AN: This chapter was originally written in conjunction with the previous chapter and has been split due to length issues. So here's the 2nd part!
Chapter 6: Strange Happenings in the Viridian Forest – Part 2
3:30 PM
Ash and Leaf had been wondering aimlessly across the forest for over an hour (Ash still thinks they are on the right path). The scenery was much the same as an hour ago: trees, bug pokemon (which they battled for practice), and darkness. It was not until they heard rustling not in sync with their footsteps did they start to question if they were being followed.
"Hey Ash," Leaf suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"Uh…do you think someone is following us?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Oh it's just that I heard something that wasn't in sync with us." Ash stopped for a second.
"Leaf, stop real quick," Ash said quietly making sure to only be audible to Leaf. She stopped dead in her tracks and sure enough, there was a third footstep heard in the distance. In an instant, Ash threw himself in front of Leaf, protectively shielding her from any kind of harm.
"Hey! I can defend myself, you know!" Ash still held a defensive stance for both of them.
"Can't a guy show any chivalry around here?" he sighed as he looked in the distance behind them.
"Hey! I know you're following us. Come out and show yourself before I go over there and drag you out!" The culprit in question showed himself in the ray of sunlight that peaked through one of the openings. It was a teenager in a samurai outfit with a katana and two pokemon. Ash's first thought was 'What is with the people in this forest and traditional Kanto wear?'
"I hear there are several trainers wandering around here that were pretty tough. I want to see if it was you two."
"Where'd yah hear that?" Leaf curiously asked.
"Word travels fast out here in the boonies from Viridian City. They all say they saw a group of three trainers take down three pokemon thieves last night. It was two guys and a chick. One told me they saw a guy and a chick walking together that matches the group from yesterday and the ones I see in front of me. So who wants to prove me wrong?"
"Is this a challenge?" Ash said a bit darkly. A wicked smile arose from his face.
"Ah, so I see we'll battle. Here's how it's going to work: I have two pokemon. Each one of you will battle one pokemon using only one pokemon. Got it? Now who's up first?" Leaf jumped in front of Ash.
"I'll take the first round!"
"No way! You got the first round in catching a pokemon. My turn to have the first round!" Leaf glared at him.
"Fine! I'll get the next battle then!...oh and dibs on the gym leader."
"Okay…wait what?! Ah damn it!" the samurai was becoming impatient.
"Well if you two are done flirting with each other, I'd like to get this battle started now."
"Fine, fine!" Ash said as he readied his pokeball. He wanted to try out his new weedle, but one thing was preventing him from doing so: it was on its last legs of consciousness. 'If only I had something to heal it with real quick.' Luckily enough, as he reached into his bag, he pulled out a note.
'Thanks for helping out at the center yesterday. Here's a present for you I sneaked into both of your bags while you weren't looking. You might need it in the Viridian Forest. – Nurse Joy of Viridian City' He reached further in and felt something he for sure did not put in his bag. He pulled it out to reveal a Super Potion. And there were at least 5 in his bag. Apparently, it will instantly recover most pokemon injuries in an instant by spraying over the damaged areas. So that is what he did when calling the weedle out. It really looked like it was on its last legs. The samurai started to laugh.
"This is what the great defender of Viridian sends out? A weedle about to faint? This has to be a joke!" Ash sprayed the potion on the bug and all injuries were magically healed. Weedle stood proud and was ready to obey its new master.
"So that's how we're gonna play. Go Caterpie!" A caterpie stood at attention, waiting to tackle the other bug. The two bugs were in a staring contest. Each pokemon's mental trigger ready to be pulled. The stillness of the air between the two trainers and two pokemon was ever oppressing. No one wanted to make the first move. Leaf lied down on the patch of grass to take a short nap.
"Hey guys…wake me, Jigglypuff, and Pikachu up when you guys decide to attack, 'kay?" And with that, the three sunbathed in the precious sunlight.
