If a Pokemon faints, IT DIES.

Only the first Pokemon in a dungeon floor or route can be caught.

Yadda yadda nicknames.

You KNOW all these, why should I bother telling you...?

A small group of Pidgey flew through the sky. They were carefree, letting the wind take them wherever they were going. They could go wherever they wanted on this peaceful day.

Soon, the same could be said about me. I had already put on my travel outfit--a white jacket and a black fedora, along with denim cutoffs.

I was laying on the grass near my house in Pallet Town. It was a small, quiet town; not many people visited, and those who did were just here to ask something from the Professor. Everyday life here wasn't very exciting. Not many people lived here, either. I wondered often why my mom had insisted on moving here.

I got up. This wasn't just part of everyday life in Pallet Town. Today was the day that me and my friend, Perry, would get our first Pokemon. We had often talked about Pokemon, and sometimes I even dreamed about going on a journey. But it wasn't just for the sake of going on a journey.

For the longest time, I've wanted to get into writing. I can't decide what to write about, though. I don't know if I want to write children's books, fantasies, biographies, or anything. All I know is that I want to write. Maybe if I go on an adventure, I'll be able to decide what I want.

I walked to and entered Professor Oak's lab. It was a considerably larger building than the other buildings in town, which made sense considering that the other buildings were just houses. There was a table near the far wall, upon which rested three Poke Balls. There was a lot of equipment in the lab that would only make sense to a person that had been around it all his life. I didn't for the life of me understand what half of the equipment was for.

"Hello, Eric!" Oak said cheerfully, waving me over. I walked over to the table.

"Isn't Perry here yet?" I asked. It wasn't like him to be late.

"Don't get impatient. He'll turn up."

I pulled out a chair that was next to Oak's PC and sat down. I knew Oak was right, but today was the day we got our first Pokemon. Why would he choose today of all days to not show up on time?

"Hmm...it's probably Daisy that's holding him up. You know how she can be," Oak said thoughtfully. I nodded. "But...just because he's not here on time doesn't mean I have to hold YOU up."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I was going to let Perry pick first, but the early bird gets the worm. So go ahead, pick a Pokemon."

I stood up. Against my better judgement, I hadn't thought about which Pokemon I wanted. "Can I meet them first?" I asked.

"Of course. Press the buttons to let them out."

I picked up the three Poke Balls and pressed the buttons in the centers. Three white blasts of energy emerged from the spheres. One materialized into a quadrupedal dinosaur--a Bulbasaur. It had a large bulb on its back, and its large red eyes peered at me curiously. Its green skin was spotted sparsely with blue patches. One turned into a small turtle--a Squirtle--which stood on its hind legs. Its shell was the shade of milk chocolate on the top and sand on the bottom. Its eyes and smile showed its confidence. The last turned into a lizard-looking Pokemon--a Charmander. Its mouth sported sharp canine teeth. It had orange skin, and smiled cheerily. The tip of its tail was ablaze.

"These Pokemon are extremely rare," Oak said. "Choose wisely. It's unlikely that you'll ever find any of these in the wild."

"They all look cool," I said softly. "I should've thought more about this..."

"Well, you'd better choose fast if you don't want Perry to get here," Oak laughed.

I looked all three Pokemon in the eyes. Bulbasaur looked like it was scared, for some reason. Squirtle looked a bit reckless. Charmander looked like it was ready to take on the world.

"I really can't decide...I'll just let Lady Luck do it for me." I closed my eyes, turned what I thought was a circle, and extended my hand. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my hand was touching Charmander's head.

"So you'll take Charmander, then? I should warn you, he's quite energetic."

Charmander smiled and climbed up my arm, then hung onto my shoulder. "My name's Caesar," he said.

"Wait a minute, what?" I asked.

"My name. It's Caesar," Charmander said with a laugh. "What, are you hard of hearing or something?"

"You...can talk?"

"What are you talking about, Eric?" Oak asked.

"This Charmander...is talking. Can't you hear him?"

"Don't be silly, Eric. Pokemon can't talk."

"You can understand me?" Caesar asked.

"No, Professor, he is speaking! In English! I'm--"

"Hey Gramps," Perry said as he opened the door. He was about my height, seeing as how we were the same age. He had blonde hair that was windswept to one side. He wore a blue jacket and jeans. "Sorry I'm late. Daisy kept reminding me to write her, and stuff like that." He looked at Caesar, who was still hanging on to my shoulder. "Aww, what? You gave Eric a Pokemon before me?"

"To be fair, Perry, you were late," Oak said. "It's an important lesson that you have to arrive early to reap the benefits of the reward."

"It wasn't really my fault," Perry replied, rolling his eyes. "But whatever. It's done now. I'll take Squirtle."

The Squirtle walked towards Perry, while Bulbasaur looked disappointed.

"You thought your decision through, didn't you, Perry?" Oak asked.

"Yeah. I decided that Squirtle would be easiest to train."

"Well, if it's what you think is right, then I don't want to try to sway your decision." Oak turned towards his desk and rummaged through the drawers, then turned back to us. "There's something I want to ask you two before you leave."

"Is this about that noodle incident again?" Perry asked.

"No, Perry. That was four years ago. Anyway, I have here my newest invention. I call it a Pokedex." Oak held out a small, red rectangle. It had a circular lens on it. "It's a superpowered encyclopedia! Whenever you see a Pokemon in the wild, it records data based on it."

"Get to the point," Caesar said from my shoulder. I suppressed laughter.

"Way back when, my dream was to make a complete guide on all the Pokemon that live in Kanto. But now I'm too old. Would you two do it for me?" Oak asked us.

"I'd be happy to," I replied. "It gives us an excuse to go on an adventure. And it's the least I can do, since you gave us these Pokemon."

"Sure, Grandpa," Perry added. "It's not like we have any other motivation."

"What about the Pokemon League?" I asked.

"That goes without saying."

"Thank you both," Oak said. "Your own journey begins today! You must be excited!"

"Hey Eric!" Perry exclaimed. "We just got these little guys, right? We should have 'em fight to the death!"

"Couldn't that have pretty major consequences?" I asked.

"Go get 'im, Squirtle!" Perry yelled, ignoring me completely.

"Ugh...fine, have it your way. Let's see what you can do, Caesar."

"I'll make you proud!" Caesar said with a diabolical grin. He hopped off my shoulder and landed on the ground, then walked forward to face Squirtle.

Caesar and Perry's Squirtle stared each other down. They looked ready to fight, despite being in the same lab and being friends for however long the Professor had them.

"Sorry about this," Squirtle said to Caesar.

"Don't be," Caesar replied. "We can still be friends, after all. Just because we're parts of different teams doesn't mean we have to reject each other. Now let's show our owners what we can do!"

I looked at the Pokedex. Caesar only knew two moves: Scratch and Growl. "OK Caesar, let's fight smarter and not harder. Use Growl," I told him.

Caesar curled up the corner of his mouth and let out a growl from between his teeth. Squirtle looked a bit scared.

"Don't take that from him! Use Tail Whip!" Perry yelled.

Squirtle turned his back to Caesar and wagged his tail rapidly. Caesar looked slightly confused.

"And that just made using Growl moot," I muttered. "Fine then. Use Scratch."

Caesar ran forth and raked across Squirtle's stomach with his sharp claws. Squirtle backed up a few steps, but came back.

"Keep using Tail Whip," Perry said.

Squirtle repeated the process from before.

This went on for a little while, until Squirtle finally fell over, unconscious.

"I remember my first battle," Oak said with a laugh. "It is the gateway to many more, exciting journeys and battles that you will face. Treasure it always."

"I dunno, Professor," I said. "It was more like a play fight than a real battle."

"Ah, the innocence of youth," Oak chuckled. "Pokemon are not to be underestimated, I assure you. They are incredibly powerful creatures. Even your starter Pokemon, though they may not be that strong now, will grow into powerful warriors. But not if you don't go on your journey!"

"All right, let's get started on this already!" Perry said. "I'm gonna get a map from my sister. She should have two, so you can get one if you need it, Eric." With that, he recalled Squirtle to its Poke Ball and left the lab.

"Eric, before you go, can I get you to go to Viridian City and pick up a Parcel? Normally, I'd do it myself, but I'll be busy with labwork for the next few hours."

