Chapter 5: Catching Time!

When Ben and Eevee arrived back at the scene of the incident Officer Jenny, who he recognised by her blue hair and having a long family of officers who looked almost exactly like her, was already at the scene, busy in conversation with somebody who Ben guessed must be the driver. He didn't get a good look at him so he wasn't sure. He took a look at the car and it didn't look good, the bumper was hanging from one side, one of the headlights was broken and the hood of the car was dented. There was also the fact that the lamppost had been damaged as well. He hesitantly walked up to them and waited for somebody to notice him. Soon enough the driver looked to the side and immediately pointed at him while fuming, shouting:

"That's the bastard! It was his Pokémon that caused me to crash!"

Eevee started trembling again when the driver turned to them, Officer Jenny looked in Ben's direction and turned to him.

"Are you responsible for crashing this man's car?" Officer Jenny asked calmly.

"Uhm, yes Officer" he said, looking down unable to face them "my Eevee ran away and crossed the street in a panic without looking…"

"Please look up, sir" Officer Jenny said, which Ben did reluctantly but he couldn't look anybody in the eyes.

"You should keep your Pokémon in your Poké Ball if it's just gonna run away!" The driver hissed.

"S-Sorry sir, I haven't had Eevee for long…" Ben began, struggling to find the words while trying to look at the driver's face, while Eevee yelped and Ben felt his grip on his shoulder tightening as he felt Eevee shivering more intensly.

Officer Jenny put a hand up on the driver's shoulder

"Please stay calm sir."

The driver didn't really seem in the mood to take things calmly, he scowled and made a throwaway gesture but remained silent, for now. Officer Jenny turned back to Ben.

"I'll need to see some ID please."

Ben fumbled in his pocket for a moment before pulling out his Pokédex and turning it over to Officer Jenny. She checked it and then took down some notes she then handed him back his Pokédex.

"Since you admitted to the accident you would normally be charged with compensating the damages to the victim of the accident, however since you're still underage the costs will be redirected to your parents instead. This will formally be decided by court. You'll receive a notice to attend the trial sometime tomorrow" Officer Jenny explained.

Ben's stomach dropped when he heard this.

My mom is going to kill me… Ben thought.

"You are free to go, please keep an eye on that Eevee."

Ben thanked her and left the scene with Eevee, but as he walked back to the Pokémon Center anxiety was taking him over.

How am I going to explain this to my mom? Will she understand? Ben asked himself, dreading the answers.

He decided he'd have to call his mom tonight to let her know before she heard anything from the police. He would somehow have to try paying her back, maybe set aside something every month so he could pay her back bit by bit. He'd probably have to try winning as many trainer battles as possible now anyways in order to gather money. The sponsoring definitely helped and he was grateful to Levi now more then ever. Without it he might be doomed. But still he was in a really bad position.

The walk to the Pokémon Center seemed to take ages and the longer he walked the worse he felt. Finally he made it back and he handed his Pidgey to Nurse Joy to let it heal from the battle and also his Eevee for a checkup, then he went over to the videophone to call his mom. He took off the horn and typed in the number, then he wondered what he was going to tell her, it took him maybe ten minutes before he could even gather the nerve to press the call button, when he did he gulped, waiting several long seconds before his mom's face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, hello Ben" his mom said, while looking a tad annoyed but then something appeared in her eyes of what could be hope. "Well have you decided you want to come home yet?"

"Uhm, not exactly… Mom, uhm, something happened…" Ben said quietly.

"Oh no… Did you get in trouble again?" his mom asked with an annoyed frown.

"Uhm… you see Mom, Eevee sort of caused an accident and uhm… well… you'll need to pay for the damages, I'm so sor-"

"What?! Just what sort of damages do I need to pay for? What did you do Ben?!"

"W-Well you s-see uh… Eevee sort of ran away from me and c-crossed the r-road without looking… a-and… This car crashed and although the d-driver was fine, the c-car was not and they're forwarding the d-damage to you b-because I'm still underage a-and-"

"I HAVE TO WHAT?!" his mom yelled, Ben immediately flinched and gulped, unable to look his mom in the eyes at this point.

