West

You flip back and forth on your decision, before settling on heading west. After all, you'll be heading to the forest eventually.

With the buildings of Viridian behind you, you and Charmy begin your trek up the mountainous terrain towards the First Gate. A small handful of Pokemon get in your way, but Charmy deals with them easily. Unfortunately, none of them were Mankey, the only one you were considering adding to your team. A short time after setting off, you both stand before the First Gate.

"This is it, Charmy. Our goal, to become the Champion of the Kanto region, lays at the far end of this path." You pause to let him take the site of the massive gate. "But to reach it, we have to beat all 8 Gym Leaders. We have a long road ahead of us, but we'll be ready for it." Charmy nods, sharing in your determination.

"I swear Red, you are one sneaky bitch." You suppress the groan at hearing the familiar voice. "I know you aren't going to get past this Gate, so why are you here?"

"Probably the same reason you are, Blue. I wanted to see our destination." you quip back.

"Well, how about we give them a taste of what's coming, huh?"

You turn to face Blue and agree, noting that his Squirtle is recalled as well as the second Poke'ball on his belt. The number of Pokemon that he could have is limited, and you believe you can narrow it down farther.

Once more, you two find yourselves on the field of battle. Charmy has gotten a good amount of training as you headed towards Viridian, but it's Pidgey that worries you a bit. Not only haven't you had a chance you get to know her, but this is her first battle. You hope she'll do fine.

The battle begins, Blue throwing out one of his as you send out Pidgey. And your hunch was right as twin tiny birds appear on the field. Both of you order a Tackle, and both Pidgeys comply. The fight quickly becomes a contest of dodging the attack and trying to Tackle the opponent. Neither of the aerial fighters are able to land a solid blow, and you soon realize what make each Pidgey different. Yours is faster, able to land more glancing hits, while Blue's is stronger, each hit doing more damage.

A lucky dodge by your Pidgey leads her opponent to change its focus to avoid hitting the ground, and you quickly order a Gust to finish it. The weakened bird can't stop itself and slams hard into the earth, knocking it out. Pidgey lands as well, visibly exhausted, and you recall her. Charmy eagerly hops onto the field, while Blue calls out Squirtle. "Not bad, {Your Name}, but this round is going to be different. Squirtle, Bubble."

Squirtle, already showing a difference from before with its better stand, takes a deep breath before a large spread of bubbles shoot forth, spreading wider and wider until there is nowhere for Charmy to dodge the super-effective attack.

Can't go left, can't go right, can't fly and can't dig. That leaves..

"Charmy, Ember at Squirtle!" He does as ordered, the fireballs soon meeting the wall of bubbles. Upon contact, the first fireball is doused by half a dozen of the bubbles, as is the second and so on. However, as you thought, the seventh manages to pop the back of the wall, allowing the rest to sail unopposed to the exhausted water type.

Blue isn't able to respond fast enough, and about four hit before Squirtle could Withdrawl. As this happens, Charmy crouches and sprints through the hole in the wall to get close. You smirk even as you wince from the bubbles slamming into you. Charmy seems to read your mind, as well as being happy that Bubble was such a weak attack. The hits would sting for a while, but that was alright.

Charmy smashes a Scratch attack into his stationary foe over and over again before jumping back and peppering Squirtle with another Ember attack. When the small dust cloud clears, Squirtle is standing again, yet his head had a nasty looking burn on it. He takes one step foward, before collapsing onto his belly with swirls in his eyes. Victory is yours!

Blue groans as he recalls Squirtle, annoyed at losing, but it isn't a big deal. "Not bad, Red. Still, I think we can beat the Pewter Gym at this rate. And heading through the forest will be a big help as well."

You stop paying attention at 'forest', as the word reverberates in your head a while until you pale. "Hey, Blue, what day is it?"

He answers, confused by the question and your now much paler complex. "Why?"

You whisper three words that cause him to pale as well. "Beedrill. Mating. Season."

****

Party

Charmy, the male Charmander

• Scratch, Growl, Ember

Pidgey, female

• Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust

Items

10 Poke'balls

10 Potions

5 Antidotes

5 Paralyze Heals

5 Burn Heals

5 Ice Heals

1 Explorer brand Multi-Species Restorative Spray

Full Set of Beginner-level TM's (Installed on Poke'dex)

****