Pokemon Adventures I: Kanto Saga!

[Yuukihime]

There was something about mornings that always made Iris feel like she'd been hit by a truck whether it was having to open her eyes to the morning rays of the sun or trying to leave the warm comforts of her bed. She shifted under the blankets, trying to put off getting up as long as she could. Something felt off today though, this didn't feel like her bed...

She opened her eyes and found herself laying in the Pokémon Center bed. That's right, she'd nearly forgotten. She had started a Pokemon journey to look for her sister and ended up meeting Tai and Cecil Two boys who acted like nearly complete opposites. She didn't think too much about how the two probably hated each other with a flaming passion and headed to the shower.

Surely a warm shower could make her less likely to run into any walls because her eyes weren't exactly working properly at the moment.

----​

The shower water had done its job for the most part. At least Iris could see and make sense of everything. She quickly got dressed and did all her morning duties to make sure she didn't look like a complete and utter mess when she faced the world.

While she was walking down the hall to get breakfast a loud girls screech filled the cafeteria. Who could be yelling so loud in the morning or an even better question why was she yelling so loud in the first place?

"YOU BASTARD!" A girls yell filled the cafeteria just as she walked in. Iris tried not to stare at the girl but failed miserably. It was a girl who had dark hair and wore a Viridian school girl's uniform. She had one of the cafeteria desks in her hands and was glaring at none other than Tai.

"What's he gotten himself into this time?" Iris thought to herself.
Apparently Tai had kissed the girl on the cheek in a playful manner and the girl wasn't very happy about it. She was angry enough to throw desks at Tai and quickly chase him out of the cafeteria.

When all the commotion died down Iris was able to grab a bowl of rice and miso soup and sit down with Cecil to eat.

---
​

After a somewhat quiet morning the group journeyed to the Viridian Forest. Iris had her own personal fear about this place. It was fun at day and dead scary at night. It wasn't the bug Pokémon that freaked her out, she learned to deal with bug Pokémon while working in the gardens at home.. She despised anything that got dark and creepy and this was the exact definition of this place at night, dark and creepy. Iris shuddered at the thought of several eyes peering at her from the darkness and then something out of Silent Hill 4 or Fatal Frame II coming out of the bushes and eating her.

Despite these thoughts, the forest itself had a very peaceful atmosphere to it. The trees were filled with greenery which was complimented by numerous amounts of moss and several bug catchers were out catching Weedle and Caterpie. They could have been no more than the age of 10 or 11.

Tai had admitted to being afraid of large and began to ramble on about how a mutated spider was going to drag him away and eat him. Iris was glad she wasn't the only one who had similiar fears, even if instead of it being a deformed zombie it was a mutated spider.

"ACK SOMETHING MOVED! IT WAS A MUTATED SPIDER POKEMON!" He sunk behind Charco, eyes darting around nervously.

"It's only a Caterpie, I think...that's rather unbecoming of you, Sugimori." Cecil looked at the worm Pokemon.

"Cowyee?" The Caterpie looked up at Tai with a smile. The boy grinned, "Awesome! A Caterpie, I wanna catch it!" He grinned and peered at it, and in return got a face full of string shot.

"SH*T! GET IF OFF!" Tai yelped as he clawed at his face trying to get the sticky string off. Cecil's squirtle also decided to try and 'help' and used Bubble on his face but instead of actually helping it made it worse. When Tai managed to peel the mask off he shot the Squirtle an angry look.

"Hey there big trainers!" A small boy smiled jovially, the Caterpie crawling over to his side. "I'm Bug Catcher James...but heck, that's not why I came here. I wanted to ask you three if you'd like to battle with me and my friends, we've been watching you for a while now-" The boy was cut off mid-sentence by a snarky remark from Tai.

"What did you say? You've been watching us for awhile? What are you, a stalker?!" Tai demanded, tearing off the last bit of string from his face. The bug catcher chuckled.

"No, but I see you're a bugger...one of those people bug's instantly take a hating towards. They usually hate grumpy, unpleasant people..." James' two friends walked up behind him and grinned deviously.

"THAT'S IT KID! YOU'RE GETTING ON MY NERVES! LET'S BATTLE!" Tai shot an evil grin towards the boy and held up Gee's pokeball.

"1 on 1, you and me! My friends will deal with your friends!" Catcher James grinned.

The battle didn't look like it was going to be too difficult but Iris knew she was at a clear type advantage. Amaranth was a grass type, and that would make vine whip virtually useless. No matter, Amaranth still knew tackle and that would be sufficient for taking down a few Caterpie and Weedle.

"Alright."

OoC: It's rather choppy but Cirrus forced me to right when I had writer's block. D:

 

[ORegan]

OOC: Your powers combined, I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!!!!...or just a post collaborated by me and Raikiri...either or. :P​

Viridian Forest: Tarzan​

Ratz's prey was firmly in his grip. Although the trainer tried to struggle, it was clear that he was surely no match and would have to give in to his demand. The combined efforts of Joey, Dee and Dum were starting to give in, with the three on their last ounce of energy before their mouths gave up. Ratz tried to make the kid talk as fast as possible, knowing before going through with the plan that the three couldn't hold much more than two hundred pounds. They were small, and they weren't use to this sort of work, making it only natural that the stress level would be high for them.

On the ground, the trainer's Pokémon looked on helplessly as their master was snatched up into the air. It was clear that they wanted to help, but an attack on the Pokémon or the human could cause them to let go of Leon and, which would probably cause the trainer some pain. The kid started to tell Ratz about his day, stating that he only went on Route 1 so he could get a Pokémon from some old guy in Pallet, and then walk back, defeating many Pidgey along the way. Had he been able to, Ratz would've asked a follow up question about seeing any Rattata, but Leon put his little escape plan into action before the question could be asked. The captive started to gleefully talk about a mew being in front of them. "Who would be stupid enough to fall for that? What a dink." Ratz thought before Leon's last statement sunk in and set off a light bulb. "Old man? Could he mean Oak?" This revelation that the person he has in his arms might be one of the kids Oak asked him to help out made him loosen his grip on the trainer a bit. Leon, probably assuming this easement meant his distraction was effective, started to struggle and hit his head into Ratz's chest. "Oof! You little prick!" he exclaimed before Leon started to flail his arms about.

The added stress on the three pint sized Pokémon created a breaking point, and all five animals fell out of the tree. Ratz fell on Leon, with the Caterpie, Weedle, and Rattata all landing on Ratz. The street rat groaned as he stood up, trying to make sense of what happened. After standing and looking at Leon, he then looked at the two trainer's Pokémon, seeing that they were anxious to attack, and just awaiting a command. Ratz's own companions took their own battle positions, with Joey wanting to take on the other rat, and the two bugs glaring at the poison rabbit thing. Although the Nidoran had a type advantage on both bugs, the twins outnumbered him, which sort of evened up the odds. The forest became the O-K Corral, with a battle seemingly imminent. Ratz watched his ex-hostage stand up, most likely sore from the fall, and decided to ask what he already suspected instead of ordering his Pokémon to attack. "You didn't happen to get your Pokémon from a Professor Oak, now did you?"

"Owwww" Those were the only words that came from the trainer's mouth following the fall, however he was conscious enough to hear Ratz's question. Looking over to his captor, the trainer motioned his Pokémon to take an offensive stance likely because he was confident in their skills or simply looked down as his opponent. However, peace was not an ideal he forsaken, at least for now. "Yeah I did. I didn't exactly get the one I wanted," he began. "Zeus, that yellow mouse over here, was an extra and I forced the old man to give it to me. Apparently I was late to the party and missed out on all the fun. I've have actually been looking for one of them: A trainer named Tai who received Charmander. You could say I want to 'chat' with him. What's it to you anyway?" It seemed the trainer had little problem telling his life story, a fact that could be found to be very perplexing to some. It was clear that he aimed to be an open book.