-The Viridian Forest South Visitors Center-
Elise was tidying up the store when someone walked in through the door. This person happened to be rather short, wore a very similar outfit (although smaller), and had amber eyes and long blonde hair, complete with a straw hat; it was almost as if this person was the miniature version of Elise. She was carrying her book bag in as she greeted her.
"Hi, mom! I'm home!"
"Hello, dear. How was class?"
"Boring as always. Even with the advance classes they put me into, I've felt like I know everything they talk about. It's gotten to the point where I space out. Also…boys kinda scare me…"
"Ah, that's my girl. Boys should scare you. By the way, a couple of trainers came here from Viridian City and are now in the forest. I can sense them and I think they're lost. Wanna go help them out?"
"Is it those two that I've been hearing at school?"
"I'm pretty sure of it. Not sure why I haven't been able to piece it together while they were here…okay, go find them. I know where they are, but I want you to practice your abilities. Also, go find your brother…he's probably causing mayhem for confused travelers."
"Okay mom! I'll be back tonight!"
"Okay hun, be safe!" and the girl brought back out her doduo and rode into the forest.
-Back at the battle scene-
This was too much waiting. Ash decided would make the first move.
"Weedle! Poison Sting!" Caterpie, immediately taken by surprise, froze. The samurai yelled out the frozen caterpie as Weedle neared it. The sharp point on his head collided with the other bug, bringing it down. The samurai looked at his pokemon and saw a growing purple blotch on its head.
'Shit…he's been poisoned.' He let out a grumble trying to figure out what to do next. He had no antidote on him at the moment and he knew if he kept this up, he would have to go find his sister for healing; he would have to hold out for now.
"Caterpie! String-shot!" The silky thread was supposed to be aimed for Weedle, but clearly missed its mark and hit Pikachu in the face, unceremoniously jolting him out of dreamland. Pikachu tumbled backwards a couple times and landed face-down, still able to signal he was still okay.
"Sorry about that!" the samurai called from the other side, "my bad!"
Pikachu only let out a small "chuuu", which probably meant something like 'What the hell is up with me and being the butt monkey!'
Weedle saw its teammate go down and decided to go for another Poison Sting. The point hit its mark again and sent Caterpie flying backwards. Caterpie tried to move, but the poison was clearly taking its toll on the pokemon. It was slow to move and struggled to even crawl. The samurai was hoping for one last hit before calling the match.
"Caterpie! Try and muster the most powerful tackle on the Weedle!" He thought that if he was going to lose this one, he might as well go out with a bang. The tackle, unfortunately, missed its mark again with Weedle dodging to the right, and colliding with the still down Pikachu. Ash swore he heard Pikachu swearing to himself.
'I need to find a better viewing area…'
"Hey Pikachu, you okay, buddy?"
"…chuuuu…"
"Good to see you're still fine, but you really should find a better viewing area."
'I JUST FUCKING SAID THAT!', or "…pika pi pika pikachuuuu…" its voice still muffled by the ground and the silk. Meanwhile, Caterpie collapsed on the ground, signaling it was done for the match. The samurai was quite astonished.
"Wow…I've never had someone take me out that quick before! You are the defender of Viridian. Now let's see about the girl, shall we?" Ash looked over to her and saw she was still snoozing. Then he remembered that when Leaf sleeps, she sleeps. Since simply talking to her will not do it, he went to the next best thing.
"Hey Jigglypuff," Ash called out. Jigglypuff was surprisingly easy to wake up, jumping at her name, "can you wake Leaf up, please?" She had a sinister smile on her face, which meant…
Leaf was happily skipping along in dreamland until she randomly felt her face forced to the right, like she was punched. Her head was forced in the other direction as well. This kept on going until the scenery around her faded into black. She opened her eyes to see three figures looking down at her: two trainers, and a pink round pokemon punching the living daylights out of her.
