Route 1

[Thach Wilson and Blake Tepets] The ball wobbled and shook, and the Rattata almost broke free. Finally, though, it clicked. Emilia cheered. "Now you have two purple Pokemon!" she shouted gleefully. "Now you just have to find a Swalot, a Gengar, a Muk, and a Koffing and you can start the Purple Pokemon Gym in one of those new regions." She pointed over the small hedge; Viridian City was just a few steps ahead. Thach and Blake may now post in 'Viridian City'.

[Lee Wilter] Mid-battle; taken to PMs

Thach walked over to the now still pokeball and picked it up. He stared at it for a while, beaming. "Rattata, you're mine!!!!" He jumped in the air excitedly, Beau coiled and mimicked his jump. "Ekans Ekansss!!!" Beau hurriedly slithered onto Thach's arm, happy that he made a new friend. He ran over to Emi, hugging her in his excitement. "If I can find 'em, I can catch 'em! Truth be told, I hope they put up more of a fight than this little one....oh well, I'll just train him up!"

Thach walked toward his bike, which was laying on the ground next to Emi. He set it upright and mounted it, taking out Beau's ball, Beau cringed at the sight of his pokeball.. "Sorry pal, I don't want you to sit in the basket with the sun going down. I may hit a bump and run you over, do you want that?"

Beau shook his head. "Ekansss..."

"Good! I'll make sure you won't be in there too long, when we get to Blake's I'll put you out. Along side...this kid still needs a name...." Thach rubbed his chin, wheeling the bike so that he was next to Emi. "How about Bandit?"

Beau nodded his approval, he had slithered into the basket while Thach was wheeling.

"Alright! I'll let Bandit and you out when we get to Blake's! Until then..." Thach held up Beau's ball. "Return!"

Beau the Ekans disappeared into the pokeball in a red flash. He shrank his ball and put it next to Bandit's, then turned to Blake.

"Ready when you are, just lead the way *yawn*." He then turned to Emi, strapping his bag to the bike. "Did you want a ride?" He patted the basket, hopefully she was light enough to ride.

((8))

[Thach Wilson and Blake Tepets] Emi smiled and laughed at Thach's triumphant attitude. "Bandit's a great name!" she proclaimed. Climbing up the hedge, she saw Viridian City expand in front of them. With the afternoon growing so late, perhaps they would be better off sleeping at Blake's house and starting fresh the next morning. Thach and Blake may now post in 'Viridian City'.

[Lee Wilters] Melissa snorted at the kid. "Who are you to stand in my way?" She clearly didn't intend to fight him, being a Pokemon Breeder and all.

"My name is Hamlet!" the boy's name made his ridiculous posture even more humorous. "You'll fight me, then!" He pointed dramatically at Lee. Then he shouted, "Go! Surskit!"

"Sure, bring it on," Lee said, smiling. "Go get him Sparks!" Sparks sped towards the Surskit and jumped above it. Facing the Surskit and following the shouted orders from Lee. Sparks shot a bolt of electricity at the Surskit hoping to hit it from above, then landed behind it and faced its opponent, ready to defend or attack again when Lee called.

The Surskit, skidding on its spindly legs, slid sideways to avoid the attack - but only barely. "Surskit, use Water Gun!" The water spider Pokemon shot a squirt of water from its mouth, drenching the Pichu.

Meanwhile, Melissa was practically on the floor with laughter. The Budew by her side looked on, mystified by its master's behavior. "Oh... my gosh.... that guy just used a water attack on an electric Pokemon!" Her eyes were shut as she bent slightly at the waste, leaning on her knees to avoid falling over.

Sparks stopped startled. Lee laughed. "Was that refreshing, Sparks?" "Pi!" Sparks replied from behind the Surskit. "Alright Sparks, we've weakened him, time to stop him in his tracks. Attack him head on with a Quick Attack and paralyze him with a Thunder Wave!" Sparks raced like lightning at the weakened Surskit, and just before he landed his blow, he shot a wave of electricity at the startled Surskit, paralyzing and knocking it backwards at the same time.

Youngster Hamlet, distinctly startled by his attack's ineffectiveness, didn't react in time to tell his Pokemon to dodge the Thunder Wave. Frozen, it toppled to the ground and was blasted by the full effect of Pichu's Quick Attack. It fell to the ground, its eyes in the shape of x's. It had been knocked out.

Youngster Hamlet was all in a dither now. "Yeah, well.... I can still beat that!" His composition was shaken, since he knew that his next Pokemon didn't stand a chance against an electric-type Pokemon. "Go, Pidgey!"

The small bird Pokemon fluttered to the ground, equally upset by the prospect of facing a very strong Pokemon. But Hamlet had an idea. "Use a Sand Attack!"

The Pidgey quickly used its claw-like foot to kick sand into Pichu's face - the electric Pokemon rubbed its eyes, clearing them, but a cloud of brown dirt made its foe invisible. "Quick Attack!" The Pidgey landed a surprise attack out of nowhere, damaging Pichu.

Startled by the sudden attack, Lee watched has Sparks slowly crawled to its feet; he was injured badly and probably couldn't take another blow. Angered at the pain caused to Sparks, Lee shouted commands wildly, and Sparks following his orders swiftly. It was not over yet. Sparks ran to the side, dodging and taking hits from the Pidgey as it made its way to Lee. Wary of the Pidgey in the air, Lee thought of a plan; whispering like two children telling secrets, he told Sparks what to do. Sparks ran underneath the Pidgey and tripped making it an easy target.

Come on, Lee said to himself, attack sparks. Fall into our trap!

Youngster Hamlet realized almost instantly the flaws of his previous plan. Pichu couldn't see his Pokemon, but neither was Pidgey able to spot its foe. "Blow all that away," he said reluctantly, knowing that Pidgey would probably be badly hurt in the process.

Pidgey spread its little wings wide, causing a small windstorm to sort out all the drudge in the air. Soon, its path was clear to Pichu. "Use Quick Attack!" And the little Pidgey sped toward the fallen Pichu, intent upon hitting its mark.

As the Pidgey sped towards Sparks, Lee laughed and cried, "Do it now, Sparks!" As the Pidgey got closer, Sparks shot a bolt of lightning directly at it, going towards the Pidgey, which was traveling head on towards Sparks. The startled Pidgey would have nowhere to go and no chance to react to the unexpected attack. Lee smiled. "Checkmate."

As Hamlet's Pidgey was zapped, he cried in anguish, "No! My Pidgey!" He recalled the injured Pokemon and raced off toward the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. Melissa snorted derisively. "Kids these days. C'mon, we probably should hurry; that battle can't have been too good for your Pokemon either."

[Drake Argentius] Route 1 The two siblings were waiting outside of Drake's house when he exited. The late afternoon sky was covered with streaks of orange and purple. Ellen smiled kindly. "All right, then, let's head out."

They walked onto the well-worn Route 1, which was familiar territory for the entire group. The water Pokemon walked behind their trainers just a bit. The pace was fast, but not brutally so. The entire evening seemed quite relaxing. The siblings were rather quiet, having nothing in particular to say.