I was lost. No two ways about it. As I looked over the forest, its tall trees, their green leaves, the various ferns and other assorted flora, I knew it with all my heart. I could hear the chattering of Sentrets, the mid-afternoon cry of the Hoot-Hoots, and the cries of Pidgeys in the otherwise still air. My heart was beating so loud that I figured that every Pokémon in the vicinity must have been able to hear it. My breathing and the crunch of the underbrush under my feet sounded like someone had cocked a gun and fired it each time I took a step. I was lost, and I was scared. I knew that this combination was a recipe for disaster, but I couldn’t help it.

My family had never been much on adventures; we liked to stay by our hometown of Viridian City, and we sure did get a lot of tourism in that town, mostly the Pokémon trainers on their way to Indigo Plateau. We own the Pokémon Mart there, so we make a good amount of money. Me? I'm one of the most headstrong people in my family, which is saying something, since our family has a reputation of being stubborn. I'm fourteen, yet I just received my Pokémon trainer's license. Confused? Don't be. I decided to cram in as much school as I could before I left, plus I had to finish my notebook that I take notes in with all of the survival tips that I could find. As a result, I’m eligible for college if I wanted to go into it, but I had decided to try my luck as a trainer instead.

I liked the outdoors more than most of my family, but after getting lost for two days in this out-branch of the Viridian Forest, I figured that if, after got out of the forest, if I never again entered another forest-screw that-never even saw one again, it would be too soon. I had climbed a tree not that long ago, and, from that vantage point, I had seen a clearing with smoke rising out of it, and I thought that I could see a chimney.

I checked my pockets; they were full of rocks in case any wild Pokémon attacked me. It might just succeed in making them even angrier, but I didn't have anything else to defend myself with, so I made do with rocks, and a thick stick that I had pulled off of a tree. I had another stick, but it was of dead wood, and, after dark, I figured to make that into a torch, if I hadn't reached the clearing.

Suddenly, I came upon a stone wall, with lichen and ivy growing all over it. I stopped, staring at it for several minutes. It looked relatively new, or I knew nothing about rocks. This was a good sign. At least someone in the last, oh, hundred or so years had come by here! It wasn’t very high, only up to about my waist. Still frowning, I climbed over, and hadn't gone more than a dozen yards when four simaltaneous roars stopped me in my tracks. I recognized the roars as those of Arcanine, and I was scared. I knew full well from my research what damage they could do to Pokemon, let alone humans! I could hear their footsteps now, and they were moving slowly, deliberately, as if they were stalking me. Suddenly, in front of me and a little to the right, I heard a door slam, and I figured that I was near some town, and maybe whoever it was could defend me. I heard slow, unhurried footsteps coming in my direction, and then I heard a chilling sound: the sounds of a revolver’s hammer being cocked back.

I looked at the ground, and saw two Ekans and an Arbok just sitting there a few feet away from me, waiting. I glanced back at the wall, my only way of escape, and saw the vines moving, then I saw them for what they really were...Bellsprouts. I looked around me wildly, and from a little creek that I had seen, a Squirtle and a Wartortle crawled out of the stream towards me. Two Golems pulled themselves out of the ground and confronted me, while three Dugtrios popped up out of the ground directly behind me, and a Sandslash walked around a bend in the creek. Two Machops dropped from a tree about five yards away. I glanced wildly around, looking for an escape route. There were none. Three Arcanines materialized behind me, and the four original Arcanines appeared, two in front and one on either side. Glooms, Oddishes, Bellossoms, and Vileplumes pulled themselves out of the ground. And I faced them. All of these Pokémon moved to within two yards of me, and I fumbled in my pocket for my lighter, while trying to ward off the Pokémon by waving my sticks around frantically. It was like my worst nightmare come true! I never really knew if Pokemon would attack or not, unless they belonged to someone. So naturally, this was terrifying!

Suddenly, a man appeared. He was old. From the many times that I had seen Professor Oak, and from the pictures of him with another man when Oak was much younger, proudly showing the camera the Pokedex, this man looked almost five years older than Oak, yet this man seemed to be more fit than Oak. There were a few things that differentiated the two, however. This man had thinning brown hair with barely a hint of gray, his eyes the color of twin embers glaring at you as if they were wondering how to kill you, or at least that is how it looked like to me then. With his ice blue coat, navy green pants, and yellow shirt beneath the coat, he would look almost comical, if it was not for the twin revolvers in his hands. Both were pointed straight towards me.

