Jason and I walked down the path that would lead us to Viridian City. Along the way, I pointed out the lake to Jason. The lake where my dad had jumped into on the first day of his journey to avoid a flock of angry Spearows. It was also the place where my dad had met Misty.

"Try not to anger any Spearows, or else we'll be in big trouble!" I warned Jason.

"Give me a break, Adam." he answered. "I have more sense than that! At least I don't throw rocks at Pokemon."

We shared a laugh at that memory. My dad had hit a Spearow with a rock in frustration when he couldn't catch a Pokemon. Of course, Jason and I would have more sense than that! It was memories like those that made me happy knowing that I hadn't inherited his beginner's bad luck. Well...not yet, anyway.

"Hey, Adam?" Jason said suddenly.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"How about a battle? Charmander vs Charmander?"

I thought for a few minutes. I then lowered my hand to my Pokeball belt.

"You're on!" I cried.

Jason nodded his head and we walked over to an open field. We stopped and went to opposite sides of the field.

"Charmander, let's go!" Jason said, tossing his Pokeball.

"Let's show them, Charmander!" I cried, tossing my Pokeball.

"Char! Charmander!" Jason's Charmander cried.

"Char, char!" my Charmander cried.

"You can have the first move, Adam." Jason said.

"Ember, Charmander!" I cried.

"Dodge and use Scratch!" Jason called out to his Pokemon.

"Ember again! Spin on your foot!"

To my surprise, Charmander was able to spin on his foot while using ember. Jason was shocked at the move, but recovered quickly.

"Use Smokescreen!" he said to his Charmander.

"Tail Whip! Use it to clear the smoke."

Charmander rapidly spun its tail around, stirring up the air and blowing away the smoke.

"Now, Charmander! Use Ember!" I commanded.

My Charmander stopped clearing the smoke and used ember. The attack nailed Jason's Charmander.

"Scratch, Charmander!" Jason cried.

His Charmander ran and landed a powerful scratch attack on mine.

We were trading blow for blow. This could go either way. "Charmander, use your Scratch right back at his!"

"Dodge and use Ember!"

Jason's Charmander dodged the attack and landed an Ember on mine.

"Charmander, use Ember!" I cried to my Pokemon.

"Ember, quick!" Jason countered.

The two embers hit each other and both Pokemon were not going to give up.

"Smokescreen, quick!" I cried.

Charmander did as I commanded.

"Jump! Use Smokescreen again!"

The area now had a good amount of smoke covering the field.

"Charmander, go towards Jason's Charmander and use Scratch!" I commanded.

Charmander was coming down to the ground and found Jason's Charmander, who couldn't see through the smoke. He hit Jason's Charmander who cried out in pain.

The smoke had now cleared and Jason's Charmander was breathing heavy. Mine had a few scratches, but his breathing was uneven slightly.

"Use scratch." I commanded.

"Do-" Jason started, but stopped as his Charmander got hit.

"Char...Charmander."

Jason's Charmander fell to the ground, defeated. Jason kneeled down and his Charmander looked up at him, sadly.

"Don't worry, you did good." Jason said, patting his head.

He returned his Charmander and stood up.

"Well Adam, so far you lead. One to zero. Good battle." Jason said.

"Thanks. You did very well." I said, returning Charmander and thanking him.

"I'm surprised your Charmander was able to pull off that spinning move. It was a contest move or it looked like one."

"Well, I've watched my mom in contests and it was just like her Buneary using ice beam while spinning so I thought of using it, too. And Charmander pulled it off on its first try!"

"Still, that's not fair..."

"Sorry." But I knew it was perfectly fair and normal for variations of contest moves to be used in battles. My dad used them all the time in his battles. My mom and her moves had influenced him in a big way back when they were travelling. In light of that, I guessed that Jason was just being a bit of a sore loser.

We started walking again and after a few more hours, a Pokemon - a Spearow, to be exact - came along and glared at Jason.

"Umm...is it GLARING at me?" Jason asked.

"Yep." I said, smart enough to back away. I did NOT want to piss off that Spearow like my dad had done.

"Oh, it's on!" Jason cried to the Flying Pokemon.

He walked a little ways back and released Charmander. He sprayed Charmander with a potion - since he was still weak from our battle - and Charmander was ready to fight.

The Spearow looked at Jason, waiting. Jason took out his Pokedex and pointed it at Spearow. That reminded me of my Pokedex and I did the same thing Jason did.

"Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokémon and humans." the mechanical voice said.

I released my other Pokemon and recorded their data. I also did this just in case Jason needed some backup.

"Charmander, use Ember!" Jason commanded.

Charmander fired its Ember, which Spearow easily avoided. The Spearow came down and started using peck on Charmander.