"The old timer made a deal with me, and now I have to help you and the other losers who received starters from him learn to live out in the wilderness and survive without the parents who spoiled you, including this Tai chump." Said Ratz in an insultive manner, though that was merely his nature, and didn't necessarily intend on the trainer to get offended.With the notion that the person he had almost literally hanging on a thread moments ago was one of his targets to teach, he called off his Pokémon. Tweedle-Dee was quite happy about the ordeal, and happily crawled up his trainer's leg onto the shoulder, much to the disgust of Leon, who made sure his distaste wasn't revealed through his body language. With the threat of danger gone, both Zeus and Ares stopped eying the other Pokémon, and returned to their natural stances and attitudes.

"It's strange though." Ratz said to his new student. "Oak said you'd all be together, or at least that's what he thought." He scratched his chin and tried to make sense of it, and decided that this kid either ran ahead of the rest, or the others already passed through. Leon broke the silence, saying. "Tai did start almost an hour before I did, so it's possible he went straight for Pewter, or he could also be at the PokeCenter back in Viridian." It was almost as if Leon read Ratz's mind, which is something that he enjoyed. "At least he's not a goddamned moron." Ratz thought. After asking what Tai looked like, Leon responded with "He's wearing a red hat with a red jacket, a bunch of ridiculous blonde hair sprouting from the hat, and he walks around with a sense of undeserved entitlement."

Ratz tried to recollect if he had seen him walk by here at all today, but couldn't match the description to anyone he stopped today. "Yeah, he didn't come through here. He's probably at the center. It's getting dark though, and we'll have to camp out for the night. I doubt he'll be through here anytime soon if it's his first day and everything. By the way, my name is Ratz." Ratz replied.

"Nice name..." the trainer mumbled under his breath, careful not to provoke an attack. "Well, Ratz. You can call me Leon. I won't bore you with my full name." Leon said while offering a handshake, signifying a partnership. Ratz took the handshake, but instead of giving the traditional one, he gave the urban one, which started off as a regular shake, but instead of actually shaking, he pulled his hand away and interlocked the fingers while curved, and then pulled the hand away to disengage the shake. Leon knew about this variation, but it wasn't very rare to the people of Pewter to do.

After the two introduced themselves and their Pokémon, they went off to find a suitable place to camp. Joey and Ares went off to find firewood; the two would use their sharp teeth to bite off choice pieces of sticks from dead wood, which was ideal for burning. After the wood was collected, the party ran into one snag in the plan; neither one of them had a match or a lighter. Leon suggested the two stones trick, but neither of them were boy scouts, and it was taking too long. With some improvising, Ratz took out a dead nine volt battery and placed it on the top of the wood. He planned on having Zeus focus a little of his stored electricity on the battery to overcharge it, and cause it to explode to create a fire to ignite the wood.

Standing a safe distance away, Zeus blew up his Duracell opponent with one small jolt of electricity, and a small fire was started, much to the enjoyment of both trainers. While sitting down to a small meal, the two started to have a little small talk. Leon, as anyone who was forced into the air and interrogated would, asked why Ratz did that. Ratz told him about the Rattata situation and asked if he knew anything, to which Leon denied having any information whatsoever, although he did imply that it may have been one of the other trainers Oak sent out. With the meal over, the two went to bed. Leon set up his camping equipment while Ratz, being accustomed to the hard concrete sidewalks and alleyways, just slept with a blanket with Joey at his side. Dee and Dum slept in a tree together to hide from any wild Pidgey, while Zeus and Ares slept by Leon.

 

[Charizard_Man]

"THAT'S IT KID, YOU'RE GETTING ON MY NERVES!"Tai pulled out Gee's pokeball and spun it around on the tip of his index finger, "LET'S BATTLE!" He gripped the pokeball and pointed angrily at the child. The Bug Catcher scoffed and backed up a couple of yards before pulling out his own Pokeball. Tai grinned and looked down at the pokeball, through the semi-transparent red top, and smiled. "Go, Gee!" The Pidgey came out of its pokeball in a dazzle of light.

"I Choose you Weedle!" Catcher James shouted, and the yellow worm pokemon appeared before him. The Catcher had summoned two other friends that were battling iris and Cecil a little way off. "Weedle, Poison Sting it!" James shouted.

"Pfft, that won't work. Gee, Gust!" Weedle let out a barrage of shiny, glowing needles from its head that were aimed at Gee. Tai smirked, and with a large whirl of wind, the needles were batted away and fell to the ground, ceasing to move, "Agh! Weedle, String Shot!"

"Dodge it!" Tai snapped his fingers, on cue the Pidgey, with its superior speed, moved quickly and evaded the worst of it. Tai smirked, "My turn! Sand-Attack followed up with a Gust!" Tai demanded. Gee whipped up a blinding shield of sand mixed with the forest floor grass, the Weedle looked around, lost in its confusion.

<Take this bug face!> Gee whipped another large Gust that inflicted major damage on the bug Pokemon, and when the sand cleared, Weedle was unconscious, swirls in its eyes.

"Flawless victory," Tai smirked and looke dup at Gee, "Alright GEE! YOU ROCKED!" Tai bounced over to his Pidgey happily and hugged it, his personality drastically changing from just a moment ago when he was in battle.

<ACK! My feathers!> Gee squirmed out of his trainer's grasp and huffed. The other two battles with Cecil and Iris were just as quick, ending some moments after his did.

"They're really good, neh?" James asked his friends after the group rejoined. "That's for sure..." Cecil's opponent grumbled and looked at his feet. Tai waved to the three Bug Catchers as they started down the path again, looking down at their feet in complete defeat. "Peace out!" Tai shouted throwing up a peace sign.

<OI! Sugimori, aren't you gonna let that Rattata out of its pokeball now? I don't think it knows what's been going on, it's been in that thing since you captured it on Route 1.> Gee said without much care as he pecked his feathers lightly. Tai's eyes widened a bit with interest, he unlatched a pokeball from his belt and tossed it on the ground. From the small cloud of smoke there sat a small purple rodent with mean looking eyes and a scowl.

Once the Rattata regained its senses from being stuck in the pokeball for so long, it angrily pointed up at Tai. <You bastard, Sugimori Taichi! Fight me one more time!>

"No Rattata, I won and I don't want a rematch!" Tai said coldly.

<Wait, wha-You can talk to me?!> Rattata's face grew pail as it waved its arms around in panick. As the Rattata ran around in sheer panic of his thoughts being true, Tai grew a devious smirk.

"Oi you, Rattata!" Tai kneeled down to get closer to eye level with the Rattata, who looked up in confusion. "My conversation with you wasn't finished yet, was it? You owe me some ice cream!" Tai grabbed hold of Ratty's head with an evil look on his face, an anger mark bursting on the side of his face.

"I'll take good care of ya, so say your prayers!" Rattata released itself from Tai's grip and pointed at the boy. <Nevermind, I'll fight you myself!> Rattata charged at Tai but the boy grabbed him by the tail leaving the Rattata to dangle.

"You just keep on talking and talking. Be quiet from now on, Buck!" Tai launched the Rattata at the nearest tree. After Buck rubbed his head and turned around, he pointed at Tai once more with a scowl. <What the hell's this "Buck"?!>

Tai rubbed his head, "It's a hassle to say Rattata, just Buck is good enough for you. Cause of your BUCK teeth!" Tai smirked at Buck who moved closer to Tai. <That doesn't mean I wanna be Buck! That sounds lame, use "Kai"! How about that?>

"NO, it sounds cool so I don't want you to have that nickname!" Ratty's scowl grew larger, an anger mark popping out on the side of his face. <You bastard.>


"Sugimori-Kun, you should be nicer to your Pokemon." Iris spoke out, Tai somehow forgot of his friend's presence. Buck turned around to see the female figure before him, Buck's cheeks grew red and the Rattata flung himself into Iris's chest.


