"Chu!"
Pichu squealed as it released a bolt of lighting at the Spearow. Red threw the pokeball which hit the falling bird on its head. As the pokeball clicked, signifying the capture, Red walked up to it.
He didn't know why someone would want to keep a Spearow as a pet–even making it a requirement that it knew Mirror Move–but he's getting paid three hundred fifty dollars to capture it so he didn't care.
The boy's attention was drawn to his Pichu as it jumped on his shoulder. "Great work Pichu. You're control is getting better every day."
Pichu puffed up at the praise and held on as Red started to walk back to the city.
After Red woke up from the museum attack and Yellow told him of what happened, he was curious on how Pichu didn't completely kill anyone with her electricity, especially in her anger.
Pichu's were known for their lack of control with their electricity, always either harming themselves or someone else. His Pichu should have at least killed one person in her anger before passing out.
She didn't have an explanation herself, barely remembering the events, so Red experimented. At first the tests flunked, Pichu passing out after one or two shots and Red wondered if it was just a fluke. It was only the next day when Pichu managed to fire two bolts simultaneously at two targets without passing out. She was tired but it served as something to work on.
Further experimenting showed that Pichu could learn to control the intensity of its voltage and how much it was meant to hurt. It completely stumped Red for a few seconds.
Out of all electric types, the Chu line had the worst time managing their electricity. Of the Chu line, Pichu was known as the one with the worst control. That fact didn't change at all for years so Red was surprised at how well his Pichu was doing.
Did no one ever try to work on Pichu with its electricity before it evolved? Was that it?
Still, it was an interesting discovery and Red filed it away in his notes on Pichu.
His mind wandered as he went through the routine to get paid. As a beginning researcher, he would need a sponsor to fund his research. Professor Oak had offered help but he said that he would only do it if Red earned it. He gave the boy two months. Only two months after becoming a trainer, to have something that was worth studying, something that could capture his attention.
Red knew that the notes he had complied was enough to be worth something but he didn't want it to just be enough. He wanted to shock the Professor, stun him.
He shook his head as he walked out, a bag full of supplies in his hand. There was no solid plan on how to do that yet, but he was working on it.
Red made his way back to the Center. It was almost noon and it was about time he met Minccino.
/
"Okay, morning training's finished."
Charmander stopped himself from glaring and puffed out a few embers to cool himself down. The sun was blazing today and his fake trainer didn't let him take one break throughout training. Charmander was lucky his stamina was good. He was sure the poor Minccino didn't have the same luck and internally apologized to it after initially cursing it for taking his trainer.
He trudged up to the shade his fake trainer was sitting in the whole time–another thing that annoyed him–and sat down. The difference in the air was significant and he sighed in relief. It was difficult for a fire type to get a heatstroke but it wasn't impossible and even though his trainer took great care of him, Charmander didn't want to risk it and return to him impaired.
"Here." Charmander caught the object thrown at him to see it was a Chesto Berry. He wrinkled his nose. He hated these-they were too dry-but they were the first food given to him from his fake trainer so he'd take anything.
His eyes were drawn to the boy as he stood up. "Hurry and eat it." Charmander threw it in his mouth and hurried to catch up with him as he began walking. "I'm going to hang out with my friends for a while. We'll probably battle so you'll need your energy." He glanced back at him. "Then we'll come and have night training then dinner."
Charmander stopped walking for a second before restarting. Another training session before dinner? What about lunch? Lunch was important and his favorite part of the day.
Charmander held his stomach, silently apologizing to it before looking up at the back of his fake trainer's head with a glare. He might not get lunch but he was definitely going to demand a Berry at the very least.
And if he resisted, he was going to end up wishing he took Pichu instead.
/
Red pulled out the ball from his pocket and primed it. Pichu looked at him curiously from the table.
"Pichu."
Pichu straightened up at the serious tone of her trainer,"Pi?"
"In normal circumstances, Charmander would be the one to greet a new member." He rolled the ball between his fingers. "But since this is not a normal circumstance, as his right hand, this falls to you."
Pichu's eyes widened as she got what her trainer was saying. Most Pokémon lived based on a pack mentality. The Chu line was similar but it was incredibly butchered. Pikachu lived in 'clans' with the Pichu standing at the bottom of the hierarchy. Pichu would understand if Red allowed her to be the Gamma if she evolved before another teammate took the spot, but she was confused as she was still a Pichu.