He glared at me with intensity so severe that soon I could not look into his flashing eyes anymore, and so I chose to glance around nervously at the Pokémon surrounding me, and my heart sank. A Blastoise, a pair of Charizards, three Venasaurs, two Nidokings, and a Nidoqueen had joined the party. Looking at the branches, I saw ten Pidgeots, fifteen Pidgeottos, five Pidgeys, three Spearows, and five Fearows sitting there, watching me. Looking, I thought very unhappily and nervously, like some kind of flock of scavenger birds of prey waiting for some carrion. And by their gaze, it was pretty obvious that they thought that the carrion would soon be me. My thoughts suddenly went to a movie about Bird Pokemon attacking people…what was it called? The Birds? Yeah, that was it…glad I never saw it.

The door slammed again, and when I looked up, a young girl, about my age stood there, with a rifle pointed straight at me. She was tall, had long, brown hair that she was wearing long, down her back, and reached midway to her waist. She had one gray eye and one was the color of an emerald. She looked at me curiously, yet cautiously. In her ears, she had two different earrings, one was a Vulpix, and the other was a Growlithe. They may have come in a set, but I wouldn't know. From what she was wearing, I could tell that she was more up on style than me. Me, I just grabbed anything out of the drawer and wore it. She had plain blue jeans that were faded from use, and a T-shirt with an insignia that I had never seen before. Over this, she wore a jean jacket. Behind her trailed a Growlithe, a Sandslash, an Electabuzz, and a Poliwag.

The old man studied me for another second, then said, "Drop those sticks, kid, and make sure that I can see your hands at all times." His voice was rough, and was wary. I immediately dropped the sticks and jerked my hand out of my pocket. A Poke ball fell out of my pocket. I stared at it dumbly. How did that get there? The old man noticed the Poke ball and stared at me in an expression of harsh suspicion, "Who are you kid, how did you find this place?" He glanced over at the girl, "You're almost a full days walk from Viridian City through rough and dangerous terrain."

“A day and a half, sir,” I said, gulping and glancing down at the Pokeball, then a realization occurred to me, I hadn't checked that pocket very well, I had thought that that had been an item ball, not a Pokeball. That one was empty, I knew. But they didn't and I was getting nervous.

"Tyco Sanders, Please sir, I was just going for a hike, I got lost, ended up wandering all day, and when I climbed a tree, I spotted some smoke and made for it, which happened to be yours, I guess...I couldn't see any sign that anyone else was living around here for miles!" I said, very nervously, glancing from one pistol, to his other revolver, then to the girl's rifle, then furtive glances at all the Pokémon around me.

The girl spoke this time, wary, but not quite so much as her father. "If you were hiking, then how did you get lost? Wouldn't you just stay on the trails? And if you did, it would take a long hike to get here. Besides, where is your compass?" she asked, and she had a quiet voice, and some guys might have fallen in love with her right then and there. Me? No way, I didn't...not just because I was so nervous, but also because I wanted to be a bachelor and never actually had much use for girls.

I looked down at my feet, and firmly willed myself to keep looking at the ground, "Well," I said, "It's a long story. I like hiking where there's no trail, and I keep a compass with me, but I accidentally fell into the river way back there somewhere and lost it. Then, I got out on the wrong side of the river. I started back in what I thought was more or less a straight line back to my house, and, well, now I'm here. Sorry for intruding."

The girl looked me over carefully, not saying anything. The old man did as well, and put one of the revolvers in a holster and put the hammer back into place on the other. He glanced behind me at one of the Pokémon. I can't imagine what silent conversation he had with one of them, but then he looked at the girl, who nodded so slightly I'm still not sure to this day if she actually nodded or did something else.

He sighed and uncocked his other revolver and took the rifle from the girl. He motioned for me to follow him, and I barely had time to pick up the Pokeball before I felt strong hands lift me up and put me on a Rapidash. I glanced around to see a Machamp, and the Rapidash started off at a brisk trot towards the house. From where I sat, I could see two Nidokings standing guard on either side of the door, three Charizards watching the clearing from the roof, four Venasaurs, and ten Blastoises standing on this side of the lawn alone. Getting off the Rapidash at the door, I glanced around worriedly and hurried through the doors, which shut behind me with a resounding, foreboding clang.