"OW! OW! OKAY! OKAY! I'm up, sheesh…"
"By the way, Leaf," Ash said, "your turn."
"Oooooh you beat him?"
"Nah…I'm happy that I lost?" Ash deadpanned.
"Hey! I can hear, yah know!" the samurai shouted from across the field, "Let's get this match going already!"
"Fine! Fine! Let's go Caterpie!" Leaf shouted.
"You're pretty, by the way (Ash grunted in annoyance). Allow me to introduce you to Weedle!" Ash's sweat dropped. 'I wonder what the battle could've been like if he used a weedle…probably a stalemate…'
Unlike Ash, Leaf wasted no time at all. "Caterpie! Tackle that weedle!"
"Weedle! Dodge it!" Caterpie was the faster of the two. Weedle was hit square in the face and flew backwards and hit the tree. Jigglypuff was cheering quite loudly on the sidelines with Pikachu attempting to quiet her down.
"Weedle! Get back up and counter with a String Shot!" Again, the string shot missed and hit…Jigglypuff square in the face. Jigglypuff, being the short-tempered pokemon she was, began to march over to the offending Weedle, but something was holding her back, or rather two things where holding her back. Pikachu and Squirtle (who popped out of its pokeball) tugging both of her arms back. For once, Pikachu was happy to not be the butt monkey. Caterpie fired a string-shot in return, completely blinding the Weedle.
"Weedle! Try to see through the strings and give it a Poison Sting!" Weedle tried as best as he could. He had found Caterpie and lunged forward. Caterpie simply dodged again and now Weedle has its stinger stuck into the ground, no hope of getting out.
"Caterpie! Tackle it to the sky!" Leaf shouted. The green bug launched itself at the yellow bug and sent it flying towards the canopy, almost through it when gravity decided it was time to fall back towards Earth. Weedle landed in front of its trainer, completely knocked out. By this time, a girl riding on what appears to be a two-headed ostrich shows up to the field. Ash, Leaf, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff looked at her and all thought the same thing.
'What is Elise doing here on a two-headed ostrich and WHEN THE HELLL DID SHE SHRINK?!'
"Hey Ricky!" the girl greeted with a friendly wave, "yah done yet? Mom was looking for you to make sure you're not disturbing other trainers. Oh wait, I see you did. Anywhoo, time to go back home. Mom's waiting for you. Dad should be home by 6, by the way."
"Okay. Well it was an honor to fight the defenders of Viridian. I wish you well on your respective journeys." The girl turned to the four.
"...ummmm...sorry for the trouble my brother caused. I hope this didn't delay your journey by a lot." Ash and Leaf looked at each other.
"No, it's no biggie," Leaf kindly replied, "it helped us get battle experience anyways."
"...ummm...for the trouble, here's a little something." The girl handed them each ¥500 notes.
"…uh thanks…" Ash replied, thinking it was weird to be handed money for winning.
"...ummmmm...enjoy your travels!" The girl waved as she and the samurai took off on the strange creature. Suddenly, a light bulb in Leaf went off.
"Oh!…I should've did a scan on that one…" Ash face-palmed himself while walking off into the distance.
"And now we'll never know…"
7:30 PM
Time marched on as the traveling pair descended deeper into the forest. By this time, the sun had set over the Silver Mountains leaving the forest in a near pitch-black environment. Ash found Leaf attached to his side for the entire 4 hours they had been walking and battling pokemon. The types of pokemon did not change much; it was still the same caterpies, weedles, metapods, and kakunas they had been running into the entire day. In all honesty, Ash thought they were completely lost, but he did not want to let Leaf know that; she is known to have a temper when things do not go right, or how she perceives as right. Eventually, they found an open spot in the canopy and looked up.
"Wow…look at all of the stars! It's just like back home on a clear night," Leaf murmured as her eyes and complexion sparkled. Ash caught a glimpse of her wonder and subconsciously gazed at her.
