Here Chapter 2 has finally been redone

Here Chapter 2 has finally been redone. And as a reminder…

Hoenn & Johto Pokémon – Because everyone seemed to think that Hoenn and Johto pokémon brought in would be a good idea, I’ve decided to comply with the request. However, we won’t often be seeing them in the wild (if ever) because at that time they hadn’t migrated. I’m trying to keep true to the cartoon as well as the game.

We will, however, be meeting Trainers from Johto and Hoenn – and perhaps some of our Kanto trainers will be lucky enough to get Johto and Hoenn pokémon somehow.

Interested? Keep reading…

Chapter 2 - Partners

Route One was the direct road to Viridian City from Pallet. On foot it took maybe four hours, not including rest stops, on a bike, perhaps two. Though if you ran fast enough and took short cuts that were too small for bikes to roll through, one would be expected to arrive much sooner.

Taylor bladed swiftly down Route One, trying to be as fast as possible, hoping to at least reach the woods before it got too hot. It was just after Eight O’clock, and she could already tell it was going to be a hot day from the way the sun was starting to beat down. Of course it would be much hotter come noon.

Taylor made sure to keep as close to the side of the road as possible, so she could easily see oncoming cars. The steady stream of Rock music that sounded through her headphones was set on a low enough volume so that Taylor would be able to hear any nearby engines.

Despite these precautions, she knew her mother would have chewed her out for even thinking of wearing headphones while traveling. But Taylor found that if she listened to music while she walked (or in this case, bladed), she could often travel for much longer, hardly noticing how tired she was getting.

Though, she reasoned with herself, not being able to fully hear would not be good when on the lookout for wild pokémon, a trainer did need all functional senses on full alert after all. Taylor smiled to herself; as thought of encountering wild pokémon suddenly brought her train of thought to her own pokémon that currently rested in its pokéball.

With this in mind, Taylor wiped the sweat forming on her upper brow with a sleeve and scanned the area for shade. As luck would have it, the field she was passing had trees scattered in a few areas. Spotting a decent sized one at the side of the road; Taylor came to a halt in the shade.

She cut off the music, and slipped the discman into one of the front pockets of her bag, making sure it was tucked securely. Taylor glanced at the road she’d been traveling. What she’d already covered and how long she’d have to go. She’d just have to hope that the halfway decent road would keep for a little while longer, so she could continue blading and hopefully reach Viridian by noon. Though she knew it would give way to a more bumpy terrain soon enough.

Taylor took in a deep breath and pulled a silver canteen out of her knapsack, drinking deeply before tugging off her navy blue, handkerchief-like bandana and pouring some of the contents over her head, letting the ice-cold water run down her face and the back of her neck.

Taylor sat in the cool grass under the shade, letting herself rest for what she promised would be only a few minutes. She did want to make good time after all, and she knew she’d have to start walking as soon as the road became rockier, which of course meant she’d be somewhat slower.

The pokémon trainer slipped the only full pokéball she had on her belt out of the little loop that held it in place. She let the object swell to the size of the orange, as she examined it, giving it a couple of experimental tosses like she would a baseball.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Taylor pressed the small white button on the device and held it in front of her in order to release it’s captive. In a flash of white light, the spunky Charmander materialized before her.

The little fire-lizard blinked rapidly, making a frantic show of looking around and taking a moment to register where he now was. Noticing he was not alone, Charmander looked straight at the human who now ‘owned’ him and gave a disgusted snort, making flames protrude from his nostrils.

Taylor half expected the creature to run, but Charmander just stood there, looking at her with a mixture of interest and distaste. As if he was waiting for her to say or do something remotely interesting. A minute passed and neither of them moved, all the while simply keeping eye contact. Charmander sighed and then sat with a bump. Letting his hind legs stretch before him and his tail to lie uselessly on the ground. He scrubbed his face with a tired paw and blinked at her.

Taylor suppressed a smile, instead choosing to raise a quizzical eyebrow at her new pokémon. She tucked the canteen back in her bag before pulling her Pokédex from the pocket of her pants and flipped it open while pointing it in Charmander’s direction.

“Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. As Charmander gains experience it learns various, powerful, fire attacks. The flame on the tip of Charmander’s tail is an energy indicator. It says that a Charmander dies if it’s flame ever goes out. Charmander are often hard to capture, and difficult to train even for experienced trainers.”

Taylor shut her Pokédex and tucked it in her pocket. Of course she knew all this information. Though from Gizmo’s scan, this Charmander was a male, and already knew some basic attacks, which was about right for this level.

Taylor shuffled forward slightly to be closer to her pokémon, but not getting up from the sitting position she was in. Charmander looked at her expectantly, inspecting his new trainer more now that she was closer.

“Draco” she told it.

“Char?” the fire-lizard gave her a confused look.

“You’re name is ‘Draco’” she informed him.

Charmander snorted letting the flames fly once more. ‘Draco’ indeed.

“It means ‘dragon’ in Latin,” Taylor told him, like he’d care to know. “We haven’t been introduced yet – I’m Taylor.”

She held out her hand automatically. It was a strange gesture in Taylor’s mind to shake hands (claws?) when meeting a pokémon, but it just seemed like the right thing to do, especially since this Charmander didn’t seem to like her much.

It seemed to confuse the pokémon a little too, as a puzzled expression passed over Charmander’s face. He looked at her for a long hard moment before extending a claw and gently brushing her palm, in a movement that was not quite a handshake. “Char.”

“Well… Draco,” Taylor smiled slightly, ‘Draco’ rolled his eyes at the name, but gave no further indication of objection, “Looks like we’re partners now.”

Draco let the flames fly from his nostrils once more, adding what seemed to be like a pokémon equivalent of a scoff at the end of it. Taylor smirked.

“Well I see you just love that idea,” she said sarcastically, “you don’t trust me much, do you?”

Charmander snorted again, giving her a look that clearly said ‘Understatement’.

“I meant what I said, Draco, we’re Partners in this. Get it? Equals. It won’t be me sitting on my ass-that-I-hope-is-not-fat while you break your back, y’know what I’m saying?”

Charmander lifted an eyebrow at that, giving what Taylor hoped was some sort of laugh. The trainer smiled at the reaction.

“Look, Drake” Taylor said seriously, “you’re cute, scrawny and hostile. We can work with this you know.”

Draco growled at ‘scrawny’ and immediately blew flames directly at his ‘trainer’. To his surprise, Taylor laughed and ducked out of the line of fire (no pun intended).

“See?” she grinned impishly.

Realizing what he’d done just substantiated her ‘hostile’ comment, Draco grinned, bearing all his sharp white teeth. The Charmander shrugged with a slight shake of his head – the gesture might have been one of disbelief or exasperation.

Taylor smiled down at him. Knowing she’d probably just broken down one of the many barriers between the two of them. Hopefully now he’d at least listen to her commands if she used him in battle. Bonding would come later, she knew, but at least they were getting somewhere.

“Well, now that we’ve hit it off so famously should we get going?” Taylor smirked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She stood, and so did her pokémon.

Draco shrugged again, deciding that sticking with the human for a while might prove amusing. “Mander!”

Finding that they were on the same page at least. Taylor smiled, refastened the bandana over her hair and brushed off her pants.

“Hop up,” she said, patting her shoulder to indicate where he should land “if you don’t want to stay in your pokéball you’ll have to ride here, or else you won’t be able to keep with my blades. Walking will come later, when the road’s not as nice, kay?”