"Yeah, that sounds easy," I replied. "Ready to hit the road, Caesar?"

Caesar nodded. "This'll be fun!"

"Glad to hear it." I let Caesar climb up my arm and hang on to my shoulder, and left the lab.

"So are we gonna get that parcel first?" Caesar asked.

"Nah, we'll need a map if we want to get anywhere," I replied. "And you heard what Perry said."

I walked over to Perry's house and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Perry was the one to answer it.

"Oh hey," he said. "Daisy's a bit delirious, I think. You'd better watch what you say while you're in there."

"Umm...sure?" I was confused.

"Well, anyway...it's time for me to get going. Later." Perry left his house and went north, towards Route 1.

I went inside, and saw Daisy. She was pretty--she had blond hair, the same color as Perry's, that went to her shoulders. She wore a white vest with a green shirt under it, and a green skirt. She was only a few years older than Perry, but after his parents went missing, she stood up and took charge. She did everything around the house and made sure Perry was safe, and that was impressive. It also probably explained why she was sitting at the table with a worried expression on her face.

"Hi, Daisy. Perry said you had a spare Town Map," I said.

"Huh? Oh, hey, Eric. Here," Daisy replied. She handed me what looked like a small laptop computer. I opened it, and a holographic map of Kanto was lit up on the screen.

"Thanks," I said. "Are you gonna be OK?"

"Yeah, I'll survive," she sighed. "It's just...Perry leaving reminds me of our parents. He's grown up so fast. I just want to know he'll be safe."

I considered this for a little bit. Perry was one of the most resilient people I knew. If anyone were to be safe going across Kanto, it'd be him. But Daisy was still worried about him, and it would probably help to comfort her.

"I'll keep an eye on him for you," I offered. "If he gets hurt, I'll be the first to know and you won't have to worry about a thing."

Daisy smiled. "You'd do that?"

"Of course," I said. "That's what friends are for."

"Thank you," she replied. "Well, you'd better get going. Wouldn't want Perry to get too far ahead, would you?"

"I know, I know," I laughed. "Let's go, Caesar."

Caesar waved goodbye to Daisy, and we left the house.

"That was a good thing you did there," Caesar told me.

"Yeah, well, people in this region have to stick together. It's a dangerous world out there."

"You didn't just tell her that to ease her stress, did you?"

"No. When I make a promise, I keep it."

I walked through the trees and entered Route 1, Caesar on my shoulder.

"Ok, if we take it slow, Pokemon shouldn't jump out of us," I said quietly, looking at the tall grass. I lifted my leg and very slowly lowered it towards the grass. The instant my foot touched, however, a Rattata jumped out and attacked me.

"You must be kidding," Caesar sighed. He jumped off my shoulder and swiped the rat with his claws, knocking it down. It didn't get back up. "Let that be an example to the rest of them."

"Ok, so obviously slow and steady doesn't work. Let's just make a break for it," I said.

"I'm on board," Caesar replied, chuckling.

I sprinted through the grass. After a little bit, though, I noticed that literally every step I took added a Rattata or a Pidgey to the mob of wild Pokemon chasing me.

"You have GOT to be joking!" I exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Caesar said. He jumped into the air. I turned to watch him, and he suddenly spun in a circle. Several small fireballs flew off of his tail and slammed into the mob. They caught fire, and Caesar landed on his feet as gracefully as he could.

"Whoa," I said. I looked at Caesar's status screen in the Pokedex. Apparently, he had learned Ember. "That's amazing!"

"I'm inventive with it, aren't I? Most Fire-types just throw fireballs from their mouths," Caesar said, dusting himself off. He climbed back onto my shoulder. "Viridian's in sight now. Let's go!"

I nodded, and we walked into Viridian City.

Viridian City wasn't anything new to me. I used to come here often with my mom to shop for groceries. Despite that, however many times I came here, it was always a beautiful metropolis. The trees were always green, no matter the season; the townsfolk were lively, and the city was bustling; the city was laid out so going from place to place wasn't too difficult, save the Gym.

"So this is Viridian City?" Caesar asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "It's a nice place to visit, but we won't be here for too long."

"Yeah, I know. We need to get the Parcel and go, and that's it."

I scratched my head through my hat. "Well, we'll have to pass through here again to get to Pewter City."

"Pewter City?"

"That's where we get our first Badge. I'll explain more later, if you don't pick up on it."

Caesar shrugged and remained silent. I walked towards the Mart, Caesar on my shoulder. As I walked in front of the doors, they opened automatically.

"Hey! You entered my store, right?" the clerk asked. "You must be from Pallet Town!"

"Um...what?" I asked.

"Come here for a sec."

Confused, I walked up to the counter. The clerk rummaged around in the counter's drawers for a few minutes, then produced a box. "Professor Oak's special order came in. Can I get you to deliver it for me?"

"Uh...sure?" I asked, still confused.

"Thanks." The clerk gave me the box. "We aren't selling anything at the moment, I'm afraid."

I shrugged and left the store. Once outside, Caesar climbed onto my head.

"Back to Route 1, eh?" he asked me.

"No, that's not what he said at all," I replied sarcastically. I walked towards the south end of town.

Getting through Route 1 was much easier this way. It was an uphill path from Pallet Town to Viridian, but the opposite was true from Viridian to Pallet. There were ledges that were just high enough to jump from, and we were able to get through without stepping in the tall grass. Before we knew it, we were home again. Not wasting any time, I went to and entered the Professor's lab.

"Oh, you're back!" Oak said. "Did you get the Parcel?"

"Yeah," I replied. I walked over and put it on his lab table. "It was no trouble."

"Well, thank you for picking that up for me. I don't want to keep you. I have nothing else to say to you except...good luck."

"Thank you," I said. "C'mon, Caesar. It's time to hit the road."

"Oh yes! I almost forgot. Take these before you go." Oak handed me a small pouch. I opened it and saw that it contained five Poke Balls. "You'll need those to catch more Pokemon."

"Thanks."

I left the lab and walked back towards Route 1, prepared to catch a new Pokemon.

Interesting question about travel scenes. One thing I noticed about the trip from Viridian back to Pallet Town was that you summarized the journey as it was happening, making several hours pass in the span of one paragraph. The paragraphs before and after this are just dialogue and cover maybe a few seconds each. Thus, the story proceeds from slow pace -> fast pace -> slow pace, making it sort of jarring to read. In general, it's best to keep a smooth and steady pace the whole way through -- in other words, to always write scenes in real time.

The simplest way to do this would be to make the traveling portion a scene by itself, and talk about Eric stumbling over ledges for a while. Of course, since only one part of the short journey is notable (the steep ledges), this scene might turn out kind of boring.

So probably the best option here is to add some exposition on the trip while Eric is still in Viridian City, or after he arrives back in Pallet Town, and then just have a scene cut between the two towns. For example, you could have Eric brag to Caesar about this awesome shortcut he knows, and then cut away to Pallet Town with him nursing a bruised ankle. Or you could cut to Pallet Town right away and just have the first-person narrator reminisce (in real-time) about what the journey was like.

I stared at the tall grass before us. Before, it had been borderline evil, what with all the Rattata and Pidgey trying to kill us. Now, though, I wondered if it would be any different.

Apparently I'd been staring at it for a while, because Caesar started waving his hands in front of my face.

"Let's get a move on," he said. "Are you going to catch something or not?"

"Of course I am!" I replied. "But I have to be careful. If we run into something too weak, we might accidentally kill it...and we don't exactly get a second chance."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Caesar said. I sighed, knowing he was right. I stepped into the grass. Surprisingly, nothing popped out.

"Well that's new," I said. "Ok, now to step to the next patch--"

"Hello!" I heard a high-pitched voice say. I turned around suddenly and saw a small Rattata. It was looking into my eyes with a smile on its face. Its whiskers twitched, and its purple fur was smooth.

"Hi," I said. "What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you your name if you can't understand me?"

"Good point."

"Yeah, it is."

I paused for a second, giving that time to sink in. Suddenly, the Rattata's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute, you can understand me?!" she asked.

"Yep!"

"In that case, I'm Aeris!" the Rattata said with a wide smile. "It's good to meet you!"