<Oh Nee-San!> Buck obviously enjoyed being hugged by Iris and dug his face into her chest, Tai sweatdropped and quickly peeled the Rattata off of Iris. The boy sighed, "Your lucky I brought you back from Prof. Oak's, he said he needed some time to work with the Storage System. Once it's back up your TOTALLY going back!" Tai threatened, Buck completely walked past Tai unphazed.


"DON'T IGNORE ME YOU BASTARD!" Tai chased after Buck, with Iris and Cecil following close behind.

 

[Legend]

It was the Kanto regional championship match between Celadon and Saffron city, final quarter with less than a minute on the clock. The stadium's bleachers were roaring the two teams of twelve year olds on, drowning out the cheerleaders in the process. Video cameras taped the entire course of events, and many fans took constant pictures, enough that if one player were to look up from the court, they'd be bombarded with flashes of all intensities and distance. Leon was leading the Celadon team in points, although that came as no surprise from anyone who paid attention to the young man's career throughout his first year of middle school. They were up by a point, with possession belonging to Saffron's team, and it was going to be well worth the effort to prevent them from making the basket. Saffron's fastest player had possession, with the strategy of having him go to the basket as fast as humanly possible to clinch the game at the last moment. Leon would double cover him, along with his teammate Kira Yashima. The two were on him like ugly on a Weezing. The plan fell through though, when Kira slipped and fell to the ground, with only Leon left to stop the charge.


Good fortune was on Leon's side though, as his opponent almost went out of bounds, and was forced to stop dribbling to retain control of the ball. He was trapped and Leon wanted to take advantage of it. The rest of both teams players rushed in to strip the ball, but weren't able to close the gap in time. He tried to pass it off to another Saffron player, but Leon was able to steal it and made a mad dash for the basket, although Kira was ahead of him, slapping his hands together to indicate being ready for a pass. "No…" thought Leon, "I can make it myself. Besides, Stacey is watching, and she's a really hot 8th grader." With his selfish reasoning taking the best of him, Leon made his way to the basket, ending all hopes of a Saffron victory with a well placed layup. The crowd was going wild with cheers of joy and frustration, and Stacey was looking at him. She went up to him, blushing and giggling without saying a word. She finally opened her mouth and…WHACK! ... A stray basketball hit the side of his head. Leon didn't allow this to interrupt his chances with Stacey, and made the attempt to ask her out before… WHACK! … Another basketball to the side of the head. Before Leon could look to see the thrower, WHACK! Another one hit him in the head, this time with a voice telling him to stop lying around.

Leon groggily awoke from his dream with Ratz continually nudging him with the sole of his boots. "5 more minutes…"he groaned as he shuffled around in his sleeping bag. Ratz continued to nudge persistently, refusing to give up an inch. "Fine! You win…argh…what time is it anyway?"

"It's 9:30. I've been up for about an hour and was waiting on you to wake up. In the meantime I sent Dum, Dee, and Joey to search for food. They came back with small berries, though they're a type humans can't eat, so our Pokémon had a nice healthy breakfast to start the morning. Now get ready so we can have our own and hit the road already. Not like we have a task to complete or anything." Ratz replied, giving his new traveling partner a small briefing. Both trainers took a portion of food out of their bag, with Leon's being larger than Ratz's, which didn't bother the once homeless trainer as he had seen the gluttony the middle class and above seemed to have when it came to food. Sure, it tugged at him a bit if he would think about all the misfortune he had himself, but Leon was being typical with his meal when compared to the others Ratz has seen in his days. Had Leon pulled out a giant cake or anything clearly unneeded, he would have said something.

When breakfast was over, the two packed their stuff up and was ready to go, both wearing their normal attire. They debated as to what they should do first. Leon wanted to find Tai, and suggested the search for him first, while Ratz wanted to train his Pokémon, intending on having his bug Pokémon evolve before leaving the forest. Leon argeed to a point, noting that he had skipped out on training in an attempt to find Tai. Through compromising, it was agreed that they would train close to the trail so they may keep an eye out for trainers passing by. Leon and Ratz kept a small amount of distance between themselves while training, although stayed close enough to be within earshot.

Training went on for a few hours before both trainer and Pokémon alike took a rest break. Ares and Dee were back to back, panting and trying to catch their breath while Zeus and Joey laid in the shade with Leon. Dum was on Ratz lap, and was giving a congratulatory rub on the head for holding his own, even if he was Ratz's weakest Pokémon.

"So Ratz, how many wild Pokemon did you take down? I took out a fair share. At least a dozen or two," Leon boasted.

"About the same I guess. Didn't bother to keep track," Ratz replied. But before he could anything to his statement, a young male trainer emerged into the small clearing that Leon and Ratz decided to rest at.

"You think destroying wildlife is perfectly acceptable huh? You arrogant bastard!" The trainer protested, appearing to call out Leon more so than Ratz. The trainer was dressed in typical clothing expected of a Pokemon trainer (which was a relief from the average bug catcher who surrounded himself with insects) and his blonde hair was breaking through a simple hat that was perched on his head.

"Hmm, the description almost matches…Hey kid is your name Tai?" Leon asked.

"No…My name-" the trainer replied.

"Then I don't care. Go away." Leon interrupted.

"Hey! Don't think you can rub me off like that like you own the place! I can promise you that I am at least 20 times stronger than this Tai so maybe you should worry about me instead."

"Unless that's a challenge, I could care less about you."

"A challenge eh? This is will resemble a slaughter more. Go Butterfree!" The trainer tossed his Pokeball into the core of the meadow and a beautiful butterfly emerged from the flashing lights. "This is one of the strongest Pokemon available in these woods and it will be the only one I need to teach you some manners."

Leon clapped in response and let out a hearty laugh. "I'll give you credit for bothering to obtain one but this guy won't last more than a few seconds against Zeus. After all, it is still nothing more than an insect." Leon whistled and Zeus leapt from the shade he was napping in and leapt into the fray. "He may be a little tired from trashing Caterpie all day but I am sure he handle a grown up one."

The two engaged in a stare-down before the opposing Butterfree made the opening move. It has underestimated Zeus and dove in for a quick tackle, striking the mouse will impressive velocity. While startled by the impact, Zeus rebounded fairly well and regained his composure. In order to respond, Zeus unleashed a fierce growl in order to strike fear into the Butterfree, but failed in the end as the Butterfree was far too confident. Going for another tackle, Butterfree took aim and dove with even greater ferocity. Zeus anticipated the attack and rolled out of the way, noticing the enemy's greatest weakness: the wings. Standing still, Zeus examined and predicted the flight path of his opponent. With coordinates computed, Zeus fired a Thundershock directly at the enemy. Sparks flew and the charred remains of a Butterfree was all that was left.

"Must have been a critical hit. Shame. It put up a decent fight," Leon commented.

"Shut up! I got another Pokemon ready for ya! Go Mankey!" the trainer ordered revealing his second Pokemon. It looked as if a monkey and a pig had a lovechild. It was disturbing sight but the opponent had a strong presence.

"Ares!" Leon called. "Handle this one!" Leon motioned Zeus to come back and take a rest as Ares made his way to the combat zone. The Mankey was impatient and launched an attack right away, a Low Kick. Attempting to sweep the legs of his opponent, Mankey kicked Ares small legs in order to sweep him. However, Ares absorbed the blow with ease and little damage was done as Ares took an effective defensive stance. To respond, Ares attempted to deliver a Peck attack, knowing it would in be effective move but the Mankey retreated before it could hit. Irritated, the Mankey jumped in to scratch Ares. Unable to move with great speed, Ares took the blow head on and was in noticeable pain. The Mankey cheered as if victory was attained, but Ares was far from defeated. Leaping in air, Ares crashed ontop of his enemy, pecking with more anger than ever before. When the dust was settled, Ares came out victorious.