"So?" Pichu's attention went back to her trainer and she realized she left him waiting. She nodded with a determined cry. Her trainer might have just let her take on the role because she was the only one there but, she'd do her best.
Red smiled at her, approval glinting in his eyes. "Good." He pointed the pokeball towards an empty spot on the table. "Minccino. Come on out."
Minccino's shape appeared on the wood surface in the form of red energy before solidifying. The chinchilla came out groggy as it probably had been sleeping.
"Good morning to you too."
Minccino jumped backwards, ears and tail straightening out in alertness. Red raised his hands in surrender and watched silently as Pichu said something to it.
The grey Pokémon didn't reply, instead turning to Red. "Me and Rhyme made a deal. You'll be battling with me against your trainer and my Charmander." He smiled a little. "Let's do our best."
Pichu and Red both watched for the Pokémon's reaction. It simply blinked at them before breaking down in a cry.
"Minccinoooo~!" The small Pokémon wailed as it cried. Red and Pichu both covered their ears. It had a strong pair of lungs.
"Hey it's okay, it's only for one day!" Red shouted over the noise. "Plus, you don't even have to win!"
The crying abruptly stopped as Minccino looked at him with widely confused eyes. Red furrowed his eyebrows as he waited for the ringing in his ears to stop. "You thought you had to win?"
Minccino nodded slowly, as if confused on why he thought any differently. Pichu took the chance to take a step towards the Pokémon, explaining Red's words. Minccino's eyes became more widened, glancing at Red a few times as if to check the truth of Pichu's statements.
Soon Pichu finished and Minccino nodded slowly then it turned to Red before nodding again. Red nodded. "Okay then." He looked at the clock, checking the time.
He turned back to the two, more specifically Minccino. "Let's get you a bath."
Minccino perked up in surprise and Red rose a brow. "It's not very comfortable for your species to fight while dirty, right?" He gestured towards the bathroom. "Let's go."
/
"So you get to keep it for a day?" Harold, previously known as Green, asked. Charmander kept his face expressionless as Rhyme's two friends examined him. Focusing on that helped him resist the urge to spew embers in their face.
Rhyme nodded proudly. "Yup. And once I win with Charmander, I'll be a thousand dollars richer."
"A thousand dollars?"
Charmander refrained from rolling his eyes as the boy went into an explanation of this morning's events. The fire type tuned them out to examine his claws.
They were a bit chipped from training. Usually Red had them taken care of after training before they went to dinner, explaining that many Pokémon had problems when evolving and he wanted to eliminate any reason for this to happen to him from earlier on. He checked everyday to make sure they were in proper shape so they didn't cause any trouble.
Charmander's thoughts became centered around his trainer. What was he doing right now? The starter knew that they were going to work until around eleven in the morning but Red hadn't made any plans after that before they met Rhyme.
Knowing Red, he would make the Poffins probably after dinner so with the rest of time remaining... he would try to get that Minccino to warm up to him or resume his research work. The trainer mentioned something about physical conditioning but it was so early at the time that Charmander was only half awake.
He'll have to ask Red about it later then. After he survived a day with this guy. Speaking of...
"So." Rhyme grinned at Black, now Jay. "You in? I'll go easy on you."
Jay scoffed. "Easy on me? I just got a new Pokémon to replace that Rookidee and I ain't ever lost since then."
"Okay." Rhyme turned to Harold. "I'll battle you after okay? Just have your Pokémon ready." He turned away to walk to a battle area, bumping his leg into the fire type as he turned. "Come on Charmander." He ordered, not even looking back or offering an apology.
Charmander glared at him before returning to his former poker face. He took a subtle breath before strolling after the boy.
Don't attack your trainer Charmander. Fake or not. It's bad manners.
/
Minccino has never felt this clean before. The small Pokémon posed in the stand up mirror in the room, admiring its clean coat.
"Feels good right?" Minccino nodded up at the boy who was standing with crossed arms. She didn't know much about him except from their battle but he offered her a bath so she thought he couldn't be that bad.
He dropped his arms to pick up a small scissors from an open kit. "How about a slight trim? It must be irritating with all that extra fur."
Minccino blinked at the boy and the small bag of tools. Those weren't there when she went in.
"He had someone bring them while you were showering." The Pichu beside her explained. "It's okay if you don't want to but it feels better when you're groomed." She proceeded to puff up proudly at her next statement. "And while he may not look like it, he's pretty good."
Minccino blinked again, glancing between the boy who has not moved and the Pichu whose fur did look well groomed. Finally, she nodded.