'Wow…her eyes sparkle like the night sky ab-…wait what the hell was that?' Unfortunately, Leaf also caught a glimpse of him staring in her direction.
'Is he…checking me out…?' They looked at each other for a moment and turned away quickly. All fantastical thoughts faded away when they heard the sounds of rustling again. As if on instinct, Ash protectively stood in front of Leaf again, only to be shoved away.
"Hey!" Leaf huffed, "I can hold my own, yah know!" Ash let out a deep sigh.
"Yeah you're strong alright. Explains the death grip you had on my right arm the entire four hours we've been walking."
"Sh-sh-shut up!" Leaf slapped his arm, "what if there're birds here?"
"What, I haven't seen a single bird out here. If anything, they're probably in the trees around us." Leaf recoiled in panic.
"THAT ISN'T MAKING ME FEEL ANY BETTER!"
"Alright, alright. Let's stop here and make camp. I'm tired and would like to rest for the night." Right after those words left his mouth, Ash saw movement in the depth of the forest. It was rapidly approaching the clearing and showed no sign of slowing down. Pikachu and Jigglypuff hid behind their respective trainers' leg and Ash and Leaf had their hand on their pokeballs ready to throw them. As soon as Ash was about to toss the ball, the figure showed itself; it was the same blond girl on the same two-headed ostrich they had seen earlier with the samurai, the same one that looked like a miniature version of the visitor center's manager.
"Who are you, and why do you look like a small version of Elise!" Leaf yelled at the poor girl, point her finger at her.
"Yeah! What kind of voodoo magic did you do to shrink her! Elise! I know you're in there! We'll save you!" Ash screamed. Sweat dropped from Leaf's forehead.
"Really, Ash; that's the angle you're going for?"
"What! She may have fallen to some spell that shrank her. Or put in a machine where you come out smaller than everything around you, like that one movie we saw when we were little where that entire family shrank because the dad made that one machine a-" Leaf smacked him on the back of the head.
"Oh shut up will you! Now, who are you and what do you want with us?" The girl looked at them and let out a nervous chuckle.
"…ummmm…Elise is my mom. My name is Amber…Amber Lighthouse…this is my friend Doddy. She takes me everywhere…oh and that Ricky guy you battled earlier today is my older brother; he's…hehehe…kinda nuts…"
'No kidding…' Ash thought, 'oh, best not to say that out loud.'
Leaf, seeing a chance, pulled out her pokedex to scan the pokemon.
"Finally you take the initiative! Geez, after you passed up the first opportunity, you learned! Good for you, now go get yourself a cookie!"
'I swear if this is how my pokedex is going to treat me, I might throw it on the ground and crush it with my own two feet while hearing it cry for Dexter's help. I wonder if Ash's does the same, or is at least nice to him.'
"Dextra, I really don't want to deal with your shit right now. Just please scan the pokemon in front of me and not be a total bitch for once."
"Commencing scan of pokemon. Duduo: the Twin Bird pokemon. It is a two-headed Pokémon that was discovered as a sudden mutation. It runs at a pace of over 60 miles per hour. Its known attacks are Peck, Growl, and Pursuit." Ash stared at it for a little bit.
"So this pokemon has two heads?" Ash blankly asked.
"No, it clearly has one because you need new prescription glasses," Leaf deadpanned.
"…anyways…I sensed you guys were a bit lost, so I'll tell you how to get out of here." Leaf let out a rather loud gasp.
"Wait…you sensed us? How did you do that? Are you magical? ARE YOU GOD?!" Ash spoke rather rapidly, his voice getting progressively louder. Leaf smacked him across the head, again.
"I swear I really want to know how you survived all those advance placement classes you were in with me…" Leaf deadpanned again. The light bulb in her head went off again. "Wait…we were lost? THE ENTIRE TIME?!" Ash's face paled rapidly, faster than drain-o draining the toilet.
