Part Two: Errand Girl
I left town, making my way through the thick grass with Oscar closely following. I always liked exploring the grassy areas around the town, and today was perfect for it.
"Hey, Sophie!"
"Heya, Joe. What's up?"
"Not much, busy doing some promotion work for the Viridian Poké Mart. Want a free Potion sample?"
"Sure, I guess... I dunno if I want to use it though, isn't that stuff meant to have nasty side effects?"
"Well, possibly... you'll be fine, I'm sure."
I nodded and took the Potion, slotting it into my bag. Despite Joe's assurances, I still felt a little apprehensive about using it, and made a mental note to get rid of it. Maybe I could sell it at the Mart?
"Alright, thanks. I'll see you around, I've got to get going."
I turned away from Joe as he said his farewell, heading into the next patch of grass. Just as I was about to leave it again, a Rattata leapt out, making for Oscar. For a moment I was worried, then noticed that this Rattata seemed fairly weak. Now, normally when I see a Rattata I just try to keep away from it, but this time I had a new friend.
"Oscar? What do you think?"
"Saur!" he barked, moving to place himself between the Rattata and myself. Tentatively, I asked Oscar to make an attack, and he charged towards the Rattata with the same motions that he had used against Harley's Charmander. It was clearly effective, as the Rattata was soon lying on the ground panting. Oscar didn't even have a scratch on him, looking up at me happily.
"Pity I don't have any Poké Balls, I could've tried to catch that Rattata. I do hope it'll be okay..."
I moved on, trying to put the incident out of my mind. The look on the professor's face when I'd asked him if Pokémon could die would not fade away. I broke into a run, not stopping until I reached Viridian City itself.
"Let's just get that part for the professor and get home..."
I spotted the blue roof of the Mart and headed inside, asking at the counter for the part ordered by Oak. The clerk handed over a parcel from underneath the counter, which was marked as fragile and made odd noises when tilted. The parcel, that is, not the counter. I placed the parcel inside my bag, and brought out the Potion I'd been given.
"Could I sell this?"
"Please say hi to Professor Oak for me!"
"Um... I don't think you're listening. I'd like to sell this?"
"Please say hi to Professor Oak for me!"
"Oh come on, I know you guys buy items from people, and this thing hasn't been used! Can I please just sell it?"
"Please say hi to Professor Oak for me!"
"Okay, forget it, I'll try again when your shift is up," I muttered, stowing the Potion back in my bag and heading out the door.
The trip back to Pallet is always fun, jumping down from the ledges and watching the wild Pokémon playing from a safe distance. Oscar took to it just as well as me, hopping down the ledges like a pro. Soon enough, we were safely back in the professor's laboratory.
"Here you go, Professor," I said, taking the parcel out of my bag as I spoke.
"Ah, excellent! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just go ahead and plug these into place..."
At that moment, the door crashed open, causing us both to jump. I turned to see Harley running in with a mobile phone in one hand and a Poké Ball in the other.
"Grandad! I tried calling you but your phone must be off. My Charmander is stronger than ever now!"
"Ah, that's good. Does he like you?" Oak enquired.
"Yeah, he's awesome. There was this Pidgey acting all tough and I was like, 'Charmander, are you gonna take that from some stupid Pidgey?' and he was like 'no way man' and the Pidgey was like totally lame, it never even... yeah..." Harley tailed off as Oak raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, well... Anyway. Thanks to Sophie, I've now finished both copies of my Pokédex! There's one more thing I'd like to ask of you two, and I know you'll do me proud. Take these with you. Find out about as many Pokémon as you can. Help me achieve my dream, and complete the Pokédex!"
Now, this was a massive favour to ask. I should've just said thanks, but no thanks. But Oak wasn't done yet.
"Take these Poké Balls. You can use them to catch wild Pokémon, which enables you to record complete data for them. I've got enough here for each of you to have five, which should be plenty for now. You can always buy more in any of the Poké Marts."
Poké Balls! Just a few hours earlier, I'd never had a single Pokémon. Now, I had everything I needed to have up to six! The idea took hold of me, and I accepted the Pokédex from the professor.
"I'll do my best," I said, and left, ready to go out and catch the first Pokémon I laid eyes on. Before I could reach the grass again, my phone started vibrating.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's Oak. I'm sorry to be calling so soon after you left, but this is important."
I stared at the phone. How did he get my number? Feeling more than a little worried, I put the phone back to my ear.
"What is it?"
"I've just remembered one of the new rules implemented by the Pokémon League. It might prove slightly irksome for your goal of completing the Pokédex, I'm afraid."
"What is it?" I asked, privately wishing I could think of something better to say than the same repetitive question.