"Just how much do I have to pay for?! How bad was that car damaged?!" his mom yelled.

"I-I d-don't know… Just the f-front was d-damaged, the rest of the car was f-fine… Mom I-

"Ben Parker, when I get a hold of you! You're going to rue the day you were born! You've only just started your journey but everything is turning to shit already! You're coming straight home and you'll be grounded for months!"

"B-B-But mom! I can pay you back! I-I just got Levi to sponsor me and if I w-work hard I can set s-some money aside every month to p-pay you back!"

"And you're going to do this how?! You've already shown you're a poor excuse for a trainer! I'd be surprised if you can even pay to take care of your Pokémon at this point!"

"But!"

"No buts, you're coming home right now!"

Ben closed his eyes as tears started to escape from his eyelids, he turned his hands into fists and slammed his hands down next to the phone.

"No! I can't!" he yelled

"You dare to say no to your mother that way?!"

"Mom, I still have dreams! I w-want to see the w-world! I told you! I'll make it up to you I promise! I'll watch over Eevee more carefully and get you the m-money. Y-You have to trust me! I-I'm so-sorry this happened… But I still have so much to live for!"

"No! I don't want to hear another word from you! You'll do as I say! You'll come home and-"

But Ben abruptly ended the call, he couldn't take it anymore, he placed his hands over the back of his head bending his head forward and began crying and sniveling seemingly to no end. He know he was been selfish for continuing his journey against his mom's wishes after having caused that accident but he had so much to live for and he just didn't want it to be taken away from him under any circumstances. He was going to fight to pay back the damages, he had to, it was his responsibility. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice calling his name.

"Ben? Ben? Ben!" Mick called out to him, while shaking him. Ben lifted his head, tears streaming freely, but refused to turn around.

"What's going on? Why are you crying? Did something happen? Talk to me, man." Mick asked in a worried tone.

"Ee-Eevee caused an accident, they are m-making my mom pay for the damages." he said, still looking at the blank videoscreen.

"What? What happened? Come, let's go to our room, ya can tell me everything there." Mick said, as he ensisted.

It took Mick several more minutes to convince him to go to their room, but eventually Ben gave in and after wiping his tears he went with Mick to their room. Once there, Ben explained everything to him, be it that he wasn't able to look his best friend in the eyes, though he eventually stopped crying.

"Well… that sucks." Mick concluded. "Maybe we can uhm… I dunno… I'd ask Levi for help but he's already sponsoring you so…"

"It's ok, the sponsorship helps, but I'll probably have to battle a lot to gain money from trainers. I'm planning to set aside some money every month to pay back my debt."

"That's still a lot of pressure though, but I know you can do it Ben. I'm rooting for you buddy."

Ben managed a weak smile, Mick's support was very much welcome, he always knows he has his back.

"Tell you what" says Mick "I'll help out, I'll set aside some of my earnings each month too"

Ben blinked.

"No man, you don't have have to do that… this is my problem, not yours." Ben said with reluctance.

"Nah, dude, I'm happy to do it. Gotta help a bro out. Besides I know you'd do the same for me."

Ben managed to smile a bit wider now.

"Thanks Mick… But I'm going to pay you back for it… eventually."

"No worries, you just stick to getting your debt cleared." Mick said.

They decided to get some dinner in the cafeteria again and Mick managed to steer the conversation to the battle they had earlier.

"You only won because Charmander doesn't know Flamethrower yet, or the battle would've been a breeze." Mick remarked.

"Yes, maybe, but that's what I banked on. Flying Pokémon are notoriously hard to hit, especially if their opponent doesn't know any moves that can be used at range." Ben stated.

"Yes, well… you just wait, that Charmander will beat your puny Pidgey once it knows Flamethrower, it's gonna be the strongest Pokémon in the world!" Mick said confidently. "Well… second to legendaries maybe."

Ben managed to chuckle.

"I'm sure you'll turn it into a fighting force worth remembering." Ben replied taking a bite of his sandwich. There was a pause before Mick turned serious.

"We're still gonna take those courses right?" Mick asked.

Ben seemed thoughtful for a moment before replying.

