Perspective Shift: Red(4)

You exhale as you watch Blue leave the Pokémon Center, hoping that she can make it through Route 3 unscathed. You'll just need to have faith in her…

A soft chuckle comes from behind you. “My, you really care about that girl, don’t you?”

You turn around to look at Joy, finding her smiling warmly. “I… suppose I do, yeah. In a way. It’s complicated.”

“It doesn’t seem too ‘complicated’ from where I’m sitting, but what do I know?” The nurse smirks at you. “Now, I would love to… have some fun with you, but I’m afraid It won’t be long before other trainers start waking up for the day.”

“Shame. My vengeance shall have to wait!” You say jokingly. “Guess I should get an early start on some training then. I’ll come talk to you later, Joy.”

“Very well. Good luck, let me know if your Pokémon need healing.” She bows from the waist, and you go to leave… nah, hold on. You spin back around, and once again pull the pink-haired woman into a surprise kiss. She does not seem shocked this time however, meeting your lips readily.

You hold onto her for a few moments, then break the kiss. “Okay, now I’m going. Bye!”

“Sigh. Goodbye…” She says dreamily.

Making your way out of the Pokémon Center, you shoot both Daniel and Kayla a quick text. Going to train on Route 2 today. Come meet up with me later if you feel like joining in. Hopefully the two of them swing by once they’re awake, you really enjoy spending time with them. You’ve never really had any friends, aside from Daisy.

You have a funny feeling that the Vermillion City trainers may have had a late night though, so they might not wake up for a while yet. That’s fine, you can train alone for a little while.

The short walk to Route 2 passes quickly, and you set about your task of training up your Mankey, Pidgey, and Pikachu. Luckily there are wild Pokémon varieties that are **** to each of them for you to take advantage of; Rattata for Mankey, bug types for Pidgey, and wild Pidgeys for Pikachu. You send each of your partners out as needed, dealing with the threats as they come. Unfortunately, your pig monkey does physically **** you in some way every time you send it out, resulting in you feeling just as bruised and battered as your team before too long.

At about 10:00 AM, you get a text from Daniel; We’re on Route 2 now, wanna meet up? You reply with a quick ‘Yup’ and start moving back towards the entrance to the Route. A few minutes later you manage to find the freshly awoken pair of trainers.

Daniel’s wearing a yellow tank-top and a pair of camo pants, while Kayla is wearing a pink sundress. The two both smile when they see you and call out to you. “‘Sup dude?” “Hi Red!”

“Hey you two! Slept in, huh? Busy night?” You grin at them, causing Kayla to flush a light pink and Daniel to grin right back.

“Oh yeah. Held hands until 2:00 AM. How’s the training going?” Says the blonde boy.

“Going well so far… except for the bruises Mankey keeps giving me.” You rub one of the many sore spots on your body.

“How did your battle with that Blue girl go? You said you were planning to challenge her today, right?” Kayla asks excitedly.

“Oh, yeah. I managed to squeak out a win, though it was close.” You reply to the brunette.

“Sounds like you’ve had a productive morning! We need to kick it into high gear, Kay!” Daniel slams his fist into his other open hand, full of energy. The shy girl nods enthusiastically, and the three of you set about your training for the day.

You roam around together, fighting as many wild Pokémon as you can find as you go deeper into Route 2. This gives a good chance to look at both of your friends’ full teams; Daniel’ Electabuzz, Ekans, and Drowzee, and Kayla’s Pikachu, Sandshrew, Bellsprout… and Magikarp. The fish doesn’t do any fighting, but it watches. It learns. It grows. Fiiish.

It’s just a little after 1:00 PM when you all decide to take a break. You find a small clearing in the woods and, to your surprise, Daniel gets a fire going and sets up a cookpot over it. He hums lightly to himself as he pulls out some packaged, pre-cut meat and vegetables and sets about making a stew.

“Damn Daniel, didn’t realize you could cook.” You say, impressed.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. My sister taught me during ‘survival training’. Comes in handy. Kay, pass me that bottle?” The blue-eyed boy holds out his hand, and Kayla passes him a spice container of some kind, which he starts sprinkling into the stew as he stirs it.

“Survival training, huh? Guess that makes sense coming from the one and only ‘Lightning Lieutenant’.” You can't imagine what it must be like having an older sister like her. Twelve years older, if you’re remembering Lt. Surge’s age properly.

“Yeah, she’s a real hardass military type. But, I think her influence has affected me for the better, honestly. Taught me discipline, and a lot of important life skills. Don’t tell her I said that though.” He continues watching the stew the entire time he talks, making sure it’s cooking to his liking.

“Do you and your sister not get along? You said before that she scolds you a lot?” You hope you aren’t getting too personal, you really did only just meet this guy yesterday basically.

“We butt heads a lot. We’re pretty similar, so we’re either always getting along or always shouting at each other. I love her though, she really is incredible.” He smiles warmly at the stew, slowly stirring it.

“The two of them are super close, don’t let him fool you.” Kayla pipes up, smirking at her master. The golden-haired boy makes no reply, he just keeps on stirring, adding more spice on occasion.

The three of you chat casually for a while longer, until the stew-stirrer says that lunch is ready to eat. You settle in with the pair, taking the bowl that Daniel offers you. After blowing on it to cool it down, you have your first mouthful; it’s very warm, not just temperature wise, but with a pleasant spiciness. The meat and vegetables are both very flavorful, and filling as well.

“This is great, Daniel!” You compliment him. “Your sister knows what she’s doing, if she taught you this.”

The cook chuckles. “Thanks, man. ‘Preciate it. Though to be honest…” he lowers his voice to a faux whisper “…I’m better at this than she is. Don’t tell her I said that either, though.”

You all have a good laugh, and continue eating and chatting for quite a while longer. It’s the nicest lunch you’ve had in a long time, both for the food and the company.

Word from the author: This is my 75th chapter(not counting the Character Profile) and we’re also at over 750 likes on this branch. I can’t thank you all enough for the support, and I love interacting with you guys in the comments. I’m going to make an updated Character Profiles chapter attached to this one, since we’ve learned some things. Also, as of the time of writing this, Pokéslut is actually the story of the week of CHYOA! Hopefully this brings in more viewers to all the branches! :D