They reached the end of Viridian forest easily with Scarlett leading the way, her Charmander close behind warding off any potential encounters with wild bug pokemon. Mako eventually got to making small talk and asked Scarlett what kind of trainer she'd like to be.
"I want to see all kinds of pokemon. I like to study them in their natural state rather than catch them for my personal collection, but to each's own. What about you, Mako?"
He thought about her question for a minute and didn't know exactly what to say.
"I'm not so sure. I figured I'd try to get past the first gym leader. To be completely honest, I don't really have a plan." Mako admitted. Scarlett smiled and tried to comfort him.
"You can train with me until you're ready to face Brock, if you want to. I was planning on going to Route Three after the pokecenter to get Charmander prepared for the type mismatch." Mako nodded in agreement and felt better now that he had somewhat of a plan, and a new friend.
Once they exited the forest and got onto Route Two, it wasn't much farther to the gray city of Pewter. When they arrived, Scarlett brought Mako to the pokemart before the healing u, where they took a quick rest and resupplied before heading back into the city. She showed Mako the gym, museum, and the pewter flower garden. Just as they were about to head out to Route Three, Caspian came jogging down the road.
"Hey Mako, who's your new friend? Is she teaching you how to battle?" He said teasingly. Mako was embarrassed by his rival's sudden appearance, but Scarlett wasn't intimidated one bit.
"Caspian, this is Scarlett. She's training for the gym circuit also." Mako said softly.
"Oh, is that so? Well I already completed the first gym challenge!" Caspian said, confidently displaying his newly attained badge.
"So how about a rematch, Mako? I want to see how strong you've gotten since yesterday!" He said eagerly. Mako hesitated, knowing that Caspian was going to be stronger.
"I- don't know Caspian, Scarlett and I were just going to do some training…"
"Oh come on, don't be such a chicken!" Caspian said.
"I'll battle you." Scarlett chimed in. Caspian turned to her with a grin, pulling a pokeball from his belt.
"If you're training Mako, that must mean you're strong. Don't think I'm going to go easy on you!" He said.
"You'd better not. Go, Charmander!" It immediately jumped in front of her, and assumed a battle position waiting for her next command.
"Let's do this, Ivysaur!" Caspian called out, revealing his evolved starter. Mako was stunned that he had evolved his Bulbasaur so quickly, but Scarlett wasn't phased as she scanned the Ivysaur with her pokedex.
"Let's see how you do against a type disadvantage!" Scarlett called out. Caspian smirked and pointed at Charmander.
"Ivysaur, use vine whip!" Ivysaur vines shot toward Charmander, but Scarlett was quick to react.
"Charmander, use Cut on the vines!" Chopping the vines away, Ivysaur staggered backward from the counter attack.
"Use Cut again, Charmander!" It charged toward Ivysaur with its claws extended, swiping at its face to damage it further.
"Razor leaf, Ivysaur!"
Razor sharp leaves shot from Ivysaur's bud that knocked Charmander back and dealt significant damage.
"Alright, time to get serious. Charmander, use Ember into a Tail Whip! Full speed at Ivysaur!" Scarlett called out. Charmander focused its energy and rolled into its flame breath, performing the move Flame Wheel. It sped into Ivysaur and knocked it out of the match by fainting it.
"Alright, Charmander! You used Flame Wheel all on your own! I'm so proud of you!" Scarlett exclaimed. Caspian was stunned that he had been defeated so quickly.
"I- I lost?!" Caspian cried out as he returned the fainted Ivysaur to its ball. Scarlett nodded with a laugh as she returned Charmander and held out her hand for a handshake.
"You did, but it was still a very good match."
"This can't be! Ivysaur is a second stage evolution! I have a badge and you don't! You shouldn't be able to beat me!" Caspian whined.
"You don't have to be such a sore loser about it. You can't win every match all the time." Scarlett explained.
"I didn't want to battle you anyway! I wanted to battle Mako!"
Caspian scurried off to the pokemon center to heal, leaving Mako and Scarlett alone again. She searched through her bag for a potion and generously applied it to Chamander's ball.
"What a jerk. You know that guy?" Scarlett asked with a smile.
"I met him yesterday after I got my pokemon from the Professor." Mako said with a shrug. He congratulated her on her victory and she accepted it humbled, leading the rest of the way across Route Three. They reached a clearing in the tall grass that made for the perfect training field. Scarlett practiced Flame Wheel with Charmander while Mako practiced Squirtle's Water Gun move and the pokemon were starting to get the hang of it. During Scarlett's practice, a Nidoran appeared out of the tall grass.
"Look Mako, a poison type!" Scarlett cheered with glee.
It charged at her and Charmander, both of them dodging its Tackle. Charmander was able to avoid its poisonous barbs and weaken it with an Ember. She scanned the Nidoran with her pokedex and was confused by what she saw on the entry.