"Yeah… I mean, the fee isn't much, but why do you ask? You didn't seem interested before."

"I'm not, but you beat me fair and square so I'm gonna hold to our agreement." Mick answered. "I was just asking cause… anyways what are we doing over the weekend? We can't sign up till Monday so…"

"I guess I'm gonna do some training, I've got to prepare my team so we can start winning some battles against other trainers. I need the money after all." Ben said with a pang of worry.

"Sounds good. I'm going to look for a second member to add to my party. I'm sure Charmander is great, but I'd like some variety. I'm thinking of nabbing one of those Spearow." Mick said with a grin.

"Speaking of add team members." Ben began "So I did some research on the coming gym battles. I don't recommend starting with the gym in Viridian, it's got type variety, that might be hard for beginners like us. So I checked which other gyms that are closest and it's the ones in Pewter and Cerulean. Both use types that are strong against Charmander, Rock and Water specifically, you're going to need something to counter them."

Mick looked away and grunted.

"Meh… I'm sure Charmander can take them."

"Mick, I'm serious" Ben said. "Your Charmander won't do much damage against them, you're gonna need to find a Pokémon that has some kind of edge on them. I'd suggest looking for a Grass type so you can counter both gyms. I already have one so I'm good. But you on the other hand…" Ben trailed off.

"Alright, say I go along with your suggestion… Where do I find one nearby then?" Mick asked.

"I don't know…" Ben said. "Maybe the Pokédex can tell us." he said as he grabbed it and opened up the device, and he searched up what could be found from the areas around Viridian City.

He frowned however, there wasn't really any Grass types to be found in the vicinity, but he did find a candidate that might work out for Mick against Brock.

"You like Fighting types, right?" Ben asked him, while holding his gaze on the Pokédex.

"Yep, I like how rowdy they get, might probably take the Fighting type course they offer at the academy, why though?"

"You can apparently find Mankey in Route 22, west of Viridian here." Ben stated.

"Oh really? Cool. I might catch one then."

"You'd better, there isn't really any Grass types nearby so that should be your alternative to Brock, unless you want to go fishing for a Water type… But that means buying a rod."

Mick groaned. "Yeah and lots of patience too, I don't have that. I'll stick with the Mankey, thanks."

"Just be careful if you're going after a Mankey, they tend to get angry easily." Ben remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry Ben, this is me we're talking about." Mick assured him.

"Yes… That's what worries me." Ben replied.

After the duo was finished eating they went to get their Pokémon back from Nurse Joy and then went to their room and while Mick surfed the internet for a while, Ben lay on his bed, while Eevee cuddled up on top of him, as he gazed up at the other bunk, he couldn't help but be worried over the debt he owed his mom now, but he knew he had to remain calm if he was going to get any chance of returning the money. He decided to do his usual breathing controlling when he felt tense like this and it seemed to work a bit. Eventually Ben fell asleep into a dreamless sleep.

Ben, with Eevee accompanying him on his shoulder, were strolling through the grassy area of Route 2, just north of Viridian City and just on the edge of the Viridian Forest, which was teeming with Bug Pokémon. As they were in the vicinity to the forest there was a number of trees all around them on the grassy field. Ben eventually came to a standstill, releasing his Pidgey and Bulbasaur. Ben crouched down to view them at eye level.

"Hey guys. We've got some training to do. I need you both to get stronger." He turned to look at Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur I want you to start practicing on using Razor Leaf. I'd like for you to have an attack that we can use at range."

Bulbasaur nodded calmly. Then Ben turned to Pidgey.

"As for you Pidgey, I'd like for you to work on your speed and stamina. This way you can maybe learn Quick Attack and eventually Double Team if we can wing it."

Pidgey opened it's wings and nodded in turn.

"Alright let's get to work." Ben said as he stood up again. "Now Bulbasaur I wa-"

But Ben suddenly grew quiet as he heard rustling from the tall grass nearby and he and his Pokémon turned to their right to see a small green caterpillar Pokémon emerging from the grass, Ben recognised it as a Caterpie. It had a yellow underside and teardrop-shaped tail. There were yellow ring-shaped markings down the sides of it's segmented body. It had a bright red antenna on top of it's head. It's four tiny feet were tipped with suction cups. It was either ignoring them, or not aware of them, as it was slowly crawling towards a nearby tree.