Charmander cried out in pain as Spearow kept pecking its head.

"Use Scratch to get it off, Charmander!"

Charmander landed a few scratch attacks on Spearow and it backed off. It flew down again and pecked Charmander again, but this time flew off and came back. This continued for a good while until Jason figured out the pattern.

"Charmander, ember!"

Charmander started turning his head and using the move. Spearow got hit three times and as it flew, it suddenly had a burn.

"Alright!" Jason cried happily.

Spearow fell to the ground and the burn made it cry in pain.

"Go, Pokeball!" he cried tossing the Pokeball.

The Pokeball engulfed Spearow and it moved back and forth for a few seconds before stopping. Jason walked over to the Pokeball and retrieved it.

"Alright, I got a Spearow!" he said, hooking it to his belt.

"Yes, and it was a Spearow that glared at you." I pointed out, returning my Pokemon since we weren't in any danger anymore.

"It must've known that I was an awesome trainer." Jason bragged. I couldn't help but be reminded of his dad. "Well, becoming an awesome trainer, anyway."

"Let her out and see if she attacks you." I said, crossing my arms.

"Fine, I will."

Jason tossed the Pokeball in the air and Spearow appeared. It glanced at me with a bored look. It looked around and saw Jason. It glared and flew at him using peck on his head.

Jason cried out in pain and returned her. He rubbed his head and I winced when I saw a cut from Spearow's claw.

"You got a cut on your face." I said, pointing.

"I know, I know. Ow." Jason said, wincing when he talked.

His head wasn't hurt, but he had a scratch and it had made blood appear. Jason kneeled down and looked through his backpack for something. He sprayed something on his head and then stood back up.

"It'll be fine. Did it stop bleeding?" he asked.

I nodded my head at the question. He adjusted his backpack and we started back on our way. We were closer to the city now, but I saw a Pidgey and I wanted a flying type of my own.

"Stopping to battle?" Jason asked, already removing his bag.

I nodded my head and tossed Bulbasaur's Pokeball.

"Pidgey is a Flying Pokémon. Among all the Flying Pokémon, it is the gentlest and easiest to capture. A perfect target for the beginning Pokémon Trainer to test his Pokémon's skills. Pidgey's Gust power creates tornadoes. It also has a Sand Attack." the Pokedex said.

Bulbasaur waited and the Pidgey looked around seeming scared.

"No ya don't! Bulbasaur, use Tackle!"

The Pidgey was still looking around and got tackled by Bulbasaur.

"Use Tackle again."

Bulbasaur ran again, but Pidgey dodged and used Tackle back at it.

"Dodge, and use Leech Seed."

The seeds latched onto Pidgey and started taking its energy. I tossed a Pokeball and waited. The Pokeball moved twice and it stopped. I walked over to the Pokeball and picked it up.

"Alright, I got a Pidgey!" I said, attaching the Pokeball to my belt.

We walked on further. Many Pokemon were looking at us. I heard the faint sounds of Pokemon deeper in the forest going about their business. I saw the homes of some Pokemon and a few Rattata running off with berries in their mouths.

We walked through the forest, stopping occasionally to rest or to eat something. We stopped to record some of the data of Pokemon to the Pokedex, too.

"So what are we doing when we get to Viridian City?" I asked.

"Well, we'll rest up. Then head to Pewter City to challenge the gym leader..." Jason trailed.

"Wait, you have to have three Pokemon to challenge a gym." I said suddenly.

"That's what I just realized." Jason replied sadly.

"Don't worry. We'll wait for you to find that third Pokemon before either of us challenge the gym."

Jason cheered up and nodded his head.

"Alright!" he cried, enthused.

I then remembered that my dad had seen the Legendary Fire Pokemon Ho-oh on the first day of his journey as he was nearing Viridian City. My dad was very lucky and he had told me that it was a sign of great things to come for him.

I looked up at the sky...I saw nothing. It was apparent that the Legendary Pokemon were NOT smiling down upon me. What a bummer.

In the silence that filled the space, I could hear the faint sounds of the city.

"We're almost there. Hear the sounds from the city?" I asked.

Jason strained his ears and shook his head.

"No, I don't hear anything but the forest life." Jason replied.

I just nodded my head and we drew nearer to the city. After a walk of ten minutes at the most we were entering Viridian City.

"Is that..." Jason trailed pointing at someone standing on the sidewalk.

I followed his fingers and saw who he was pointing to.

"I think so..." I trailed uncertainly.

Author's Note: So the boys have reached their first destination and each caught a new Pokemon along the way. What will they encounter next? And who is this familiar person they've recognized?

Find out next time on Pokemon NG!