Chapter 3: Eric's Poke'mon Journey!!

Eric, Katrina, Jin, Mike, Kelly, and a mysterious kid we're all heading to Professor Oak's laboratory, eager to begin their Poke'mon quests. "Oh man!!" Eric exclaimed, "I can't wait to choose a new Poke'mon! I wonder what they'll have!!" "Calm down. For all you know, they could be Poke'mon you've already captured, or boring ones." Katrina said. "The Poke'mon that my uncle Oak will be distributing are Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur." the mysterious kid said, silencing everyone else.

"Wait a minute, you're his NEPHEW?!" Katrina said, intrigued. Eric didn't like this latest revelation at all. Even though he and Katrina were just friends, it still made him uncomfortable when she her interest was fixed on a boy. Some might call it jealousy, but Eric knew Katrina felt the same way when Eric was around a girl.

"Whaddya call yourself anyway!?" Eric said, purposely rude. "…my name is Andrew." the kid said. "I moved to Pallet to become a Poke'mon Master." he started, "But there's no real competition around here." "What!?" Eric yelled, about to lose his cool. Katrina foresaw this and interrupted him. "What my friend, here, means is that both he and I are very skilled Poke'mon Trainers!" she said. Andrew stared her down for a minute, then, looked over her shoulder at Eric. He looked back at Katrina. "Well, if you're such good trainers, then why are your Poke'mon leaving you?" Eric's Poliwhirl, and Katrina's Vulpix had been following them, and when they both turned around, they were gone.

"WHAT?!" they both screamed simultaneously. Eric spied them chasing after a fleeing Rattata. Eric and Katrina both ran after them.

About an hour later, Eric and Katrina finally got their Poke'mon back. They suddenly remembered something. "Professor Oak!!" they both yelled. Now, at sunset, the two would-be Poke'mon trainers made it to Oak's lab. Eric knocked on the door.

"Hello, who is it? Oh! Eric! Katrina! Come in!" Eric and Katrina were both tired and panting. "Sorry we're late, Prof.," Katrina said, "But our Poke'mon had escaped." Eric was ready to receive his Poke'mon. He ran over to Charmander's Poke'ball, but to his dismay, it was empty. Next, he ran to Bulbasaur's. But it, too, was empty. There was one left, Eric thought. Katrina foresaw this and hopped over the couch, running to the stand where the Poke'balls were. Eric and Katrina began to wrestle over Squirtle's Poke'ball, but when they opened it, they saw that it, like Charmander's and Bulbasaur's was empty.

"Professor Oak?! Where's the Poke'mon?!" Eric whined. "Well," Professor Oak began, "you guys came too late. Jin, Mike, and Kelly got the Poke'mon. I also had an extra, an Eevee, which I gave to Andrew." Eric slumped over. "Cheer up," Katrina said. It's not like we have no Poke'mon at all." she said, referring to the Poke'mon they already owned.

"Yeah, but I wanted an all new Poke'mon as well!" Eric said. "Stop whining, you big baby!" Katrina said, and with that, she slapped him in the back of the head. Professor Oak chuckled. "Well, you know, you two had better get going, it's already 6:00, and if you want to catch any Poke'mon you'd better do it while it's still daylight." Eric counted the Poke'ball slots on his belt. "Hey, Prof., what do we do if we have more than six Poke'mon?" Oh, I've programmed your Poke'dexes to emit a signal that reacts with the Poke'mon you capture. After six, they will be transported here, for me to take of." "You mean we're getting our very own Poke'Dexes?!" Eric asked. Professor Oak nodded. He went into the back room, and brought out 2 Poke'Dexes, small electronic encyclopedias that had a vast knowledge of Poke'mon, attack techniques, and even maps and ID purposes. He also gave Eric and Katrina six Poke'balls each.

Eric left Weedle and Rattata with his sister, Liz, who wanted to be a trainer. Eric said goodbye to everyone of Pallet City, as he and Katrina set off to Viridian City, the next town after Pallet.

To be continued…

Next chapter: On the road to Viridian City!!