Raichu and Charmeleon

'A campfire scene was supposed to be warm and cozy,' the boy Trainer thought. 'But this one stinks.'

It was probably the wood from his first fire, which had been lots of smoke and little fire. Only after the smelly smoke had saturated his clothes, his bag, his Pokemon, and himself had he recalled that he wasn't supposed to use green wood to make a fire. Then it was another half-hour to gather more suitable wood, and another half to build this fire up.

And now he was trying to figure out if the soup sitting in a pot over the fire was actually cooking. Soup was supposed to be real easy to make. He could do it with no trouble back at home. It was causing all sorts of trouble now: nearly tipping over into the fire, the pot getting too hot to touch, the rack maybe being too high, the smoky smell starting to invade his supper. Everything was more complicated than it had been at home.

Home. He didn't want to admit it, but he was getting homesick. The start of his journey had been exciting. Getting into battles, seeing new places, earning his badges, all great fun. Especially the battle tourney a couple of weeks back where he and his two Pokemon had earned a Thunder Stone to evolve Pikachu into Raichu. People hadn't expected him to get far in the competition, but he made third place and got an interview on live TV. It had been great.

But now, lost deep in this strange forest, he was feeling sharply homesick. Every noise from the darkness caused him to tense. Especially a rustle in the undergrowth or the strange calls of Pokemon he'd never known to exist. As far as he was from the normal Route, would one of them be so wild that it would attack humans?

He really wished that he hadn't come this far.

His two Pokemon were out with him, at least. Raichu was huddled against a log, warily eyeing the trees in case some vicious Venomoth came back to poison him. Charmeleon, on the other hand, was lazing blissfully by the fire he had helped create, as if they weren't miles from known civilization with no idea of where to get out. After a bit, he turned to his teammate and said, "Hey."

"What?" Raichu asked grumpily.

"You know that sitcom show about that Ash guy? I bet his middle name is Otis."

He twitched his ears. "Why's that?"

"Because then his initials would spell out A-O.K."

The orange rodent groaned and shook his head. "Why must you always make up those awful puns?"

Charmeleon lifted his head up. "Ooo, or maybe Otis is actually his first name! That means his initials would spell out Oak. Gasp, it's a conspiracy! Ash is actually Oak's grandson, not Gary!"

"What difference does that make?"

"Well it explains why Oak let him have a special starter. But why is he hiding that information from everyone? Hmm, mysterrrious." He lay his head back down and swished his tail in the air. The flame at the end was glowing a calm orange-red, wavering as it moved from side to side.

"Why are you even thinking about sitcoms? We're completely lost here!"

"What else is there to think about?"

"Plenty, like how to get out, and how to keep the local Pokemon away. And watch how you wield that tail flame; I'm sort of glad we don't have to worry about the nightly chill, but you're making things really stuffy."

"Am I? Sorry. I don't notice unless it's cold." He wrapped his tail around his body.

"These woods are creeping me out," the Raichu went on. "I keep feel like somebody's watching me."

"I'm watching you."

"Not you, doofus. I mean somebody in the woods. It could be a sly predator, waiting for us to fall asleep so it can slit our throats and eat us all."

"They wouldn't eat a Trainer's Pokemon."

"Are you certain of that?"

"Mmm... pretty certain. Probably not the human either, unless it's a really big predator."

"You're not helping any," he growled.

"Just saying what on my mind, you know. And we'll probably find a way out."

"Probably? No foolish certainty, instead foolish uncertainty?"

Charmeleon looked at his teammate curiously. "What's with the grumpy sarcasm?"

"Grrr, because I have to deal with you." He whacked the lizard on the snout with his right paw.

"Ow, hey!"

"Raichu, discharge into the ground," their Trainer spoke up, noticing his Pokemon's mood.

Instead of following the order, he tensed up. "Why should I?"

"Go do it."

Growling again, he flicked his jagged tail, then jammed it into the ground. There was a brief crackle of electricity accompanied by an increased glow around his tail and the electrical sacs on his cheeks. Once the built up charge was gone, he took a few deep breaths. There was now a neat scorch mark in the ground from where his tail had been.

"You feel better?" the boy asked.

"Yeah." He looked to Charmeleon. "Sorry about that. Got too worked up."

"No worries. You just needed to chill a bit. By the way, you can borrow my chill any time you like. If I get too cool, I'll die of hypothermia. That's why I don't wear sunglasses."

"You are so weird," Raichu replied, but this time with friendly sarcasm.

Their Trainer pulled a steaming spoon out of the soup. It was finally done. He sighed. "Wish my anxiety was that easy to get rid of."

…

Raichu Emerald entry: If it stores too much electricity, its behavior turns aggressive. To avoid this, it occasionally discharges excess energy and calms itself down.

Charmeleon Leaf Green entry: When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the air temperature to unbearably high levels.

I love puns.