Chapter 2

"He's a grass and poison-type," Professor Oak said. "Very gentle, but tough. He'll be easy to raise."

Leaf barely heard him. Her gaze was fixated on the small Pokemon, still staring at her. He cocked his head to the side and chirped.

Leaf was immediately in love.

With a huge grin on her face, Leaf knelt down and said, "Hi, Bulbasaur! My name is Leaf. I'm your trainer."

As if he understood her, Bulbasaur stepped towards her with another chirp. Leaf cautiously raised her hand over his head. When Bulbasaur didn't move away, Leaf pet him between his pointy ears. He was very smooth, almost rubbery.

"You're a natural," Professor Oak said. He went to a nearby table and picked up two items. One was a brown belt with five PokeBalls attached to it. The other was a red rectangular device.

Professor Oak raised the belt. "As you know, a team consists of six Pokemon. Bulbasaur is one. You'll be able to catch the remaining five with these PokeBalls. You don't need to limit yourself to six Pokemon, though. At any Pokemon Center, you can send me any Pokemon you can't carry with you." He lowered the belt and raised the device. "This is a Pokedex. It's a digital encyclopedia I recently invented. It records all the Pokemon you've seen and caught." He smiled. "You, Blue, and Red are the first to have them."

Leaf took the items from him. She wrapped the belt around her and opened the Pokedex. There was a camera inside. She aimed it at Bulbasaur and it began to scan him. Once it finished, a data entry popped up:

Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokemon.

Leaf studied the seed on Bulbasaur's back. It was nearly the size of his body. She wondered what sort of plant would grow from it.

"That's all I have to give to you," Professor Oak said. "If you have any questions throughout your journey, you can always call me."

"T-Thank you so much, Professor!" Leaf exclaimed. She wished she could say more, but there were no words that could show just how grateful she was.

Professor Oak's smile indicated to her that he understood. "Best of luck, Trainer Leaf."

It took all of Leaf's might to match Mom's walking pace. She kept fidgeting: scratching her arm, adjusting her white hat. She had no idea how she managed to wait patiently––relatively speaking––for this moment for a decade.

And yet, when her and Mom stopped at the entrance of Route 1, Leaf found herself hesitating. She met Mom's eyes. Everyone always commented on how much they looked alike. They had the same straight brown hair, same hazel eyes. She was nearly her height, too. Seeing me start my journey must be bringing back so many memories, Leaf thought.

Mom smiled and tears sparkled in her eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised. This day was always going to come."

"You act like I'll be gone forever." Leaf gave her mom another hug. "I'll call you whenever I can."

Mom wiped her tears away and cleared her throat. "Remember, spend the night in Pokemon Centers instead of motels to save money. You can refill your water bottle there, too."

"I know, Mom."

"And remember, your health takes priority over everything else. It may be tempting to skip meals and sleep to train, but it's better for you and your Pokemon to stay healthy."

"Of course, Mom."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

And with that, Leaf's journey began.

Route 1 was a wide dirt road through a forest. Along the edges of the road were tall grass where wild Pokemon liked to hide. Every kid in Pallet Town was given the same warning: never enter Route 1. Only adults could walk through it and even then, they carried Pokemon with them in case of an attack. Leaf's household didn't have any Pokemon, but her dad, who was an actuary, drove to his office in Viridian City and wild Pokemon were terrified of cars.

Despite all the warnings, Leaf had gone into Route 1 once with Red and Blue, who had still been their friend. The three of them had stood twenty feet away from the entrance, waiting in both fear and excitement for wild Pokemon to appear. To their disappointment, none came from the grass and they had to return home for dinner. Until now, Leaf never walked into Route 1 again.

A part of Leaf had expected walking through Route 1 to feel different from driving through, but it looked the same: trees and grass everywhere, no Pokemon.

Actually, there was one Pokemon.

Leaf excitedly took Bulbasaur's PokeBall off her belt. When Bulbasaur was let out, his head moved from side-to-side as his unblinking red eyes absorbed this new, strange world.