Ah! A Caterpie! This could be a useful addition to my team! Ben thought with a level of enthiausim.

He knew Caterpie were weak and easy to raise and they were tied with Weedle for the Pokémon to evolve the fastest out of any Pokémon. This was because it was a caterpillar Pokémon which meant it had a very short life span for this stage of it's life. The reason for Ben's excitement was that when it eventually evolved into Butterfree it wouldn't take long before it could use the three power attacks, which inflicted status conditions on it's opponents. Not only that but it would learn Confusion as soon as it evolved as well, a Psychic attack that like it's namesake suggested could occasionally make a Pokémon confused if it hit.

There was an opportunity here tho. Since it didn't look like it was aware of them and since Caterpie is weak to begin with, he could try catching it in a Poké Ball right away, without battling it. This worked sometimes when the Pokémon was literally caught by surprise.

He motioned for his Pokémon to be quiet by pressing his index finger to his lips, then grabbed an empty Poké Ball with his other hand. In a swift motion he threw a curveball at the Caterpie who didn't notice it until it hit it and he was sucked into the ball. The Poké Ball twisted three times and the red light on the Poké Ball disappeared.

Yes, caught! Ben thought as his Pokémon celebrated, except for Eevee who seemed a little wary, and he went over to collect his prize and picked up the Poké Ball. He decided to release it at once as Caterpie appeared and it looked around wildly, his eyes resting on Ben. He crouched down again so the Bug Pokémon wouldn't be intimidated by his size.

"Sorry for getting the jump on you like that. Hi, my name is Ben. I'm a Pokémon Trainer who is aiming to beat the Gym challenge and I'd like to do that together with you. I know you'll be a big help, what do you say Caterpie?"

Caterpie's eyes began to shine in excitement as Ben talked to him and he seemed to nod at him.

Ben smiled and turned to the rest of his Pokémon.

"Guys, please welcome Caterpie to the team!" he said while moving his hand to the side to indicate the caterpillar Pokémon.

Bulbasaur happily extended a vine towards Caterpie as if welcoming him, but Pidgey however had a certain glint in his eyes and didn't move. Then all of a sudden it took off, racing down to Caterpie at low altitude and then began pecking at him, Caterpie let out a frightened screech and attempted to crawl to the tall grass while under Pidgey's barrage.

Ben gasped and quickly grabbed Pidgey's Poké Ball. Bulbasaur worriedly extended it's other vine alongside his previous extracted one and together attempted to catch the Tiny Bird Pokémon in it's grasp, but it was too quick for it.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" he protested.

"Pidgey stop! That's not your food!" Ben exclaimed, realising he stupidly forgot birds tend to eat worms. He supposed he failed to remember in his eagerness to catch Caterpie. Pidgey however continued it's assault and Ben was forced to return him to his Poké Ball. He sighed when the Flying type was back in it's ball and turned over the ball.

"I'm going to need a few words with you later…" Ben said quietly to it. He then turned his attention to Caterpie who still seemed frightened and was shivering in place. Making him remind him of Eevee. He sighed and unstrapped his bag and pulled out some Poké Food from inside his belongings, crouching down again he placed his hand in front of the Worm Pokémon, offering the food. Caterpie stopped shaking and then looked curiously at the Poké Food before taking a bite from it.

"Sorry about that… I didn't mean for my Pokémon to attack you, I promise I won't let Pidgey appear whenever you're around anymore, at least until you're a Butterfree." Caterpie looked up at him and seemed relieved upon hearing this. Ben also took out a potion from his bag and sprayed Caterpie with it, healing him.

"Alright" he got up and turned to Bulbasaur and Caterpie. "Caterpie, you're too weak to battle unfortunately. But that's fine, you'll be strong as a Butterfree. you just focus on eating leaves and prepare for turning into a cocoon. Here."