With a nod of affirmation, Draco coiled and then sprang, landing gracefully on Taylor’s shoulder. Digging his claws into her clothes, while he let his tail curl around the back of her neck.

“Just be careful with that flame of yours,” Taylor warned jokingly, indicating his fire-tipped tail. Though it was common knowledge that fire pokémon could control their fire when they didn’t want to burn anyone, Taylor wanted to be sure he tolerated her enough not to burn her.

Charmander rolled his eyes and gave a chuckle. Perhaps the way to this pokémon’s soul was through humor.

“Hold on,” Taylor cautioned, and sped off, with Charmander gripping her shoulder tightly.

It wasn’t long before Taylor’s suspicions were confirmed and the semi-smooth path became rougher. Unable to skate any longer, Taylor shed her blades and hooked them to the outside of her knapsack, pulling on Black Combat Boots in their place. She also let Draco down, telling the disgruntled Charmander that he ‘needed the exercise’.

Taylor made it a point to set a pace that Draco could keep up with, though she didn’t make any indication she was not going at her normal speed, so as not to wound the pokémon’s pride. Even with the leisurely pace the two were setting, the Charmander still had to move quickly to keep up with his trainer’s brisk strides.

Half an hour later, the sun beating down overhead was almost too much for Taylor. She halted in the middle of the road. Spotting a decent place to rest in the shade nearby.

“Break?” she asked the pokémon, who’d stopped when she did.

“Char” Draco nodded, not quite managing to suppress a look of relief.

The small fire-lizards smooth skin was covered in sweat. Taylor hadn’t realized the toll walking was taking on the pokémon – though she marveled at how he’s stuck it out instead of complaining. Stubborn? Oh yeah.

Taylor shook her head in amusement, smirking at the pokémon lightly, as both of them slumped on the grass. Taylor brought out her canteen again for more water, offering the Charmander a swig while she checked her watch.

“We’re making good time,” she told him, as Draco drank deeply from the canteen, “We should be there a little before noon I’m guessing. It’ll get easier as we go through the woods. More trees, more shade; all we gotta do is stick to the path and it’ll lead us right there.”

“Char-man” Draco agreed, handing the canteen back to his trainer and wiping his mouth with a tiny claw.

Taylor nodded at the end of that thought, the whole plan sounding good in theory. Though of course she wouldn’t mind being a bit late if it meant she ran into some wild pokémon.

As if some higher being had heard her silent wish, a sudden movement in the grass nearby snagged Taylor’s attention. The trainer’s eyes snapped towards the source of the noise. A small pink pokémon was scuffling around in the shrubbery.

“A Nidoran,” Taylor whispered, “Draco, front and center.”

The Charmander followed her stare and got to his feet slowly. He glanced at Taylor uncertainly.

“Steady on,” she told him, pulling her Pokédex from her pocket to record data.

“Nidoran, the poison-pin Pokémon. The male of the Nidoran species have larger ‘quills’ than the females, though are surprisingly less aggressive in the wild. Nidoran males have ears that stiffen at any sign of danger. The barbs on their heads release a powerful poison.”

Taylor closed the device and shoved it back in her pocket. Standing up and letting Draco step in front of her. The Nidoran in question didn’t even seem to know it was being watched, let alone threatened with an upcoming attack.

“A poison type could be useful,” Taylor told the Charmander, “you ready to rumble, Drake?”

“Mander,” Charmander nodded, leaning forward slightly in an attacking position, letting one clawed forepaw brush the dirt lightly.

“We’re going for stealth okay, Draco. Those barbs aren’t poison for nothing. Get closer and use your Growl attack.”

Draco made a little noise to indicate understanding, letting his tail flick in anticipation, as the fire pokémon crawled forward thought the grass like a Persian on the prowl. Nidoran’s pink, spiky ears pricked up suddenly, obviously sensing movement. He lifted his head, his pink nose twitching madly as he sniffed the air.

‘Perceptive little thing, isn’t he?’ Taylor noted to herself, ‘Wait for it… wait for it…’

“Draco, NOW!” Taylor yelled loudly, causing a flock of Pidgey in a nearby tree to scatter at the sudden noise.

Charmander leapt out of the grass, teeth bared. A low, rumbling noise emerged from deep within Charmander’s throat – his Growl attack of course. It gave off a very threatening sound. Nidoran cowered in spite of himself – startled at the unexpected attack.

“Drake, use Ember!” Taylor ordered.

The Charmander took a deep breath, “Cha-a-a-a-a-r-r-r-r!”

A short, thin blast of fire emerged from Charmander’s gaping jaws; the flames engulfed Nidoran in a blazing vortex. Taylor unclipped an empty pokéball from her belt, letting the object swell in her hand, fidgeting nervously as she waited for the fire to clear.

Obviously, Nidoran wasn’t at a very high level. The pokémon slumped to the grass, barely moving from the attack.

“Pokéball, go!” Taylor yelled, throwing said object at the weakened pokémon.

The ball collided with Nidoran’s head, giving a small ‘thump’ as the object opened and the pokémon was surrounded with red light as he disappeared into the pokéball. It shook for only a few seconds, but for Taylor it seemed like an eternity. Watching the pokéball shake, it’s button glowing almost angrily, as the pokémon inside gave one last ditch attempt to retain its freedom. Then suddenly there was a sound that all trainers loved to hear - ‘Ping’. The button stopped glowing the ball stilled.

A second of stunned silence followed. Taylor rushed forward and picked up the pokéball. A wide grin spread over her face as realization sunk in – she’d just made her first pokémon catch. With a light-hearted laugh, Taylor minimized the pokéball, hooked it on her belt and swooped up Draco into her arms. She lifted him high in the air. The Charmander squirmed, surprised by the action, but soon stopped when he got used to it.

“We did it, Drake, you were great!” Taylor laughed, hugging her pokémon warmly.

“Char!” Charmander squealed, surprised by the action, he gave his trainer a quizzical look, wondering if perhaps she was a little loose upstairs.

“Never been hugged before, have you?” Taylor asked with a grin, holding him up again.

Charmander shook his head, still looking at her uneasily.

“Get used to it, partner,” Taylor laughed, still very much drunk from success, swooping her pokémon into another hug, “it’ll be happening a lot from now on, okay?”

Draco rolled his eyes, flicking his tail back and forth, the adrenalin still pumping from the fight. Wriggling out of her grip and landing on the path, motioning to the road, telling her they should get going. Taylor nodded her understanding with a triumphant grin plastered on her face as the two of them continued into the woods.

‘Well, at least no one will ever be able to accuse me of leading a boring life’ Taylor thought wryly, as she trudged through the bushes.

Draco was back on her shoulder at her insistence, so she wouldn’t be afraid of loosing him in the waist-high grass.

“Don’t worry, Drake, I’m sure we’ll find the path soon,” Taylor told him, not sure if she was trying to reassure the pokémon or herself.

The Charmander gave his trademark snort, adding to it a look that clearly conveyed ‘That’s what you said an hour ago.’

“Would you relax?” Taylor demanded, “I was sure that shortcut was legit.”

“Char-man-mander-char-man-char” the pokémon retorted, shaking his head vigorously.

Taylor rolled her eyes with a wry smile. She couldn’t completely understand what the pokémon was saying, but judging by how well she knew her new friend, she supposed it was something along the lines of: ‘From now on, no more shortcuts – not now, not ever.’

“No arguments there,” Taylor agreed, stopping in the middle of the bush. She did a full three-sixty degree turn, hoping to find some sort of clue that would lead them… somewhere.

“Draco, I think we’re lost.”

