Drenched Fire

Zoey looked at Gary for a moment.

"Squirtle against Charmander? Now?" she asked.

"Yeah. That's what I said. Are you deaf or what?"

"But Charmander has a disadvantage over water! You know that!"

Gary smirked. "Exactly. Despite Charmander's disadvantage over Squirtle, I was sure that you and her would battle anyway, but I guess you weren't the trainer I thought you were."

Zoey scowled. "Fine! Charmander, are you ready?"

The little orange lizard looked up at her master.

"Char?"

Zoey looked at her Pokemon.

"Do you want to battle Squirtle?"

Charmander thought for a moment before giving her answer.

"Char!"

The girl smiled. "I knew you'd want to."

Charmander stepped in front of Zoey and motioned Nidoran to step aside. The rabbit-like Pokemon walked over to Zoey and sat down, awaiting the battle scene.

Jessica, Butterfree, and the twins watched from the sidelines.

"Charmander, use Smokescreen!"

"Char!" Black smoke emerged from her mouth.

"Oh no you don't! Squirtle, use Rapid Spin to blow the smoke away!"

"Squirtle!"

Squirlte withdrew into his shell and started to spin on the ground. Because it wasn't like a Gust attack, the smoke cleared away more slowly.

"Now use Scratch Charmander!"

Charmander ran towards Squirtle and raised her claws.

"Squirtle, tackle Charmander with your Rapid Spin!"

Squirtle stopped spinning and charged at Charmander. He then got back into his shell and started spinning towards the lizard. The swirling shell hit Charmander and stung at her hide. She was thrown backwards.

"Come on Charmander! I know you can get up!"

Charmander was not going to give in so easily and she was not going to let her master down.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!"

"Squirtle!" A beam of water shot out of the turtle's mouth and aimed at Charmander.

I have to think quick! But what could I use?! Zoey was stuck until... I got it!

"Charmander, use Ember and fire it at the water!"

"Chaaaaaar!"

Small embers shot at the water and created steam.

"Now use Scratch!"

Charmander ran towards Squirtle and raked her claws at his face.

Gary clenched his fists.

"Squirtle, use Withdraw!"

Squirtle hid inside his shell.

"Oh no you don't Gary! Charmander, send a Fire Spin at the shell!"

Charmander exhaled a breath of swirling fire at the shell. It trapped the shell in a vortex of flames. The swirling motion lifted Squirtle off the ground.

"Yes!" Zoey was sure that victory would be hers.

Gary was impressed.

"You're good," he said. "But not good enough! Squirtle, use Rapid Spin while in the vortex and shoot water out using Water Gun!"

Because Gary is a 'professional' trainer because his dad was, he knew a few things about getting out of tight spots in situations like these.

Squirtle started to spin around in his shell in the opposite direction and water emerged from all five openings of his shell. They dowsed the tornado of flames in an instant.

"Now finish Charmander off with Water Gun!"

Squritle emerged from his shell and shot a strong blast of water at Charmander, who was then drenched with defeat. The little lizard collasped on the ground, her eyes having a dazed look.

"Chaaar..."

Zoey gasped. "Oh Charmander!"

She ran to her partner and kneeled down next to her. She lifted the Pokemon in her arms and held her close.

"I'm sorry Charmander..."

Jessica ran towards Gary who thanked his Squirtle before recalling him back inside his Pokeball.

"Gary!" she said. "That was amazing!"

"Freeeee!" said Butterfree.

"So this is your Butterfree huh?"

"Yes! Isn't she beautiful?"

"I guess."

He looked where Zoey was at and saw that she had become saddened due to another loss in battle. Nidoran was right next to her, her ears folded downwards.

Gary started to walk off back to where Viridian City was, Jessica close behind after returning Butterfree.

"Hey!" said the twins. "Wait for us!"

"Stay here," said Jessica. "You should train more. Your Pokemon are weak and right now, useless."

The twins had a disappointed look on their face.

Jessica continued walking with Gary back to Viridian City.

"Zoey sure does suck at raising Pokemon huh?" she said. "I can't believe she chose Charmander as her starting Pokemon. I mean, Charmander is the hardest Kanto Starter Pokemon to train!"

"Sometimes it's better to raise those kind of Pokemon from the beginning," Gary said in reply. "The harder the Pokemon is to raise, the better off you'll be in the long-run. Pokemon that take a long time to evolve are usually the stronger ones in most areas of combat. Zoey's just starting off as a trainer right now, so of course she sucks."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that Zoey will struggle a bit in the begginning of her journey. But the more Pokemon she captures and the stronger her bond becomes with Charmander, the more formidable she will become as an opponent and rival." He smiled thinking about it.

"I see..."