"It's a very controversial rule... basically, you're only allowed to catch the first Pokémon you see in an area. Apparently it's to prevent some species going extinct, but the rule is not popular with trainers at all. However, until such a time that it gets repealed, we all have to follow it. I'm sorry."
With that, he hung up. Heading out into the grass, I suddenly remembered the Rattata that Oscar had beaten earlier. That was the first Pokémon I saw in the area, and I had wanted to catch it. I had Poké Balls to use now, and the new rule prevented me from catching anything else. Making my way through the grass, avoiding the threat of two Pidgey that had come close by, I found the place where Oscar and I had fought the battle, but the Rattata was nowhere to be seen. I felt a little sickened, and trudged slowly to Viridian City with tears welling up in my eyes.
End of Part Two
Part Three: Capturing A Pokémon
I've always loved the hustle and bustle of Viridian City, but there's only so long I can stay put before feeling the urge to go out and explore.
I decided to give Viridian Forest a miss for now, as I had seen some horror stories unfold while resting up in the Pokémon Centre. Something about a Weedle poisoning some poor Spearow to death... I was told that Oscar would be safe from poison because of his "type". I wasn't sure what that meant, so I didn't want to risk venturing into the Forest just yet.
Instead, I headed out west. I soon came across a patch of tall grass and decided to take a look at what Pokémon I could find in the area. Shortly after entering, a small brown creature leapt out at me, which the Pokédex identified as a Mankey.
"Hey, this thing is pretty useful already!" I thought to myself. "Right... let's see if I can catch this thing. Oscar, you're up!"
Oscar leapt forward, and attacked the Mankey before the command could leave my lips. It seems he's fond of battling, and good at it too, because the attack sent the Mankey flying into a rock, leaving it dazed and barely conscious. It made an attempt at hitting Oscar, but the blow was glancing at best and did little to phaze him.
"Alright, Oscar, come back!" I shouted, and threw a Poké Ball at the Mankey. It was taken inside, and I started counting the shakes. One... two... three... four! I had caught the Mankey!
The Pokédex gave a beep, and I flipped it open to see that it had automatically recorded data for the Mankey. Apparently they could be fairly short-tempered, but this particular Mankey seemed quite Modest, so I was confident in my ability to tame him.
"Alright, what shall we call you... I know! I'm going to call you Gareth. Gareth the Mankey. Yeah, that sounds good."
Gareth seemed badly hurt; the Tackle from Oscar must have hit him right in a weak spot. I decided to head back to Viridian in order to give him some rest. After actually managing to sell the Potion this time, I called it a day, and made up my mind to tackle Viridian Forest the following morning.
End of Part Three
Edit: Finished part four, editing to avoid a double post.
Part Four: To Viridian, And Beyond!
I was woken up in the morning by Gareth and Oscar playing with each other, knocking around a ball of paper they must've fished out of the bin. I lay there in bed watching the two of them, happy that they were getting along so well already. Oscar was the better of the two at the game, using small vines from his bulb to send the paper flying past Gareth's outstretched limbs. Watching the game progress, I realised that some training would be in order for Gareth, and so headed south back to Route 1.
Gareth was not as keen as Oscar was when it came to battling, and sometimes needed to be helped in battle in order to pull through. Oscar became stronger through these battles, and his bulb became a little larger. Every now and again, some seeds popped out of the top and lay on the ground. The Pokédex identified this as the Leech Seed technique, capable of healing the user while damaging the target.
After resting up once more, I decided to head up towards Viridian Forest. On the way, I was stopped by an old guy wittering on about coffee. I was just trying to ignore him, but he moved to cut me off and grabbed my bag, rummaging through it and pulling out the Pokédex. He seemed to know all about the device, which seemed a little odd... hadn't Professor Oak only just finished it yesterday? He then seemed to think that I wasn't capable of catching Pokémon, and insisted on showing me how to do so. I thought Oak was inappropriate... this guy is clearly trying to get somewhere with me.
I was unable to run away, as the man was still clutching my Pokédex. Sending out a Weedle, he then threw a Poké Ball at it, recapturing it. He then presented me with a portable television, which really started to freak me out. Was he trying to buy me? At that, I grabbed my Pokédex out of his hands and ran off towards Route 2.
Upon coming across another patch of tall grass, I thought I'd try my luck at catching a third Pokémon. After walking around in circles for a little while, a small Rattata appeared. The sight of it brought back memories of the first Rattata in Route 1, and I became determined to capture it. Oscar growled at the Rattata, but I decided to let Gareth have at it, and before long David the Rattata had joined Oscar, Gareth and me. David seemed grateful for the company, as he had been rather Lonely before. He was weakened, but by no means out for the count after the battle, so I decided to stick around for one or two more battles before heading back to Viridian to rest up once more.