The Charmander blinked stupidly at her, before slapping a claw to his forehead in an exasperated fashion. He glared at her with a disbelieving look on his face. A look that clearly said, ‘No shit!’

“Just stating the obvious, Drake” Taylor laughed at the reaction, suddenly a sound filled her ears; a sound that she hadn’t noticed before. A sound that she could kick herself for not noticing before, “Water!”

Rushing towards the musical tone of what she hoped was at least a stream; Taylor pushed herself through the grass and into the presence of a raging river.

“See, told you we’d find something. This is perfect!”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Char?”

“There’s only one river around these parts,” Taylor said, pulling out a map and tracing the blue line, “Magikarp River. And it runs right near Viridian. So all we gotta do is follow this down stream ‘till we see the city and BOOM, we’re there.”

The Charmander rolled his eyes, as if he didn’t trust her sense of direction.

“What? Look at the map! Trust me on this alright, I know what I’m doing.”

“Mander-char” clearly he didn’t believe her.

Taylor sighed, “Take a breather, I’m going to refill the canteen.” That said she shed her knapsack and retrieved the canteen from it. Making her way over to the rivers edge and kneeling down.

Before she could dip the canteen into the rushing water, she heard Draco’s cry of alarm. Taylor stood instantly, looking back towards her knapsack. The gray bag was still open from when she’d gotten the canteen out, the box of pop-tarts she’d grabbed was poking out of the open zipper and the corner was half chewed off.

Draco was growling low in his throat at the offending figure that looked miffed at being forced away from an easy meal. Taylor grinned at the Rattata, who was growling right back at Charmander, his little teeth bared threateningly.

Pulling Gizmo from her pocket, she pointed the Pokédex to record data on the offending pokémon.

“Rattata, the Rat pokémon. A common dweller of grasslands and forests, Rattata like to forage for nuts and berries found on the forest floor, but will occasionally wander closer to humans, in search for food. Rattata have exceedingly sharp teeth that grow even more dangerous as it evolves, and are very light and speedy creatures, tending to scurry into hiding when threatened, but attacking fiercely when cornered.”

Taylor noted the pokémon’s stats, finding that this Rattata was at a slightly higher level than average in this area, and was certainly a male. Light and speedy… well she supposed that depended on the pokémon. Because light and speedy this pokémon was not. Or at least it didn’t look it. The Rattata was rather on the chubby side, kind of round, though it at least seemed to be able to stand.

His two front teeth, though looking very sharp, seemed smaller than the average Rattata’s dentures. Of course, it might’ve just looked that way compared to how puffy the little rodents cheeks were. This one had obviously been filching from trainers sacks for a long time. His tail (the only thin thing about him) curled up and then uncoiled again. As if he was flexing it for battle.

“All right, Draco, Scratch it!”

The little fire-lizard sprung gracefully, extending one clawed paw and raising the other one to strike. Rattata looked up, and at the last second rolled out of the way, almost literally. His small teeth swung forward, trying to clamp on Charmander’s tail, which the fire pokémon managed to pull quickly out of the way.

Taylor grinned slightly; he sure was spry for a chubby little rodent, or at least more mobile than he should have been. However, the average Rattata was definitely much quicker.

“Drake, try a Tackle!”

At the same moment, Rattata used its Quick Attack. Slamming head on into Draco, making the pokémon fly back into a nearby tree.

“Drake!” Taylor cried out in alarm.

Unfortunately her cry was drowned by an irritated ‘SCREECH’. Taylor’s eyes snapped upwards, towards the branches of the tree that Charmander had just been slammed into. A flurry of feathers, talons and a might sharp beak darted from the branches like an arrow.

Instinctively, Taylor raised her arm above her in defense. The Spearow’s razor talons raked her forearm painfully, as the pokémon swooped. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her arm, as the pokémon rocketed upwards again, Taylor used her other hand to remove the one other pokéball on her belt that was full.

“Stentor, go!” Taylor ordered, letting her new Nidoran appear from his pokéball.

Well rested after his battle with Charmander, Stentor pawed the ground impatiently.

“Stentor, Tackle that Rattata! Drake, after that Spearow!”

Charmander leapt up, shaking off the shock of being knocked into a tree. Now focusing on the Spearow that was glaring at her and swooping down for another attack. Nidoran plowed into Rattata mercilessly. The purple pokémon skidded to a halt several feet away from Taylor.

“Both of you – forward!”

Draco and Stentor both stepped in front on their trainer. Spearow and Rattata now facing them; Rattata shaking off the last attack and Spearow diving in for the kill. Taylor peered over her shoulder, noting the river at her back. They were cornered.

“Drake, Ember. Nidoran, Poison Sting!”

Charmander breathed in a lungful of air, whilst Nidoran dug his claws into the dirt and lowered his head.

“Cha-a-a-r-r-r…” “Nido-RAN!” Two voices chimed as Draco let forth a powerful stream of fire at Spearow, and Stentor slammed his horn into Rattata’s stomach, having dodged the creature’s small fangs.

Spearow shrieked a battle cry, charging through the flames and striking Charmander in the chest. But the bird wasn’t without injury, its feathers were smoking and several of them seemed to be quite charred. So charred in fact that as soon as Spearow attack struck, the creature bounced off Draco’s chest and scurried around on the forest floor, seemingly unable to get airborne again.

Meanwhile, Rattata, only slightly fazed by Nidoran’s attack, had already pulled himself up and retaliated full force. Starting by clamping his sharp fangs onto one of Nidoran’s ears. Unfortunately for the furious rodent, Stentor’s poisoned barbs seemed to be doing the job for which they were created.

Rattata fell to the ground twitching as the poison circulated through his tiny body. Spearow collapsed next to him, out of the strain of being scorched and grounded.

With a victorious expression plastered on her face, Taylor pulled two empty pokéballs off her belt letting them rest between her fingers before spinning them towards the two weakened pokémon.

The pokéballs struck right on target, bathing the creatures in a crimson glow, before seeming to suck in both pokémon and hold them captive. Both round objects shook, Spearow’s ball more violently than Rattata’s, but eventually both stilled and two light ‘pings’ of victory were barely heard over the roaring of the river.

“Stentor, please tell Drake we are on the right track, and I do know how to read a map, thank you very much” Taylor requested lightly, her head still buried in said map.

“Nido-nido-ran-ran-ran” The poison pokémon conveyed to the fire-lizard.

Draco rolled his eyes and threw his clawed hands up in the air. Both the Charmander and Nidoran trudged a mere few paces behind their trainer, who at that moment was following the river in hopes that it would lead all of them to the next town.

With a sigh, Taylor tucked the map away and smoothed her bandaged arm thoughtfully. Three red streaks showed through the white material. The sleeve of the gray shirt that had been shredded slightly during the attack was also stained with blood, though she hadn’t felt the need to change the top right there in the woods, instead opting to do so when she reached Viridian.

Taylor smiled fondly at the bandage, knowing she’d have three parallel scars there when it came off. She chalked it up to ‘The first marks of on-the-road pokémon training’ – and so far she’d loved every minute of it.

“Nido!” Stentor announced suddenly, pointing his little pink nose to the left of them a bit.

Taylor looked.

“The path!”

And indeed, the dirt road lay not too far away, and beyond that just close enough to make out the detailed buildings…

“Viridian City! See, Drake, I told you if we followed the river we’d be fine.”

The Charmander snorted at her once more and shot her an incredulous look. Nidoran, however, was jumping up and down, seemingly very proud of himself for having found the path that would get them to the city.