"Ares, return to me and rest." Ares shuffled over to his master and sat down next to him, ready to watch Leon gloat. "Kid, go back to wherever you came from and train harder. You need it."

The opposing trainer nodded in agreement: "I'll return one day and make sure you recognize me as a true trainer. Remember the name of Allard, for I will defeat you." The young trainer, now known as Allard, retreated back into the woods.

"That was annoying, what a little spaz." Ratz stated bluntly.

"Yeah, but that kid was little more than a test. I wanted to see if all that training we did today paid off and looks like it did. I am curious to see what your team can do," Leon said with child-like curiosity.

"Whatever. Let's back to the mission."

As those words were carried by the wind, the grass a short distance away started to furiously shake, alerting all members of the party. Out emerged a Rattata, who was running east of their location. "A Rattata? Could that mean there's a trainer chasing it? Only one way to know this for sure." Ratz thought. He gave his Caterpie the order to use a string shot on the tree, hoping to make a tripwire to snag any would be human following the Rattata. Leon, noticing the move, put two and two together, and ordered his own Pokémon to stick close by.

 

[Cirrus]

As the three simultaneous battles drew off to a quick start, he drew out the spherical object from the circle of dark-blue silk around his waist and released the creature within. The blue turtle seemed ready for combat, by all means, but regrettably it did not yet learn how to perform Water Gun, being only at the ninth experience level. Sighing, he quickly made eye contact with the 'mon and it began the confrontation with a quick Tail Whip.

"Tactics."

<Tactics.>

He did not have much room to perform any sort of combat trick here, his 'mon having strictly zero moves that were of either overwhelming power or deceptive in the least degree. "Tackle!"

As he issued this command a strand of grey matter shot across the field, seemingly erupting from the grass. Focusing his vision, he noticed a Caterpie between the lush strands of undergrowth in the forest, and acted instinctively, raising his arm at sub-sonic speed towards the insectile creature. A few seconds later, his Squirtle crashed forward, diving headlong into the grass and at the same time retracting all of its limbs, thus turning the dive into an effective body-slam attack and at the same time protected itself from potential damage.

Now that the first exchanges of blows were over and they had completed their respective tests of opposing strength (or at least he had done it himself; he was not able to speak for his opponent), Cecil took a step back and surveyed the surroundings, issuing a quick command that Squirtle was to remain as mobile as possible at all times and if it saw a Tackle about to arrive it was to withdraw itself into its shell. Finished this, he began to pace while Squirtle was doing its best to dodge the blows rained upon it by the Caterpie (which is to say, none whatsoever, other than its feeble barrages of String Shot this and String Shot that). This transpired for exactly three seconds, until he issued his next command: Bubble. The Bug-type was already massively slow that it required String Shot to slow down others to the same level as it, so why use Bubble, one might ask? Well, Cecil answered mentally, that's a very good question. If one carefully examined Squirtle's and Caterpie's characteristics, one might find that the power of non-physical attacks with Squirtle is slightly heightened over the power of physical attacks. And similarly, non-physical attacks affect Caterpie much more than physical attacks. Thus the tactical choice of Bubble was one that was well-made; and this data was all available to him because of the resources that he had devoured in his childhood.

Squirtle used Bubble. It struck its intended target. Caterpie responded with yet another String Shot. This continued for about another five seconds before the opposing trainer began to actually use a damaging move, said move being Tackle. Cecil, unperturbed, continued to issue the same order of "Bubble." It made the most logical sense in the situation, and he assumed from the report coming up on the PokeDex (what a useful tool!) that the Caterpie would fall unconscious long before his Squirtle would. Sure enough, the Caterpie fainted about another half a minute later after that, and Squirtle wasn't badly hurt, either. He gave up the sentiment of returning his Squirtle to its Pokeball, instead deciding to retrieve a spray bottle from the canvas bag at his side and to unleash its contents onto the Pokemon beside him.

(From a bystander's point of view, the battle was not without some idle conversation, but Cecil was not a person that said too many words needlessly, preferring to act instead of waste words.)

After the treatment the Squirtle looked as healthy as ever, and he wondered if it was the right time to give it a nickname. Certainly Iris and Tai have already given their Pokemon nicknames…

"From now on, Squirtle, your name will be 'hydrochloric acid', or HCl, I guess. I hope we work well together."

Smiling to his companion, Cecil looked around at how the other two battles were proceeding. He was rather miffed at the fact that Tai's Rattata lacked any sort of decorum or discipline whatsoever (not like Hydrochloric Acid at all!), but he supposed it was in Tai's character to have a Pokemon that was as such.

 

[Yuukihime]

All three battles started quickly. Her opponent, Bug Catcher Rick, had sent out a Metapod. Not an overly strong Pokémon and an easy first opponent. Iris released Amaranth from her Pokeball, "Alright Amaranth, time to show off that power you were bragging about yesterday."

<Against a Metapod, seriously? That's a waste of my talents you know.> Amaranth mumbled, <But alright, I'm not a fan of bug Pokémon much anyway.> Amaranth smirked.

"Tackle!" Iris commanded causing the tiny bulb Pokémon to lunge forward at the cocoon like Pokémon.

"Harden!" Ricky yelled. The Metapod seem to brace for the impact and when Amaranth landed with the tackle the Metapod look shaken but hadn't taken as much damage Iris had hoped for. Amaranth on the other hand was rubbing her head with one of her vines.

<Dang, that thing is as hard as an iron slab...> Amaranth whined. Tackle wasn't going to be very effective unless Iris weakened it somehow.

"Tackle!" yelled the bug catcher. Amaranth cringed as she was hit with impending tackle attack. The metapod hadn't moved, it was just Amaranth who was close enough so it could hit Amaranth with a tackle attack.

"Leech Seed!" Iris commanded, Amaranth got to her feet and unleashed a furry of seeds onto the metapod, creating a vine-like cage around the Pokémon and gradually started to sap Metapod's energy. The metapod struggled to break free of the energy-sucking vines but to no avail. The more it struggled the tighter the vines grew, "Go! Tackle it once more now that it's weakened!"

Amaranth lunged forward hitting the Metapod full force, knocking it a few feet backwards. It was still managing to stay conscious although it had taken a bit more damage this time. The leech seed combined with Amaranths tackle seemed to be doing its job.

"Once more, tackle!" Iris commanded and Amaranth lunged forward.

"Harden and then use tackle!" The bug catcher commanded. The cocoon pokemon hardened it's shell and then made impact with Amaranth. The two collided at the same time but Amaranth had more power behind it's tackle and managed to knock the Metapod back another few feet on to its side. The Metapod had been knocked unconscious by Amaranth, making Iris the winner.

<That's for being as freaking hard as a metal pole!> Amaranth growled. Iris sighed and returned Amaranth to it's pokeball.

Spoiler:

OoC: It's like the lamest battle ever, I know. But battling a metapod wouldn't be very eventful anyway considering most metapod are stationary and harden can only do so much..

"They're really good, neh?" James asked his friends after the group rejoined.

"That's for sure..." Cecil's opponent grumbled and looked at his feet. Tai
waved to the three Bug Catchers as they started down the path again, looking down at their feet in complete defeat.

"Peace out!" Tai shouted throwing up a peace sign.

"I almost feel a bit sorry for them..." Iris thought to herself. Iris sighed and turned to face the other two, only to see Tai bickering with his Rattata

"You just keep on talking and talking. Be quiet from now on, Buck!" Tai launched the Rattata at the nearest tree. After Buck rubbed his head and turned around, he pointed at Tai once more with a scowl. <What the hell's this "Buck"?!>

Tai rubbed his head, "It's a hassle to say Rattata, just Buck is good enough for you. Cause of your BUCK teeth!" Tai smirked at Buck who moved closer to Tai. <That doesn't mean I wanna be Buck! That sounds lame, use "Kai"! How about that?>

"NO, it sounds cool so I don't want you to have that nickname!" Ratty's scowl grew larger, an anger mark popping out on the side of his face. <You bastard.>

Iris sighed, "Sugimori-Kun, you should be nicer to your Pokémon. They are your partners after all, bickering with them will only cause trouble." Iris wasn't expecting the Rattata to literally hurl himself into her chest.