"I'm Eric," I replied. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Where would we be going?"

"We'll be going all over! Kanto is our racetrack, and we're in first place!"

"Basically he means we're gonna see the world," Caesar said.

"That sounds like fun!" Aeris had a wide smile on her face. "I'd be happy to tag along!"

Aeris climbed up my arm and sat on my left shoulder, while Caesar moved from my head to my right shoulder. Surprisingly, both of them combined were still no more burden on my shoulders than my bag. That was undoubtedly because they were practically babies.

"Enjoy that while you can," I said to both of them. "When you evolve, that's not gonna work."

"What's evolution?" Caesar asked.

"You don't know? I always assumed Pokemon would know about evolution. Well, hang on a second. It's a bit hard to explain, but I have my research books with me."

I dropped to my knees and took my bag off, then put it on the ground in front of me and rummaged through it. Caesar and Aeris climbed off of my shoulders as I did so. Eventually, I pulled out a large book called "Pokemon Facts."

"I seriously hope you aren't relying on a book," Caesar said incredulously.

"They're my trade. I have to read a lot if I want to become a writer," I explained. "And I thought, why not read about Pokemon?" I opened the book to the Table of Contents, and then flipped to the section about evolution. "Here we go. 'After going through extensive training, some species of Pokemon will undergo a process known as evolution. Visual cues are a white glow and a change in appearance, which can be subtle, drastic, or anywhere in between. When a Pokemon evolves, it becomes much stronger. However, it also learns new techniques at a slower pace if they evolve by age. Some Pokemon stop learning new techniques altogether--most notable in Pokemon that evolve by evolutionary Stones. However--'"

"We get it," Caesar and Aeris said simultaneously.

"Sorry! Sorry," I said, putting the book away. "I get caught up reading Shauntal's work."

"Shauntal?" Caesar asked.

"She's the one who wrote that book. And a lot of other great stuff too." Looking back, I imagine at this point, if we were in an anime, my eyes would be sparkling. "She's smart, strong, and a great writer! She's everything I want to be when I'm her age!"

My partners looked confused. "Can we just go?" Caesar asked.

"Ahem. Yeah, sorry about that." I took out my Town Map, then put my bag back on. "Let's see...we should be able to get two or three more Pokemon in this general area. There's Route 22 to the east of Viridian, and then there's Route 2 and Viridian Forest to the north. Where should we go first?"

"Your call, boss," Caesar said with a shrug. "You know more about this place than we do."

"In that case, let's head to Route 22! Sometimes the locals see Mankey there!" I started walking. Caesar and Aeris weren't far behind.

After a fairly uneventful trip through Route 1, we made it back to Viridian. The city was still bustling and nothing had changed, so we went east, towards Route 22. When we got there, something felt different than the other routes.

"Anyone else get the feeling that this place is important?" I asked.

"Should we?" Caesar replied.

"I think I know," a voice said. Suddenly, a ball of cream-colored fur with limbs and a face walked up--a Mankey. "This route is situated near the Pokemon League, where trainers put their skills to the test. It's the ultimate goal of all Trainers."

"Really? That's cool!" I exclaimed. "We should go there!"

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," the Mankey said. "You need eight Badges to get through the gate. And as I'm sure you know, you'll need allies for such a grand undertaking."

"I think I see where this is going," I said. "What's your name?"

"Leona, at your service," Mankey replied with a bow.

"Aren't you surprised that I can understand you?"

"No, not really. Not much surprises me." Leona scratched her head. "Then again, learning that Dragon was a Special-based type was pretty surprising."

"Isn't that breaking the fourth wall?"

"In a sense, it probably is. Does it matter?"

"I suppose not. It's not like that's gonna tear apart existence or something."

"So what's our next move?"

"We should train before we do anything. We're only just beginning to climb the ladder, but when we're done with Kanto, we'll be at the top!"

Caesar and Leona raised their fists. Aeris, not having hands, raised her front paw instead, but lost her balance and fell over. This gave us all a laugh.

We spent a long while on Route 22 to train. Aeris eventually learned how to charge forth as if she'd been fired from a cannon, and Leona learned how to kick an enemy's feet to knock them over, as well as a basic karate chop. Aside from that, it was several lengthy hours, so I'll spare you the details.

As the sun started to go down, Perry suddenly came up. "Oh, hey, Eric!" he said, and waved at me.

"Perry! I was wondering where you'd gotten to," I said to him. "My team is just finishing up here." I gestured towards Leona, who punted a nearby Pidgey into the sky.

"Seems you've got a solid lineup," Perry said thoughtfully, looking my team over. "What do you say we have a battle?"

"You're so on! Get ready to lose!"

Perry took a Poke Ball off of his belt, and a Pidgey not unlike the one Leona had kicked just now materialized. However, this one looked considerably more imposing.

"I've got this one!" Caesar said with a laugh, and ran in front of me, facing the Pidgey. They stared each other down and prepared to fight.

Caesar made the first move. He breathed fire onto his hand and ran forth. Pidgey tried to dodge, but Caesar tore into its flesh with his fiery claws. Pidgey barely got up and tried to tackle Caesar. He moved out of the way.

"Too slow," Caesar said tauntingly, and bashed Pidgey on the head with his tail. It was down for the count.

"OK, that was awesome," Perry said. "But let's see your Charmander beat Squirtle!"

"Go, Aeris!" I yelled. As Perry threw Squirtle's Poke Ball, Aeris ran forth from where she was watching and bared her impressive teeth. Squirtle came out of his Poke Ball, a smile on his face.

"Tail Whip!" we both said in unison. Both our Pokemon turned around and wagged their tails rapidly. This happened three times.

"This is kinda boring," Perry said.

"Yeah, but it's getting me somewhere." I looked at Aeris. "Quick Attack."

Aeris stepped back and readied herself to run. Squirtle looked as if it was about to attack, but Aeris suddenly sprung forward. Faster than either of us could see, she slammed into Squirtle's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He fell over.

"Whoa," Perry said. "These guys really ARE tough."

"Yeah, they are. I guess this could be considered our first real battle, huh?"

"Yeah. So, what's your next move?"

I took out my Town Map and looked at it. Pewter was the next town, but to get there, we had to go through Viridian Forest. "I'm gonna head to Pewter," I said. "The first Gym is there. You should head there too."

"I suppose," Perry replied. "Not looking forward to Viridian Forest, though."

"I dunno, I kinda like bugs...anyway, I'm going. You guys better head back to Viridian."

"I was planning on it." Perry returned his unconscious Pokemon and headed east, towards town.

"That was easy," Aeris said.

"Well, we've been doing a lot of training. It's only natural that we'd have an easy time of it," Leona replied.

"Easy for you to say!" Caesar said with a laugh. "You didn't even fight!"

"Which just goes to show how easy it was," Leona retorted.

Caesar looked like he was about to say something in return, but then looked bewildered. "I...I guess you're right."

"We could sit here and talk till the cows come home, but now we need to get going." I let Aeris and Caesar climb onto my shoulders. Leona looked like she was thinking about something, then started climbing up my arm as well. When she got beside Aeris, however, she jumped up and landed on my head.

"I must look like a crazy person," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Do you guys need to hit up the Pokemon Center before we go to the forest?"

"Nope," my three Pokemon said in unison.

"Good, good. Let's get going, then."

I hiked back to Viridian City. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, so I headed north on the walkway. However, I was stopped by an old man.

"Hey, sonneh! Do yah need ta know how t' catch a Pokerman?" he asked.

"Um...no?" I replied.

"Ya only have three! Tha's sure evid'nce thatcha do!"

"...Are you ok?"

"Course I am! I just had a buncha coffee!" He turned around. "Oh look, a Weedle!"

"Let's just sneak away while he's distracted," I whispered. I tiptoed down the path as the old man repeatedly threw balls of trash at the Weedle.

We passed by an apartment building on the way out of town. It sounded like there was a heated argument on the third floor. None of us could tell what they were saying, and that was probably a good thing. Suddenly, though, there was a huge crash. A TV was thrown out of the window. It landed directly in front of me.

"Sweet mother of god!" I exclaimed. If I had been walking a little faster I probably would've died. "I think that old man just sort of saved us!"

