Further into Viridian

You wiped the sweat from your brow as you trudged along the grass. You checked your phone and found that another two hours had passed.

You were completely lost in Viridian forest.

Your phone pinged, another message from Blue, another dick pic.

This one was captioned “Hanging around in Pewter, waiting for you ;)”

You hated him. You wanted to get ahead of him badge-wise, but another part of you just wanted him to move onto Cerulean, you really didn’t want to have to deal with him in Pewter, especially after this whole forest ordeal.

You’d been following this pathway for a while now and so far nothing had started to repeat, things seemed to be looking up.

“Right, this way!” You heard a shout.

You looked over and saw three men not too far ahead of you. Two wore matching black outfits emblazoned with a bright red ‘R’ while the man who spoke wore dark pants with a black overcoat, the same ‘R’ emblazoned on the top front pocket.

“Once we find this thing we need to corner it, can’t risk an escape!” He ordered firmly, the two grunts nodded and gave a short affirmative.

You took a second to think, you didn’t really want three guys to know that you’re here but what they were up to sounded shady. You had to check it out, after all, isn’t that what good trainers are supposed to do?

You gripped Charmander’s Pokeball tight. You hoped they wouldn’t see you but you were prepared for them too.

Initially, you stayed at a safe distance as you followed them deep into the forest, eventually, however, they broke off from one another. The two grunts staying behind while the leader went ahead. You waited for the leader to get ahead before heading over to the two grunts, they immediately smirked at each other when they saw you.

“Well, well, well…” The first one began, up closer you could see dark stubble across his face. “Hey there,” he grinned, “What’s a hot young thing like you doing around here?” He asked with a lecherous grin across his face.

“Woah!” The other one yelled before you could answer. You turned to look at him, he seemed younger than the other, around your age “If I’d known hotties like this were so common I’d have stuck to travelling!” He smirked, “So hottie, how about a battle?”

You took a deep breath, and gripped Charmander’s Pokeball, “Fine..” You quietly responded.

“Woah, woah, woah!” The older guy interrupted, “I saw her first, wait your turn newbie!”

The grunt stepped forward and hurled his Pokeball out with a “Go! Rattata!”

In response, you quickly sent out your Charmander.

The two Pokemon circled around, Rattata was the first to attack. Rushing forward it dove and bit into Charmander’s arm.

“Now! Use tail whip!” The man yelled, his Rattata quickly responding, not releasing its grip on Charmander’s arm it twisted and struck Charmander in the face with its tail, sending your Pokemon hurtling to the ground.

“Finish it with another bite!” The grunt shouted, glee in his voice.

The Rattata released, rearing back to bite again. This was your chance to get back in the game!

“Charmander! Scratch!”

Charmander swiftly struck the Rattata on the side of its head, knocking it a few feet away and onto its back. Charmander jumped to its feet and raced at the other Pokemon, landing strike after strike on its underbelly.

The attacks went on and on until Charmander stepped back, it took a few deep breaths. Rattata was out for the count.

The grunt withdrew his Pokemon and grumbled under his breath. The younger guy burst out laughing.

“Take that old man!” He cackled. “Go and tell the boss what’s going on, I’ll handle the girl.

The older grunt glared at the other before running in the direction that the leader took.

The younger grunt smiled at you, casually throwing his Pokeball up and catching it.

“I didn’t think you’d win that, gotta say I’m happy though, not a fan of sloppy seconds. Anyway, let’s get to it! Pidgey! You’re up!” He yelled, tossing the Pokeball out.

You squeezed your fists. Charmander looked tired but you hoped he could pull this off.

“Pidgey! Peck!” He ordered as the flying type Pokemon swept in towards Charmander.

Before you could tell Charmander to dodge Pidgey was on him. Charmander took peck after peck, unable to escape. You gulped.

Suddenly, the flame at the end of Charmander’s tail grew stronger. Your Pokemon opened his mouth and a flurry of tiny flames escaped, battering the flying type.

The Pidgey flailed about in the air before being struck by Charmander’s arm, knocking it to the ground.

The grunt’s face dropped.

“You’ll get it for this!” He creamed before running in the same direction as the other.

“Good job Charmander!” You grinned before returning him to his Pokeball and heading in the direction the grunts took.

You found the three of them in a small clearing with a large tree in the centre. The two grunts seemed to be desperately trying to explain themselves to the bored-looking leader. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of you.

“So, here’s the woman of the hour,” he said rather flatly. “I have to say, looking at you I wouldn’t have thought you’d beat my men.”

This guy was really grinding your gears.

“What are you even doing here!?” You asked rather impatiently.

“That’s private.” The leader replied coolly. He ran a hand through his hair, fixing back a stray lock. “Now, let’s get this over with,” he opened his coat, taking a single Pokeball from a belt affixed to the inside.

He held it up in the air and simply pulled back the white section releasing his Pokemon.

“Crobat, let’s finish this quickly.”

You felt your mouth dry. You were out of your depth. You were going to lose.

“G-go Charmander!” you yelled, your voice wavering.

Your stomach dropped when Charmander took the field and you saw the size difference between your Pokemon and his.