We walked on towards Pewter City.  At least, we hoped we were walking towards Pewter City.  With all of 
this forest stretching way too far in every direction, we were really quite lost.  As we walked aimlessly 
onward, JJ grew more and more disappointed.
"Charmander mander char," I told him.
"Yes, we will probably get there soon, Charmander."  He smiled encouragingly.  "But then again, we 
might not..." and he sank back into his own thoughts again.  Then I had an idea.  I felt really stupid, 
because I hadn't thought of it before.
"Charmander!  Char mander char char!" I cried.
"Of course!  You're so smart, Charmander!" JJ replied.  He quickly took one of the pok‚balls off of his 
belt, and threw it on the ground.
"Spearow?  Spear?"
"Spearow, I need you to fly above the treetops and find Pewter City," JJ directed.  "Then come back down 
and point out the direction we need to go."
Spearow nodded, then flew almost straight up through the trees.  JJ was beaming now.  Actually, so was I.  
Our food supply was getting low, and I was looking forward to a night in a cozy, warm bed.  Actually, I 
didn't get to sleep on the bed because I'd probably light it on fire with my tail, but I was happy anyway.  
Anything, it seemed to me, was better than this forest with its cold dirt and far too many trees.
Spearow fluttered back down from the trees, which brought me out of my daydream, and started to bird-
walk along a path that led off to the side.  He looked up at JJ, who smiled and said, "Thanks, Spearow.  I 
owe you one," and brought him back inside his pok‚ball.
We started walking again, and this time we knew where we were going.  We had walked for about 30 
minutes when another trainer came into view.  JJ said, "Great!  There's another trainer!  That must mean 
we're getting close!"  I smiled.  I could smell the aroma of the city already.  A bit harsh, but welcome after 
the same musty old smells day after day.
We got closer, and the other trainer noticed us and started walking purposely towards us.  When we were 
within hearing range, he said quietly, "I challenge you to a battle."  Simple as that.  I saw JJ's eyes light 
up and thought, "Uh oh.  Here we go again."
"I accept that challenge," JJ replied excitedly.  "3 pok‚mon each sound OK to you?"
"Sure," said the other boy.  "I choose Growlithe."
"Ha, I choose Squirtle,"JJ practically yelled.  I wish he wouldn't yell so loudly, it hurts my ears.  "Squirtle, 
bubblebeam now!"  Squirtle replied, "Squirtle squirt" (You're going down!) and fired, well, a beam of 
bubbles at the Growlithe.  I could see the individual bubbles hit the Growlithe, and he got weaker with 
each one.
"Growl..." he faltered, then hit the ground, out cold.  "You're good, I can see that.  Poliwag, GO!"  I was 
startled.  This was the boy who had been standing there so quietly just a minute before?
"Squirtle return! Bulbasaur, I choose you!"  "Bulbasaur!" (I'm not gonna lose to you, tadpole)
"Poliwag, hypnosis now!"  "Wag!"  Poliwag's spiral started to spin.  It was so nice, so soothing... WAIT!  
I wasn't supposed to be falling asleep!  I shook my head to clear it.  I looked over and saw Bulbasaur doing 
the same thing.
"All right!  Shake it off, Bulbasaur!  Vine whip, NOW!"  I watched the Poliwag get whipped by 
Bulbasaur's vines.  "Bulbasaur, leech seed!"  The leech seed hit the Poliwag, and he promptly fell over, 
fainted.
"Poliwag, return!  Now for your last challenge.  Nidorino, GO!"
"Charmander, I choose you!"  I stepped into the makeshift ring.  I was nervous, let me tell you.  This 
Nidorino was twice as tall as me, and three times as heavy!
"Nidorino, poison sting!"  There was no way I was having that huge horn stuck in me!  I managed to 
dodge the attack, and he hit a tree.
"Charmander, fire spin!"  I managed to get a critical hit, but he still looked pretty strong.  Now unstuck, 
he whirled around.
"Nidorino, fury attack!"  I dodged most of it, but I was hit twice.  They were glancing blows, but they spun 
me around and made me disoriented.  I ended up falling flat on my butt, mildly nauseous.  I heard a voice 
say, "Nidorino!  Fury Swipes that Charmander!"  Before I could react, I was suddenly getting hit again 
and again by Nidorino.  Well, at least the pain brought me back to my senses.  "Nidorino, finish it off with 
a Body Slam!"  Now, I was NOT going to become a pancake!  I dodged, and Nidorino found himself in an 
intimate relationship with the ground I had been sitting on.  "Nido...RINO!"(That's IT!)  He launched 
himself at me again.  I turned around to see Nidorino hurtling towards me, with his feet tucked back and 
head pointed at me.
"CHARMANDER!" (AAAAAAHHHH!) I yelled.
JJ was suddenly in front of me, trying to block me from Nidorino's attack.  Nidorino hit JJ sending him 
flying into a tree.  He moaned, tried to stand up, and fell back down.
I turned around, and saw Nidorino with a smug look on his face.  That made me indescribably ticked off.  
"CHARMANDER CHAR CHAR MANDER CHAR!" (I can't believe you hit JJ!  How could you, you 
oversized excuse for a porcupine!)  I was so angry!  I took a deep breath, and expressed my fury with a 
move I had just taught myself... fire blast!  The toasted Nidorino looked at me in awe, saw that I was 
charging up for another one and jumped back into his pok‚ball.
"Well, you have certainly proven yourself to be an excellent fighter, and you have also proven that you 
love your trainer very much."  The trainer was talking to me.  I had to fight the urge to roast him as well.  
"Since you love him, as I'm sure all his other pok‚mon do, I will take you all to Pewter City.  That is 
where you're headed?"  I nodded.  He sent out a Snorlax who lumbered over to JJ, picked him up and 
followed the path that we had been taking earlier.
So, we are still on our way to Pewter, but we're much closer then we were last time.  We also made a new 
friend, who I hope will come with us on our journey.