"How is the TV not broken?" Leona asked. The Pokemon were clearly as shaken as I was, but Leona did a good job of hiding it.

I got on my knees to investigate the TV. Under the screen, there was a brand name. It read Nokia, and suddenly it all made sense.

"W-well, we'd better go before they throw a couch out here or something," I said. I got up and walked away. Before long, we were in Route 2.

Route 2 was eerily quiet. I felt a terrible sense of foreboding.

"Anyone else feel that?" I asked.

"Yeah...it's definitely a bit too quiet here. We should at least hear Pidgey chirping," Aeris replied.

"Someone say my name?" I heard a female voice say.

I turned around. I looked down, and a Pidgey was looking right back at me. It seemed to be happy.

"Hey there," I said. "Do you live here? Can you tell us what's going on?"

"I do live here. The name's Pandora!" Pandora looked around. "I think the coast is clear. It's quiet around here because a gang of Weedle drove out all the Trainers with Poison Sting attacks. And by 'gang,' I pretty much mean 'swarm.' There are no less than 20 in their ragtag group."

"That's not good. Is there some way we can get by without them seeing us?" Caesar asked.

"I can't say for certain. But if you make a run for it, you should be able to make it to that guardhouse. Viridian Forest is on the other side." Pandora hesitated. "I'd like to go with you, if I can. This place just doesn't feel like home anymore. You know what I mean?"

"Sure, you can tag along," I replied. "I don't have any more room up here, though."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll just fly." Pandora flapped her wings and took to the air, coming up to my head.

"Let's not waste time, then." I ran towards the guardhouse, and Pandora flew beside me. We didn't get far, however, before Pandora suddenly fell.

"Son of a--ugh!" Pandora exclaimed. "A Poison Sting!"

"Pandora, are you all right?!"

"N...no...I'm poisoned..."

"What are you people doing here?!" a gruff voice asked. I turned around to see a large group of Weedle. "Humans aren't allowed here any more!"

"What did you do to Pandora?! She was innocent!" Leona yelled, outraged.

"She sided with a human. She's an enemy!"

"What did humans do to you?!" I demanded.

"We aren't going to explain ourselves. You have five seconds to go back where you came from!"

Caesar's tail blazed hotter. "You dirty--"

"Caesar!" I yelled. He stopped and looked at me, surprised. "Let's just go. There's no reason to get them more riled up." I turned to the Weedle. "We're going to the forest now. We'll be out of your hair."

"Good. You'd better be gone when we return." The Weedle turned to crawl away. As soon as they were gone, Caesar glared at me.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. "I would've let them have it. They deserved it."

"I know they did, Caesar...but I have a better plan. Trust me."

Aeris jumped down from my shoulder and down to Pandora. She put her tail on the bird's neck, then shook her head. "She doesn't have a pulse."

"I guess this just goes to show we have to be more careful." I let Aeris climb back onto my shoulder. "Let's hit the forest."

We walked the rest of the way to Viridian Forest's guardhouse. There was a table and a few chairs, so I sat down. My Pokemon hopped down to the table.

"What do you think happened? Weedle aren't usually that violent," Leona wondered.

"I have no idea." I saw that Aeris was standing on a newspaper. "Aeris, could you move for a sec?"

Aeris moved, and I picked up the newspaper. It was on the front page already. In big text, it read, "Poachers attack Route 2."

"Guys...I think I know why this happened."

My Pokemon sat down to listen. It was clear that they wanted me to read out loud.

"Poachers Attack Route 2," I began. "Two days ago, a small group of poachers came to Route 2. They called themselves Team Rocket, and wore black outfits emblazoned with a red R. A quote from an eyewitness said they killed several Pokemon, calling them weak. They also caught several dozen Rattata, taking them to who-knows-where. More on page 5a."

We were all silent. This needed time to sink in.

"What should we do about it, then?" Caesar asked.

"For now, nothing. Until we find the poachers, we can't do anything about it. But when we do, we'll kick their asses." I smiled. "It's getting pretty late. Let's catch something in the forest, then sleep in the guardhouse. And yes, Leona, that is allowed," I added, as I saw Leona raise her hand. After I said that, she promptly put it down.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" Caesar said. "Not a bug in that forest will survive an Ember."

"The only reason we're even going right now is to catch something. You shouldn't kill them," Aeris scolded.

"Implying Ember is my only move."

Aeris and Leona got on their respective spots as I got up from the chair. Caesar jumped to the floor and lead the way to the forest.

The sun was setting, so the forest canopy blocked out much of the light. The light that did break through the trees came in orange shafts. It made the whole forest look orange. The shadows of the trees formed a complicated web that danced as the breeze flowed through the woods. That was a great way to describe it, I thought. I made a mental note to write it down.

"So, should we look for a Weedle or a Caterpie?" Leona asked.

"Weedle for sure. They may be harder to train, but they get really strong after their cocoon stage," Aeris said.

"Yeah, but we need a level head on the team. Butterfree are really calm most of the time," Caesar pointed out. "Well, except maybe that one in the hat."

"Which one in what hat?" Leona asked.

"You know, the one with the...crap, her name's on the tip of my tongue..."

"Will you guys keep it down?" someone demanded. "Some of us are trying to sleep." The source of the voice was a Weedle with a red ribbon tied around her stinger. She was glaring at us.

"Looks like voting time is over," Caesar said.

"Hey, wait a sec. Did you guys come from Route 2?" the Weedle asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Did you see a Pidgey named Pandora? We were supposed to pick up dinner, but she never showed."

I hesitated. "Um...well...see here..."

"A bunch of poachers went to Route 2," Caesar interrupted. "A group of wild Weedle were riled up, and in their rage, they killed her."

The Weedle was silent for a while. "...And are you going after the poachers?"

"It's on our to-do list, yeah," I replied.

"In that case, I'll come with you," the Weedle said. "Call me Ronin."

"Good to meet you," Aeris said. "I'm Aeris, and these are Eric, Caesar, and Leona."

Ronin looked us over, appearing to be studying us. Then she crawled over to me. She crawled up my leg and onto my shoulder.

"That's my spot!" Caesar protested.

"I don't see your flag on it," Ronin replied.

"Whatever happened to 'no man is an island?'" I asked no one. "Let's head to the guardhouse. Today was a pretty eventful day."

The morning sun attacked my eyes through the window of the guardhouse, forcing me to stir. The guardhouse's bench was uncomfortable, and I was stiff all over. I stood up and stretched, relaxing my muscles. Caesar and the others were still asleep, save Ronin, who was pacing on the wall.

"Morning, Ronin," I said cheerily.

Ronin seemed surprised that I was awake. "You're up early," she said. "It's not even seven o'clock yet."

"Tell the sun that," I said. "As long as you're up, come with me. I have a plan to get you caught up with the others on the team. You're a bit stronger than the Weedle on Route 2, aren't you?"

"Yeah, if it's one-on-one I can take 'em in a second. Why?"

"Well, it just so happens that a group of Route 2 Weedle have been causing trouble for the Trainers. We would've taken care of them already, but..." I smirked. "I figured it would give you the training you needed to evolve if you did it."

Ronin's eyes lit up. "That's not a bad idea!" She crawled off of the wall and onto my shoulder. "I'm looking forward to evolution. And I already know how it works, because the forest residents see an evolution every so often."

"The Kakuna and the Metapod, no doubt." I walked south through the doors, onto Route 2. "Let's start by getting the Weedle to come out."

"How long should it take?" Ronin asked. "I can't wait to get revenge on these bastards."

"Oh, it's you," a familiar voice said sharply. "I thought we told you to scram."

Two Weedle came up. They were indisputably part of the gang from before. They looked at Ronin, however, and froze in fear. "R-r-ronin?!"

"Wait, I remember you..." Ronin said thoughtfully. "Aah, you were that little pipsqueak I used to throw in the trash can, huh? So what, you have a gang now?"

"Why are you on Route 2?" the second Weedle asked. This one's voice was smoother than the first, but still distinctly male. "You live in the forest, don't you?"

"Oh, sure. But let's just say I'm going on a world tour, and this is my first stop." Ronin crawled to the ground. "Which one of you was it?"

"What are you on about?" the first Weedle asked.

"Which one of you killed that Pidgey yesterday?"