It's been way too long anyway.
/
Charmander crouched low to dodge the Slash attack that was headed for his face.
"Use Dragon Tail!"
Charmander summoned electric heat at the base of his tail, using his control to shape it in the form of a second tail covering his original. He slammed it into the body of the Sycther, immediately spinning around and keeping his eyes locked on his falling opponent.
"Finish it up with Flamethrower!"
Flames swelled in the back of his throat as he took a deep breath, chemicals reacting to the oxygen in the air. Firing it left an immense relief at the back of his throat and while Charmander felt guilty for making the attack stronger than needed, he had battled four other Pokémon before the Sycther and he was soon to getting tired. The faster it was over, the sooner he'd get to rest.
"Woohoo!" Rhyme pumped his fist in the air. "One more win for me! I'm awesome!" He glanced at Charmander. "Giving you that TM was the right idea, huh?" He laughed.
Charmander turned away from him, hoping it'll help him restrain the urge to attack. Maybe if he learn Fire Fang while doing it then Red wouldn't be as angry.
Charmander nodded. Okay then, that's Plan G.
/
"The details of the deal?" Red repeated absentmindedly as he cut at Minccino's fur. "You don't have to worry about that."
"Min."
Red paused, glancing down at the chinchilla. He stared for a few seconds before resuming his activity. "It's simple. If he wins, I lose a thousand dollars and vice-versa. I'm not planning on winning so he'll be one thousand dollars richer tomorrow." He put down the scissors and began brushing away the stray cut fur. "A thousand would prevent me from buying those Cerulean souvenirs I was saving up for." He shrugged. "But I'm not losing much else."
He brought a small mirror to show Mincinno his finished work. "Besides, a shiny new coat is worth a few bucks, isn't it?"
Minccino gasped lowly, looking up at the human who wasted money just so he could give her a bath. From what she learnt from her trainer's friends, money was everything to humans.
She spun around to Pichu. "Tell him I want to train."
Pichu blinked rapidly. "Wha-What? But I thought you didn't want to battle?"
Minccino shook her head. "I have to repay him somehow. The least I could do is not let him lose any money." She looked down at her now clean paws. "I don't know how since I'm not very strong but..."
The grey Pokémon looked up as the electric type began to laugh. "Don't worry about that." She puffed up proudly.
"Since you want to," She grinned. "My trainer's gonna make you win."
/
They said goodbye to Rhyme's friends just an hour later. He said that they'll take a break from walking before going straight into evening practice.
Charmander had managed to argue for something to eat but was heavily disappointed that he was given a piece of charcoal.
"It'll help for practice today and you'll get food. A win for both of us." The boy had said.
The salamander didn't see how it was a win for him. The charcoal was the single most disgusting thing he had ever eaten in his life and that was considering that Pokémon kibble was his daily food most of the time at the lab.
It was unbelievably dry (he hated overly dry foods), grainy and sort of hairy?
Anyway, it was disgusting and he wouldn't be doing it again.
Mew, he missed Red's meals.
/
"Pound, Tickle, Hyper Voice, Swift, Encore and Sing." Red listed off Minccino's moves. She and Pichu were standing in front of him after finishing up the physical warm up of their training. Minccino was breathing a little heavier than the mouse.
Red nodded. "This is a good move set." Before Minccino could puff up too much, he shook his head slowly. "But it's not what we need to beat Charmander. You'll need more effective moves."
He lifted a hand to raise three fingers. "There are three moves that would be useful to have right now. One of them would be easy to learn for your species but it is also the least useful. That's Tail Slap." He lowered one finger. "The next would be harder to learn but since you're a Normal Type and we have Pichu, it would cost us only a good hour to get it down. That's Thunder Wave."
One finger was left and Red smirked. "The final is Aqua Tail. It would be the hardest to learn but is the one that I actually recommend." He shrugged. "Plus, it would be easier for me to teach both of you at the same time."
Pichu made a sound of surprise, looking up at him with wide eyes. Red allowed a small grin. "Yup. You're learning a Water Type move too. It'll be harder for you since it's the total opposite of your typing, but it will help with your weakness against the ground and rock typing."
Pichu nodded in acceptance. Covering her weaknesses was important.
Red looked back to Minccino. "So? Which do you want to learn?"
Minccino's brows furrowed in thought.
/
Training was finished around eight. Charmander's stomach was beginning to eat at his back with how hungry he was but he had resigned himself to a small dinner.