"I bet you've never stepped outside of Oak's lab before," Leaf said with a smile. She still couldn't believe that this little creature was her Pokemon. "This is my first time walking out so far from home, too."

Bulbasaur looked up at her and chirped. She couldn't tell how much Bulbasaur understood her, but she was glad of his responsiveness. To her, it meant they were growing closer.

Bulbasaur's ears suddenly twitched and he turned. Following his gaze, Leaf saw, perched on the branch of a nearby tree, a brown and cream-colored bird: a Pidgey.

The Pidgey was watching them cautiously. It had likely seen humans before, but Bulbasaur was definitely a new sight. Route 1 was not known for ecological diversity.

Leaf considered her options. She could try to catch the Pidgey, but she still felt a slight aversion towards the bird Pokemon from the debacle at the Oaks' house years ago. Maybe this was a chance to begin training Bulbasaur? But she didn't want to attack the Pidgey when it hadn't done anything yet.

Then, Leaf remembered something. Slinging her yellow satchel around, she unzipped the side pocket and pulled out the Pokedex. She aimed the camera at the Pidgey. As if on cue, the Pidgey squawked and flew away once its data entry appeared.

"I'm not sure what Pokemon you met at Oak's lab, but that was a Pidgey," Leaf told Bulbasaur as they continued their way through Route 1. She read Pidgey's Pokedex entry to him. Bulbasaur chirped.

They reached Viridian City. Viridian City was known as the Eternally Green City and it was not hard to understand why. Viridian was vehemently opposed to becoming a large metropolis like Saffron or Celadon. Where there could've been skyscrapers, trees and flowers grew all year round. It was a very idyllic area––and it wasn't cheap to live in. With only her dad working, Leaf's parents had decided it made more sense to raise their daughter in the quiet Pallet Town.

Leaf knew Viridian City inside-out, though. She had visited it countless times. Pallet Town was basically all houses. If someone wanted to eat at a restaurant, watch a movie, or go shopping, even for groceries, they would need to go to Viridian City.

Leaf walked past the Pokemon Center, past the PokeMart (Leaf made a mental note to check it out before leaving Viridian), past the Viridian Gym which was now closed, to her dad's workplace: Viridian Mutual. She pushed through the glass sliding doors and told the receptionist that she was Alan Green's daughter.

Her dad came out not long after, face bright. He wore a blue button-down shirt and black trousers that were slightly too short for his long legs. "Leaf! You got here sooner than I thought. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. Is that your Pokemon? What's he called?"

"Dad, meet Bulbasaur," Leaf said, gesturing at her Pokemon. Bulbasaur chirped.

"Nice to meet you, Bulbasaur," Dad said amicably. He looked at Leaf again. "How was the trek? I hope the wild Pokemon weren't too challenging to handle."

"Actually, I barely saw any," Leaf admitted. "I was a bit disappointed."

"You'll have plenty of chances to battle. Have you gotten the chance to see the Indigo League yet?" Leaf's face must've lit up like a Christmas tree because Dad laughed.

"No, but I will now!" Leaf hugged her dad. "I'll see you soon, Dad."

Dad hugged her back. "I know. Best of luck, Leaf."

Leaf turned and began to leave. Before she reached the door, she stopped and turned back around. Dad was still waiting in the lobby, hands in his pockets.

"Dad, did you...talk to Mom about this? Is that why she changed her mind?"

Dad smiled. "I didn't say a word to her."

The Indigo League was at the Indigo Plateau, not far west from Viridian City. Once a hiking area, the Indigo Plateau was now the setting of the elite pokemon tournament. Leaf walked up the tall stone stairs, looking up every now and then at the gold arches that hung over her. She stopped once she reached the top. Up ahead was the reception building: a brick structure with gold details on the facades and sky blue doors. Here, she would apply to compete in the league. If she qualified, she would enter the stadium past the building. Leaf wished she could go in, just to see what it looked like, but the Indigo League wasn't open until next week.

"This is where we'll go down as the strongest," Leaf said to Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur did not respond. Instead, he stared at the building as if he knew its significance.