Ben carefully grabbed Caterpie and placed it on the nearest tree trunk. Caterpie seemed satisfied with this and crawled towards the nearest branch and started munching on the leaves. Caterpie generally had to eat a lot of leaves in order to prepare for it's stage of a cocoon.

"Just don't wander off ok? I'll collect you later." Ben called out to it, then turned to Bulbasaur

"Okay Bulbasaur, let's get you to focus on learning Razor Leaf."

Mick and Charmander were walking through Route 22 which was quite hilly and was in some places overgrown with tall grass, they had searched the trees within the route for about an hour now for Mankey or Spearow and although he had spotted both species by now, he couldn't or wouldn't pick a fight with them. He had seen a flock of Spearow fly overhead but they were far out of his reach to initiate a battle with them, besides as crazy as he was, he wasn't about to pick a fight with the whole flock. Similarly he had also spotted a group of Mankey high in the treetops but again, he wasn't about to pick a fight with the whole group either, so he searched for a Spearow or Mankey that was separated from any group.

Mick wasn't even sure if he should search for a Spearow at all, since it could just stay out of reach of Charmander's attacks by flying away.

The fight with Ben had humbled him somewhat. He might've been crazy enough to fight several of the same Pokémon at once before. But seeing how his Charmander had been beaten easily by a measly Pidgey he realised he had to train his Charmander quite a lot for it to stand up for himself. He hadn't lose sight of his dream tho. He wanted to be a Pokémon Master and he wanted Charmander to be the strongest Pokémon out there, not mattering if it was at a type disadvantage. He wanted it to be that strong that it could rival some of the legendary Pokémon in strength.

But… his recent defeat stung and he knew that for now he'd have to catch a few more Pokémon. This way he could add to his team and have a few partners for Charmander to fight against. Still it would be nice to have a couple of other Pokémon to fight. As much as he wanted Charmander to be the nr 1 Pokémon of the world and the envy of many, he'd like to have a complete team of badass Pokémon with the drive to fight to their absolute limit.

Charmander suddenly tugged at his pants and he looked down.

"Char! Charmander!" he said pointing at a low branch where a small, white, simian Pokémon sat, attempting to peel what looked like a chestnut, but he seemed to have a terrible time of it and seemed to become more frustrated with each passing second. It had a round body covered in white shaggy fur. It's nose resembled something of a pig's snout, it had narrow red eyes and triangular eyes with brown insides. Furthermore it had three-fingered hands, two-toed feet and the tip of its curved prehensile tail were all brown.

"A Mankey! And looks like it's by itself, good eyes Charmander." Mick said with a grin.

He ran up to the tree, Charmander following closely behind.

"Hey Mankey, I challenge you to a battle! Come show me how you fight!"

Mankey turned to look from the chestnut to the trainer standing below him and it turned to glare at him, as if it felt insulted by the challenge presented to him, it dropped the chestnut and began jumping up and down in a fit of rage. Then it dropped down from the tree and began to charge Mick.

"Charmander use Ember!" Mick called out

Charmander practically jumped in front of Mick and started twirling around, holding it's tail. Mick had to back up a few steps to be out of range of the flames, but Mankey kept charging and although it got hit with the flames it began scratching Charmander relentlessly.

"Charmander hang in there! Keep using Ember!" Mick said, clenching his fists.

Charmander yelped out of pain but kept going with Ember, while Mankey kept using Scratch, again and again. Both Pokémon were taking heavy damage and although Charmander was slowing down, Mankey eventually caught on fire and while it was burned it's attacks were weakened.

Mick remembered Ben's words about status conditions:

You know, it's like when certain Pokémon moves are capable of poisoning or putting to sleep the opposing Pokémon, that makes them easier to catch

He guessed a Pokémon caught on fire… counts? Right? He watched how despite Mankey's attacks were less ferocious Charmander was still taking damage from it's attacks, so he didn't have time to ponder about it. He grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it in a curveball towards the Fighting-type Pokémon. It hit Mankey on the head as it was sucked into the ball. Charmander stopped spinning pulling a grimace on it's face, looking quite battered. They both watched as the Poké Ball shaked three times before the red light at the center faded.