"Um yeah…you were headed west the entire time instead of heading north like Mom said you would. If you kept going further, you would've hit the highway and that could never be good."
"Damn it Ash! I trusted you to lead us. Give me the map, doofus."
"…I'm sorry?…" Ash said nervously.
"Sorry isn't gonna cut it. You're gonna…you're gonna…" Leaf trailed off as she thought about it. She knew she would have also gotten lost. She instantly sank to her knees and broke down crying. Ash got down on his knees as well and tried to console her, being the good best friend he is.
"I'm sorry I got us lost. You can lead us this time. I won't mind."
"No…I'm sorry for yelling at you. You were trying your best and I probably would've gotten us lost as well."
"…anyways…now that that was settled, see the North Star over there?" Amber pointed towards a particularly bright star, "follow that star. Also, during the day, the entire forest slopes downward to the north. Dropping water should point you in the right direction. If it helps, I'll spend the night here with you guys and lead you all out."
"Thanks, but I mean we only have one tent that fits two people."
"Don't worry, I'll sleep outside since I see you two need your alone time," Amber sighed. She had taken a liking to Ash.
"Ummm…" Leaf started, "…sure. Although we aren't going out or anything." Amber's face lights up to this news. Leaf notes this and immediately regrets what she said. 'Oh shit…wait what? Why do I care?'
"But I think he likes someone. I don't know he never told me the name."
"HEY! I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE YOU KNOW!" Ash yelled.
"Well then, we'll eat a bit and then sleep. How does that sound? Actually, we probably won't need a tent tonight since it's clear out."
"No, it's not going to rain anytime soon. Let's camp out here." Amber agreed. With that being said, Ash setup the camp fire. The three ate some food that Amber brought out. It was a small helping of roast beef, lettuce, and potatoes, but enough for three people to eat. Pikachu finished his bottle of ketchup, Bulbasaur just ate…grass, Weedle did not eat at all, Jigglypuff ate her cereal bar, squirtle ate…grass, and caterpie ate…nothing. All in all, the camp around the fire was comfortable and no one could care less about the dark mysteries of the forest. They did not know that they were not the only ones in there.
October 4th, 2007 – 7:30 AM
Sunlight shown through the clearing as Ash's PokeGear went off. The trainer himself stirred and felt something touching him…wait, it was hugging him. He knew it was not a pokemon since it was wrapped around his waist. He looked down and saw a human arm clinging tightly to his body. He then noticed that something was poking his back, or rather a pair of things. Knowing that that was human arm, he definitely knew what those things were. He had noticed Amber's figure was not as "developed" yet, so he reached a logical, yet frightening conclusion: 'Leaf is cuddling with me…yet we were definitely not in this position as we fell asleep. This is just too weird.' He picked up his phone and looked at the time: 7:30 AM. Only one thought went through his mind at that moment, 'this is way too goddamn early…'
He knew that they had to get up, eat a quick breakfast, and leave so they can get to Pewter City in the afternoon. The only thing that stood in the way was…Leaf. Everyone else had awoke with the alarm except the sleeping beauty that was cuddling with Ash. He looked over to Jiggypuff, who have Ash a menacing glare.
"Hey don't look at me," Ash said defensively, "I didn't ask for this. Just wake your trainer up, will you?" Jigglypuff had gotten her pound perfected to the point where it would wake up her trainer with only one punch. There was an area of her cheek that was soft enough to be really sensitive. So Jigglypuff decided to give her a solid pound in that area. Sure enough, it really startled her.
"OW!...wait a second…" Leaf took a second to gather her bearings. She was not face up like she was when she fell asleep, her right arm was not where it used to be and she felt something large pressing against her…her right arm in front of it. All she could see was a mass of…black hair. She immediately knew who this was. She bounced up so quickly Ash tumbled several times.
"WAHH! OH MY GOD! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you okay?!" Leaf shrieked.
