubat. The two whirled around past each other. Zubat's Wing Attack was narrowly avoided, and it took some effort on Spearow's part to land his Peck. Squirtle was having an easier time keeping his foe at bay with his Water Gun attack, but he had yet to land a hit. Red and Charmeleon had it hardest with the Rocket leader and his Ekans. The snake Pokémon lunged at Charmeleon with stunning speed. It wasn't as fast as Pikachu, but it was still hard to dodge. Charmeleon countered with his Ember attack. Ekans's bite may have been quick, but it was slow to react to Charmeleon's tail. His flaming tail batted Ekans right in the head, for all the good it did. Ekans brushed off the insult, snapping at Charmeleon again. He leaned back out of the way and countered on instinct. By the time Red called out "Mega Kick!", the fire Pokémon was already half way through the motion. That attack did do something, and threw Ekans back hard. These Rockets weren't a joke like the one from Mt. Moon. They were dangerous!
"Zubat, use Leach Life attack!"
"Squirtle, use your Water Pulse!"
Zubat launched at Squirtle confidently. After all, it was in the air. But its charge was foolhardy. Squirtle launched his Water Pulse attack and Zubat had no chance. The bat Pokémon plowed through the attack. Squirtle easily hopped out of the way, sending Zubat face-first into the ground. It tried to take off again, but in its confusion, it only did a loop back into the ground.
"Tackle it to finish it off!" Blue ordered. Squirtle complied and smashed into the already weakened foe. It was more than enough to finish it for the day. After Squirtle let out a triumphant cry, it started to glow. His silhouette grew long ears and his tail grew bigger. Once the glow faded you could see that his tail had not just grown, it had grown fluffy. And now his cocky grin was toothier. "Alright!" Blue congratulated, "You finally evolved into Wartortle!" Green and Spearow used the distraction provided by Wartortle's evolution to finish off their Zubat.
Now all that was left was for Red and Charmeleon to finish off Ekans. Unfortunately, Ekans had Charmeleon in a Wrap attack. The light of the evolution didn't give the Rocket leader or his Pokémon pause, but when they saw they were now outnumbered, they both flinched. That loosened Charmeleon up enough to finally use a slash to get free. "Mega Punch!" Red ordered. Charmeleon was all too happy to oblige. Ekans fell in a heap. "It's not really surprising. A cheater will always expect his opponents to cheat."
"But I would never interfere with someone else's Pokémon Battle," Blue continued the sentiment. "Especially not my friend's!"
"And that's why professional Pokémon Trainers like us will never join professional criminals like you," Green finished. A handful of trainers, including the contest trainers, had gathered at the commotion. They all seemed impressed by Red, Blue, and Green. And if their reaction was any indication, the contest trainers didn't even know who they were working for.
"You should join us," the lead Rocket repeated, "With skills like yours, you could be top leaders in the organization. But we'll retreat for now." The three Rockets dropped smoke pellets and vanished.
"They really like doing that trick with the smoke…" Green noted.
"You've met those guys before?" Blue asked. Red just shrugged and moved on down the path.
Route 25 had plenty of wild Pokémon to meet. As the party continued toward Cerulean Cape, they came across a number of new ones. Blue, having been up this way before, had already seen them all. Or at least the ones they found that time. A wild Abra caught Greens eye. "That's a rare Pokémon! I'm…" she looked over at Red and his knowing expression. "I'm… going to let you go for it." Darn him and his good memory…
Red remembered his battle with Blue's Abra, so he chose Pikachu. "Thunder Wave, Pikachu." Pikachu let loose a small shock. It caught the sleeping Pokémon who then seized up. Before Red could give Pikachu though, the wild Abra blinked away. Red could hear his friends snickering at him.
"You're going about it the right way…" Blue said trying not to laugh, "But Abra are pretty hard to catch because they teleport away like that."
Red just grumpily continued down the path until he came across another Abra. Unfortunately, with the same result. "Oh, no! This is not happening to me again!" He tore down the path scaring away every wild Pokémon for a mile and leaving Blue, Green, and Pikachu in the dust. They caught up with him a good halfway down the path, gasping like he was going to collapse. Just as Red was ready to give up, he heard snoring. There was a runty little Abra that somehow seemed not to notice him. Having lost his will to chase down another lost cause, Red simply tossed a Pokéball halfheartedly at the Pokémon. Everyone was shocked when it clicked closed. "Did I just…?"
"Congratulations, Red," Green smiled, "You caught your Abra!" Red released the newly caught Pokémon to get a better look at it.
Blue was the first to speak up, "No wonder you caught it so easily. It's a runt!" Abra peeked at Blue through sleepy eyes. Suddenly, he found himself levitating in the air. Blue was lifted over the nearby river and dropped unceremoniously in. "That's not funny!" he snarled as he pulled himself out of the water. Red, Green, Pikachu, and Abra disagreed.
The rest of Route 25 was uneventful aside from Green catching an Oddish. She certainly didn't have to go through what Red did to get his new teammate. Finally, as the sun began to set, the party made their way to Bill's cottage. It was a large villa tucked into the mountainside, with a welcoming entrance. In fact, there was a sign that welcomed Pokémon trainers inside! Red, Blue, and Green acquiesced, but by their first step inside, they heard cries for help coming from deeper inside.
Not really sure why I'd go for cliffhangers in a story everyone already knows, but I'm doin' it. I also fudged a little geography, but it was either that or bring the story to a grinding halt. In fact, I originally planned more for this chapter, but several factors made me decide to stop it here.
As it turns out, Red getting his Abra is based off a true story. On one of my playthroughs I decided I wanted to train an Alakazam. I tried my Pikachu's Thunder Wave, but NOPE, CHUCK TELEPORT! I was leaving the tall grass in frustration, deciding I'd have to come back later with Great Balls when I found a level 8 Abra. I chucked a Pokéball in desperation, knowing it wouldn't work. You can imagine my reaction when it did. I check its stats and to my glee, it had Special Attack I'd yet to see on a level 12 Abra! I nicknamed it PWNAKAZAM. (Obviously I can't have Red do that, but it was still awesome.)