Taylor knelt and scratched Stentor lovingly behind the ears for more than one good job done that day. Whispering words of praise, Taylor brought out his pokéball and recalled the Nidoran back into it, so they might be able to reach the city faster.

Straightening up once more, Taylor squared her shoulders; “Hop up here, Drake, if I run fast enough we’ll get there in thirty minutes tops.”

Without further hesitation, the small Charmander leapt gracefully, letting his tail curl around the back of her neck easily. With a slight wiggle to see if he was secure, Taylor smiled at her new partner in crime and raced top-speed towards the path.

“It’s coming up, Drake,” Taylor told her companion excitedly, “and look, the road’s smoothed out enough to blade. We should be much faster now.”

That said, Taylor seated herself on the nearest roadside-rock and proceeded to switch her somewhat dirty combat boots for her blades once more. Tucking the boots safely back into her knapsack, she pulled the object snugly on her back and stood, carefully maintaining her balance.

Only when she was sure she was steady on her feet, did she give Charmander the ‘go ahead’ to take his regular spot on her shoulder.

With the pokémon now firmly in place, Taylor gave an excited ‘Ya-HAH’ with triumphant fist pumped in the air, and sped off down the leveling road.

Her joy was cut short however, as not long after she’d donned the blades, did the duo come to an unpleasant halt.

It was Charmander, with his sharper eyesight that noticed the lump in the middle of the road before his Trainer, whose vision was sadly limited to that of human range.

“Char!” Draco exclaimed, pointing a claw up ahead, his eyes (unseen by his trainer) widening in something that could have resembled fear.

Taylor instantly tried to focus up ahead on what her pokémon was trying to warn her of. It started as a small bump in the middle of the path – that suddenly started growing larger as they neared. And soon even Taylor was close enough to see that it was a pokémon.

Turning up the speed, the lump became larger and larger, until finally she came to a sharp stop, sending small fragments of dirt flying. The creature lying motionless in the middle of the road was a light green in color mixed in with a bit of blue. It had grayish blue spots on it, rounded ears and spikes on its ears and spine.

Taylor recognized it immediately as a Nidorina. And it was injured – badly. Scratches covered almost every part of the pokémon’s body, blood seeping from a few cuts, coving the blue hide.

Taylor began swearing under her breath, using the colorful language that was mostly taught to her by her older brother, cousins and several classmates. She shuffled closer to Nidorina, as quietly as she could manage; the pokémon didn’t even twitch her ears. Moving to the front of her, Taylor could see Nidorina’s eyes were closed, and her face was scratched up – like the rest of her.

Taylor knelt down, letting Charmander hop off his perch, as she examined the body. The pokémon was still breathing, Taylor was relieved to note, but wouldn’t be fore very long if it was left like this.

Digging in her knapsack for a towel, Taylor briefly wondered what a Nidorina was doing on Route One – particularly this close to the road. Stronger pokémon around these parts usually kept to themselves and away from the roads because they knew that trainers came along this way very often.

But at that moment, Taylor didn’t much care for the reasoning behind it being there, as she carefully wrapped Nidorina in the towel. As a trainer, it would have been considered stupid not to make such a simple pokémon catch. But with wounds like these, Taylor had no idea what effect being in a pokéball might have.

‘It’s always better to be safe than sorry’, Taylor could hear her mothers voice in her head, the former statement being one of her favorite clichés.

Taylor shook her head vigorously, and thanked any higher beings watching that Viridian was now fairly close. She could be there soon at least, though she didn’t know if keeping her blades on was a good idea.

The trainer looked at Nidorina’s labored breathing and decided that it would take too much time to switch footwear once again. And it would be much faster to find the Pokémon Center in town, if she were on blades – though she’d have to watch her balance.

Taylor nodded to herself determinedly and with a promise to let him out later, Draco willingly entered his pokéball – obviously knowing there was too much at stake for him to be stubborn at that moment.

Hooking the pokéball on her belt, Taylor scooped Nidorina up in her arms and sped as fast as her body would allow towards Viridian and the ER.

Taylor swore she must have broken some sort of record, because the sequence that followed after finding Nidorina all seemed a blur to her. Skidding down the semi-crowded sidewalks of Viridian, weaving through the many busy people (which in itself was an achievement Taylor never knew how she accomplished), and bursting through the doors of the oddly shaped Pokémon Center.

Upon her arrival, Nurse Joy had seized control of the situation and immediately ordered a stretcher into the room, which was wheeled in by a couple of Chansey. Taylor had carefully set Nidorina onto it, and the blur in her memory halted when the doors of the ER closed, sealing Taylor on the outside.

Now everything seemed to drag, as time started slowing, and the world spun at a normal pace once more. Taylor sank on a nearby couch in the lobby, suddenly feeling the burn in her muscles from both the hike from Pallet, and having to carry several pounds of pokémon for the last stretch.

Taylor breathed in and exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm her nerves. She rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously, digging in her bag for her Discman. Music had always made her feel better. Though, when she pulled them on and hit ‘play’, the slow beats of the light R’n’B tune didn’t have the same calming effect that it usually did.

The fact that Nidorina wasn’t even her pokémon, didn’t stop Taylor from worrying. And it seemed as if no amount of music would help her at this point. With a resigned sigh, she switched off the discman and let it lie uselessly on the table.

Taylor rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands as she rubbed her face in fatigue and frustration. Suddenly feeling oh-so-alone, knowing that she’d never dreamed she’d be given this much of a scare at such an early point of her journey.

Taylor bit her lip in thought, remembering her promise to Draco, and feeling like she could use the company, and in so letting the fire-pokémon out of his pokéball.

Charmander materialized on the seat in front of her. Shaking his head and taking in his surroundings.

“Hey,” Taylor said softly, leaning back into the couch.

A worried look crossed Draco’s face when he caught her haunted expression. The fire-pokémon tilted his head and gave a slight “Char?” of confusion.

Taylor wasn’t entirely sure if he was worried for her well being, or if he was asking what had become of Nidorina. The girl knew it was most likely the latter, but she figured it would make her feel better if she just pretended that Draco had asked both.

“Nidorina was rushed into the ER,” Taylor told him, “I’m a little shaken myself, but it’s nothing that some food and a little closure on Nidorina’s condition won’t fix.”

In a rare act of compassion, Charmander hefted himself into his Trainers lap, as if hoping this would comfort her. Taylor gave a small smile, hoping that this was another sign that he was a little closer to fully trusting her as a Trainer, and as a friend.

“What on EARTH were you thinking?!” Nurse Joy demanded angrily, bursting from the ER and jolting Taylor out of her thoughts and causing Draco to jump slightly. “Letting your pokémon battle until it got like that! Why I have the right mind to--”

“She isn’t mine” Taylor corrected, in an irritated sort of huff, “I found her lying in the middle of the road on the way here from Pallet.”

Though Taylor could understand the reasoning behind the accusation, she hated it when people jumped to conclusions such as these, and often it meant letting her temper get the better of her.

“Oh,” Nurse Joy said in realization, “In that case it’s lucky you came by when you did. Nidorina was in critical condition, but she’s stabilizing. It might be a while before she’s completely healed though.”

“What kind of pokémon could do something like that?” Taylor asked, giving the ER doors a sideways glance “Must have been pretty powerful.”

At this, Nurse Joy frowned, “Not a pokémon – a human. From the look of those wounds I believe Nidorina was abandoned. Beaten and abandoned.”

“WHAT!!” Taylor jumped out of her seat, making Draco tumble to the floor.