"I'm okay, I'm okay! I'm sure you just did that unconsciously. Don't worry about it!" Ash tried to reason with her, "let's just eat breakfast and hit the path since we need to be in Pewter by 5:00. Amber frowned the entire time.
'Looks like she likes him and she's prettier than me. Awww…' Amber internally sighed.
The three ate a quick breakfast of cereal bars after packing up and hit the road. It was silent for most of the trip. Leaf even tried to start a conversation with her.
"So ummm amber," Leaf began, "how old are you?"
"…ummmm…I'm 13 and a half. I'm in the 8th grade at McManas Middle School in Northern Viridian."
"So if you live out here, how do you get to school?"
"My Dad would usually drop me off in the morning and then go to work in Viridian. I would usually ride Doddy home since my Dad sign a paper that allows me to ride one."
"Ahhh…where does your Dad work?"
"Oh ummm…he works for some computer company. Barlin, was it?" Leaf's eyes widen.
"Oh cool! My dad works there as well!"
"…that's pretty cool…"
'Geeez, she's really shy, isn't she.' It was silent for the rest of the trip.
12:00 PM
Ash knew they were being followed, but decided to think nothing of it; after all, Leaf said she could hold her own if they got attacked. That did not stop is worry though. The only problem was the fact that the ones following the party was the last thing they wanted to be following them.
"Pssst…hey Jessie," James said while tip-toeing.
"What?" Jessie sharply hissed back.
"Why are we stealing the guy's Pikachu again?"
"Because it's abnormal that THAT Pikachu is super strong! I want to give it to the boss as an apology gift to make up for our failure of a raid."
"Sounds …like a good plan. But how are we going to steal it?"
"Just follow my lead…"
"Oh brother…" Meowth sighed as he crawled.
Ash, Leaf, and Amber heard a strange grumbling noise. Amber looked at Leaf, who in turn looked at Ash, who looked back at Leaf.
"What are yall looking at me for," Ash cried
"You're the one with the back hole for a stomach. It's just safe to assume as much," Leaf chuckled back.
"Hey! That's not always tr-" his stomach was telling him otherwise. Ash nervously chuckled and then looked down at his stomach…and started to scold at it.
"You know, when I was trying to prove a point to Leaf, you just HAD to ruin it, didn't you." Of course, the stomach responded with an even louder growl.
"…I hate you…" Leaf decided to stop the entire group.
"Okay, let's stop for now and eat lunch…to appease his highness's black hole," Leaf added for humor. Ash sighed and sat down. They all pulled out granola bars and munched on it while just a little bit ahead of the path, there were sounds of digging going on.
"C'mon, you two; dig deeper!" Jessie yelled, "they'll be here any minute!"
"We're going, we're going," Meowth cried as he shoveled faster, throwing dirt into James's face.
"What the hell! Watch where you're throwing dirt, Meowth!"
"Just keep digging!" Jessie cried as she gathered branches and twigs.
"Okay that's deep enough. Get out before I trap you both in there." James and Meowth scrambled out of the "pit of doom" and helped Jessie cover the pit with a matte of branches and twig. They proceeded to cover that with leaves and then dirt to make it look like nothing was wrong with the path.
"Okay, knowing those two, they would need to come here to get out of the forest. The Visitor's Center is right down the path." Jessie concluded as they went to their hiding spot.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Meowth asked out of concern, "I mean, what if we set too many branches?"
"SHHHH!" Jessie hissed, "they're coming…"
Ash, Leaf, and Amber walked along hoping to get to the Visitors Center before 1:00. Amber mentioned they were making good time despite the slight break they took. All was well until Amber noted the ground shaking.
"Huh…the ground is shaking. Doesn't seem to feel like an earthquake though…"
"Maybe it's just a tre- WAAAAH!" Ash, Leaf, and Amber screamed as they fell into the pit, leaves and branches covering them.