<Oh Nee-San!> The Rattata cried, Iris gave the Rattata a pat on the head only then to be quickly pulled away by a very pissed off Tai.

"You're lucky I brought you back from Prof. Oak's, he said he needed some time to work with the Storage System. Once it's back up your TOTALLY going back!" Tai threatened. The Rattata walked by him unphased.

"DON'T IGNORE ME YOU BASTARD!" Tai chased after the Rattata leaving Iris and Cecil (once again) to follow close behind him.

"Suigimori-kun has about as much patience as a ticked off Primeape.." Iris mumbled.

 

[Charizard_Man]

Episode 3: B Part

The late morning sun hung above the canopies of the forest trees illuminated the earth below, the thick tree leaves filtering most of the sunlight out and only allowing small amounts of it to touch the forest floor. The cool temperature was a given, the small amount of sun rays are to thank for this. All was quiet and peaceful...

"WHERE DID YOU GO, YOU BASTARD?!" Tai's demanding voice bellowed through the forest, small birds fluttering away in sheer terror as the blonde boy's steps shook the very earth. Tai's crimson eyes darted around, until he finally spotted a tiny purple tail submerging into the bushes before him. Tai ran forward, "THERE YOU ARE!" His voice full of bloodlust, Iris and Cecil desperately trying to keep up.

"Sugimori-Kun, please wait!" Iris pleaded in her usual dignified tone, but Tai payed no attention to his companion's innocent voice. He burst through the bushes and saw him, Buck turned around with a smirk and stood still.

"Eh? Aren't you going to run?" Tai questioned, but Buck shook his head with an enormous grin on his face. "WIPE THAT SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE, AND GET BACK INTO YOUR POKEBALL!" Tai ran forward only for his ankles to get snagged in some thin string that pressed against his skin and wrapped his ankles tightly.

"What the hell?" Tai looked down to see thin, silver web wrapped around his ankles. He tugged at the string thta binded him, but it was stuck tightly. He looked up at Buck who had a somewhat amused look, Tai's face grew dull and bored of his attitude and quickly recalled him back into his pokeball. He stood up, both feet binded together, and hopped around trying to wiggle his feet free of the tightly wrapped webs. He looked up to see Cecil with an amused look on his face and Iris slightly shocked to say the least.

"Can you guys help me out?" Tai sweatdropped, pointing at his binded feet. The bushes off tot he distance rustled, the trio turned to see two boys just a bit older than Tai himself come out of the bushes with amused looks. The taller one was outright filthy, he looked more like a street rat than a bug catcher. While the other was a shorter fellow, still taller than Tai, with a much more cleaner look and they both walked over with a sense of accomplishment eminated from them.

"Nice Catch, Ratz!" The cleaner boy grinned as they walked over, obviously the two could see Tai but not completely as his figure was covered by the branches that seperated the two groups. The cleaner boy ducked underneath the branches and stepped in front of Tai alongside his street rat friend, "Your trap worked, now what do we have here...Eh?" Tai's eyes squinted with distaste as both boys examined Tai, then looked behind them to look at Cecil and Iris.

"Blonde hair...a hat...red...Your name wouldn't be Sugimori Taichi...would it?" The cleaner boy asked with the same amused look he's had since he walked over to Tai. The blonde boy smirked as he glanced over to Iris and Cecil.

"Yeah, I am. Do we know you or something?" Tai asked as he looked at both of the boys before him. Tai was slightly amused to see the boy slightly shake, his eye twitching and swiftly taking hold of Tai by his collar. The blonde boy gritted his teeth and stared at the boy, "FINALLY FOUND YOU! I HAVE SPENT THE PAST FEW DAYS LOOKING FOR YOU...! So I can pay you back for the things you've done!" The boy shouted in Tai's face. Tai staggered as the boy's screams were blasted directly into his face,

'The things I've done?' Tai thought to himself as the boy grinned with an annoyed look, "Stealing MY Charmander! MY Pokedex! MY dreams! Who the hell do you think you are? I am going to make sure you never even come close to achieving what should of been MINE!" The boy exhaled deeply and let go of Tai's collar, "Hell, I'm making sure you never levae this forest." Tai wiped his collar clean and finally wiggled free of the strings that held his feet together. He folded his arms and scoffed.

"Your Charmander? Your Pokedex? Please, the Professor gave me and my friends those things because he saw our true potential and skills as Masters. Sorry to say, but we WILL be leaving this forest." Tai's smug look obviously irritated the boy as he burst out in mad laughter and almost breaking down.

"SKILLS? Your only skill is comedy! You fell for a trap, no respectable trainer would fall for this first grade level trap!" The boy shouted, Tai was fed up with this boy and gritted his teeth out of irritation. He grabbed the boy by his shoulder and pushed him aside, despite being taller and older than Tai was he managed to slightly push him.

"Me and my friends don't have time for this, step aside."

"Bad move," The boy grabbed Tai by the shoulder and twirled him around, then dug his fist into Tai's stomach. Tai doubled over in pain, trying to catch his breathe. The boy bent down and whispered into Tai's ear, "First things first, DON'T disrespect me like that again. You pushed me aside in Pllaet Town, inches away from old man Oak's place. That punch was payback, I was just waiting for an excuse to return the favor."

Tai took hold of the boy's back and grabbed his clothes violently to haul himself up. The boy stood back up but Tai quickly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to his eye level, "I disrespect who I want. ESPECIALLY punk ass guys I don't even know!" Tai pulled back his arm and thrusted it forward, but to his shock Cecil grabbed him and pulled him back, "OI! Cecil, what are you doing?" Cecil pulled back Tai to where Iris was standing and flicked his hair aside before looking at the two before them.

"Gentlemen, perhaps we can reach a more agreeable solution without violence." Tai looked over and saw the calmness that surrounded Cecil, his eyes gazing disapprovingly at the two. Tai grinned,

"Fine, no fight. Instead let's have a battle, If you and your punk ass friend won't let us through...we'll have to get through by FORCE." Tai's toothy grinned showed his confidence and eagerness to battle the two.

Cecil sweatdropped and placed his hand on his forehead, "That's not exaclty what I was thinking."

"Just remember what I told you. We have Pokedexs for a REASON chump. Cecil, would you mind joining me in kickng their asses?" Tai grinned over at his friend, who he noted was probalby the same age as their opponents. Cecil sighed and looked forward once again.

"Maybe you will allow us past without a battle?"

"Sorry, not going to happen. Besides, your NOT going to kick our asses. Don't get ahead of yourslef kid. Yo, Ratz! The blonde girl and the nerd want a reminder of why they should of stayed in Pallet Town where they belong."

"Alright Leon!" The street right finally spoke, as the duo prepared for battle.

"Blonde girl? Nerd?" Tai sweatdropped and looked over at Cecil with a confused look, Cecil was silent.

"....Your intelligence is rather subpar. It seems a battle will be necessary..." Cecil's voice was full with overtones of anger and a slight hint of annoyance, Tai couldn't believe it. For the first time on their journey, he and Cecil felt the same way...had a common enemy. Cecil reached down to his belt and grabbed hold of a Pokeball while his other hand reached for his Dex.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S TAG BATTLE!!!" Tai shouted out as he grabbed his Pokeball and threw it into the air, he quickly grabbed his Pokedex and flipped it open. He turned to see that Cecil had just thrown his pokeball and had also flipped open his Pokedex.

"CHARCO, GO!"

"Come forth, hydrochloric acid!"

"Zeus, fry them!"

"Joey, you're up...Dum, what the Fxck do you think you're doing?!"