"That was me. She sided with that filthy, vile human, so she--"

Ronin had heard enough. She immediately ran the enemy Weedle through with her stinger. His blood trickled onto the ground, some of it coloring Ronin's stinger. She withdrew her stinger once the foe was no longer moving.

"I-I-I gotta warn the others!" the other Weedle stammered. It turned to run away.

"Oh, now, why would you do that?" Ronin got in front of her target. "Whether you warn them or not won't change anything. You're all mine now."

At this point, I decided I should close my eyes. It was good that I had, too--the noises were terrifying.

"You can look now," Ronin said. I did.

"Are you ok on your own?" I asked. "If so, I need to get some food."

Ronin nodded. "I'll come back when I'm a Beedrill."

"A Beedrill?"

"Yeah, it's what Kakuna evolves into. We see a lot of Kakuna and Metapod evolving too in the forest."

"All right, then. If you have any problems, come to the guardhouse."

I turned and walked into the guardhouse myself. By now, Caesar, Leona, and Aeris were awake and eating breakfast.

"Hey, Eric. Where did Ronin disappear to?" Aeris asked.

"She's taking down the Weedle gang on Route 2," I replied. "That should give her enough training to catch up with you guys."

"Oh, so THAT'S why you didn't let me take them on!" Caesar said.

"You got it!"

I ate breakfast, and then we all waited for Ronin to be done. We waited for a long while, but she didn't come back.

"She's been gone an awful long time," Caesar said worriedly. "Should we go check on her?"

"Yeah, sure. I imagine she's taken out most if not all of the Weedle gang by now," I replied. I stood up, and everyone climbed onto their various spots. We walked outside and looked around, but we didn't see her anywhere.

"What's that?" Aeris asked. She pointed to a small yellow shape. It looked sort of like a pine cone.

"Let's go see," I said. We walked over to it. When we got to the shape, we saw that it was glowing. It ascended into the air and started to change shape. Most of it was just its size--it became rather large. When it stopped glowing, it was more than twice as tall as Caesar, and it was yellow. It was divided into three large body segments--a head, which had huge red eyes; a smaller body, which had gossamer wings emerging from it; and a huge abdomen, which had black stripes and was tipped with a deadly stinger. It had four legs, two of which were tipped with enormous, lancelike stingers. One of these stingers had a red ribbon tied around it.

"Ronin?" I asked.

The Beedrill turned around. "Yeah...it's me..." she said wearily, before falling down and landing flat on her face.

"Is she all right?!" Aeris yelled.

I knelt down and checked her pulse. She was alive. "She must've just run herself ragged. Let's get her to the Pokemon Center." I took Ronin's Poke Ball and returned her, then walked back towards Viridian City.

• • •

"All righty, guys," I announced. "Let's get through this forest. We have to do it before sundown, so we don't have to camp out again."

"Too bad Ronin has to sleep for the next few hours. She's gonna miss all the scenery," Aeris said.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing we can do about that. Caesar will be taking point. Like he said before, Ember is gonna tear the bugs apart if they come up."

"You can count on me!" Caesar exclaimed.

"Leona, Bug types resist your attacks, so you just stay on the sidelines."

"I'm fine with that," Leona said with a shrug.

"Aeris, if Caesar somehow gets poisoned, you're my Plan B."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Aeris said, her expression darkening.

I took a deep breath, then stepped through the guardhouse doors. Yesterday, the forest had been aglow with the sunset, but now it was simply bright with the height of the sun. It was only noon, so we had a long time to get through the forest. I wasn't in a rush, so I decided it was safe to take in the scenery. Forests were always my favorite places. All the shade, the relaxing atmosphere, the wildlife...it all felt so comforting.

"Eric, you ok?" Caesar asked as he incinerated a hostile Weedle that had fallen out of a tree.

"Yeah, it's just...I can't help but feel bad for Pandora," I said.

"Everybody makes mistakes," Aeris said. "Don't let it bother you."

"Still though, I never found that box of hers..." Leona muttered.

"What box?" I asked.

"Oh, wrong Pandora. Umm...sorry about that."

We continued on through the forest without much trouble. Caesar ended up getting noticeably stronger, so I let Aeris have a go at the bugs. She dealt with them rather easily as well.

In another hour, we were on Route 2 North--and a very short walk after that, we were in Pewter City. I couldn't help but wonder if Route 2 North was just a checkpoint, or something.

"Well, this is where the first Gym is," I announced. "What should we do?"

"What's a Gym, anyway? You never told us," Caesar said.

"Oh, right. There are eight Gyms scattered across Kanto. They're basically battling institutions that specialize on one type, so you can learn how to combat that type. If you can beat the Gym Leaders inside, you get a Badge. If you get eight Badges, you can enter the Pokemon League tournament. There was actually a gym in Viridian City, but the leader has been out of town for a long time now, so I didn't go there."

"And what type is this gym?"

"Rock types."

Caesar and Aeris immediately shook their heads, but Leona's eyes lit up. "We should go challenge the Gym, then. I can easily deal with Rock types," she said happily.

"Better not use Ronin, either..." I mumbled. "All right, Leona. We'll be counting on you."

I stood before the Pewter City Gym. It could be a challenge for new trainers, if they weren't careful--almost all of the wild Pokemon in the area were either weak to Rock or didn't learn any moves that could damage Rock types.

Emphasis on almost.

"Let's crack some skulls," Leona said, opening the Gym doors. I followed her into the building. The interior of the building looked like a cliff. There were small rocks strewn all over the place, and the floor was made of solid stone. It was like the designers carved a solid slab out of a mountain and used it as the Gym floor. Painted on the floor was a huge rectangle that went all the way across the room. It was split in half about halfway across, and two circles were painted in the dead center of the rectangle, making a Poke Ball shape.

"Welcome to Pewter Gym!" a haughty voice yelled. I looked towards the source of the voice. At the other end of the room was a man with spiky brown hair, a brown vest, and green jeans. His eyes were closed, but he seemed to see me just fine. "My name is Brock, and I'm the Gym Leader. Are you here to challenge me?"

"Yeah," I said. "Are there any...special rules or anything?"

"None," Brock said. "We just have a regular old battle."

"OK then." I nodded to Leona. "Let's get this done fast."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Leona said, taking on a combat stance.

"Mankey, huh? Then I'll start things off with Geodude!" Brock yelled, throwing a Poke Ball from his belt. A rugged rock with a face and two arms came out, about the size of a soccer ball.

"Oho, a challenger!" Geodude said. "Let's hope you don't disappoint."

"Leona, use Karate Chop!" I ordered. Leona sprinted across the battlefield, flattening her hand. She swung at Geodude full-force, throwing it into the air like a ball of paper. It slammed into the wall, and moved no more.

"Holy shit!" Brock yelled. "Ok, I'll admit it--that was impressive. But let's see you do that with Onix!"

Brock threw another Poke Ball. What emerged could only be described as a monstrosity. It was an enormous, serpentine creature--easily 20 feet long--made entirely of boulders. It had a horn that emerged from its forehead, and a face. It looked rather peeved.

"What the hell is THAT?!" I yelled.

"Onix--my prized Pokemon!" Brock replied.

"Isn't it a teensy weensy bit unsafe to use something like THAT against beginning Trainers?" Leona asked.

"Rock Tomb, Onix!" Brock yelled. Onix roared deafeningly, and spat out several dozen rocks from its gaping maw. These rocks flew towards Leona and crashed down on top of her.

"LEONA!" I yelled.

As if she was throwing off a blanket, Leona burst out of the rock pile. She was barely even hurt. "...Was that it?" she asked. "I barely even felt anything."

"Rock Tomb isn't just an attack that deals damage," Brock said. "It also slows down the victim."

"That thing has GOT to be heavy, Leona," I said. "Hit it with Low Kick."

Leona ran forth again--slower this time--and swept her foot across the floor, hitting the rocks where Onix touched the ground. Shockingly, the huge serpent flew into the air. It flew at an odd angle until its horn punctured the ceiling, stopping it. It then fell from the ceiling, landing directly on top of Geodude.