But the fire-pokémon was more shocked at her reaction, rather than annoyed at being dumped. Taylor was MAD, her fists were clenched at her sides and there was fire in her eyes - the bad kind. Like if she ever found the previous trainer, she could kill.

“A human did that!!” Taylor raged.

“Shhhh,” Nurse Joy shushed her urgently, silently reminding her that this was a hospital, “Yelling about it doesn’t do any good to anyone. If I ever find the Trainer that did this, you have my word that he or she will never work with pokémon again.”

Taylor said nothing, fuming silently; Charmander was now watching her from the couch with a worried expression. Nurse Joy looked sympathetic, and with that she handed Taylor a card-key.

“Here,” Nurse Joy said, pressing the card into her palm, “I took the liberty of getting you a room. You can shower, and a nap might calm you down. Are you staying overnight?”

Taylor shook her head; “I was going to get lunch, and then head on to Pewter. But since Nidorina’s like this...”

Nurse Joy nodded her unspoken understanding, “Well, it’s your decision, feel free to stay if you want. Rooms are free for Trainers anyway.” With that she picked up some bandages from the storeroom and disappeared into the ER.

Taylor clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms almost painfully. And in an action of barely contained rage, she started pacing like a caged tiger. Draco kept his stare on his Trainer; the pokémon was almost frightened at her murderous expression.

With a growl of frustration, Taylor’s Combat Boot clad foot connected with the couch in a resounding THUMP. Draco jumped, and looked up at her, quite startled at witnessing his ‘Trainer’s’ first act of rage.

Seeing that particular look on her pokémon’s face made Taylor force herself to calm down. For a moment, Charmander had the same expression that she used to see on the faces of her younger siblings when her temper reared it’s ugly head.

Sadly, it was something Taylor had no control over, when something made her mad, she just felt like finding the nearest solid object and pounding her frustrations into it.

Sighing tiredly, letting the exhaustion of her rage and labor sink further into her bones, Taylor sank right on with it, onto the couch next to Charmander. Hunched forward with her elbows on her knees and head in her hands, Taylor tugged off the bandana to let her fingers run through her hair in pure and utter frustration.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths, she closed her eyes to fight the wave of nausea that had happily settled in her stomach.

“Sorry, Drake,” she said finally, in a tone soft enough to suggest that if she talked any louder, she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from screaming, “Got a little carried away for a minute. Just makes me so mad, you know…”

Charmander placed a tentative claw on her shoulder, quite unsure of what he was supposed to do in a situation such as this. And quite unsettled, as the human he now supposedly called ‘master’ seemed to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Taylor swept Draco up in her arms, hugging him tightly, though trying not to crush him too hard. After a moment, and with great difficulty, Charmander managed to look up at her face; he was startled to find two stray tears that had made their way down her face. But he blinked and they were gone, leaving only a wet trail in their wake, and a pair of blue eyes that were holding the rest of them back stubbornly.

“Didn’t mean to scare you there, Draco, its just… fuck, you know? I mean, what kind of sadistic asshole would do that to a pokémon… would do that to anything. And the worst part is when your pokémon trusts you to… and then you… and she… ARRGHH – I swear to GOD if I ever find out who did it, I’ll…”

And she went on, describing various acts of bodily harm that would befall the poor shmuck that used to own Nidorina. After a good five minutes of creative slaughter on her part, Taylor rested back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

Never in her life had she ever felt so emotionally exhausted. Sure, she’d read about Trainers abandoning their pokémon, Professor Oak had given her and the other temps little lectures about this kind of thing. And she’d met a few of the pokémon that had been abandoned once, but were now under the care of good trainers.

Reading and learning about these situations had angered her greatly. But having a front row seat to an abuse case was another matter entirely. Seeing it first hand left Taylor with an overpowering flow of rage, followed by sorrow and nausea, and then the whole thing left her with a bitter taste in her mouth, bile in her throat and a sick, twisted feeling in her gut. The entire experience was so overwhelming it was painful.

“You’ll feel better if you eat something,” a voice informed her from somewhere behind the couch.

Feeling a comforting hand on her shoulder, Taylor shifted to look up at its owner. She was a girl of about fifteen, with curly blond hair, light blue eyes and a comforting smile.

Though she had mentioned to Draco before that a meal might help her situation, the mere thought of food at this point didn’t sound very appetizing. In fact it made her stomach churn a little more.

“If I eat, I’ll probably throw up,” Taylor confessed lightly, offering the girl a seat in the armchair next to the couch.

The girl smiled, and took the offered chair. But her expression turned somber when she faced the doors of the ER.

“First time I saw something like that I did throw up,” the girl told her, “But in my line of work you get used to it. Doesn’t stop it being any more sick though.”

Taylor nodded, tearing her own eyes away from the ER long enough to smile at her companion.

“Taylor Brooks, Pallet.”

The girl smiled back and took the offered hand, shaking it firmly. “Hayley Anders, New Bark.”

“From the Johto region, are you?”

“Born and raised,” Hayley nodded, “I take it that was your first abuse-encounter?”

Taylor nodded mutely. A worried frown replacing her smile in a matter of seconds.

“You did good, you know,” Hayley reassured her, “Took control of the situation well - first of all by using brains before pokéball, which is one brilliant show of common sense, let me tell you. Even the majority of our trainees would use a pokéball because they’ll concentrate more on fast and easy transportation, rather than wounds.”

Taylor blinked. Hayley continued.

“Sorry, I forgot to mention. I’m a member of the PPS – been workin’ myself up the ranks for almost as long as I’ve been a trainer.”

Taylor smiled, as realization dawned, “That explains it then.”

The PPS – or Pokémon Protection Society – was an organization that was dedicated to the care of abandoned and/or injured pokémon and their recovery, at which point they then were either released back into the wild, or - if more care was needed – given to trainers who could look after them.

The entire group was made up of selected Trainers and pokémon Specialists. Trainers mostly delved in so-called ‘Field Work’, which consisted of traveling to specific areas in search of injured pokémon, and occasionally investigating Trainers who’d been reported for abuse, or finding eligible Trainers to adopt recovering pokémon.

The Specialists were mostly doctors and psychiatrists, who did their part in nursing and healing said pokémon.

Taylor remembered that she’d once considered joining the PPS if her goal to become a powerful Trainer turned out to be too far out of her reach.

Taylor continued, “I’ve heard of the PPS – you’ve just branched out to Hoenn, haven’t you?”

Hayley nodded with a smile, “Yes, I just finished a job there quite recently. But I had to come to Kanto to pick up one of the new Potential Trainee’s, and attend a couple of seminars. The pokémon I’m looking after don’t seem to mind the vacation, mind you.”

“Oh, who are some of your charges?” Taylor asked interestedly.

As soon as the question slipped out of her mouth, an obscure singing voice made everyone turn. A small, blue, crocodile-like pokémon was ‘singing’ and doing a little jig; which consisted of a lot of bouncing around and jumping. In his small claws he held Taylor’s discman – which she’d left on the table before – and the headphones were covering his ‘ears’.

“Toto-dile-dile, Toto-toto-dile-dile-dile.” it ‘sang’.

Taylor couldn’t help it – she giggled uncontrollably, as did Hayley. For a moment her focus was off Nidorina. Draco however just rolled his eyes and snorted. The first thing Taylor was reminded of was Donald Duck from the Disney cartoons – must’ve been the voice.

“Totodile, bring that back,” despite her attempt to be oh-so-serious Hayley was grinning foolishly “C’mon you little squirt, that’s not yours.”