Gary knew that Zoey was just a rookie. Even when they were little she wasn't really smart when it came to battling. She just loved to be around Pokemon. Most could guess it was because she got her first glimpse of a Pokemon when she was about a year old. But the boy knew that Zoey would become stronger and capture more Pokemon. He had a feeling that someday, she'd be showered in victory.

--

Zoey had been sitting on the ground with Charmander in her arms for a few moments now. The lizard wasn't hurt that badly. She was thankful for that. Even though Squirtle was a Water Pokemon, he still was inexperienced because Gary had not trained him enough yet. The Water Gun attack had only damaged Charmander a little.

The Pokemon was starting to regain conciousness.

"Chaaaar..."

"Charmander?" said Zoey. "Are you ok?"

The lizard opened her big green eyes. "Char..."

Nidoran regained her spirits and smiled. "Nido!"

Charmander smiled back.

Zoey put her Pokemon down and grabbed an empty Pokeball from her belt.

"Nidoran," she said. "Do you want to become part of my team?"

Nidoran wagged her tail. "Nido!"

"Ok then." Zoey threw the Pokeball at Nidoran and she let herself become captured.

The ball only wiggled slightly before finally stopping.

Zoey picked up the Pokeball and smiled. "Yes! Another addition to my Pokemon team!"

"Char!"

The two twins walked up to Zoey and said "We're sorry..."

Zoey stood up. "Don't say sorry to me. You should say sorry to Nidoran."

The girl released her Pokemon from her Pokeball.

"Nido!"

"Nidoran, these two boys have something to say to you."

Nidoran looked at the boys and turned her head to the side a bit.

"We're sorry Nidoran..."

The Pokemon could sense that these two were sincere about what they said.

"Nido," replied the Pokemon. She smiled. That was a sign that she forgave them.

"Why did you guys agree to capture Nidoran for Jessica anyway?" asked Zoey.

"She said that if we captured a female Nidoran for her, she'd catch a strong Pokemon for us," said Tommy.

"Yeah. Pidgey and Weedle are weak..." said Timmy.

Zoey shook her head at the boy's naive nature.

"You don't understand, do you? You're never supposed to catch a Pokemon for another person in that way. And your Pokemon aren't weak. Pidgey and Weedle happen to evolve twice and their final evolutions are strong. Pidgey evolves into Pidgeotto, like the one I have. Then it evolves into Pidgeot. And Weedle evolves into Kakuna. Even though Kakuna can't move much, you could still train it, and when it's had enough experience, it will evolve into Beedrill."

The boys looked at the girl.

"How do you know so much about Pokemon?" asked Tommy.

"I know so much because I love Pokemon so much. Pokemon trainers are supposed to love the Pokemon they have and not want to trade them away or release them for a stronger one. Just because a Pokemon is evolved, doesn't really mean it's strong. All Pokemon have their weaknesses, even the Legendaries. If you want stronger Pokemon, train with your Pidgey and Weedle a little bit more. They'll love you more and your bond with them will become stronger. Trust me, you'll get strong one day."

The girl smiled at the twins who returned the smile.

"Thanks Zoey," said Timmy. "I learned a lot."

"Me too," said Tommy.

"You're welcome! Well, I have to get going now."

"Doesn't Charmander need to heal at a Pokemon Center?"

Zoey looked at Charmander who only smiled.

"No, I think she's alright. You two wouldn't happen to know which way Viridian Forest is, would you?"

"You're already inside it."

Zoey sweatdropped.

"I am?"

"Yeah...? You didn't notice?"

"But Gary and Jessica were headed back to Viridian City!"

"We know. But if you want to get to Pewter City, you need to go north. They went south."

"And you knew they were going the wrong way, yet you didn't tell them?"

The boys grinned widely. "Yeah, we always do that to people like them. We don't like people who act all high and mighty, right Timmy?"

"Right Tommy. But we're telling you the truth Zoey 'cause you were nice to us. All you have to do is take that path over there."

Tommy pointed to a dirt path in the forest.

"If you keep going through that path, you'll get to Pewter City. I don't know how long it will take, but if you get there kinda late, I think you should spend the night somewhere like a Pokemon Center."

Zoey nodded and smiled.

"Thanks you two. Well, I'll be seeing you later. I'm going on a journey to become the greatest Pokemon Master of all time!"

"Don't count on it!" said the twins simutaneously. "When we're stronger, we're going to the Pokemon League too!"

"Then I'll be looking forward to a battle!"

The twins agreed and wished Zoey good luck on her journey. She returned Nidoran back inside her Pokeball and allowed Charmander to walk with her.

After walking through the forest for a while, Zoey started to see buildings in the distance. She was almost to the next city.

And almost to the first Gym.

That's the end of this chapter. Yeah, Zoey lost the first two times she battled. But don't worry, she'll have victories ahead. I always welcome feedback aka reviews. If you have flames, my Floatzel will just put the fire out with a titanic Surf. :D