"It says that Nidoran typically has a gentle temperament, why is this one all fired up?" She asked.
"Maybe it saw you training with Charmander and wanted to join you?" Mako suggested. Scarlett looked at Nidoran as they locked eyes for a moment and the Nidoran nodded at her.
"Let's see how feisty she can get!" Scarlett smiled and pointed at the foe,
"Charmander, use Cut!" Charmander charged at the Nidoran and swiped at its spiny body, but Nidoran's Poison Point inflicted a sickly poison on Charmander.
Mako watched intently as Scarlett threw a pokeball at the Nidoran, attempting to safely capture it. The pokeball shook three times and the Nidoran was caught as Scarlett retrieved the ball before applying an antidote to Charmander.
"Good job, Charmander. You're getting so strong." She said before returning it. Mako was thoroughly impressed with how well Scarlett handled herself in the wild. He wished he was more confident like her, but for now he could only watch in awe.
"Nice catch, Scarlett." Mako said enviously. She looked over the pokedex further, learning more about her newly caught pokemon.
"Thanks, but I think there's something more to this Nidoran than being just another wild pokemon." She showed the pokedex to Mako, and he agreed with her.
Just as she was about to let the Nidoran back out of the pokeball, they heard a loud scream coming from the west, closer to the entrance of Mt. Moon. Hustling up the hills of Route Three, Mako avoided the tall grass as he ran ahead of Scarlett while she repacked her bag. There was another scream, and Mako saw a girl struggling to hold her bag against a thieving member of Team Rocket.
"H-hey! L-leave her alone!" Mako yelled nervously. The girl turned to Mako and cried out for help once again.
"Please help me! He's trying to steal my pokemon!" She yelled.
"Just give me the bag you twerp!" The grunt growled, yanking on the handle.
"Go Squirtle!" Mako called out, sending out his Squirtle to assist the girl. The grunt sneered at him and Squirtle, reaching for a pokeball on his waist without loosening his grip.
"Nice pokemon kid, I'll take yours right after I'm done with hers!" He declared before ripping the bag from the girl's clutches and calling out his Sandshrew.
"Nooo!" She cried as the bag's handle tore in two. Scarlett was out of breath when she caught up to Mako, but was happy that the battling didn't start without her. Mako nodded at Scarlett and she let him handle the grunt as she scanned his Sandshrew.
"Use Bubble, Squirtle!" Mako called out. Squirtle surrounded the Sandshrew with bubbles, but it didn't seem phased by the attack.
"Use Sand-Attack, Sandshrew, pop those bubbles!" The grunt snickered and commanded his Sandshrew,
Sandshrew began throwing sand about, popping the bubbles and lowering the visibility, making it harder for everyone to see. Scarlett turned to Mako while covering her face from the sand, but he assured her he was okay.
"Squirtle, use Water Gun!" Mako cried. Squirtle obeyed and a strong stream of water poured from its mouth, soaking the Sandshrew, the grunt and clearing the drifting sands. Mako was amazed by Squirtle's move, and he cheered with excitement.
"Way to go, Squirtle!" It turned back and smiled at Mako, happy that its trainer was proud of it. The Sandshrew had fainted and the Grunt returned it to the pokeball, and tried to run away with the girl's bag.
"Oh no you don't!" Scarlett called out, quickly sending Charmander after him. Its Flame Wheel speed was no match for the grunt as it bumped into the rear of the grunt, forcing him to drop the bag. The grunt continued to retreat into the darkness of Mt. Moon's cave as Charmander returned the ripped bag to the girl.
Mako and Scarlett made sure that the girl was unharmed before asking her any questions. She was thankful that her pokemon weren't stolen, but still upset about her bag.
"He wanted to take my Jigglypuff! Thankfully you both came and scared him off, otherwise I don't know where I'd be right now." Scarlett comforted her while Squirtle and Charmander made sure the area was safe. She knelt down to see eye to eye with the girl as she clung to Mako's leg for safety.
"Why did that man want your pokemon?" She asked, but the girl had no explanation. They escorted the girl to the pokecenter near Mt. Moon's entrance, and grabbed a vacant table to discuss what they just saw. They talked for a bit even after receiving their pokemon back, debating on whether or not they should go after the Rocket Grunt. Scarlett was all for it, but Mako wasn't so sure.
"We don't know what we're getting into, Scarlett. That guy looked pretty serious and he was a lot older than us. I just want to be safe." He warned. She assured him that nothing bad would happen, and that she would make sure that he and his pokemon would be safe.
"Just look at it like a training opportunity! Mt. Moon leads to Cerulean City too if we don't end up finding anything so it's a win-win! There will be plenty of wild pokemon for us to see too!"
Eventually Scarlett convinced him, and they headed into the large cave entrance of Mt. Moon to investigate what Team Rocket was doing snooping around.