“Well, Bulbasaur, isn’t this great?” asked Markus. “It is just me and you facing the world and…”

“Cater…Pie!” A Caterpie slithered around happily in the forested area of Route 1. It is a Bug- Pokemon that can learn Normal-type attacks, such as Tackle. But it can learn Bug-type attacks as well, like Silver Wind and Signal Beam, when it evolves.

“WOW! A Caterpie!” Markus screamed happily. He took out his brand-new Pokedex and a small picture of Caterpie appeared onscreen. Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon. Caterpie have a tendency to run away when necessary, but on other occasions, it stays in battle more than usual. It evolves at a very fast pace, said Dexter, the Pokedex.

“Cool! I’m going to catch it,” said Markus, with a big smile.

“CATERPIE!” screamed Caterpie.

“Bulbasaur, Tackle attack!” Markus commanded his Bulbasaur.

“Bulba-saurrr! Bulbasaur reared Caterpie in the stomach, using his massive head to inflict a lot of damage.

The wild Caterpie counterattacked with a Tackle as well, hitting Bulbasaur on contact. Bulbasaur was getting very tired and weak. Caterpie taunted.

“Bulbasaur, no! I’ll take it from here, return!” Markus said, grabbing his Pokeball. A beam of red light emerged from the Pokeball and Bulbasaur returned safe and sound. He grabbed an empty one and hoped for the best. “You’re mine, my Caterpie! Pokeball, go!”

Markus threw the red-and-white Pokeball at the wild Caterpie, placing it inside. Then a small counter appeared in the center of the Pokeball, starting at the number 5. The ball rattled and shook, the countdown at 2. Markus was sweating bullets. The Pokeball kept shaking; the countdown at one, Markus felt the pressure, the heat, and the nervousness. 0! He caught Caterpie!

“All right! I caught me a Caterpie!” Markus celebrated, glad that he got a Pokemon.

“Good, Markus, good,” said a mysterious voice. “But you’ll be giving all of your Pokemon to me!”

“You’ll never get my Pokemon!” Markus snapped.

“Heh, no worries, man, it is just me,” said John, a fellow trainer and Markus’s best friend. John was always a person who liked to prank people sometimes. He wore his jeans and a clean black T-shirt with a picture of a Pokeball on it. He always had his sneakers on.

“Don’t do that! You scared me! Big time!” Markus shouted.

“Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?” John asked.

“No, I don’t mind at all,” said Markus.

“Is it okay if I join you on your Pokemon quest? I have my own. A Squirtle.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea! Let’s just get to Viridian City first. My Bulbasaur is tired and Caterpie is feeble.”

“So is my Squirtle. That’s all I have, until I can get my own. I kept losing to many a trainer.”

“Heh, lets just go!”

“Weedle!” another Bug Pokemon emerged from the forested region.

“Cool! A Pokemon!” said John. “I wonder what it is.” He flipped out his Pokedex.

Weedle, the Hairy Pokemon. Weedle always use their sharp needles on their heads and tails to ward off stronger enemies. Like its counterpart and gentler Caterpie, it evolves at a fast pace.

“Cool! A Weedle! I’m going to catch that thing!” shouted John.

“Go for it,” said Markus. “Catch a Pokemon!”

“Pokeball, go!” John yelled. The red-and-white Pokeball smashed the Weedle’s head and the ball shook. And shook. And shook. Five…four…three…two…one…ZERO! John has caught a Weedle!

“Congrats, John! You caught A Weedle!” Markus congratulated his bud.

“Manectric, grab it!” a man commanded.

A yellow dog zoomed by and grabbed the Pokeball containing the freshly caught Weedle. It growled fiercely at Markus and John. It howled at its trainer and six more Pokemon [all Electric-types; Electabuzz, Jolteon, Ampharos, Minun, Magneton, and Electrode] appeared.

“It’s Team Thunder! They were a newly discovered Electric-type elite team of Pokemon thieves. They’re really sneaky,” Markus said professionally.

“Good, Markus, but what do we do? Our Pokemon are exhausted! We need help! NOW!”

A grunt commanded his mighty Manectric to use a Thunder attack and then the two boys were on the floor defenseless…and then…

“Charmander, Ember!” a girl commanded. A Pokeball flew and a small fire lizard emerged. It used its fire-type power, Ember to burn Manectric.

“Manectric, return!” The grunt said. He dropped the Pokeball containing Weedle and left. His other Pokemon followed.

“Carla?” Markus asked. Carla is one of Markus’s friends. She has a small crush on him. She has aqua-blue eyes and a dark crimson-like hair color, which goes all the way down to her shoulders. She wore a sky-blue shirt and a light-red skirt. She looked a little pretty in Markus’s eyes.

“Gee, Carla. You look nice with your Charmander. It suits you well,” said John.

Carla giggled. “Teehee…thanks for the compliment, John. “Well, Markus, you traveling with your buddy here?”

“Yeah, want to join us? We can sure use a Fire-type Pokemon trainer in our group!” Markus asked, hoping for a ‘yes’.

“Sure, but let’s go to the Pokemon Center in Viridian. I’m getting tired,” Carla replied.

“What a coincidence! That’s where we’re going! Right, John?” Markus said happily.

“Yup!” John replied with a friendly nod.

“Welcome to my Pokemon Center! How may I serve you?” asked Nurse Joy.

“Hello, you’re so beautiful! Want to go on a date with me?” asked John in a Brock-like way. And in a Misty-like way, Carla pulled John by the ear and dragged him. Everyone chuckled.

“Revitalize all of our Pokemon, please, miss,” Markus said, holding out his tray with two Pokeballs.

“Sure, and you guys too?” she asked, looking at the two other trainers.

“Yeah, and can we get a room, please? We’ll be spending the night here,” Carla asked very politely.

“Sure, I’ll take you there right away,” Nurse Joy responded, holding a set of many keys.

“Room 79. Your room. Enjoy your stay,” said Nurse Joy, unlocking the door.

“Thanks, Nurse Joy,” said all of the kids in unison.

“You’re welcome,” she replied with a friendly smile.

The trio stepped in their room. They were in awe. Being in a room together sounds pretty cool.

Moments later, the Pokemon were given back to the trio of trainers. They released them and they joined them for dinner.

“Carla, I see you’ve caught a Pidgey,” said Markus, eating.

“Yeah, my Charmander Scratched it pretty badly and, well, I just caught it, tee hee,” replied Carla. “Well, whom do this Caterpie and Weedle belong to?”

“Caterpie’s mine,” Markus said.

“And I caught my Weedle right after he caught his Caterpie,” replied John.

“Well, tomorrow, we head off to…umm…Markus, where is the first gym?” Carla asked.

“Pewter City! We have to wander around Viridian Forest to get there. My PokeComp should tell me who the Gym Leader is,” said Markus, grabbing his PokeComp prototype from his backpack.

City: Pewter. Gym Leader: Brock. Specialty: Rock Pokemon Pokemon: Geodude, Onix, Forretress, Crobat Time to battle: 2 days left. Reason: Meet up with friend in Hoenn region

“Two days left!? It takes a day to get through the forest! We need to leave tomorrow morning!”

“Works for me!” said John and Carla.

The trio went to the room and slept for the night. Are they ready for tomorrow? Stay tuned!