"Whoa ho! Not bad, not bad at all!" Brock said. He walked over to me. "That Mankey is really quite something. I enjoyed our battle a lot. Take these." He handed me a small, gray object that looked like a rock, and a tiny computer with a disc drive. "The little thing is the official Pokemon League Boulder Badge. With that, you can use Flash outside of battle, and the Attack of your Pokemon will be boosted a bit. The computer is a TM machine, which lets you use TMs on your Pokemon. I've put a TM in the disc drive--a TM for Rock Tomb."

"Thanks," I said heartily. Leona hopped onto my shoulder, the speed-lowering effects of Rock Tomb seemingly lifted. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you a few questions before I leave?"

"Not at all," Brock replied.

"Ok, great. Have you seen Team Rocket around?"

Brock frowned. "Team Rocket? Why would you want to mess with those guys?"

"Well, you heard what they did, didn't you?" I asked. "Back on Route 2?"

"Ohh...yeah, it was rough. I heard that those Weedle almost killed a few people."

"Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it seems to me like a crime like that is too small-scale for an entire group of poachers. One poacher could do that just fine. Why would they use an entire group?"

"Actually, that's what I thought too. I think maybe they're trying to get people not to take them seriously so that it'll make a bigger impact when they do something higher on the scales."

"What would the point of that be?"

"I don't know, but whatever the point is, we should be ready for it. As for where they are...I think there's a rumor going around that they're in Mount Moon right now, trying to get fossils."

"Fossils, huh...?" I didn't know why they would need or even want fossils. I guess it couldn't hurt to look into it. "Thanks for your time, Brock. I know you must be busy, being a Gym Leader."

"It's no problem. I'm kinda glad you took the time to talk."

I left the Gym, Leona on my shoulder. When we got outside, I put Leona on the ground. "You did great in there," I said. "You deserve a little reward."

"What kind of reward?" Leona asked.

"Here," I said, giving Leona the TM computer. "Forget Low Kick for Rock Tomb."

"Ok, sure. But why Low Kick?"

"Well, you only need one Fighting move, and I think it's better to go with one that has more constant damage--"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Pidgey fell from the sky and hit Leona on the head. It had a large imprint on its chest, in the shape of a Mankey foot. It was almost as if a Mankey had punted it into the sky. It looked around frantically, then ran off screaming.

"...Huh," I said. I turned back to Leona. "You finish up with that thing yet?"

"Yeah," Leona said. It certainly hadn't taken long, which was good. Leona took the now useless disc and threw it over her shoulder, then handed the computer to me. "We should get going."

"I agree. But first, we should stop at the Pokemon Center."

"Why? I was barely even hurt."

"Can't be too careful." I let Leona climb onto my shoulder again, and we headed for the Pokemon Center.

I left the Pokemon Center, stretching my arms. "All right, I should let everyone out now," I said to myself. "I wonder if Ronin is awake yet?"

I took my Poke Balls from my belt and tossed them into the air. In four blinding explosions of pale yellow light, my four Pokemon emerged. Caesar and Aeris looked happy, Leona looked relieved, and Ronin looked as if she'd just woken up. Maybe she had.

"Ugh, thanks a lot," Ronin said gruffly. "I was having a kickass dream."

"Nice to see you too," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah." Ronin stretched her...arms? "I feel like I just slept eight hours."

"That's because you DID sleep eight hours," Aeris chimed in.

"...Oh. Well, what did I miss?"

In response, I simply held up the Boulder Badge I'd gotten from Brock. "We're about to go to Mt. Moon," I explained. "We need to get through there to get to Cerulean City. But we should be careful, because Brock said there might be Rockets hanging around there."

"If I find any, I'll tear them limb from limb," Ronin said, her eyes sharpening. She lifted one of her arms, investigating the stinger. "Yep, still sharp."

"Why would they not be sharp?" Leona asked. "You haven't used them yet."

"Because shut up," Ronin replied sharply.

"Not a morning person, I take it."

"Did I stutter?"

"Okay, let's go," I said. Caesar, Ronin, and Aeris climbed onto my shoulders and head. Ronin just flew beside me. "Ronin, try to rein in the grouchiness, would you?"

"No promises."

"Good enough. Let's go."

I walked towards the eastern edge of town. As I was about to exit the town limits, someone who looked oddly familiar stopped me.

"Eric, I'm glad I finally caught up to you!" the man stammered. He was wearing a lab coat. "You remember me, right? I'm Professor Oak's aide."

"Oh, hey," I replied. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that you forgot these when you left Pallet Town." The aide handed me a pair of new shoes. "Your mother had me deliver them."

"Oh! Thanks. How did I forget these, anyway? My shoes are almost busted." I put the shoes on the ground, took off my old ones, and put on the new shoes. Already I felt more comfortable. "Tell Mom I said thanks, please."

"She also told me to give you this." The aide handed me a note, then walked away. I unfolded the note.

"Dear Eric," the note read. "I hope your journey is as much fun for you as your father's was for him. Come back sometimes so I can see what Pokemon you've caught! And remember, I'll always be rooting for my little League challenger! Love, Mom."

"Aaaaaaaw," Aeris said.

"Are you done?" I asked. I appreciated the note, but it was a little embarrassing to know the Pokemon had read it over my shoulder.

"Yes."

"Then let's get going."

I resumed walking--in my much more comfortable shoes--onto Route 3. It was a mainly downhill path, and there were ledges everywhere. This was because the route lay at the foothills of a mountain. Mt. Moon was visible, and not too far away--and it towered over the entire area. According to the travel brochures, this area wouldn't get as bright as quickly as other parts of the area in the morning, because Mt. Moon blocks the sunlight coming from the east. It was late afternoon now, though, so it was plenty bright.

"Are we going to have enough time to get through this place?" Caesar asked as we walked through Route 3.

"It's not like day or night makes a difference in a cave," I replied. "We'll just camp out on Route 4 if we have to."

"And while we're at it, let's skip around in a field of posies and eat chocolate-covered marshmallows!" Ronin said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, come on. Take the cave seriously for a few minutes! It's not like it's only going to take 20 minutes to get through a mountain this huge."

"Aah, shut up, Ronin," Leona said, chuckling. "Although I do admit, this cave has a rather notorious reputation."

It looked like Aeris was about to say something, but then I stumbled. I was about to fall over, despite my efforts to keep my balance. As I was about to fall, Ronin hit me on the chest with the flat of her stinger, knocking me back onto my feet.

"Ooow," I said, rubbing my torso. "Was that necessary?"

"You were about to fall over, and had three Pokemon riding on you. I'd say it was entirely necessary."

"What did I trip over, anyway?" I asked no one. I turned around, and saw a small pink sphere on the ground, about the size of a soccer ball. It had two pointed ears, a puff of hair on its forehead, and enormous eyes.

"A Jigglypuff!" Caesar exclaimed. "Those things are RARE!"

The Jigglypuff looked at me, tears in its eyes. It got up and ran away, crying.

"I...guess I hurt it when I tripped over it..." I said sheepishly.

"Aw, man." Caesar jumped off of my shoulder and turned to face us. "Anyway, I'll lead us through the mountain."

"Are you sure about that?" Aeris asked. "Like Leona said, this mountain could be dangerous."

"Hah! It's not an issue." Caesar crossed his arms and smirked. "Who's better suited than me, right?"

"Whatever you say, Caesar," I said.

"I have a better idea," Ronin piped up. "Why don't we all split up?"

"Why on Earth would we do that?" Aeris demanded.

"If we go separate ways, we can explore more of the cave faster," Ronin explained. "That way, even if one of us finds the exit, the others can explore it top to bottom while they do. We'll be able to find all the treasure, all the Trainers, everything."

"I'd be a lot more inclined to agree if we had some way to communicate," Leona said. "We should stick together. If we separate and someone gets lost, we'd have no way of knowing."

"Well, here we are," I interjected. The great stone wall of Mt. Moon was before us, split only by a cave entrance. "I'm with Leona on this one. We're gonna stick together. Sorry, Ronin."

"Aaah, no big deal, I guess," Ronin replied. "Let's just get this over with."

After a moment of hesitation, I walked through the crevice that served as an entrance, Ronin beside me. The inside of the cave was dark, but we could still see--it was like a classroom with the lights turned off. The walls were jagged and uneven, which was no surprise. Some parts of the wall were reinforced, probably to prevent rockslides. There was no clear path through the cave, although parts of the floor were sand instead of rock.

