After what seemed like an age, the pokeball finally stopped shaking and the red light went out.
"YES!" shouted Simon. He had caught his first Pokémon: a Pidgey. Right now, it might not look like much, but with time and hard work it could become a strong Pidgeot. A weak "Pika" roused Simon from his daydreams. He was now stranded in the middle of the route, with both of his Pokémon in critical condition. As Simon wondered what exactly he should do, a tall, dark-haired girl wandered into his view.
"Finally, I've found someone!" she called "I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" She paused when she saw Simon's Pikachu, obviously injured. "Oh no! Is your Pikachu OK?"
"No, it's in a really bad state, and my Pidgey's hurt as well." he sniffed, close to tears. What would he do if Pikachu was really hurt?
"Let me see," the girl said, and gently took Pikachu from Simon's arms. "Hmmm. He's obviously had quite a battle, but this," and with that she pulled out a small purple bottle, "should help"
"Potion..." gasped Simon, in his haste to get ready, he had forgotten to bring any with him. The girl, who introduced herself as Jade, took out another bottle and asked Simon to let out his newly-caught Pidgey, so she could heal it while he took care of Pikachu.
A while later, after the sun had set, Jade said quietly "You seem to handle your Pikachu quite strangely. Do you two not get along well?" In an almost apologetic tone, Simon explained his fear of electric types. Jade slowly nodded and then said "You can't judge Pokémon by type, you know, just like you can't judge people by how they look. Everyone is different." While Simon pondered these pearls of wisdom, Pikachu crawled over, and curled up in his lap. Simon smiled, and went to sleep.
The next day, after a quick breakfast and getting dressed, Simon wandered over to Jade and asked: "How about that battle now?" A smile spread across her face, and she readily agreed. "We'll make it two-on two, okay?" he called.
"Fine," she replied, "So I'll start with Aipom" Jade threw a pokeball and out jumped a purple monkey with a fist on the end of its tail.
"Then I'll use my Pidgey!" called Simon, sending out the small bird, "It needs some training up."
"All right, Aipom start with sand-attack!" shouted Jade, but Simon simply told Pidgey:
"Fly above it, and then use Tackle." Pidgey rose into the air, the sand blasting harmlessly along below, and then took a steep dive a tackled Aipom in the face. Aipom was clearly strong, however, as it simply sprang back up, and countered with Scratch before Pidgey could fly away. Pidgey was gutsy, however, and climbed back into the air where Aipom could not reach. Or so Simon thought.
"Into that tree!" called Jade "then scratch again!" Aipom, using its tail as another arm, climbed up a nearby tree, then launched itself off the uppermost branch, right towards Pidgey! The scratch hit full on, and Pidgey was knocked out.
"Return, Pidgey," said Simon "Don't worry; you did well for your first proper battle. Fine then, I choose Pikachu!" Pikachu sprang from its pokeball, sparks already flying from its cheeks. "Let's end this quickly, with Thundershock!" Pikachu shot lightning at Aipom, too quickly to be dodged, and Aipom was out cold from a single hit.
"Fine, then for the final round, I choose Vulpix!" A small orange fox with six tails materialised and began to growl softly.
"Pikachu, use Growl!" called Simon, and Pikachu let out a deafening growl that would have put King Kong to shame. Vulpix seemed almost paralysed by fear, and Simon used this opening to attack. "Now, Thundershock!"
"Counter with ember!" came the order from Jade. The two attacks collided in the air, causing a small explosion.
"Thundershock on the tree now!" ordered Simon, and Pikachu obeyed, causing a tree branch to fall straight at Vulpix. It managed to dodge, but was hit full on by Pikachu's next Thundershock, causing a lot of damage. "Yes! Pikachu, we've got this in the bag!" called Simon, but was interrupted by Jade shouting: "Vulpix, Flail!" Immediately, Vulpix went berserk, thrashing around, hitting Pikachu hard enough to send it flying, right into the tree. Pikachu was knocked out instantly.
"But how?" Simon asked, as he returned Pikachu.
"Flail gets more powerful when the user has less health left. That Thundershock almost KO'd Vulpix, so it was extremely strong." Jade explained, "Don't worry about losing, though, that was your first battle and my fifth. I lost my first three." Slightly cheered by this thought, Simon and his new friend continued to the end of Route 101