“It’s alright, he can play with it if he wants – he seems to be enjoying it anyway,” Taylor relented with a smile.

Totodile made a happy sort of gurgling noise in it’s throat as it jumped on the armrest of the couch next to Taylor, still dancing happily to the music that remained unheard by the others.

“Totodile here is one of mine,” Hayley explained, as both trainers left the little pokémon to his own devices and concentrated once more on their conversation, “He was abandoned a few months ago because his trainer didn’t like him goofing off so much.”

Taylor blinked, “Most trainers would be ecstatic to have a pokémon that’s this enthusiastic.”

“You know it and I know it, but egocentric, battle-maniacs must have missed the memo,” Hayley snorted, “Totodiles’ previous trainer was a harsh battler and a big winner. Very abusive to his pokémon, especially when they didn’t win enough. He’s made a nice recovery though.”

“Totodile or the Trainer?” Taylor asked with a smirk.

Hayley’s grin was almost evil, “Totodile – I don’t think his former trainer is quite past the experience just yet.”

Taylor laughed, giving Totodile a loving pat on the head, making Totodile emit another cheery little gurgle amidst his ‘singing’.

“Man, this little guy’s really energetic” Taylor commented, shifting Charmander around in her lap so she could get her Pokédex from her pocket.

“Totodile, the big-jaw pokémon. No further information.”

“No information?” Taylor furrowed her brows, “Pokémon encyclopedia my ass.”

Charmander chuckled.

“You must need the Johto upgrade” Hayley shrugged.

Taylor tucked the Pokédex back in her pocket. She of course knew about Johto pokémon from her years of study, but she still liked to use her Pokédex for recording data and to see if Gizmo had anything more to say on the subject.

Totodile was a water-type pokémon, one of the Johto League starters. They were sometimes hard to capture in the wild, and very loveable and energetic. Why anyone would mistreat, abuse or abandon such a happy creature was beyond her.

“But anyway, since Totodiles recovered from his experience, I’ve got to find a new trainer for him,” Hayley pointed out.

Taylor smiled, “Really? Any potential candidates?”

Hayley nodded, “Just one so far.”

Taylor chuckled, “Well, that narrows it down considerably. Can I ask who the trainer is?”

“Sure you can – in fact, you already know her,” Hayley smiled.

Taylor looked surprised, “I do? Who is it?”

“I’m looking right at her.”

At this Taylor blinked, and looked over her shoulder, as if someone had mysteriously materialized behind her. Hayley just laughed.

“Yes, Tay, I do mean you,” when Taylor didn’t answer, Hayley continued, “Totodile is doing so much better now, but he still needs to be cared for or that lovable personality of his will just die,” she explained, “but I see the compassion you have for a pokémon that isn’t yours and I can tell you’ll give Totodile the love he deserves. So I have an offer. Take Totodile with you. In turn I’ll take Nidorina and look after her with some other members of the PPS.”

Taylor absorbed all this information, though her mind was still stuck on the fact that she was already getting an offer like this even though she’d only been a Trainer for a few hours. Rookie or not, she’d be an idiot to let an opportunity like this slip, but still…

The dark haired girl looked down at Draco still in her lap, the pokémon blinked back at her bewilderingly. It was only fair, Charmander was part of the team after all and she did say that they were partners. And partners had an equal say in pretty much everything.

“What d’you think, Drake?” Taylor asked as the pokémon tilted his head in confusion.

Charmander looked a bit startled at the straightforwardness of the question. Taylor hadn’t said anything beyond that, or expressed that she would like to have Totodile join them; she’d just come out and point-blank asked him for his opinion without swaying the scales off the bat.

Draco blinked once more, looked at Totodile strangely and gave a nod of quiet approval.

“Mander-char,” he said tolerantly.

Taylor almost sighed in relief, obviously Draco didn’t think much of Totodile, and they’d probably never be best friends, but at least he didn’t seem to mind the water pokémon being on the team.

“Deal” said Taylor with a bright smile directed towards Hayley.

Totodile continued dancing.

It was only when she reached her room did Taylor realize the full extent of her exhaustion. She collapsed forward on the bed gratefully, smothering her face into the pillow with a grunt.

Taylor was content to not move at all, though the feeling of the mattress shifting under her signaled that Draco had just joined her. The Charmander prodded her back with a claw tentatively.

“Char?” came the concerned inquiry.

Taylor laughed into the pillow at his tone, and slowly rolled herself over allowing Charmander to hop up on her stomach.

“S’alright, Drake, I ain’t dead, just tired,” she explained through a half yawn. She laughed when Charmander yawned too, “Yawns are contagious, buddy, remember that.”

“Mander?” Charmander just blinked sleepily.

“Nevermind,” Taylor gave a tired grin, “Been a helluva morning, eh?”

“Mander-char-man” Draco nodded, curling up.

“You sure you don’t want to go with the others downstairs? They probably have actual pokémon beds down there, ya know” Taylor inquired, wondering why Charmander had refused treatment when she’d left all her pokéballs with Nurse Joy for healing.

Her only response was a soft snore from the tiny fire-lizard. Taylor snorted softly as she peeked at Draco through heavy eyelids.

“Guess not.”

“Oh good you’re awake,” Nurse Joy said brightly, as Taylor approached the front desk.

She’d only gotten an hour’s sleep, but already Taylor felt better. Especially after a shower and change of clothes. Now all she needed was a meal and she’d be ready to take on the world again. And if the rumbles coming from Charmander’s stomach were any indication, he would agree with her, at least on the food part.

“You’ll be happy to know that Nidorina’s stable, all she needs is rest now and Hayley will take over from there. Complete physical recovery will probably take a few days though.”

Taylor nodded her understanding and handed the cardkey of her room back to Nurse Joy who pocketed it.

“So, how are my pokémon doing?”

“I fed them after they rested, they should be finished now. Care to take a look?”

With her affirmative reply, Nurse Joy led her and Draco into the back room where her four pokémon were happily finishing off the last bites of pokémon food from a bowl atop a steel table.

As soon as she walked into the room, the pokémon greeted her cheerily. Taylor smiled and moved over to the chubby Rattata, which she’d nicknamed Rolly.

“Your pokémon are all in pretty good health, a little more training and nourishment should keep them that way, and will most likely improve them.”

“Well that’s good news,” Taylor grinned; scratching Rolly affectionately behind the ears and ruffling his fur lightly, “Any ideas on why Rolly here’s so chubby.”

“Oh, I’m sure he just stole from one too many knapsacks. But his teeth are naturally small. He’s actually quite young though, so those should still have room to grow. I don’t think their size will dampen his battling technique though.”

Taylor smirked sharing a look with Draco, “From our little encounter in the forest, I think that’s a given. And Arrow over here – well, he’s probably a natural battler.”

“Most Spearow are,” Nurse Joy nodded towards Arrow who ruffled his feathers indignantly, “actually, it’s more about being stubborn than having actual skill.”

“Spear” Arrow screeched.

Draco growled low in his throat at the other pokémon’s attitude.

“Okay, okay, knock it off guys,” Taylor ordered, to Nurse Joy she said, “I think that’s my cue to put these guys back in their pokéballs, otherwise things might get bloody.”

“I think that would be wise,” came the subtle reply.

The corner of her mouth twitched as Taylor recalled Arrow and Rolly, the Spearow and Rattata disappearing in flashes of white light, leaving Nidoran, Charmander and Totodile on the table. Stentor was the next to disappear, Taylor giving him a quick pat on the head before recalling him into his pokéball.

