Pokemon: Crimson and Azure

Chapter 2.1: Azure's Journey to the Indigo Plateau

After Azure's Pokemon was healed, she said her goodbye to Prof. Oak and left his lab. She instantly set on the road to Viridian City.
After about an hour of travelling, she had already caught a Pidgey. Next she was looking for a Ratatta, which were apparently supposed to be quite common in these vast plains. But our heroine had no luck. Instead, she decided to take a side-route through the forest to the west. The forest was surprisingly peaceful, there weren't many bird Pokemon, and no bug Pokemon whatsoever, which was considered a rarity for them. Bug Pokemon always liked damp places like forests or swamps. The only new Pokemon Azure encountered in the forest was a single Spearow, which she failed to catch.
Finally, after about another hour of wandering and a quick snack break, Azure managed to find her way out of the forest. And in front of her stood a large building complex, with what seemed to be an arena in the middle. Was it … no, it couldn't have been … but it was! She was standing in front of the Indigo Plateau! The goal to every Pokemon trainer! She had no idea the detour through the forest would take her there. Since her Pidgey had fainted from battling that tough Spearow, she decided to stop by. There were no people and when she entered the entry building, she was greeted by a grumpy guard.
"I'm sorry miss, but this place is off limits. The competition will open in 6 months. And even if we were open, you probably don't have eight badges, do you?" The guard said.
"Uhm, 8 badges?" The azure haired girl asked in curiosity.
"Yes, in order to enter the league you must first register at any Pokemon center, then you must get the 8 badges from Pokemon Gyms scattered in the largest cities all over Kanto. Only then will you be allowed to participate in the League challenge."
"And what if I get them before you even open up?"
"Well, you just have to wait it out. It would be ideal to train until then."
"Gotcha. Well, I knew I wasn't prepared for this anyway. But you see, I stopped by because I was sure you must have a Pokemon center around here. My Pidgey got really hurt on the way here."
The guard smiled slightly. "Well, we do have a working Pokemon center here for clumsy trainers like you who don't know where they're going. "
"I'm not clumsy …" Azure frowned and puffed out her cheeks in a cute matter.
The guard couldn't help but laugh. "Suuure. Anyway, the Pokemon center is through the door to your left."
"Thank you." Azure bowed politely, even though the guard offended her a bit by calling her clumsy. She still had respects for the elderly…
She went through the door and entered the west wing of the entry building, where there was an empty Pokemon center. There was a back room for more serious injuries, the reception desk where a cute pink-haired nurse and a Chansey were standing, and a bunch of tables and chairs for trainers to rest up in.
"Welcome to our Pokemon Center!" The nurse greeted her with a warm smile as she approached the reception desk.
"Hello, can you take care of my Pidgey, please?" Azure asked kindly, handing the nurse Pidgey's pokeball.
"But of course, that's my job after all~" The nurse said with a giggle and took the ball off Azure's hand. She then turned around towards a machine that looked identical to the one in Prof. Oak's lab, and placed the ball inside. It had 6 slots, instead of the 3 in Prof Oak's lab.
"Aaaand… All done!" The nurse said after the machine emitted a short melody, indicating everything was fine. She took the ball out and handed it back to Azure.
"Wow, that was quick …" Azure said in awe. It took much longer for her Pokemon to be healed in Oak's Lab. She then pulled out 300 yen from her bag. She didn't see any price tags or tables anywhere but 300 was her guess.
"Oh no no no, keep your money, our services are free of charge!"
"Oh really?" She said, returning her money to her bag. "I thought only emergencies were free of charge …"
"No, every Pokemon Center you enter has services free of charge. And our Indigo League center has free food and bedrooms too! But those are unavailable at the moment…" The nurse said.
"I know, you're closed … and I'm sorry for causing you such trouble. " Azure bowed politely.
"No worries, that's why we're here, to help out new trainers like yourself!" The nurse replied with a bright smile on her face.
"Chansey-Chan!" The Chansey next to her was smiling as well.
"Well, I oughta be going now. Goodbye!" Azure said and turned around, heading towards the exit.
"Goodbye! Have a safe trip!"
She waved goodbye to the guard and apologized to him as well, before exiting the building with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over with …" She mumbled to herself before noticing a sign on the side of the path saying "Viridian City this way" With an arrow pointing East. "Well, at least I'm close to Viridian City." Azure said to herself and headed down the path, hoping to find some new Pokemon along the way.

/Author's Note: This is the first subchapter of the series. Subchapters will be focused on Azure's journey. They will be shorter and less detailed than regular chapters, due to Azure being a secondary character in the series, and me being lazy… Subchapters will be marked with x.1 in the end. Not all chapters will have Subchapters, but some will. Subchapters are also not split into multiple sections/parts like regular chapters are, due to their shorter length.
On a side note, I won't be uploading a regular chapter AND a Subchapter every weekend, it'll either be a main chapter or a subchapter ONLY. That is until my summer break, when I'll have lots of time to finish this project.

Next time: Learning the basics in Viridian City