"Hey, what's that?" Aeris asked, gesturing with her tail. I followed her gaze and saw a small orange bug with mushrooms on its back. It could only be a Paras.

"A rare Pokemon, that's what," I said. "Let's try and catch it."

"Eric, you've never actually caught a Pokemon before," Caesar pointed out. "All of us agreed to join you. Remember?"

"Ooh...good point. Maybe we should've listened to that old guy..."

"He was throwing balls of paper. The only thing you could learn from that is how to be a class clown."

"Catching a Pokemon couldn't be easier," Ronin said. "Just throw an empty Poke Ball at the thing."

"If you say so," I replied. I took an empty Poke Ball from my bag and prepared to throw it at the Paras. As I did this, the Paras turned and saw me. It had a curious look in its eyes.

"The hell are you?" Paras asked. I threw the Poke Ball at it, and it slammed into the Paras's face. For some reason, the Poke Ball didn't open. "Gah! Ow! Man, screw this. I have better things to do." The Paras scuttled away.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You hit the Paras with the back of the Poke Ball," Ronin explained. "You have to hit it with the button."

"Ugh...what a hassle. Let's just go."

We kept walking through the cave. I had a bit of trouble keeping my balance on the uneven ground. The scenery didn't change, but soon we found a ladder going down. Why there was a ladder, I didn't know, but I decided it couldn't hurt to go down it. We were pretty much lost anyway. I carefully climbed down.

"Hey, kid!" someone yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

I turned to the owner of the voice. It was a man dressed in all black, complete with boots and a hat. The hat and his shirt were emblazoned with a large red R.

"Team Rocket!" Ronin snarled.

"We're pulling a big job here," said the Rocket member. "Get lost."

I probably would have just kept going so I could stay under the radar, but Ronin wouldn't have it. She flew over to the Rocket and bashed him with her stinger so hard that he fell over, unconscious.

"Chill out, Ronin," I scolded. "We don't want to telegraph our presence here. You're gonna make way too much noise."

"Stealth isn't really my specialty," Ronin replied. She lifted her stinger to kill the Rocket.

"Ronin, no!" I yelled. "The Rockets may have committed crimes, but they don't deserve to die!"

Ronin was silent. She looked at me, then back at the Rocket, then scoffed and flew back over to me. "Fine, I won't kill them. I'll find another way to avenge Pandora."

"Thank you," I said. "Now let's find another way through the cave. This is a dead end."

I climbed back up the ladder. As soon as I got to the first floor, however, I saw two Rocket grunts.

"Who are you?!" the first one asked. "Did you see what happened to our member down there?"

"I knocked him out," Ronin said. "I'm about to do the same to you."

"Go ahead and try it!" the other one yelled.

"Ronin, back up," I said sternly. "Caesar, Aeris, they're yours."

Caesar and Aeris jumped off of my shoulders. One Rocket sent out a mouse Pokemon whose fur looked like it was made of bricks, while the other sent out a small flying rodent with a distinct lack of eyes.

"Aeris, Tackle the Zubat! Caesar, Ember that Sandshrew!" I ordered.

"Actually, I wanna try something different," Aeris said. She ran towards Zubat, but instead of Tackling it, she jumped into the air and sunk her teeth into its wing. It shrieked in pain and immediately hit the ground.

"Whoa," Caesar said. Sandshrew tried to Scratch him while he was distracted, but he bashed it with his tail, sending it flying.

I took the Pokedex and looked at Aeris's status screen. Apparently she had just learned Hyper Fang.

"We're not finished yet!" one of the Rockets yelled. Out came a Rattata and a purple serpentine Pokemon with yellow markings here and there--an Ekans. The Ekans glared harshly at Aeris and Caesar. Caesar was largely unfazed, but Aeris flinched.

"Caesar, take down that Ekans with Ember. Aeris, Hyper Fang on Rattata," I said.

Caesar flicked his tail, launching a few fireballs. They hit Ekans square in its gaping mouth. As it frantically tried to cool down its now-burning tongue, Aeris sunk her teeth into the opposing Rattata, immediately knocking it out cold.

"That Hyper Fang is overpowered as all hell," the Grunt with the Rattata muttered.

"Ah, shut it," the other Grunt snapped. "Ekans, use Wrap! Aim for that Rattata!"

Ekans stopped licking the dirt on the ground and slithered quickly towards Aeris. It started to coil around her, then tightened its body, trapping her in its grip. Without needing orders, Caesar threw more fireballs--again, into Ekans' mouth. It fell over, unconscious.

"Tch, fine!" the Rocket with the Ekans yelled. "Go on ahead. But don't mess with Team Rocket again!"

I had to restrain Ronin, as her eyes were full of fury. She looked insane. I decided it would be best to hang onto her leg as long as we were here, so she wouldn't cause unnecessary violence.

We continued to walk through the cave. Caesar couldn't--or wouldn't--stop laughing at Ronin's makeshift leash.

"PLEASE LET ME GO," Ronin said, her face red with anger.

"We should keep a--MMPH!" I stopped as a Zubat hit me in the face. It was immediately followed by seven more. In my struggle to pry the Zubat off my face, I had to let go of Ronin's leg.

"Oh, look," Leona said. "There are some fossils over there."

It took a few minutes, but I finally managed to separate the Zubat from my face. I threw it to the side, and it flew off before it hit the ground. Afterwards, I followed Leona's gaze. Sitting on the ground were two rocks. One had a spiral shape on it, and the other had a smooth plate attached that looked like armor. Curiously, I walked towards the one with the spiral shape.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" someone shouted. I turned towards the source of the voice. It was a guy about my age, wearing thick glasses and a white shirt. "THESE FOSSILS ARE MINE!" he bellowed.

"Whoa, geez! OK, I won't take one!" I replied.

"YOU BETTER NOT! IF YOU DO, I'LL KNIFE YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!"

Where I had been surprised before, I was now genuinely afraid. Through the thick glasses, I could see that the man had an insane look in his eyes.

"That's our Trainer you're threatening!" Ronin yelled right back. She glared at the man, and the insane look left his eyes, replaced with one that betrayed fear.

"OK, I WON'T KNIFE YOU," he roared, still not quieting his voice. "PLEASE JUST LEAVE MY FOSSILS BE!"

"All right," I replied. "Let's just go."

As we walked past the fossils, Caesar suddenly fell off my shoulder. I tried to catch him, but he hit the ground. He stumbled around as he tried to get up until he tripped over something. This seemed to bring his balance back somehow, and he looked at what he had tripped over. "Hey, check out what I found," he said. He held up the thing he'd tripped on--a black TM. "I can't read what it says, though."

"If that's not dumb luck, I don't know what is," I said, taking the TM. It read, "TM46: Thief." I took out the TM machine from my bag and inserted Thief. Ironically, everyone but Caesar could learn it. Thief was a Dark-typed move that apparently allowed the user to steal things. I relayed this information to the team.

"Oh, let me get that," Ronin said, a devious look in her eyes. "I just got an idea."

I shrugged and put the TM machine on the ground in front of Ronin. She read a few lines of information off of the screen, and jabbed the air a few times with a dark glow surrounding her stinger. She had learned Thief. The spent TM came out of the machine, and Caesar put it back where he had found it.

"So what's this idea you had?" I asked.

"Just watch," Ronin replied. She flew back towards the fossils. The man from before was looking in the opposite direction. "Yoink!" she said, jabbing at the spiral-shape fossil with her stinger. It seemingly disappeared. She then came back to us and handed me the fossil.

"HEY!" the man shrieked. "MY FOSSIL!"

"Everybody run," I whispered. There was no argument. We climbed a ladder nearby, and ended up outside the cave. We must have spent more time than I thought in there, because it was very close to getting dark. The sun had set.

"OK, looks like we should make camp here," I said. "Told ya, Ronin."

Ronin looked away, grumbling. Everyone else suppressed laughter.

