Chapter 4: On the road to Viridian City!!

Eric and Katrina had begun their Poke'mon quests. They headed toward Viridian City, where they would both face the gym leader, and then they would both take their separate ways from there. Poke'mon Gym Leaders are highly respected Poke'mon Trainers. They usually use one specific type of Poke'mon in their Gyms. Each Gym is located in one city. Originally, there were 8 Poke'mon Gyms in the region of Kanto. Now, with the increase of trainers worldwide, there are over 20 Gyms. Of course, you still only need 8 Poke'mon Gyms to enter the Poke'mon League Regional Championship, and if you pass the qualifying test, you can go on to the International Indigo Poke'mon League Tournament. Eric planned to head in a complete circle on his journey, covering all the main cities of Kanto. Katrina planned to take a more scenic route, hitting all the less-popular cities in hopes of easier battles, and rarer Poke'mon.

"Man, it's getting late, we should set up for camp." Katrina said. "No way, not yet. I still have to capture a Poke'mon!" Eric said. Eric was eager to see a new Poke'mon today, but so far all he had found was Rattatas and Pidgeys, Poke'mon he was uninterested in. Eric and Poliwhirl head off the path while Katrina set up camp. "Don't go too far," Katrina yelled, "It's dark, and I don't want to look for your butt if you get lost!" "Yeah, yeah!" Eric called back. "C'mon, Poliwhirl!"
"Whirl! Poli!" Poliwhirl said.

Eric was wandering in the grasss, looking for any Poke'mon, but they were scarce tonight. Eric was beginning to lose hope. "Poli…whirl!" Poliwhirl whined. "What's the matter Poliwhirl?" Eric said, "You wanna go back?" Poliwhirl nodded. Eric began to head back, when a coconut hit him in the back of the head. "Owwww, who did that?!" Eric said, ready for a fight. He looked up in a tree, and spotted a white monkey with a pig's nose, and hair missing on it's hands and feet. Eric pulled out his Poke'Dex.

MANKEY: The Pig Monkey Poke'mon. It stands at 1 foot, 8 inches. Its ideal weight is 62 pounds. Mankeys are extremely quick to anger. It could be docile one moment, then thrashing away the next. They are Fighting type Poke'mon, and this particular one is male.

"Alright!" Eric said, "Go, Poliwhirl!!" Poliwhirl rushed forward, with his arms extended, ready for combat. "Poliwhirl, Ice Beam!" Poliwhirl fired a blast of cold air at Mankey, who hopped out of the tree and dodged the blast. Mankey did a small flip in the air, then, it landed perfectly. Eric had a great deal of respect for this Poke'mon; he'd never seen one before, and it seemed that it would be a great asset to his team. Makey tried a Karate Chop, but Poliwhirl hopped to the side. "Now use your Double Slap!" Poliwhirl slapped Mankey multiple times, and then finished it with a critical punch to the face. Makey's nose was now bleeding. It fell to the ground weakened. Eric pulled a small Poke'ball from his pocket, and enlarged it.

"Poke'ball, GO!!" The ball hit Mankey, and bounced off it. Mid air, it opened up, and Mankey turned into red plasma energy. The energy was sucked into the ball, and the ball closed. The ball began to rotate furiously, since Mankey was trying get out. Finally the capture net prevailed, and the ball beeped, indicating capture.

"YES!! I did it!! I captured Mankey!!" Eric screamed. He grabbed Poliwhirl's gloves, and the two began to dance and sing. Eric grabbed the Poke'ball, decreased its size, and fastened it to his belt. "Don't worry Mankey, when we get back to camp, you can come out. Eric also recalled Poliwhirl.

By the time Eric had gotten back to camp, Katrina was already in a battle. She had found a wild Pidgey, and had engaged combat. "Vulpix!! Ember!!" "Vulllll!!!" Vulpix yelled. It shot small fireballs from its mouth and blasted the Pidgey. Pidgey fell to the ground, defeated. Katrina tossed a Poke'ball, and caught it. "Looks like your working hard." Eric said, not just referring to her recent capture, but to the fact that she set up camp, herself. Katrina let out Pidgey, who rested beside Vulpix. "So..did you capture anything?" Katrina asked. "Of course." Eric said. He released Mankey, who immediately jumped behind Eric and started beating the back of his head.