Just like that the Tag battle had begun, Charco and HCL looked over at each other and grinned. <Let's beat them!> Charco grinned. They both looked forward at their opponents, a Pikachu and a Caterpie. Iris looked on as a spectator, her two friends protecting her from any harm. The forest trip Tai had thought was going to go by nice and quickly, had turned into a difficult mission.

 

[ORegan]

Viridian Forest: Battlefield – Bad Company​

Ratz was pleased to see Dum's string shot attack work like a charm against the trainer chasing the run-away Rattata. The street boy let out a large gleeful chuckle as the ensnared trainer started to wiggle about in frustration, and then yell to some presence that Ratz could not see. The short distance to his new captive was closed mostly in silence until Leon spoke out. "Nice catch, Ratz!" was the phrase uttered before the two teens low-fived each other victoriously. With Dum on his shoulder, Ratz looked down on the younger trainer who he had caught and recalled the description Leon had given about this "Tai" character, and compared it to his captive, realizing that they were a perfect match. Leon had also recalled this and even asked for the boy's name, which confirmed that this was one of the targets he was looking.


While Tai and Leon argued, with Leon basically threatening the now pissed trainer in red, Ratz looked at Leon very judgmentally, wondering where the hell all this pent up rage came from when he was acting normally not moments ago. Trying to avoid getting dragged into two fighting, as it was a conflict of interest for the person he's suppose to help train get murdered by another one he's suppose to help, he looked over and saw two more kids who entered from where Tai had come from, and deduced that they were all together, and if they were with Tai, there was a good chance they were sent by Oak. "Well, at least some of the Intel the old timer gave me was right." he thought while looking at the trainers. One looked like a spoiled rich kid with clothing not fit for the outdoors, and another was a cute, albeit pale, young girl in a dress. "Really? These kids? I have to teach these kids on surviving on their own? Oh **** me hard with a pitchfork for ever agreeing to this."


To get his mind off the depressing thought of how hard his job is going to be, Ratz rubbed Dum on his head, insisting that the small green bug had nice aim. The Caterpie jovially let out a cry, implying that he loved the praise from his master. Unbeknownst to his trainer, Dum had an inferiority complex towards the others in the street rat's party, feeling that he wasn't as good of a contender as Joey, and felt that Dee's stinger outclassed him, seeing as the Caterpie species wasn't known for any remarkable fighting features other than its exoskeleton being harder than the flesh of mammal type Pokémon. Ratz refocused on the quarreling trainers, and heard the bit Tai said about Oak picking him and the others for to have the starters for their skill. In retort, Ratz made his own comment about it, saying "Or you just got there before we did." though the comment went highly unnoticed, as Leon just punched Tai. Tai's friend had to hold him back, who was apparently named Cecil based on Tai's dialogue.


This is where clear thinking was shown not to be Tai's strongpoint. While "Cecil" tried to persuade Leon into letting them pass through reason and without violence, Tai insisted on a Pokémon Battle. Again, Ratz made his own comment to the discussion, saying "So…Instead of using violence and fighting each other… you want us to send out our Pokémon to fight each other to avoid using violence?...." but once again, he was ignored. After seeing that any comment he made on the matter would fall upon deaf ears, he shrugged and accepted that they'd be battling. The street rat said "Alright Leon." when told he'd be battling "Cecil." Looking down at his Rattata, Ratz said "Joey, you're up." Joey started to walk in front of his trainer before Dum leapt from his shoulder in front of Joey, and started to glare at the enemy Squirtle. Dum, feeling as if he was seen as the weakest member of the team, wanted to prove to Ratz that he could win him glory.


Joey backed away, but not before Ratz started to yell at the small insect. "Dum, what the **** do you think you're doing!" he roared, but the Caterpie ignored the objection to him battling, and Ratz caved in. "Fine, whatever!" he said while Joey ran up his shoulder. It was pretty clear that he may lose the battle, but Ratz had his own job to do, and losing the battle would mean he wouldn't get to fulfill his duty to Oak. In the ear of his Rattata, Ratz whispered the phrase "Plan C" before letting the purple rodent join Dee and Ares, who were watching the whole ordeal from a rock. With the battle about to unfold, Ratz looked at his opponent and said, "If we're about to battle, we might as well keep this formal. My name is Ratz." Before the battle started, he had one more comment to make, and with the other trainers seemingly quiet, he hoped this time he wouldn't be ignored. "By the way, before ANY of you leave, I have my own business with all trainers Oak sent out yesterday regardless of this battle's outcome, although it's the opposite of what my friend Leon here wants."

 

[Oathkeeper(:]

Cerulean City: Departure.

"HONEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY."

The call echoed from downstairs, causing Mikaela to open her eyes. Her eyelids started to fall again before another earsplitting cry found itself ringing in her ears.

"HONEYYYY, TIME TO GET UP!" Her mother's voice sang. Mikaela sighed groggily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She scanned her room, her eyes brightening when she saw the Pikachu-shaped backpack sitting itself against the door to her bedroom.

"Oh, that's right. Today's the day I start my very own Pokemon journey!" Mikaela thought excitedly to herself, bounding from her bed and getting dressed as quickly as possible into her normal attire.

After getting dressed, she mentally went over the check list of things she had written a few nights ago to make sure she had everything she could possibly need. Once her mind was at ease, she slung her backpack over her shoulders and walked downstairs, excitement tattooed on her face.

"Oh, honey!" Her mother cried as she pulled Mikaela into a hug that was way too tight. "I'm going to be so worried about you!"

"Well...don't..." Mikaela choked out, escaping from her mother's embrace.
"I'll be fine." She promised.

"We're proud of you, pumpkin." Her father said, walking from the kitchen to stand behind her mother. "Just don't forget to check in every once in a while."

"I don't think I'll have to worry about that..." She thought to herself, but put on a smile and just said "Will do, Dad" as she began walking to the door.

"Do you have your Pokemon?" Her mother asked.

"Yes." Miki responded.

"What about your sleeping bag?"

"Yes, mom..."

"A chage of clothes?"

"Yes..."

"Pokeballs?"

"Mom!"

"Sorry...oh, good luck, sweetie!"

"Thanks Mom." Mikaela said as she finally reached the front door of her house, quickly opening it and closing it behind her. She heard the faint sound of her mother's voice yelling "Call me!" She rolled her eyes and smiled a bit to herself as she took in her surrounding city, remembering the scent of the air, the cool temperature, the slight cloud cover. "I want to remember this day for the rest of my life."



Cerulean City, Onwards!

The long dirt road leaving Cerulean City was unusually empty this day. Sure, there was the occasional trainer or two traveling down the road, talking to their traveling companions about beating the Cerulean Gym Leader, Misty, or talking about their favorite Pokemon, or about their dreams...it made Miki wish she wasn't traveling all alone.

Then again, she was just starting out on her journey. Surely she'd make some friends eventually. If not with people, then surely with other Pokemon. Her eyes brightened at the thought of walking around with her Pokemon, if anything it would keep her from talking to herself. She stopped on the side of the road and rummaged through her Pikachu backpack, fishing out two Pokeballs and enlarging them.

"All right guys, come on out!" She called, tossing her Pokeballs in the air. Two flashes of bright white light bursts from the Pokeballs and there stood her two traveling companions: Penny the Poliwag, and Synch (short for Synchronize) the Staryu. The two Pokemon looked around, presumably looking for a battle or some sort of danger.

"Um..." Miki said, catching both Pokemon's attention. "Would you two mind walking with me? I...um...figured it'd be a good way of...um...getting to know each other...if you want..." She stuttered.

The two Pokemon looked at each other, and then back at their trainer.

<Sure!> Penny said happily.

<I guess I don't have much of a choice.> Synch replied.

"Well, you don't have--" Miki started before Synch started to walk down the path without them. "Hey, wait up!" She called after it, running to catch up.