David's first battle was against a Pidgey that didn't seem much stronger than David himself. However, not wanting to risk his life this early on, I quickly switched him out for Oscar. According to the Pokédex, a Pidgey this weak would not yet know any moves that would work well against Oscar, so it seemed safe enough.
Oscar's new Leech Seed technique proved effective, regularly absorbing health from the Pidgey. It wasn't long at all before the Pidgey went down. After one more battle, however, Oscar wasn't looking good, and I headed back to Viridian City one last time.
I was getting tired of all the backtracking (not to mention the increasing prices at the Pokémon Centre) and made up my mind to head straight into Viridian Forest. I was nervous, but I knew there was no point in hanging around. Besides, Oscar was immune to the poison, right? Bolstered by that thought, I entered the forest and was almost immediately ambushed by a strange Pokémon encased in a yellow shell, identified as a Kakuna. Apparently it would be unable to attack in this state, so I sent out David, reasoning that he was in little danger.
As the battle wore on, David's attacks were dealing less and less damage to the Kakuna. Weakening it as much as possible, I threw a Poké Ball, expecting an easy catch. But no! The Kakuna broke free! Staring at the broken pieces of the wasted ball, I lost my temper. How could this creature, almost incapable of movement, break free? Instead of trying again, I ordered David to attack the Kakuna, causing the shell to break. The little movement that was occurring soon stopped. It was at that moment that I realised that I was starting to enjoy this. I remembered how I felt after killing that Rattata back in Route 1. I had been mortified. Now, in the same situation, I felt victorious. When did this change happen, and how had it come about so quickly?
I packed up my things, and continued through the forest. David seemed to have grown much stronger after defeating the Kakuna, so I made a note to see how Gareth would handle the forest. No sooner had I thought this when a noise came from my right. A trainer had spotted me!
"Go! Weedle!"
Two words that struck horror into my heart. Weedle. The Pokémon that had killed the Spearow I'd seen in Viridian City. I quickly reneged on my thoughts of sending out Gareth, instead taking comfort in the safety of Oscar's poison immunity.
"Weedle, use Poison Sting!"
My choice to switch to Oscar was clearly a good one. Oscar winced slightly from the attack, but he had clearly been unaffected by the poisonous side-effects.
"You think that'll save you? Weedle, hit that thing with a String Shot!"
On these words, the Weedle shot a web at Oscar, slowing his movement momentarily. He broke through the web and charged at the Weedle, taking it out with a powerful blow.
"Weedle! No!" the boy cried, the strain of losing his Pokémon etched across his face. The pained expression was soon replaced with one of determination.
"I'm not done yet... Caterpie, it's your turn!"
Now, this one was new to me, but the Pokédex pointed out the lack of a poisonous barb. I felt it was safe to bring out Gareth again, and called Oscar back to my side.
Gareth glared at the Caterpie, eying up its foe. Just as it went to attack, the Caterpie shot out a web, similar to the one used by the late Weedle. It wasn't enough to stop the attack, however, and Gareth slashed out at the bug, leaving red lacerations in his wake. In seconds, it was lying on the ground, bucking around like a fish out of water. It was a grim sight.
The boy looked sad, but nodded at me as if to say, "Good game." It was like he'd been through this all before. It occurred to me that he probably had, and I mentioned this to him.
"Well, it happens, you know? Sometimes you lose those that are close to you. Here, your reward for your victory," he said, handing over some coins out of his pocket. "Take care."
I felt sorry for the boy. I know I would've been devastated to lose any of my own Pokémon. Watching the three of them walking along together, I realised just how dependant I was on them already. I didn't want to lose them, and I knew it would be risky making my way through this forest, but I was determined. I had to do this. I had to.
Making my way through the forest was made considerably easier by the efforts of David, who was extremely skilled at fleeing combat when necessary. If it was not for this, Weedle would have torn us all apart easily. The ones that could not be escaped from due to trainer battles were dealt with effectively by Oscar, whose resistance to Poison saved the day. I was proud of my team and proud of myself for making it through.
At long last, the Pewter City Pokémon Centre came into sight. I paid the extortionate fees and gratefully settled into a bed for the night. It had been a long day.
End of Part Four
Current Team:
Oscar the male Bulbasaur (Level 8), Quirky Nature (neutral)
Ability: Overgrow
Moveset: Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed
Gareth the male Mankey (Level 6), Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
Ability: Vital Spirit
Moveset: Scratch, Leer, Low Kick
David the male Rattata (Level 6), Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
Ability: Run Away
Moveset: Tackle, Tail Whip
Boxed Pokémon (Alive):
Dead Pokémon:
Pokémon Centre Used: 4 times
That's pretty much the worst possible nature I could've gotten for Gareth, typical really. At least I got a decent nature for David, and his ability, while not the best for battling, did come in handy going through Viridian Forest.
