Journey Recount So Far...
I last left you wondering what followed my win at the Pewter City Gym...
After healing Butterfree (I am going to omit nicknames from here on out, if for the purpose of making things easier on you. Aren't I thoughtful?), I ventured on the the west, ready to take on a plethora of fellow bug trainers, as well as the occasional Rattata or Pidgey. Butterfree was at Lv 16 by now, so I had no trouble plowing through the trainers littering the Route. Caterpies and Metapods could usually only take a Confusion to the face, and the hardier ones were met with a swift Tackle to save PP.
I did have one close encounter near the end of the route with.... a Jigglypuff. Confusion bisected its vitality, but it managed to get in a Sing and proceed to Pound away at my poor butterfly. I had no items or Pokemon to switch to (in true Bug-Catcher style, I had deposited Pikachu in the Storage facilities at Pewter City Pokemon Centre - much to Pikachu's dismay.) so I had to sit in and hope for the best. Fortunately, I woke up with around 4 HP left to get in the final Confusion, sealing the pink blob's fate.
"I need to be more careful next time - I'll carry an Awakening or two.", thought Archer.
I carried on, up to the top of the Route, taking the chance to chat to the trainer standing in the grass. I decided it was a waste of time, as he began to complain how tired he was, failing to consider there was a Pokemon Centre within crawling distance... Some people...
So I carried on towards the Mount Moon Pokemon Centre, where I turned down a bargain offer for a Magikarp before throwing down my sleeping bag. I figured it might be easier to explore the caves of Mount Moon in the morning, when it was light enough to see a bit more, but I still had a torch in my pack in case I needed it. It had been a long day, so I drifted off quite quickly.
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"Bzzzzt! Bzzzt!" .....Butterfree? No. It was the alarm on my phone, I'm prone to sleeping in and I really needed the early start to make sure I got to Cerulean on with time to look around.
Trying to make a single run though the cave was going to be an issue with one Pokemon and 25 usable PP, so I had to make a few trips make and forth, defeating trainers and retreating when I had low PP or HP. After a while, I came across a rather eccentric fellow that was convinced that I was trying to steal the fossils he had uncovered. I tried to convince him otherwise, but it seemed necessary to settle it with a battle...
I was faced with a peculiar pokemon for this area of the cave - A Magnemite. Worried that I could be zapped, I took no hesitation in dropping down some Sleep Powder for the Magnemite - a sleeping Electric Pokemon is a good Electric Pokemon. Despite it's higher than average Special stat, I managed to whittle it down with 3 Confusions, leaving me with 3 PP left. He felt compelled to share the find with me, despite my explanation, so I grabbed the Helix-shaped fossil and left.
Well, that was the idea - if a strange pair of people in white suits hadn't blocked the exit ladder. They muttered some stupid introduction, then demanded:
"Hand it over!"
Assuming they meant my Butterfree, I hastily challenged them to a battle. I had to be careful, with 3 PP left, so I anticipated what I'd be fighting. I let off a sigh of relief when I saw a Koffing. My super-effective Confusion took out both Koffing and Ekans in a single hit, but I then faced the prospect of taking out a Meowth with only 1 PP of Confusing power left. I decided it would be best to Poison the Meowth and then proceed to hack away with Tackle. This was a slow, but effective method, until I ended up with almost 5 HP left, which wasn't enough to survive the odd critical hit. Instead, I gave it my last Confusion, which just managed to take it down. This odd duo then scramble off into the cave, which wasn't a wise choice, considering they had no conscious pokemon. I instead headed in the opposite direction, out of the cave and off to Cerulean city, where I took the opportunity to heal up on PP and HP.
I knew that I couldn't take down Misty yet, with her infamous Starmie, so I began to head north, to add a Venonat to my army, when I bumped into.... my rival.