I looked through my bag and took out a sleeping bag. I had never liked these things, but it was definitely better than sleeping on the grass. As I unrolled it and layed it out, Caesar went to go get firewood. Ronin, Leona, and Aeris all sat down on the grass. I don't know if you could call what Ronin was doing sitting, of course, as she just landed. Caesar came back before long and threw some twigs down on the ground. He lit them up with his tail, and a small fire blazed before us. By now, the sky was indigo, speckled with stars all across. The moon was in the crescent shape of a Lunatone. It was a perfect night.

It wasn't long before we all drifted into sleep.

I woke up to complete blackness. I couldn't see anything--nothing at all. There was darkness, and then there was this. It was almost as if there was nothing there to see.

Then I noticed I was in a plush bed.

"Where am I...?" I asked no one. I tried to move, but the covers on the bed were much too tight. As if they were trying to imprison me. I must have been dreaming.

"Greetings, Eric," a deep voice said. I looked around frantically, but saw nothing.

"Who's there?!" I demanded, sounding a lot less scared than I was.

Someone appeared at the foot of the bed. He was clad in medieval steel armor, complete with helmet. I couldn't see his face through it. All I could see of his physical appearance was his muscular build, but that may have been the armor.

"You must have many questions," he said. "I will do what I can to answer them for you."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am called Terra. And despite this being a dream, I do truly exist. This is simply the ideal way of communicating with you. But that is enough about me." With a wave of Terra's hand, the bed's blanket was thrown off, allowing me to stand. "You have a rare gift, Eric. A gift that allows you to understand the words of Pokemon. Am I correct?"

I was shocked. "How did you know?"

"I know many things." Terra was silent for a few seconds. "That you can understand Pokemon means you have been...chosen, so to speak. It is difficult to explain."

"Chosen? For what?"

"I cannot say, because I do not know. What I do know is that your ability is something that you and I share."

"You can understand Pokemon too?"

"Yes. There are others besides us, as well. There is someone you must speak to in order to learn more about this ability of yours. Go to Lavender Town. There, you will find someone named Mr. Fuji. He will tell you all that you need to know...perhaps more."

Terra started to fade into the darkness.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "What do I do now? Where do I go from here?"

It was too late. Terra was gone.

• • •

"Eric?"

My eyes were still closed, and I was only half awake. I felt something tap my shoulder.

"Eeeeeeriiiiiiiic...rise and shine..."

I still couldn't get up. My eyelids were heavy.

"WAKE UP!"

Suddenly I felt something very sharp jab me in the side. My eyes flew open. "OW! What the HELL?!"

"That got him up," Ronin said, nodding.

"Never do that again," I snapped, getting up from the sleeping bag. I noticed that there was a hole in it. "Oh, great. Look what you did to the sleeping bag."

"Ronin, you really need to dial it down," Aeris said.

"I'll dial nothing," Ronin replied.

"You'll dial what I tell you to dial," I said, a bit more angrily than I thought I was.

"Calm down, calm down!" Leona yelled. "We should get going to--"

"Shut up, ya stupid monkey," Ronin snapped.

"Don't take this out on her!" Caesar yelled.

"What are you gonna do about it?!" Ronin demanded.

"My, my, my!" a voice yelled, causing everyone to quiet down. "Do calm down, will you? You're acting oh-so rude to each other."

We all turned to the source of the voice. It was a bird, about the same size as Pandora. It had red feathers on its wings, tan plumage, and brown feathers on its face. Its beak was a pale pink color. Perhaps the most bizarre feature, however, was that it was wearing reflective glasses.

"You all are being so not groovy," said the Spearow. "Why not take a moment and relax? It's oh so early in the morning."

I wasn't sure how to react. "Um...oh, hey! Spearow--"

"Courage," the Spearow said.

"Courage. Right...Anyway, we have a couple of free spots on our team. You feel like travelling?"

"That sounds oh so funky fresh! I'm so tired of Route 4 and all of its annoying music haters. Especially those two over there!"

I turned to where Courage was pointing, and saw two older men dressed in karate outfits. Curious, I walked over to them.

"Hi," I said. The two men instantly turned their heads towards me.

"The ferocity of a roaring punch," one said.

"The grace of a flying kick," said the other.

"Fists flying with the power to kill," the first one said.

"Feet arcing with the speed to confound," the second one retorted.

"I TEACH MEGA PUNCH TO POKEMON!" the first bellowed, suddenly raising his voice to deafening levels.

"AND I, MEGA KICK!" roared the second, raising his voice to match.

"WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE?!" both of them boomed simultaneously.

"Umm...I...uh..." I stammered.

"Mega Punch," Leona said. She was still on my head. "Tell them I want Mega Punch."

I nodded. "I'll take Mega Punch."

"And who shall be taught this technique of the blazing fist?" the man asked.

"This Mankey," I replied, picking Leona up and holding her out to the karate man.

The man took Leona, put her on the ground, and stooped to his knees. He and Leona simply stared at each other for a little while. Suddenly, the karate man violently punched Leona in the face.

"HEY!" I exclaimed.

"Do not be alarmed. This is how Mega Punch is passed on," the karate man said, not taking his eyes off of the now-bruised Leona.

Leona shook her head back and forth, then raised her own fist. She drew it back, then punched the karate man in the face with all her might. He was sent flying, and plowed straight into the other karate man.

I looked at Leona's status screen. She had, in fact, learned Mega Punch. "Nice work, Leona!"

"Man, that was satisfying," Leona said. Somehow, her knuckles were completely unharmed.

"Let's go, everybody," Caesar said. "The next town is just up ahead."

We started walking. Route 4 was very uneven ground--ledges were everywhere here. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get back to Mt. Moon from Cerulean. But I knew Cerulean had a Gym, and I knew that there was a way back to Pallet Town through Diglett's Cave, so I kept going.

"So what, should we go ahead and challenge the Gym, or should we train for a while first?" I asked.

"I say we go ahead and do it," Ronin said.

"Oh no, no, no, you will not!" Courage exclaimed. "The Gym Leader in Cerulean is oh so much stronger than us. We should train for a while and make sure we're ready!"

"Going with Courage on this one," I said. "He knows about the area."

We spent a solid four hours training. Caesar learned how to exhale a great deal of black smoke to hamper the foes' vision, but I didn't imagine I would be having him use this technique very often. Ronin got much better at using her stingers to attack, jabbing twice with much more power than before. Courage took a page out of Ronin's book, jabbing rapidly with his beak to attack. He also started to pursue foes that tried to run away from him and catch them off-guard.

"I think we've trained more than enough now," I said as Courage jabbed at a Sandshrew.

"Ugh, finally!" Caesar said. "I was waiting for us to be done to do this."

Suddenly, Caesar started glowing. I watched in awe as my starter Pokemon grew to almost twice his original height. His arms grew longer, and his claws bigger. His head grew a sort of backwards horn. As the glow faded, Caesar was bright red as opposed to orange.

"Congratulations, Caesar!" I whooped. Caesar laughed.

"Looks like I'm not the only one," Caesar said, now in a deeper voice. He gestured to Aeris and Courage, both of whom were glowing white as well. Aeris grew to twice her height, and her fur became very shaggy. Her tail uncurled and grew longer. The single whiskers on her face split into three, and her paws grew to support her new size. Meanwhile, Courage's height practically exploded--he grew to four times his former size. His wingspan became about the same width as his new height was. His beak grew longer, and a spiky plumage appeared on his head. The white glows faded, and where a Rattata and Spearow had been stood a Raticate and a Fearow.

"And all this time I was still surprised by Caesar's evolution!" Aeris exclaimed. "How do I look?"

"Ohh, yeah! Let the music play!" Courage yelled.

"This couldn't have gone better," I said, grinning ear to ear. "That Gym leader won't know what hit him!"

"Her," Courage corrected.

"OK, whatever."

We talked and laughed as we kept walking towards Cerulean City...when a yellow, spiky foxlike Pokemon ran up to us.

"Greetings, Eric," the Jolteon said. "I am Terra's messenger."

"Who's Terra?" Caesar asked.

"Eric will fill you in," Jolteon replied. "Anyway, he sent me as proof that his appearance in your dream was no coincidence. He looks forward to meeting you in person. Good luck on your journey."

Before I could say anything, Jolteon ran off, faster than I could follow.

"Who's this Terra that she was talking about?" Aeris asked.

"It's kinda complicated," I replied. "It happened while I was dreaming...."