"~cough cough~ Who's sick idea was this anyways?!" Leaf yelled. Then she heard snickering from the top of the pit, oddly sounding like the female Rocket from two days ago. 'Wait if that is her, then…' she checked around for her Jigglypuff, but was nowhere in the pit. "AW SHIT!" she screamed.
"Well well," Jessie taunted, "looks like the ones who ruined our mission are in our cleverly set trap. Now we have your pokemon. But anyways, let us reintroduce ourselves…"
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double…"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extent our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket: blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Hey! Give us our pokemon back!" Ash cried.
"Really, Ash? You think they're really gonna give us our pokemon after we had taken them?" Leaf sarcastically asked.
"Well…no…"
"Thought so, but we still have pokemon to fight with right?"
"Hell yeah. There ain't no way in hell they're getting away with this. Not on my watch." Ash said as he jumped up, grabbing onto the ledge of the pit, and pulling himself up. Jessie and James looked at him in surprise, holding Pikachu and Jigglypuff.
"So thought I couldn't get out? You thought wrong; I wasn't on the track team for nothing, you know."
"And swim team has its perks," Leaf joined in.
"Damn it, you two! Why didn't you two dig deeper?!"
"We honestly didn't count on the fact that they were going to be ATHLETES!"
Ash wasted no time and got Bulbasaur out, with Squirtle and Doddy joining in. Jessie and James sent out their pokemon.
"Alright, you three," Jessie yelled, "prepare to eat shit! Ekans, Poison Sting!" Ekans barreled down on Bulbasaur, but missed its mark. Now, its head was stuck in the ground with the rest of its body slithering trying to get its head out.
"Bulbasaur, tackle Ekans." As he tackled Ekans, James gave his command.
"Koffing! Gas 'em!"
The area was filled with purple gas. Everyone was now coughing and on their knees.
"Damn it ~cough cough~ James! Not a- ~cough cough~ -gain!"
"Sorry! Sorry!"
"Amber! Get Doddy to run around!" Leaf yelled at Amber.
"You heard her, Doddy!" And Doddy ran as fast as he could around the perimeter. With the ostrich running at 60 miles per hour in a circle, that kicked up a mini tornado that threw the poison gas out of sight.
"Koffing! Tackle the bird!" Koffing looked quite confused as to where the bird was; it was just running too fast. Koffing tried to follow, but it quickly got dizzy and fainted. Ekans was still down after the devastating tackle delivered by an angry Bulbasaur. It seemed as Team Rocket was really out of options. They looked at each other and gulped. Pikachu, now fully aware of what was going on, hopped out of a frozen Jessie as well as Jigglypuff from a frozen James.
"Caterpie and Weedle! Tie'em up with string-shot!" Ash and Leaf cried. The two bugs came out of their pokeball and got right to work. Soon, there was a massive cocoon of silk containing the Rocket trio and their pokemon. Doddy and Pikachu knew what to do. Doddy delivered a kick to the cocoon and sent it flying high in the sky while Pikachu followed it up with a massive Thunderwave.
"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!"
Ash and Leaf ran up to their pokemon to see if they were okay.
"Jiggly! Are you okay? Did they hurt you? What did they do to you? TELL ME?!" Leaf cried.
"And you give me shit for doing that?" Ash replied.
"AT LEAST I SHOW CONCERN FOR MY POKEMON! YOU WERE JUST BEING INSANE!"
"Heh, well all is better now that Team Rocket got their ass kicked again. Now, let's head on to Pewter, shall we."
"Oh, I sense your pokemon took some damage while in the forest. Let me help you with that," Amber spoke up. A blue glow surrounded her as well as the entire party of pokemon. Instantly, they all felt one hundred percent better. 'It's like she has some kind of healing power!' Ash thought as he mustered a "…whoa…"
"That's pretty freaky…and cool…" Leaf said, also looking bewildered.
