Getting Along

Zoey had already walked into Route 1 where she had still not found any Pokemon.

"Ok, I have to choose my Pokemon team carefully," she said to herself. "If I catch a Caterpie and raise it to become a Metapod and then a Butterfree, I can have a Bug Pokemon that knows Pyschic attacks!"

Unlike most young children, Zoey did not start off as a Pokemon trainer when she was ten. Her parents wanted to teach her first about Pokemon so she could be better prepared, thus not letting her start her journey until she was thirteen. During those three years, she gained quite a good deal of knowledge about Pokemon, but only the Kanto species. Her parents didn't want to stuff her brain with information on the rest of the Pokemon from the other three regions yet. That might destroy her sense of adventure and wanting to gain knowledge if they went too fast.

"But then again, Butterfree is weak against Fire, Electric, Ice, Rock, and Flying type moves. That's too many weak points..."

Zoey sighed and sat down on a boulder.

She took the single Pokeball from her bag and looked at it.

"This is going to be my partner for life," she said to herself. "Charmander is going to have to help me accomplish my dream..."

She pressed the button on the Pokeball and it enlarged.

"Well, I guess I better get aquainted with her then." She stood up and held the Pokeball in her hand.

"Charmander, I choose you!" said Zoey as she threw the ball in the air.

The ball opened and out came a white stream of light that materialized into Charmander.

"Charmander!" said the Pokemon happily.

Zoey took out her Pokedex to see what it had to say about the little orange lizard.

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. The fire on the tip of its tail is a measure of its life. If healthy, it's tail burns intensely. If the flame ever goes out, Charmander's life would end."

"How horrible!" cried Zoey. She looked at her Charmander and said "I guess I better keep you and your tail away from water huh?"

"Char!" she said.

"Well, since I'm going to be traveling with you, let's get to know each other ok?"

Charmander nodded.

"Hi! I'm Zoey and you're my partner Pokemon. We have a long journey ahead of us full of dangers and obstacles."

Charmander seemed to shudder.

"Uh...well not really dangerous, but just challenging."

"Char..."

"Anyway, you're the first Pokemon I ever got and we're going to be best friends no matter what!"

"Char!" She seemed to be happy again.

"Do you want a nickname?"

"Char char char!" The little Pokemon shook her head.

"Ok ok! Here," Zoey took out her Berry Pouch and gave Charmander a Pecha Berry. The Lizard took it and stared at the fruit.

"You're supposed to eat it silly."

Charmander observed the berry before finally putting it in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. Her eyes sparkled.

"Chaaaaar!"

Zoey giggled. "I'm taking you like that Berry, huh?"

Charmander nodded her head. She hopped up onto the boulder Zoey was sitting and sat down next to her master.

"Ok, now to check Jessica's and Gary's Pokemon."

"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. For some time after its birth, it grows by gaining nourishment from the seed on its back."

"Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokemon. It shelters itself in its shell, the strikes back with spouts of water at every opportunity."

"Well, they seem to fit their trainer's descriptions..." said Zoey. "Jessica has always been spoiled and well nourished when she was little. And Gary likes to argue and fight with people whenever he can..."

"Char?"

"Oh, Jessica and Gary are my rivals. They're gonna try to beat me to the Pokemon League. I've never liked Jesscia because she's never liked me. And Gary...well, we used to be really good friends, until we were taught about Pokemon. From there, everything just seemed to fall apart between us. Now sometimes I even dislike him. And I know he dislikes me by the way he talks to me and acts around me. That's why we're rivals now. But I wish we weren't...I'd want to be friends instead..."

"Char char char charmander char."

Zoey laughed. "Wow, that's something I would say. Boys really are hard to understand!"

Charmander laughed.

"Charmander, I have a feeling we're going to reach the Pokemon League in no time with you by my side." The girl smiled at her Pokemon.

Charmander hugged her arm.

"Well, how about I let you walk with me until we get to Viridian City?"

"Char!" she nodded.

"Ok then. Let's go Charmander!"

"Charmander!"

--

The two friends starting walking further up the Route when they heard a cry.

"Pidgeeeeoooo!!"

"What was that?!"

Charmander looked around for signs of the sound. She saw what it was and pointed towards it.

"Charmander char!"

Zoey looked in the direction her little friend was pointing, and saw a Pidgeotto. It's foot had a bleeding cut on it.