Colored him surprised when they were eating a family-style dinner at a restaurant.
"What are you doing?" Charmander looked up at the boy. Rhyme rose a brow. "Eat."
Charmander didn't hesitate to grab a large steak. He wasn't paying for it.
/
Training finished only a little before six. Pichu had thought that they would be late for dinner but Yellow and Blue had called to say that they aren't gonna be there. Ironically, one after the other.
Red put away his phone with a mild look of amusement on his face,"Well it looks like we're going solo for dinner." He looked at the clock.
"How about we cook ourselves a meal?"
/
Charmander was confined to his pokeball as his resting place for the night. Used to sleeping with the warmth of his trainer and Pichu, the artificial world inside the ball that is there to make the fire type comfortable, only seemed to make him less so.
Eventually, after a few minutes because of pure exhaustion, Charmander had settled down and was promptly dragged into sleep.
He was really glad that this was soon over.
/
Minccino was surprised when she realized she wasn't being put back into her pokeball for bed. Red had seen her surprise and asked if she was more comfortable sleeping in her ball. Baffled that she had the option, Minccino had declined. She always hated how fake the artificial world was. It looked the same but didn't appeal to her senses.
Pichu was already snoozing next to her and even though she agreed to sleep outside the contraption, Minccino couldn't relax, too used to the cold of her pokeball. She considered telling Red, but said trainer began to speak. Quite little murmurs, almost like a song but said with no melody.
"That was a poem my mom used to recite to me when I was younger." He explained as he finished. "Would you like to hear it again?"
With a muted nod from the chinchilla, Red began again and slowly but surely, lulled by the unusually comfortable atmosphere, Minccino fell asleep.
She really hated that this was soon over.
"Hey there Rhyme."
Rhyme grunted his greeting, doing a look over at his Pokémon. Said Pokémon was on Red's left shoulder with the Pichu on the other. It seemed to be comfortable and at the current time, more worried about the Charmander at his feet than him. Rhyme didn't know why that irked him.
"Charmander..."
Rhyme's eyes moved from his Pokémon to Red who was looking down at the Charmander. "What?" He asked.
Red looked up at him and Rhyme felt his body freeze for reasons unknown to him. It suddenly felt like there was a pressure on the back of his head. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing than you would have thought." Rhyme frowned, trying to shake off the feeling on his mind. "Can we get to the battle now? I don't wanna be out her too long."
Red nodded slowly, but he was still staring at his Pokémon who was giving him a look in return. Red seemed to relax then he turned back Rhyme and the headache the boy was getting was suddenly disappearing. Red smiled a little, but Rhyme had a feeling it was not for him. "Yeah, let's battle."
He walked passed him, murmuring. "It's not worth the trouble anyway..."
Rhyme's brows furrowed. "What's not worth the trouble?"
"My Plan G." Red answered like that cleared up everything.
Rhyme just shook his head as he walked to his side of the field. "Any rules?" He asked, just to clarify.
"How about we go for first touch?" Red offered. "Since I'm leaving the city this morning I need Charmander to be in a decent shape."
Rhyme nodded, feeling mildly disappointed but he understood. He'd need someone to defend him from the wild Pokémon. "Okay. First touch then. Anything else?"
Red shook his head. "Nope. I'm good."
Rhyme nodded. "Let's get started then." Charmander walked to his place in front of him as he bent down to pick up a stone.
Minccino hopped off Red's shoulder, feeling jittery and nervous. She startled a little as a thump came from beside her and her mouth opened in surprise at seeing Pichu. The electric mouse grinned. "Remember the plan." She stuck her fist out. "Then you'll win."
Minccino's face set into a determined expression, the restlessness dying down as she met her fist with Pichu's. Red smirked slightly as he watched them. Pichu did her part perfectly and if this battle went how Red hoped, then Minccino could eventually acquire at the very least, a proper business relationship with this guy.
"Do you best Minccino." Red said. He smiled a little as she looked up at him. "Your Kou-Jaboca Poffins are waiting too."
Minccino lit up at the mention of the Poffins. She had loved the chewy grape-flavored cookie buns when they had made the recipe for dinner last night but had no idea that he had saved some for the next day.
Now that he mentioned that he had some, she really wanted one! But that meant that she had to end the battle quickly. She nodded to Red, telling him that she got the message.
She ran off to the field, ignoring the trainer talk to stare at Charmander. "I'm really sorry of how my trainer treated you." Minccino apologized for that first. It was definitely a guarantee that Rhyme didn't treated the fire type nicely.