Mankey was not too happy at its recent loss of freedom.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!! QUIT IT!!" Eric yelled. Katrina, and the Poke'mon laughed. Eric began to run in circles until he finally got Mankey back into its Poke'ball.

The next morning, Eric got up and stretched. He let out a big yawn, and scratched his side. He started to brush his teeth and wash his face in a nearby lake. Poliwhirl woke up not too long after, and he hopped into the water. "Poli! Poli!" He chirped cheerfully. Eric laughed. Even mornings seemed better now that he was away from home. Eric pulled on a shirt with a Poke'ball on it, and then put his red and white jacket over it. He considered letting out Mankey for some breakfast, but decided against it.

Eric began to get hungry. He decided to look for some berries. Until he got to town, he would have to rough it. Katrina came up behind him. "Heeey. Good morning." she said, in a weird mixture of cheerfulness and grogginess. She had scared Eric, which caused him to fall down a small hill, and crash into a small rabbit-like Poke'mon. Eric pulled out his Poke'Dex, to get some info on the creature.

NIDORAN MALE: The Poison Pin Poke'mon. It is 1 foot, and 4 inches long. Its ideal weight is 15 pounds. Nidoran stiffen their ears to sense danger. The larger, more powerful of its horns, secrete venom. They are Poison type Poke'mon, and as the name suggests, this particular one is male.

Eric wanted to catch it, but a voice called out. "Hey!! Who do you think you are, butting in! I was just about to catch that thing!" A young boy, about Eric's age of 16, stood before him. Next to him, was what looked to be a two-headed freak ostrich Poke'mon. Eric used his 'Dex to get some info.

DODUO: The twin bird Poke'mon. It stands at about 4 feet, 7 inches, and its ideal weight is 86 pounds. It is a bird that makes up for its poor flying, with its fast foot speed. It leaves giant footprints. They are part Flying type Poke'mon, and part Normal. This particular one is female.

  "And who might you be?" Eric asked, surprised to see any trainers without Rattatas and Pidgeys, like he was used to when he was still living in Pallet. "My name's Stephen, I challenge you to a battle!" Eric accepted. "Fine, we'll play. But we're fighting for cash. No chump change either. Ten bucks goes into the pot!" Stephen nodded. The Nidoran had escaped, but now Stephen was interested in battling Eric. Katrina had slid down the hill, fully dressed, with Vulpix and Pidgey. She was intrigued to see how Eric would battle. Eric lifted his vest up and pulled a number 2 Poke'ball. "GO!! MANKEY!!!" Eric threw the ball and released Mankey. "Man!! Key! Key! Key!" Mankey screeched. Stephen looked towards his already-released Doduo. "Fine. I choose Doduo." he said calmly. Doduo cawed and hopped forward.

"Alright, Mankey let's see what you can do. Use, uhh, Scratch!" Eric said, not sounding very professional. Mankey yawned. Eric had a look of surprise on his face. Why hadn't it obeyed the command? "Mankey!! Scratch!" Eric ordered again. Mankey jumped on Eric, and began to punch him the back of the head. "Ow!! Stop that, Mankey!! We're in a battle." Stephen and Katrina were laughing hysterically, to the point of tears. Eric recalled Mankey, upset since it won't obey him. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!!" Eric roared. Katrina wiped the tears from her eyes. "No, Eric, you're right. It's not funny." She glanced at Stephen. "It's freaking HILARIOUS!!!" The laughter resumed. Eric rubbed the knots sticking from his fro in the back of his head, with a look of unhappiness on his face.

"Alright. Fine. So it's that way, huh?!" Eric said to Mankey, who was in the Poke'ball. "I'll just use Poliwhirl." Eric suddenly remembered Poliwhirl was still out swimming. "Uh, I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. Heh heh." Stephen stared at Eric. Eric sighed. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and handed it to Stephen.

After finding Poliwhirl, and hanging out, Eric found out that Stephen was from Viridian City, and planned to enter the League. He already had 2 badges. Eric couldn't believe it. The 3 trainers decided to head to Viridian City and challenge the Viridian Gym Leader. Now, with a new friend, our heroes prepared to continue their journey!

To be continued…

Next chapter: Forest Scramble!!