"Alright! Mankey is mine!" Mick exclaimed, running up to the Poké Ball to retrieve it, lifting it up and holding it up in the sunlight.

"We're gonna be a team you and I Mankey, you wait." he said to the Poké Ball, he then put the Poké Ball away and patted his Charmander on the head.

"You did well Charmander, I'm proud of you!"

Charmander raised it's head and seemed happy with the praise.

"Charmander, Char!"

Next Mick took care of the Lizard Pokémon by spraying it with a potion, he didn't wanna go back just yet. Maybe he could catch another Pokémon while he was here. He didn't bring out Mankey to spray a potion on tho, figuring he'd need to work on communicating with it first but he'd start with that after he brings it back to the Pokémon Center. He returned Charmander to his Poké Ball for now.

Mick continued to wander around Route 22, but he only spotted a few Rattata scurrying around in the grass. Not something he was particularly interested in. There were a couple of other trainers about but they didn't really seem to notice him. Just when Mick thought of calling it a day and head back to the Pokémon Center a small four-legged purple Pokémon emerged from the tall grass and looked straight at Mick blinking. It had large, spiny ears with teal insides, oversized front teeth, and red eyes. Its back was covered with three lines of large spines.

Hmm, wonder what this Pokémon is Mick thought as he pulled out the Pokédex and scanned the purple Pokémon.

"Nidoran Male, the Poison Pin Pokémon: It is small, but its horn is filled with poison. It charges then stabs with the horn to inject poison. This Pokémon's final evolution is Nidoking."

"Wait… Nidoking?!" Mick exclaimed excitedly. He knew enough about Pokémon battling that Nidoking could be a real powerhouse in battle.

"Alright Nidoran" he said, taking Charmander's Poké Ball stretching it out and pointing it at him.

"Prepare yourself because you're about to become my new team member! I'll raise you into a strong Nidoking the world could only dream of."

Nidoran seemed to realise it was in danger and took a battle stance, readying it's horn to charge.

"Charmander I call you to battle!" said Mick as he threw Charmander's Poké Ball and released the Lizard Pokémon, it puffed up it's chest and looked ready for battle.

Nidoran made the first move, charging Charmander with it's horn outstretched.

"Dodge and use Scratch!" Mick called out

Charmander swung to the side as Nidoran rushed past and received the Scratch attack in it's side, causing it to yelp in pain, it responded by facing Charmander and gazing it at meanly, which was in actuality a Leer attack, this lowered Charmander's defense slightly, tho Mick didn't know about this.

"Charmander use Ember!" Once again Charmander began spinning round creating sparks while holding it's tail. While Charmander was doing this Mick wondered if there was no alternative method to use a Fire-type attack in this stage of it's life, since it couldn't use it at range. The attack did hit Nidoran however and it opted for charging again with a Horn Attack. Mick didn't tell Charmander to dodge since he needed Charmander to deal damage to the Poison-type from close range.

Sparks flew onto Nidoran as it ran, receiving damage but Charmander was hit in it's left side and it cried out in pain, falling onto the ground with blood dripping down from it's side. Nidoran ran a few paces away again, looking to charge Charmander again.

Mick gritted his teeth, the blow had been quite significant to Charmander and he wondered if it could take another hit like that, so without thinking of his next move he immediately drew an empty Poké Ball and threw it towards Nidoran, who was getting ready to charge, it perked up it's ears however and turned to Mick just as the Poké Ball hit it's body and it was sucked into the Ball. It shook three times and the red glow disappeared from the round object.

"Alright! I caught a Nidoran!" Mick jumped up, raising his fist in triumph. Charmander weakly tried to raise it's arms in turn, but the fire on it's tail grew dimmer as it struggled to stay upright and eventually collapsed.

"Oh no Charmander!" he ran up to the Fire-type and checked out it's wound, a nasty purple color was mixed in with it's punctured wound he wasn't an expert but he was pretty sure it was poison. And he didn't have any antidotes with him!

"Dammit! Don't worry Charmander, I'll get you to a Pokémon Center right away!" he said as he bit his lip, returning the Lizard Pokémon straight back to it's Poké Ball and began running back towards Viridian City.