Charmander just smiled at her kindly and the chinchilla was once again stumped at how kind Red's Pokémon were. "It's not your fault. It's primarily the fact that you would be upset that I didn't do anything."
Minccino shook her head slowly with a rueful smile. "No, I sort of just realized that he needs to get beaten every once in a while." She curled her fists before staring down the salamander. "Which is why I'm going to apologize for any future attacks. Not only does my trainer needs this loss, but Red deserves to win!"
Charmander looked at her, a bit stunned and Minccino privately saviored the pride she got. Then he began to smile and an amused chuckled came out. "Oh so he got you too huh?" Minccino became confused but Charmander only shook his head. "Ok." He went onto all fours while his eyes seemed to shine and his tail flame grew with a blaze. He grinned. "Come at me."
Rhyme looked at the Pokémon with an eager grin. "Charmander seems pretty eager to fight for me, ay?"
Red prevented himself from rolling his eyes (Was he catching onto his friends' behavior?). "Throw the stone."
"Tch." Rhyme clicked his teeth in annoyance but did as he was instructed. As the stone fell, Rhyme called out an attack immediately. For first touch matches, speed was the key.
"Flamethrower!"
Charmander inhaled deeply, wincing slightly as he felt the grainy pieces of charcoal igniting inside, rising the heat to a more uncomfortable burn. A second later, a harsh fire spat out of his mouth, more wild and untamed as some out it not being his natural fumes.
"Hyper Voice!" And Minccino also took a breath. Instead of any elemental attack, Charmander's was countered with just the force of air. And even though, it was targeted at the flames, Charmander felt himself wince from the sound alone.
"Wait." Red said as he saw Rhyme going to call on another attack.
"What?" The boy said confused and annoyed. The battle was just getting started. "I thought you said you wanted to finish this quick."
"What did you give Charmander?" Red was still staring at Charmander whose eyes widened in surprise. He noticed?
"Huh?"
"Those aren't Charmander's natural flames." Red said as a way of explanation. His eyes finally snapped to Rhyme's who flinched at the silent anger in them. "What did you feed him?"
"It's just a charcoal, okay? What's wrong with you?"
"A charcoal?" Red took an angry step forward, eyebrows pinched together. "You fed my Charmander a fucking charcoal?!"
Everyone present flinched as Red's voice rose, the Pokémon looking especially in shock.
"It was just for a power boost!"
The boy's face twisted in anger and he looked one comment away from stomping across the field. "Those things are dangerous you idiot! You don't know what they put in that stuff!"
"It doesn't even-"
Rhyme paused as Red held up a hand. "How much did you feed him and what grade?"
Rhyme clenched his fist. "It was only one and it was D. It would wear off by the evening."
Red nodded before looking over to Charmander. "How does it feel? It doesn't hurt too much?"
Charmander shook his head slowly, honestly still shocked at Red's outburst.
Red nodded. "Then let's get this battle over with." He seemed to be calmed down but to his Pokémon he was anything but. His stance was a little stiffer and his arms were folded across his chest, a small downturn present on his lips.
Rhyme clicked his teeth once again, shaking his head. That trainer got upset over a small piece of charcoal.
"Charmander, time to get in close. Use Scratch!"
"Dodge Minccino! Encore!"
Minccino jumped over Charmander-who had taken a swipe at it-before gathering a white orb in its palms and firing it midair. The move connected with Charmander who was bemused by the lack of pain.
Rhyme gritted its teeth, seeing the sparkling glow around the fire type. "Dammit. Just keep using Scratch!"
"Keep dodging Minccino!"
Minccino sounded an affirmative as it weaseled its way around another of Charmander's attack. Red smirked as he saw the clear irritation on Rhyme's face. Minccino wasn't inherently strong as it could be but there was one thing that was permanent for every Minccino out there. Their agility.
Being of small and slim figures, they are able to move quickly. It wasn't obvious against Pichu, who had the same traits and had been fighting all its life, but against Charmander, who had started training a few weeks ago? It was effective.
It wasn't gonna be for long Red knew. No matter who he was battling, Red knew Charmander always tended to be more focused right before he started getting tired and risk having it exhaust his movements. He hit harder too.
So Red was gonna finish it before that.
He grinned as he saw Charmander's movements stutter, a crackle of electricity being visible. Minccino hopped away to watch her work.
"What's going on?"