Leaf smiled as she imagined herself and Bulbasaur battling at the league. The image was so vivid in her mind, as if she were watching TV. The flashing lights, the cheering crowd that filled all the seats in the stadium. Leaf confidently directing Bulbasaur, who gracefully defeated the Elite Four and any other trainer who challenged them. President Ken shaking her hand and congratulating her for becoming the Indigo League's first champion.

That was her future, she knew it. But she wouldn't get there by just standing in front of this building.

"Alright, let's go back to Viridian. I want to check out the PokeMart before we head on to Pewter City."

The two of them walked down the stairs, to the dirt path, Route 22, that connected the plateau to Viridian City. In the distance, she could see Mount Silver, the tallest mountain in the region. The ice-capped behemoth separated Kanto from Johto and was home to some of the most dangerous wild Pokemon. Down here, though, on the mostly straight and clear Route 22, she was safe. On her right was a long strip of tall grass. Occasionally, the grass rustled as wild Pokemon shuffled about.

Leaf stopped. She was about to make her way to Pewter City to challenge her first Gym Leader and she had zero battle experience. She didn't even know any of Bulbasaur's moves. She turned to the grass. Back at Route 1, she didn't want to attack any wild Pokemon unprovoked, but how else would she and Bulbasaur get stronger? Besides, she needed to eventually begin growing her team and she wouldn't be able to do that without actively seeking new Pokemon.

With Bulbasaur following closely behind, Leaf stepped into the grass, pushing aside blades that stood taller than her. She could feel her heart begin to race. At any moment, a wild Pokemon could attack. She braced herself for the upcoming battle.

The longer Leaf walked around, the more her anxiety increased until it reached its climax and began to drop. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she should have seen at least one Pokemon at this point. She thought about how she barely saw any Pokemon on Route 1 as well and a new fear began to seep into her. There were some people who, for some reason, wild Pokemon naturally avoided. What if she was this sort of person? It would be much harder for her to become a real trainer if she couldn't catch any Pokemon.

Or maybe today was just an "off" day. Leaf was going to be traveling around the entire region. She would have many opportunities to see wild Pokemon. It didn't have to be right here, right now.

"Let's go, Bulbasaur. Seems like there aren't any––" Leaf's sentence was cut off by a rustling sound from behind. Holding her breath, Leaf slowly turned around.

A cream ball of fur with arms and legs appeared. Its long tail, pointy ears, and pig nose twitched when it saw Leaf and Bulbasaur.

Leaf recognized this Pokemon from a TV program. She pulled out the Pokedex and scanned the Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokemon, whose eyes began to narrow into angry slits.

In a blink of an eye, the Mankey lunged. She couldn't tell if the Mankey's target was Bulbasaur, or if Bulbasaur had jumped forward to protect her. Whatever the reason was didn't matter at the moment: the wild Pokemon was now on top of Bulbasaur, clawing at him incessantly. Bulbasaur yelped as he tried to shake it off to no avail.

Leaf instinctively stepped forward to try removing the Mankey off Bulbasaur herself, stopping when she remembered why they were in this situation to begin with. Thinking fast, she commanded, "Bulbasaur, roll on the ground until Mankey lets go!"

Bulbasaur obeyed and after a few rolls, the Mankey released him, its fur covered in dirt. The Mankey shrieked in rage and charged again.

"Bulbasaur, tackle it!"

Bulbasaur met with the Mankey head-on. He was the bulkier of the two, so the Mankey was sent flying when they collided. Another wild Pokemon might've fled, but Mankey were known for their tempers. The Mankey continued to try attacking Bulbasaur and Leaf continued telling Bulbasaur to tackle.

After the fourth tackle, the Mankey collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the battle. Bulbasaur looked up at Leaf and grinned. Leaf blinked.

They did it. They won their first battle.

"Bulbasaur, you did it!" Leaf exclaimed with a jump. She removed a PokeBall from her belt and raised it, ready to catch a Pokemon for the first time.

Leaf was just about to toss it when she heard a rustle in the grass. Then another. And another. Soon, Leaf heard chattering and then suddenly, an army of Mankey leaped up from the grass on all sides, their blazing eyes locked on Leaf and Bulbasaur.