“So have you decided on a name for Totodile yet?” Nurse Joy asked, giving the water pokémon a final checkup.

“Tazz.”

All she got was a nod in reply. Taylor grinned a little; naming Totodile had been no easy feat. At first she thought maybe Porthos (for his jolly nature) or Neptune. But in the end she was comfortable with Tazz, just adding the extra ‘z’ to the name of one of her favorite cartoon characters.

“I just hope I’ll do well by him,” said Taylor, smiling at Tazz affectionately, zapping the Totodile back into his pokéball and hooking it with the others on her belt.

“Hayley has faith in you, so I’m sure you will,” Nurse Joy told her encouragingly, and with she dug into the pocket of her uniform, pulling out a folded piece of paper, “Hayley’s in her room at the moment, but she told me to give this to you in case she didn’t see you before you left town.”

Taylor accepted it with a quiet thanks.

“Oh, and since he’s here, perhaps you’d like me to give your Charmander a quick checkup too. Though I’m sure he’s already well rested from that nap.”

Taylor nodded and gave Draco a look that said ‘behave’. Charmander snorted and Nurse Joy fought a knowing smile, as she picked up the fire-lizard and moved him to another table.

“This should only take a few minutes.”

“I’ll wait in the lobby.”

Exiting the room and moving into the lobby, Taylor plunked herself into the nearest armchair. She took this time to take a look at the paper Hayley gave her, unfolding it and finding a small note scrawled over it.

--Taylor,

Thanks again for taking Totodile, I know you may have doubts, but I’ve been doing this a long time, so believe me when I say that you ARE the right person for this job. Despite his ordeal, I know that with the proper training Totodile will grow to be a great fighter, and he’ll be easy enough to get along with – for you AND your other pokémon. Just let him use your discman once in a while and he’ll love you forever, trust me, Totodile just loves music, as you must have figured out by now.

Anyway – here’s the PPS business card, it’ll tell you how to contact us. I’ve put my personal mobile number on the back so you can call if there’s a problem or if you just want to check up on Nidorina’s progress.

Good luck on your Pokémon journey and I look forward to watching you in the pokémon league tournament. Hope to meet up again with your someday soon.

Hayley--

Taylor smiled softly, refolding the small paper and holding up the business card that had been wrapped inside of it. The PPS logo shone on the front along with the leaders names and contact numbers of the various Headquarters. As promised Hayley’s personal cell-phone number scrawled in blue pen on the back of the card.

Tucking the letter and business card into one of the many pockets of her bag. With a sigh she leant back briefly, obviously Draco’s checkup wasn’t over yet. Spotting several videophones in the corner, Taylor decided it might be best to call home.

She set her bag on the floor and unhooked the receiver, slipping a few coins into the slot of the machine and dialing her home number. When the ringing stopped, Taylor could hear shouting and giggling from the other line.

“Hello?” a voice said warily.

“Well, hello to you too, grouch” Taylor smirked at the black screen.

There was a gasp and the image of her brother flickered onto the screen. TK was definitely looking worn.

“Dude, you look like crap,” Taylor told him frankly, “I haven’t been gone a day yet.”

“When are you coming home?” TK whined.

“It’s not that bad, Teek,” Taylor chuckled, “Where’s your sense of adventure?!”

“It chickened out when it realized I have four little demon-possessed monsters to look after,” TK admitted with a disgusted snort.

Taylor raised an eyebrow, “Did you feed them sugar for lunch? That’d be an absolute no-no.”

“I’m not that stupid,” TK sighed, “So, how’s the journey been so far?”

Taylor snorted thinking of the scratches on her arm left by Arrow and finding Nidorina on the road.

“It’s been an experience,” she answered knowingly, “Are Mom and Dad there?”

“They’re a’workin’,” said TK, looking a little happier at her call, “They were a little ticked you left without a proper send off…”

“Which is exactly why I left early,” Taylor smirked, “I remember how mushy they got when Adrian left, and he almost couldn’t move after that four course breakfast.”

TK grinned in memory, “Point taken. Not to mention I bet you wanted to get first pick of the crop this year. Which pokémon did you choose?”

“Charmander. Hostile little bugger – but we’ve reached a… compromise of sorts. I’m already in Viridian by the way.”

“Oh – the Pokémon Center right? Is it nice there?”

“S’alright.”

“Caught any new pokémon?”

“Four, besides Charmander… except I wouldn’t say the last one was caught. I was given a Totodile.”

“Someone gave you a Totodile – were they brain dead!” TK said incredulously.

“I don’t think so, no” Taylor smirked, “It’s a long story and one I’ll be happy to tell you another time.”

TK nodded, “And the others?”

“A Nidoran, Rattata and Spearow.”

At that moment a voice yelled from the background “DID YOU SEE ANY PIDGEY??”

Taylor and TK winced simultaneously. TK was suddenly bumped out of the way as Kurt stumbled on screen and snapped up the receiver.

Taylor sighed, “Yes, Kurt, I saw a few Pidgey, didn’t catch any though?”

“Can you can’t me one? Please oh please oh please?!?!” Kurt begged.

She smirked and shook her head in disbelief, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“YAY!!”

“Alright, Kurt, you’ve had your fun, now go play your video game” TK sighed exasperatedly, taking the receiver back from his little brother and looking back at the monitor, “You’re really going to get him a pokémon of his own? At this young an age?”

“Jealous because you don’t have one yet?” Taylor smirked.

“Mom and Dad are SO gonna kill you.”

“Then they’ll be arrested, as I’m pretty sure that’s against the law,” she stuck out her tongue at him.

TK rolled his eyes, “Oh that’s mature. And you’re the one that got to leave home? What is this world coming to?!?”

Taylor laughed heartlessly, “Sucks to be you!”

“I’ll say,” TK sighed, “Look, Tay, gotta go before the twins start climbing all over the furniture. Man it is SO not fun being the new house Killjoy.”

“And it’s a position I’m more than happy to dump on you, squirt,” Taylor chuckled, “Say ‘hi’ to the others for me, and make sure y’all stay out of my room. Got it?!”

“I’ll try, see ya, Tay.”

“Bye.”

With a grateful sigh, Taylor hung up the receiver, watching the screen of the videophone go dark once more. Despite her teasing, she knew that TK would be fine, he just needed to adjust to being the eldest in the house (out of the kids anyway).

Making a mental note to get him something nice from her travels, Taylor dug in her wallet for a few more coins, so she could call Professor Oak, who wanted an update on their progress regularly.

“Char” came a voice from below, as something tugged on her pants.

Taylor glanced down at Draco, who’d obviously just come back from his checkup.

“Well, you look fine, everything went well?” Taylor asked, hoisting the fire pokémon into her lap.

“Mander-char” was the response along with a nod of affirmation.

“I’m calling the Lab, wanna say ‘hi’ to the Professor?” Taylor asked.

Charmander shrugged indifferently, as Taylor punched in the number she’d by now committed to memory.

A few rings and the Professor answered with a cheery ‘Hello’, as his image appeared on the screen.

“Hey, Professor.”

Professor Oak was shuffling papers busily, ballpoint pen in hand.

“Oh, hello, Taylor,” Professor Oak smiled, “You caught me in the middle of some paperwork. I swear a few in-depth studies on pokémon and people expect you to start producing a hundred more like them.”

“Well, you are the expert, sir,” Taylor grinned.

“That’s the title they gave me for being the only one who’d take the time to do it – not that I minded but… oh well. Enough about me, are you in Viridian already?”