<WAIT FOR MEEE, MY LEGS DON'T WORK THAT WELL!> Penny called after them.



On the road to Veridian City!

Eventually, Mikaela ended up at a crossroads. One arrow pointed to "Pewter City", and the other to "Veridian City". Mikaela looked around for other trainers to ask advice on which way to go...but unfortunately, the surrounding area was completely empty. Sighing, Miki dug through her bag and pulled out the small guide book she made sure to bring, just in case she ever got lost. She flipped through the pages until she found descriptions on all the towns and cities in the Kanto region.

"The first stop for many trainers on their journey, Veridian City is located just north of Pallet Town and just south of Pewter City. It is strongly suggested that beginning trainers make this city a priority to visit."

She scanned the description of the city again before reading the description of Pewter City.

"Pewter City is home to the first Official Pokemon Gym that trainers can compete in, whose leader is Brock, who specializes in Rock-type Pokemon. It's also home to a lovely museum."

"Well...which way do you think we should go?" Miki asked Synch and Penny.

<Well, Veridian City does seem farther away than Pewter. A lot further.> Penny said.

"Does that mean you want to go to Pewter?"

<Well, it's closer.> Synch said. <But, I think we have to go through a cave to get there.>

"A...cave...?" Miki said, shuddering at the thought. "Veridian City it is!" She said before she ran in the direction leading to Veridian City.

<Not again...> Penny whined, chasing after her trainer, while Synch started following behind them.



Welcome to Veridian!

Miki and her team of Pokemon were slumping along the path to Veridian City, the sun slowly falling over the horizon.

"Gosh guys, this took us all day..."

<I told you it was farther away...> Synch said.

"Well I prefer walking this way instead of going through a cave."

<We would've been in Pewter City for hours by now.> Synch said, slumping along.

"Well, do you want to turn around?"

<NO!> Both Pokemon cried in unison.

"That's what I thought." Miki said before she stopped, Synch and Penny running into her legs and falling over.

<Why'd you stop?> Synch cried, glancing around her to see the large city known as Veridian.

<Oooh, it's pretty!> Penny said happily, yet tiredly.

The three of them slumped through the town, heading for the nearest Pokemon Center. Miki had been told numerous times (by her mother, naturally) that she would be allowed a good night's rest in a Pokemon Center if she needed. And considering she was about to fall over from exhaustion, she felt she needed it.

The doors slid open and Penny and Synch flopped onto the floor. Miki sighed sleepily as she returned the two Pokemon into their Pokeballs and shuffled to the front desk.

"Hello there, and welcome to the Veridian City Pokemon Center. My name is Nurse Joy, how can we help you this evening?" A woman with pink hair wearing a nurse outfit greeted.

"Um...hi. My name is Mikaela and I'm a new Pokemon trainer. I was told I'd be allowed to stay the night in the Pokemon Center?"

"Why, of course, please follow me, I'll show you to your room." Nurse Joy said, motioning for Mikaela to follow her. Sure enough, there was a quaint little room that was more than perfect enough for a good night's rest.

"Thank you so much!" Mikaela said, entering the room.

"It's no problem at all! If you need anything, please let me know." Nurse Joy said, closing the door behind her.

Mikaela quickly changed into her pajamas, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.



To...Veridian Forest?

Miki's eyes fluttered open as the sunlight poured in her room through the curtains.

"Ugh...morning already?" She asked herself as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, at least it was a good night's sleep." She commented, getting out of the bed and stretching. She figured she'd take a quick shower before continuing on her journey, considering the soreness of her muscles from walking so much the day before.

She dried herself off and got dressed, gathering her belongings and exiting her room and entering the main Pokemon Center, seeing trainers of all kinds gathering around Nurse Joy and demanding her to heal their Pokemon. Not wanting to get caught up in the crowd, Mikaela politely called a "Thank you!" before exiting the Pokemon Center.

She quickly took in her surroundings, the city not looking too different from her hometown. Though there did seem to be a lot more people here, probably a lot of new trainers. Miki took out her handy-dandy guide book to see where she would have to go next.

"From Veridian City, most trainers continue on their path through Veridian Forest in order to make it to their next stop: Pewter City." She read.

"Well great, I come all the way here, just to find out I'm going in circles. I avoided a cave just to have to go through a freaking forest." She said angrily, mentally kicking herself. "What a waste of time!" She said, stalking off into the direction of the forest (according to her guide book.)

Upon entering the forest, Mikaela was amazed at all the greenery. The grass was nice and lush, the trees were tall, and the sun poured into the leaves, making a nice shadow pattern on the ground.

"At least it's pretty in here." She said as she took a few steps further in, reading the sign that was posted.

"Trainer's take caution when traveling through Veridian Forest. A number of Pokemon here know moves that can poison your Pokemon. If your Pokemon become poisoned, please take them to the nearest Pokemon Center, or use an Antidote."

"Well, that's awesome. I assume there's no Pokemon of interest to me in this forest anyway." She said as she watched a wild Caterpie inch it's way into the grass. She sighed as she continued on her way. To Pewter City. Which she could've been in by now.



Veridian Forest: A Battle?

Walking a good ways into the forest, Mikaela was lucky enough not to encounter any wild Pokemon, or any trainers who wanted so desperately to battle her. Thank God.

Just as she was passing a clearing, she saw a few trainers battling with each other. She took count in her head: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Five trainers. Four of them battling (all boys, typical), and a girl standing on the sidelines. Presumably watching. The four boys were standing across from each other, their Pokemon of choice standing in front of them. It appeared to be a standard double-battle. There was a Squirtle and Charmander on one team, and a Pikachu and a Caterpie on the other.

The battle looked like it had just started, and Miki was obviously interested. This was as close as she had ever been to an actual battle before. Maybe she could get closer.

She stopped on the trail she was walking on and slowly began walking towards the group of trainers. Not wanting to get too close, obviously. She didn't know how strange it would seem that a complete stranger would be watching a battle. Then again, she didn't know these people. She was sure plenty of trainers, especially new ones, like to watch battles to aid in their newly developing battle strategies.

Before she could stop, Mikaela found herself standing right next to the girl (a very pale girl at that), watching the battle commence. If they asked her to leave she would, she supposed. But maybe she could end up making some new friends?​

 

[Cirrus]

It was a typical scene in Viridian Forest. The leaves of the towering trees provided canopy cover for a variety of grasses and shrubbery, in which Pokemon made their natural habitat. Once in a while an aspiring Trainer could catch a Pikachu or two, though usually the encounters around this area were restricted to mostly Bug-type Pokemon and maybe the odd Pidgey.

"Doko ni iru no, teme?!"

​

These loud words… and they were loud, mind you! They came from the individual known as Tai Sugimori, who had two traveling companions rushing after him, sometimes hurling banter back and forth between them in an altogether un-didactic manner. (To Tai, that is – Cecil learned that Tai had the capacity to exhibit rudeness to any number of a variety of individuals no less than ten times in a day, often in a rapid-fire fashion. He was not amused.)

"Sugimori-kun, chotto matte kudasai!" Iris pleaded in her usual, beautifully tinkling voice, but Tai seemingly paid no attention no attention to her as he ran off into the bushes, Cecil and Iris making their way through the undergrowth in pursuit of him in a slightly less rushed fashion.
​

[//Too lazy to try to translate any more, I'm not good at Japanese in any case >>]
​

"There you are! Eh? Aren't you going to run?" Tai seemed to be speaking to the bush. Nothing really to be alarmed about with his unique personality, Cecil supposed.

​

"WIPE THAT SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE, AND GET BACK INTO YOUR POKEBALL!" Or rather, it appeared, Tai was speaking to one of his captured Pokemon, ordering it to return to its Pokeball. This event was just as unsurprising. But a few moments later, Tai seemed to be… immobile?

Cecil stepped forward, Iris closely following behind him, to investigate. Tai was bound by silvery webs rather reminiscent of the string made by Caterpie, but somehow Cecil doubted that these were manufactured by Pokemon. The webs didn't look sticky.