"That poor creature! Charmander, we have to help it!"

Zoey ran to where the Pokemon was, but it scratched her with its talons.

"Ow!"

"Pidgeeeooo!!"

"Calm down! I'm only trying to help!"

Pidgeotto flapped it's wings and created a Gust that sent Zoey falling down on her back.

Charmander didn't like that the wild Pokemon was attacking her friend, so she decided to attack herself.

"Chaaaaar!" Little embers shot from her mouth at the Pidgeotto. It struck the bird and it's feathers were slightly burned.

"Wait Charmander! It's already hurt!"

"Char?" The lizard turned around to her master. Pidgeotto took that chance to Tackle her.

"Chaaaar!"

Zoey clenched her fists. "Fine Pidgeotto! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"

Charmander stood up quickly and was ready to battle.

"Charmander, use Scratch!"

Charmander charged at the wild Pokemon, and scratched it's wing.

The Pidgeotto used a Gust attack, but this was all part of Zoey plan.

"Now, use Smokescreen!"

Charmander inhaled and then exhaled a lot of black smoke from her mouth. Pidgeotto was busy trying to clear to smoke so it could see, but then Charmander jumped out of the black mist and Zoey said "Now use Fire Spin!"

Charmander shot flames from her mouth in a spiraling motion. It trapped Pidgeotto and the bird fell to the ground.

Zoey took out a Pokeball and threw it.

"Pokeball go!"

The Pokeball hit the unconcious Pokemon and engulfed it in a red stream of light. It closed and wobbled on the ground for a bit.

Come on...come on...catch it...

The Pokeball finally stopped and stood there on the ground. Zoey walked towards it and picked it up. She looked at it. All was silent for a moment.

"Char?"

"YES!! I caught a Pokemon! Whoo!!"

Charmander was startled and fell backwards on her behind.

Zoey picked up her Pokemon and twirled her around.

"We did it Charmander! Our first Pokemon team member was caught all thanks to you!"

Charmander blushed. "Char..."

"Don't be so modest," said Zoey as she held Charmander in her arms. "You did great for your first Pokemon battle."

Zoey heard clapping and turned around to see Jessica.

"Bravo Zoey. It seems you captured your first Pokemon."

"Jessica..."

Charmander let out a growl. There was something she didn't like about Jessica.

"What do you want Jessica?"

"Oh nothing. But I did want to show you this."

The blonde tossed her Pokeball into the air and said "Come out, my beautiful Butterfree!"

Out from the light came a large butterfly.

"Frrrreeee!!

Her wings flapped elegantly.

"Y-you already have a Butterfree?! How'd you do that?!" asked Zoey.

"I caught a Caterpie as soon as I entered this forest. Then I trained it and made it evolve to a Metapod and the to this beautiful creature you see before you."

"But Jessica," said Zoey in a softer voice. "You shouldn't speed up your Pokemon's evolution. Give it time to get to know you better. That way, it'll evolve more prepared for it's next evolution stage. You shouldn't force your Pokemon to evolve so quickly just because you want to be strong. Spend some time bonding with it."

"Oh shut up. What do you know?"

"I know a lot more about friendship than you, that's for sure!"

"Then why are you and Gary bitter rivals?"

Stab. That shut Zoey up quickly. She looked at the ground with a slightly sad expression.

Charmander looked at her master and then at the grinning Jessica. The lizard remembered what Zoey had said to her.

"I've never liked Jesscia because she's never liked me. And Gary...well, we used to be really good friends, until we were taught about Pokemon. From there, everything just seemed to fall apart between us. Now sometimes I even dislike him. And I know he dislikes me by the way he talks to me and acts around me. That's why we're rivals now. But I wish we weren't...I'd want to be friends instead..."

Charmander didn't realize how this matter hurt Zoey a lot. Back when she had told her, she didn't think she would be really sad. But now Charmander knew the truth.

The lizard jumped out of her master's arms and faced Butterfree a few feet away.

"Char char charmander!"

"Well what's this?" said Jessica. "It looks like your little dinosaur wants to fight." She smiled. "That's alright with me of course. Butterfree will take care of her easily."

"What?"

"Your Charmander wants to battle."

"Is this true Charmander?"

She nodded.

This made Zoey smile.

"Ok then! Let's show Jessica what true friendship really is!"

"Charmander!"

And so, the battle between the two girls began.