Taylor nodded, “The Pokémon Center. Got here a couple of hours ago. Now all Charmander and I need is lunch a then we’re headed into Viridian Forest, wish us luck.”

“Well, I don’t think you need luck, Taylor, you’ve been showing promising skill. Though I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less. Have you caught any new pokémon?”

Taylor nodded, “Four of them. A Nidoran Male, a chubby Rattata, a temperamental Spearow and an energetic Totodile.”

“Totodile?! That’s a Johto pokémon. I haven’t received any migration reports…”

“He was given to me by a PPS member” Taylor explained quickly before Professor Oak went on another one of his scientific rants.

“Oh, well that explains it,” Professor Oak said, though he looked mildly impressed, “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you. I mean, PPS members don’t give pokémon out to just anyone, Taylor. You must have really done something spectacular to get their attention. And it’s more of what they see in you as a Trainer that impresses them.”

“There was a stint with an injured Nidorina I brought in on the way here,” Taylor said uncertainly.

“I’m sure there’s more to that story, though, if they gave you a Totodile. Well done. And it seems you’ve already started building up a team. How’s that Charmander I gave you?”

At this point Charmander pushed himself in front of the screen and waved.

“Draco and I have an understanding, sir,” Taylor told him, resting a hand softly on the pokémon’s head.

“Draco, eh? Clever name. Anyway – keep up the good work and don’t forget to check in every so often. I like to keep tabs on Pallet’s trainers.”

“I’ll keep in touch,” Taylor promised.

With both phone calls made and her pokémon fully healed, Taylor left the Pokémon Center with one more task in mind. Food.

That checkup of Draco’s had obviously not included a meal, like it had the others, since he made it very clear to Taylor that he was just as starving as she was.

“This is what happens when you only have a nutrition bar for breakfast,” Taylor muttered to herself, glancing down the street for the nearest fast food joint.

She wasn’t in the mood to walk very far, so anything that was in the vicinity of the pokémon center would have to do. There were a few possible, reasonably priced places to eat – Burger King, Wendy’s Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts, KFC, Taco Bell… well, they were the only ones that really caught her eye. Where to begin?

“Where d’you want to eat, Drake?” Taylor asked, happy to let the pokémon make the decision for her.

“Char?”

Taylor halted and blinked at the pokémon on her shoulder – it was a hard maneuver, but she managed.

“Lemme take a stab at this then – you’ve never had fast-food?”

Charmander shook his head. No he hadn’t.

“Oh you poor depraved creature” Taylor shook her head jokingly.

Draco glared at her.

“Hey now, no need to look at me that way. Fast food is one of the human worlds modern miracles, and now’s a good a time as any to start learning,” said Taylor with a chuckle, “I’m not the chef my dad is, so until I learn to whip up something more substantial than scrambled eggs and toast, we’ll practically be living off of this stuff for a while. Don’t worry though, fruits and veggies and other healthy stuff will also be part of the menu – my mother will kill me if I don’t eat right.”

Charmander tilted his head.

“Of course, I’ll need to find something to fit your regular diet soon – I could attempt to find something now…”

“Char,” Draco interrupted her, sporting a look that clearly conveyed ‘If you can eat it, I can eat it’.

Taylor smirked, “Alright, alright...” she glanced towards the nearest place, “we can start small, lesson number one – McDonalds.”

Admittedly, McD’s wasn’t her favorite of places – but it was the closest and at the moment she didn’t really feel like walking any further to get something better.

That decided, Pokémon and Trainer entered the fast-food joint.

“Now what appeals to you?” Taylor asked looking up at the menu boards.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Char.”

Taylor looked to where her pokémon pointed.

“Ice Cream? Won’t that stuff just melt in your throat?”

The Charmander shrugged. Taylor shook her head.

“Food first, and if you’re still hungry, dessert” Taylor said firmly.

Draco snorted in disgust – it was becoming a habit.

“Alright, how ‘bout I order my meal and you can filch of my plate and if you like what you eat, I’ll get you some more… how’s that?”

The Fire-lizard hesitated before nodding. A while later Taylor and Draco sat at a two-seater table.

“Wanna try the Big Mac?” Taylor asked.

Charmander shook his head vigorously.

“Alright then, have some fries.”

The pokémon picked up one in his claw and took a small bite out of it. His eyes widened in surprise before he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth and went for seconds.

Taylor laughed, “Told ya,” she pushed the medium fries towards him, “it’s all yours, buddy.”

Finally full enough to at least get through the next few hours, Taylor made a scheduled stop at the nearest Pokémart, stocking up on things she didn’t already have, including a few extra pokéballs, missing items from her Potion and Antidote bag and a copy of ‘Pokécare for Dummies’ – the travelers version; a small book, conveniently made so that it could be carted around by trainers without too much trouble. The book included basic Pokéfood recipes and the nutritional diet for all known pokémon in the Kanto Region.

Needless to say Draco was a little dismayed at his trainer’s purchase of the book.

“Hey, I’m not going to let you and the others live on junk food for the entire trip,” Taylor said defensively.

Charmander ‘pouted’ but didn’t complain.

Another half-hour later found them on the edge of the Viridian Forest.

“Ready to take the plunge?” Taylor asked her partner.

“Char!” Charmander puffer his chest out confidently.

Taylor shook her head and strapped on her roller-blades while Charmander took to her shoulder. Without another word said, the two entered the forest.

Kristy snored softly in her sleep. The stuffed Mew plushie clutched tightly to her, as the child used it for a pillow.

Her Great Aunt chuckled at her sleeping form, knowing that her niece usually fell asleep around this part, and in the morning she’d be a little upset that she had.

The feel of her tired bones as she stood with young Kristy in her arms, was just another reminder that she was no longer as young as she used to be, though she still seemed to be strong enough to carry the five-year-old in her arms.

Before she could even move two steps, a Machamp appeared in her path. If she’d had the strength to jump, she would have. The Machamp, too, was very old, his outer complexion a dulling gray, though his eyes shone with wisdom.

The old pokémon stretched the lower pair of his four arms towards his Master and the child.

“Thank you, Gorgon.”

The Machamp - Gorgon – bowed, taking Kristy carefully in his arms, surprisingly gentle for a creature of his build. His Master sighed, thanking her lucky stars that, even in their old age, fighting pokémon remained strong – though admittedly not as strong as they once were – but still much more powerful than the average human.

Titan, the Tyranitar, slept soundly, not having moved from his position beside the rocking chair. His Trainer pulled an old photo album off the shelf before settling back in said rocking chair, and letting the book fall open on her lap.

If used correctly photo albums became wordless history books, or motionless videos. Documenting life only through pictures. Pictures that had to be put in a certain order, if there was any hope of telling a story correctly.

Luckily though, the old Pokémon Trainer had managed this rather well. She had a whole shelf filled with nothing but Photo Albums, each telling the basic life story of select family members. The one she looked at now showed a girl with chestnut-brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, her Charmander stood proudly on her shoulder and waved at the camera.

On her right to her stood a girl with charcoal black hair that fell about her shoulders in ringlets. Her right arm was stretched out to permit an unusually colored Butterfree – it’s wings sparkling with a light powdered-purple tint – to perch there.

The old woman smiled at the photo; of course Kristy already knew the story – though she delighted in hearing it over and over, even if it did need lengthy intermissions, especially when used as a bedtime story

– And of course, the tale was far from over.

Well, I must admit, even I like this version better. The site’s a bit of a bitch though, trying to get the format and italics exactly right – working on it for you guys though – and also trying VERY hard to watch my spelling.

Next redone chapter coming soon!