​

He smiled a little at Tai's predicament as the blond boy asked for help from the two of them, and a pair of ruffians appeared from the grass. Well, ruffians were the name that he would have called them, as they were the ones who had imprisoned Tai in the net, after all.​

"Nice Catch, Ratz! Your trap worked! Now, what do we have here...Eh?"

"Blonde hair...a hat...red clothing...Your name wouldn't be Sugimori Taichi...would it?"

​

Cecil held these pieces of conversation in his head, analyzing each piece of it slowly. Then he cut out altogether, not very interested in what Tai was doing – starting a local melee, perhaps, punching a few people… it was not his business to interfere. Yawning, and doing a minor stretch, he waited for a gap in their conversation where he could place an interjection.

"Gentlemen, perhaps we can reach a more agreeable solution without violence."​

"Fine, no fighting. Instead let's have a battle. If you and your punk ass friend won't let us through...we'll have to get through by FORCE."

​

"That's… not really what I had in mind, Sugimori."

"Just remember what I told you. We each have a PokeDex for a reason, chump. Cecil, would you mind joining me in kicking their asses?"
​

Tai was really... impulsive sometimes. Cecil shrugged, turning to the two ruffians.

"Perhaps you will allow us past… without a battle?"

A last-ditch attempt at diplomacy. He doubted it would work, but it was worth a try.

"Sorry, not going to happen. Besides, you're definitely not going to kick our asses. Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. Yo, Ratz! The blonde girl and the nerd want a reminder of why they should have stayed in Pallet Town where they belong."

​

The result was obvious. Cecil didn't mind the 'nerd' comment too much – he smiled, actually, in response to the unimaginably weak insult.

"Alright Leon!"

"Blonde girl? Nerd?" Tai seemed to be looking at him in a confused fashion. He shrugged again. Really, he was apathetic to this whole thing, but whatever the situation called for...

"Your intelligence is rather subpar. It seems a battle will be necessary..."

Cecil's voice had tinges of annoyance to it, and maybe even a slightly angrier than usual tone, for dramatic effect. He reached for his battling equipment, the white-and-red sphere he carried at his belt and the blue Pokedex that was issued to him by the Professor. Tai was certainly enthusiastic, but he supposed that the blond boy was always enthusiastic when it came to conflict. He sighed, and tapped the button on the Pokeball he was grasping in his hand.

"Come forth, hydrochloric acid! I would normally launch myself into a long rant about the chemical properties of the substance, but it's not really appropriate for this occasion. So without further ado, let us engage." ​

 

[Yuukihime]

The late morning sun had begun to rise over the forest. The temperature was mildly cool, not to hot not to cold. Everything would have been perfect if it was not for...

"WHERE DID YOU GO, YOU BASTARD?!" Tai's demanding voice bellowed through the forest, small birds fluttering away in sheer terror as the blonde boy's steps shook the very earth. His eyes darted about the forest looking for his Rattata. After spotting the Pokemon he ran ahead, like always, leaving Cecil and Iris to desperately try and follow him.

"Sugimori-Kun, please wait!" Iris pleaded in her usual dignified tone but Tai paid no head and just kept darting ahead. Iris was beginning to learn that Tai was always going to run ahead like a lunatic.

When the group managed to catch up Tai was face flat on the forest floor. Tripped by an obvious trap of sorts and was swearing at Buck to get back in his Pokeball. Iris sighed at both Tai and Cecil. Tai was wriggling to get free and Cecil merely had a look of amusement on his face.

"Can you guys help me out?" Tai sweat dropped, pointing at his binded feet. The bushes off to the distance rustled, the trio turned to see two boys just a bit older than Tai himself come out of the bushes with amused looks. The taller one looked like he had probably been sleeping on the streets for awhile while the other was much more clean kept but still, Iris got a bad feeling looking at the two.

"Nice Catch, Ratz!" The cleaner boy grinned. Were they some kind of escaped convicts? Were they going to murder the group here? Were they robbers? What if they were demons disguised as these two trainers?!

These ridiculous thoughts reeled through her mind. The situation was going from bad to worse as Tai began badmouthing the two boys who had trapped him.

"Blonde hair...a hat...red...Your name wouldn't be Sugimori Taichi...would it?" The cleaner boy asked with the same amused look he's had since he walked over to Tai. The blonde boy smirked as he glanced over to Iris and Cecil.

Iris shuddered.

"Yeah, I am. Do we know you or something?" Tai asked as he looked at both of the boys before him. Tai had a look of amusement on his face to see the boy slightly shake, his eye twitching and swiftly taking hold of Tai by his collar. The blonde boy gritted his teeth and stared at the boy, "FINALLY FOUND YOU! I HAVE SPENT THE PAST FEW DAYS LOOKING FOR YOU...! So I can pay you back for the things you've done!" The boy shouted in Tai's face. Tai staggered as the boy's screams were blasted directly into his face.

The yell was very loud and threatening. This situation wasn't going anywhere good. The two began arguing back and forth. The blond argued that Tai had took everything away from him and was threatening to murder him on the spot. After some amount of bad-mouthing each other..

"Me and my friends don't have time for this, step aside."

"Bad move," The boy grabbed Tai by the shoulder and twirled him around, then dug his fist into Tai's stomach. Tai doubled over in pain, trying to catch his breath. The boy bent down and whispered into Tai's ear, "First things first, DON'T disrespect me like that again. You pushed me aside in Pallet Town, inches away from old man Oak's place. That punch was payback, I was just waiting for an excuse to return the favor."

"H-Hold on a second...there's no need to get violent..." Iris told the boys. Her voice wasn't heard over the yells of the arguing boys.

Tai took hold of the boy's back and grabbed his clothes violently to haul himself up. The boy stood back up but Tai quickly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to his eye level, "I disrespect who I want. ESPECIALLY punk ass guys I don't even know!" Tai pulled back his arm and thrusted it forward, but to his shock Cecil grabbed him and pulled him back, "OI! Cecil, what are you doing?" Cecil pulled back Tai to where Iris was standing and flicked his hair aside before looking at the two before them.

"Gentlemen, perhaps we can reach a more agreeable solution without violence."

Iris was glad Cecil had managed to put in a slight amount of reason into the situation. Cecil was unusually calm while watching the whole situation unlike Iris who was jsut about ready to take off back to Viridian City.

"Fine, no fight. Instead let's have a battle, If you and your punk ass friend won't let us through...we'll have to get through by FORCE." Tai's toothy grinned showed his confidence and eagerness to battle the two.

Cecil sweatdropped and placed his hand on his forehead, "That's not exaclty what I was thinking."

"Just remember what I told you. We have Pokedexs for a REASON chump. Cecil, would you mind joining me in kickng their asses?" Tai grinned over at his friend, who he noted was probalby the same age as their opponents. Cecil sighed and looked forward once again.

"Maybe you will allow us past without a battle?"

"Sorry, not going to happen. Besides, your NOT going to kick our asses. Don't get ahead of yourslef kid. Yo, Ratz! The blonde girl and the nerd want a reminder of why they should of stayed in Pallet Town where they belong."

"Alright Leon!" The street right finally spoke, as the duo prepared for battle.

"Blonde girl? Nerd?" Tai sweatdropped and looked over at Cecil with a confused look, Cecil was silent.

"....Your intelligence is rather subpar. It seems a battle will be necessary..." Cecil's voice was full with overtones of anger and a slight hint of annoyance.
Great, now even Cecil was annoyed. Why were boys so quick to jump to violence? It made no sense to Iris in the least. Iris could only watch as a tag battle unfolded. She almost didn't notice a girl who had appeared right next to her curiously watching the battle.

"I swear, these people..can be so ridiculous sometimes." Iris told the girl next to her, "Starting brawls in the middle of a forest..."