Red smiled. "The end of the battle. Minccino?"
Minccino bounded up wordlessly to Charmander who cringed at the electricity surging through his nerves. Had it been a direct attack he could have moved, but since it was done slowly, he was finding it hard to get it out of his system.
Minccino'a tail glowed white as she charged up the attack that would end this battle. Charmander's eyes squeezed shut as he prepared himself, only to be surprised when a laugh was forced out of him instead.
He glanced down at where he was being touch to see Minccino's tail tickling him. As if seeing it settled it in for his brain, he was forced into uncontrollable laughter.
Minccino giggled too and tickled the Pokémon harder. She didn't seem to get that Charmander wasn't laughing out of his own free will but the fire certainly wouldn't be the one to tell her. Not through his laughing.
Red smiled at Rhyme. "Well that's it. We won."
Rhyme blinked in confusion. That was...
"What the hell?! That wasn't a battle!"
Red rose a brow, walking up to him. "Says who? Minccino touched Charmander first, did she not?"
"But!"
Red folded his arms. "Is it really that unbelievable to win without being aggressive?" He shook his head. "Honestly..." He looked back at him. "You wanna know something? I actually taught Minccino a move other than Thunder Wave. I actually offered her to learn one of three moves to take Charmander down." He stared at Minccino who was poking a panting Charmander. "She insisted on learning all three." He smirked. "And she did."
He put his hands on his hips with an exasperated sigh. "Then she went and shocked me by saying she had no intention on hurting Charmander to win. I was curious on why but she seemed determined enough so I went with it without question. I finally see why she wanted to win this way."
Rhyme stared at him as he stopped talking. After a while Red's face blanked. "Really?" He sighed. "She's trying to prove you wrong idiot."
"What?" Rhyme hissed. His Pokémon was trying to teach him?
"You." Red pointed at his chest. "Keep thinking that you just plow through your opponents to win. Go ahead if it's your style but Minccino doesn't battle that way. So she's showing you other ways to win."
"I'm going to have to hurt my opponents to win dumbass." Rhyme grunted.
"Wha-Of course you have to but at the moment-" Red paused, shaking his head. "Why am I even doing this?"
He met Rhyme's eyes once again. "Just rethink what you've got going on here with Minccino. She isn't going to take the mistreatment from you anymore."
Red turned to walk away but spun around back. "Oh right. If I come across you again and I hear that you've been feeding any of your Pokémon those man-made poisons, I'm going to skin you alive and sell your organs for money."
Rhyme swallowed around a harsh lump in his throat, feeling throughly threatened. He cleared his throat as Red made to walk off. "What's your Pokédex?"
"My-Oh the money?" Red waved him off. "You don't have to worry about it. I got what I wanted."
"No." Red turned around in surprise.
"I lost so I'm paying." Rhyme stared him down. "Let me transfer the money."
"Huh." Red made a considering sound as the money was transferred. "You're surprisingly righteous."
Rhyme felt an eyebrow twitch. Surprisingly?
"Min!"
Rhyme barely stopped himself from jumping, having not caught into when the Pokémon finished talking among themselves.
"What?"
Then he was shocked.
Red laughed as he yelped. "The hell?!"
"Told you she wouldn't take it anymore."
POKÉ NEWS!!!
-Blue and Yellow had left the Center together a little after two in the evening. They had went to the Gym together to pick up Blue's present from Brock. It was a Pokémon. A young Rhyhorn to be exact. They were surprised at the generous gift but Brock waved off the gratitude, mentioning that he was giving out quite a few as a herd had strangely stamped through the city a few weeks before they came. After, they went to shop for any additional supplies they would need for the journey to Cerulean City. On their way out, they were attacked by a group of city Pokémon who stole their stuff. Yellow suggested that they just rebuy the stuff as it was getting close to dinner time and it would take way too much time to track all of them down but Blue insisted on catching the thieves. Anyway, they tracked them and started to chase them throughout the city. They ended up having to cancel dinner with Red, but by thirty minutes after eight with them still not catching one of the thieves, they were ready to give up. Then a Meowth came. It was the same one Yellow had rescued and it wanted to come along with her. She said yes but told it that some thieves had taken her stuff so she they couldn't eat now. Meowth said she could help as she knew her way around the city and only after fifteen minutes, Yellow and Blue finally cornered the pack of thieves and battled it out with them. They successfully got their stuff back and had managed to make it back to the Center around nine thirty. At ten, they were finally heading off into their rooms for bed.