"I was born with these telekinetic powers. It's why I was able to sense you both and why my family is considered the guardians of the forest. Mom can do it too, although Dad and Ricky can't…"
"Well it's just proof of the fact that girls are much better than boys!" Leaf said happily.
"And I don't see you having that awesome power," Ash deadpanned.
"Shut Up! I'm trying to make her feel good about herself!"
"It's already pretty cool to even be able to do that, let alone sense people. Don't need to boost her ego."
"Like yours doesn't need any more inflating before it bursts."
"Hey! That's Gary with the giant ego!"
"And yours is nearing that stage. Oh, there's the other Visitors Center!" They saw what appears to be an identical building to the one they saw yesterday. Ash and Leaf sighed in relief as all three walked through the door.
-Viridian Forest North Visitors Center/Route 2-
1:00 PM
"THANK GOD we're out of that forest. That was a living nightmare. I definitely don't wanna go through that again," Leaf said as she looked at Amber who was downcast.
"Awww I didn't mean it that way! I meant if I were to do it all over again, it would have to be with you!"
"No, it's okay. I'm just sad that you guys are leaving. It was nice spending time with you guys. I guess I'll leave you two to go on your journeys. I hope that I can be a trainer like you both so one day we'll be able to battle."
"Don't worry, Amber," Ash said, "I'm sure you'll be the best trainer yet, even better than me."
"Thanks! Well I guess I'll see you both sometime in the future!" Amber waved as Ash and Leaf passed through the front door, "Bye!"
"Bye! Be safe in the forest!" Ash and Leaf waved back, with Pikachu and Jigglypuff waving as well. Now all that stands between them and Pewter City was a winding path of route that winded its way back up the hill.
The route took more mountainous scenery as the outlines of the mountains loomed into view. It was a very pretty sight as the sunlight began to dip close to the peaks. The two trainers and their pokemon continued to walk at a brisk pace up and down the hill when they began to see a large city in what appears to be a bowl. Just as the sun touched the peak, they reached a gate with a sign that read "Welcome to Pewter City: City of Stone. Population: 396,554" all in grey lettering.
"Hey Ash," Leaf suddenly said.
"What's up?"
"What time is it?"
"Uhhh…5:00. Why?"
"So we made it in time! C'mon, let's walk into town and see the city and find the Pokemon Center!" Leaf happily cried as she pulled Ash by the arm down the street. He did not care at the moment, though, since he was just glad to finally be able to get a good rest and eat good food. He knew tomorrow, though, would be his first test of what he has accomplished as a Pokemon Trainer; he was set to battle the Pewter City Gym.
-Viridian Forest South Visitor Center-
"Mom! I'm back!" Amber shouted as she dismounted her Doddy and walked through the door.
"Hi dear," Elise greeted, "did they make it out okay?"
"Yeah, but there were these really weird guys called Team Rocket there that tried to steal their pokemon. But we defeated them rather easily."
"Team Rocket, you say," Elise said as if she remembered something, "by the way, you have a phone call from the Professor. I'll call him to say that you're available to talk."
"…okay…" Elise proceeded to call Professor Oak. "This is Professor Oak speaking. May I ask who's calling?" a voice rang from the other line.
"It's Elise. You called me earlier about an offer you have for my daughter."
"Ah, yes. Amber, was it?"
"Yes, she's right here if you want to talk to her. Here, Amber dear; the Professor wants a word with you." She handed the phone to Amber, who shyly spoke to the phone. "…um…'lo…"
"Ah yes. Amber! My name is Professor Oak, and I have a proposition for you."
"…okay…"
"I will need to speak to you in person. When can you come to Pallet Town?" Amber's eyes lit up like Christmas in July.
"Mom! When are we able to go to Pallet Town?"
A/N: Yes, a lot of characters were introduced in these two chapters; let's see if you can match up who is who from what universe. Amber will not hold a presence until later in the story, as will Gary. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please do not forget to review! Every criticism I get will help me become a better writer. So please, review. Thanks! :D