The sheer number of screeching Mankey in the air reminded Leaf of the Pidgey debacle. And like that event from years ago, what happened next was a blur.

Two vines shot from the bulb on Bulbasaur's back and whipped furiously around, swatting the Mankey away before they landed. With the Mankey briefly incapacitated, Leaf and Bulbasaur ran as fast as they could. She didn't know which way they were going, if they were returning to Route 22 or going deeper into the grass. All she knew was that despite Bulbasaur picking up a new move, they had to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the raging Mankey.

From the corner of her eye, Leaf saw a shadow. Before she could react, something slammed into her side, knocking her down.

Clutching herself, Leaf stood and saw what had hit her. It wasn't a Mankey, but a bird.

It wasn't a Pidgey, though it was the same size as one. It had a brown, spiky head and tail, cream body, and scarlet wings.

The Pokemon shook its small body, frazzled by the unpleasant interruption to its flight. Once it registered the cause, its eyes narrowed and its wings spread out in a way to make it appear bigger, more threatening.

"Are you kidding me?!" Leaf cried. They were already being hunted down by a gang of killer monkeys. A killer bird was not what they needed.

The Pokemon did not appreciate Leaf yelling. With a screech, it flew at her. Bulbasaur tackled it, knocking it away from Leaf. Bulbasaur, you deserve all the Pokemon treats.

The Pokemon leered at Bulbasaur, causing him to hesitate. It flew at him and began pecking at him. Bulbasaur's cry of pain was louder than when the Mankey scratched him.

"Bulbasaur, grab it with your vines!"

Bulbasaur's vines sprung from his bulb and wrapped around the Pokemon's body. He held it far away from himself.

"Now hit it against the ground!"

Bulbasaur brought the bird down over and over again, as if hammering a nail. Once the bird fainted, Leaf threw the PokeBall that was meant for the Mankey. The PokeBall hit the bird, opened, and sucked it in. Leaf held her breath as the PokeBall shook three times before it froze and made a clicking sound. Leaf picked up the PokeBall and stared at it.

She had just caught a Pokemon for the first time.

But she didn't have time to celebrate. She could hear the Mankey army heading towards them. Leaf and Bulbasaur took off again and soon found themselves out of the grass and in Viridian City.

Leaf bent down, panting, while Bulbasaur flopped onto his stomach. No matter how pissed the Mankey were, they would not follow them into the city. When the adrenaline wore off, Leaf felt so light, she could float up into the sky.

"We––you did it Bulbasaur!" Leaf said, laughing. "You won a battle and helped me catch a Pokemon!" Leaf looked down at the shining PokeBall in her hand and let the Pokemon out. It was awake now and looked at her quizzically. Leaf aimed the Pokedex at it.

Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. It eats bugs in grassy areas and has to flap its short wings at high speed to stay airborne.

The Pokedex also indicated that this Spearow was female. Leaf smiled. "Spearow, I'm Leaf and this is Bulbasaur. Sorry for crashing into you earlier. We were running away from some Mankey."

Spearow squawked and turned to Bulbasaur. As the two sniffed at each other, Leaf looked ahead at the Pokemon Center, its red roof glistening under the sun. She would have to bring Bulbasaur and Spearow there for treatment. She hoped neither of them were too hurt. Once they were all better, Leaf would stop by the PokeMart and then they would head to Viridian Forest, which they would have to cross to reach Pewter City.

Leaf also decided that from now on, she would only walk through tall grass when it was completely necessary.

Work got really busy, so it took me longer than I hoped to write it but it's finished! I'm aiming to update chapters every 1-2 weeks, hopefully I'll be able to do that since I do have a lot of the story planned out.

Leaf has caught another Pokemon! I always liked Spearow more than Pidgey, so Leaf gets Spearow :)

Stay tuned for chapter 3! Leaf will be going through the first dungeon, Viridian Forest. Please let me know your thoughts on this story so far, it would be very helpful for my writing. Thank you!