Kit explores the Viridian Forest, and meets a new friend.
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Kit smiled at Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Totodile. They had already fought some battles with Wild Pokémon and won. She giggled as Totodile did a little dance, jumping into the air and twirling around. She reached out a hand and patted Totodile on the head.
“You’re doing a great job,” Kit told them, beaming, “I think we’re just fine, even though we’re starting out, no matter what that stupid Terry says.” She liked it that she had Pokémon who liked her and that they were doing well in battles, even though they were with Wild Pokémon.
“You know,” Kit spoke up again, “Maybe it’s time I gave you names. I want us all to be friends, and I’d like to call you by something special. Let’s see…” she murmured.
A half hour of deep thinking paid off. In the end, Kit named Totodile “Riptide” after the strong river currents at the edge of New Bark Town, while she named Chikorita “Chai” after her mother’s favorite tea.
Kit gazed at Cyndaquil’s beautiful magenta fur, remembered the pink flames that erupted from its back when it attacked… and immediately thought of the cherry blossoms that bloomed in New Bark Town during the spring.
This thought then led Kit to remember her father. He always called her his little Sakura – his little cherry blossom that flowed in the spring breeze. Ever since he died, no one had ever called her that again. She remembered how sad she felt when she thought of him, how long it took to get over it a little bit, then how happy she felt when she got Cyndaquil.
Kit gave Cyndaquil a misty smile. “I’ll call you Sakura, since you’re my first Pokemon, and my first friend!” Sakura jumped into Kit’s arms, and Kit hugged back.
A while later, with Sakura, Chai and Riptide in their Poké Balls, Kit came to a sign that read, “Route 1 – Pallet Town – Viridian City.” She looked ahead and saw the hazy outline of a city. “That must be Viridian,” Kit said, “Maybe there’s a gym over there, and I can get a badge!” She ran down the path.
When Kit got to Viridian City, she went straight to the Pokémon Center to get her Pokemon rested. While waiting, she sat down and looked through her Pokédex. She saw pictures of the Pokémon she saw on Route 1, and information on Sakura, Chai and Riptide’s types. She was amused to find out that while Riptide was male, Sakura and Chai were female. “That’s unusual,” she said, “They’re both starter Pokémon, and most starters are boys…”
“Is that so?” a voice asked. Kit jumped in surprise and looked up. A boy was looking over her shoulder at the Pokédex.
“Oh! Sorry if I startled you,” the boy replied. He sat next to her, smiling. He looked about Kit’s age, and wore a blue T-shirt, black shorts, and blue and white sneakers, and had black, spiky hair with a blue sweatband. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Just got in?”
“Yeah,” Kit replied, “I just got here a few minutes ago. I’m on my trainer journey.”
“Really?” the boy asked. “Did you get any badges yet?” He looked at her, interested.
Kit blinked and looked down. “Well… no, not really. I’m just starting out.”
“Oh…” he replied. Then he saw the Pokédex and asked, “What’s that? I’ve never seen it before.”
“It’s called a Pokédex. It records information about any Pokémon you catch. It’s Professor Oak’s latest invention, and I’m using it to help him with his research.”
“Professor Oak!?” the boy blurted out, surprised, “The Professor Oak? You’ve met him?”
“Um, yeah, I have,” Kit replied hastily, taken aback. The boy looked at her in awe, then composed himself.
“Oh! Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet,” The boy held out his hand and smiled. “I’m Taiyu.”
Kit reached for his hand and shook it. “I’m Kit. Nice to meet you!” Then, she asked, “Are you a trainer?”
Taiyu was silent for a moment before he answered. “You could say that,” he said, his face expressionless. Kit was about to reply when the nurse called her over.
“I’m sorry. I have to go,” Kit told Taiyu, “I guess we could talk again sometime.”
Taiyu smiled. “Sure. See you!” Kit waved back to him and picked up her Poké Balls from the nurse.
He seems like a nice guy, Kit thought, but she wondered why he hesitated when she asked him if he was a trainer.
Later, she stopped by the Mart to get supplies, and thought about the city’s Gym. “Maybe I could try battling the leader,” she said to herself, “Sakura, Chai and Riptide should be ready by now, and those extra Potions I bought would be useful!” She walked over to the Gym and was dismayed to find it closed. She asked a passerby about it, but he just shrugged.
“That Gym’s been closed for a long time,” he replied, “None of us know who runs it, or who used to.”
“Oh,” Kit answered, “Thanks anyway.” The passerby nodded and walked off. Kit sighed. “Now what? There isn’t much else to do here.” She looked on her Pokégear map and saw the next city ahead, Pewter. “Maybe that city has a Gym. But the only way to get there is through the Viridian Forest.” She felt a little wary about walking through the forest, since she could get lost at any time, but decided to anyway. “Besides,” she told herself, “I have my Pokémon with me, and I won’t wander around!” She soon reached the edge of the forest.
The treetops of the forest cast dark shadows over everything, and it was hard to see. Kit heard rustling sounds coming from the bushes and strange noises from the trees, and shivered. “This place gives me the creeps…” Kit murmured, her voice quavering, “I wish I brought a flashlight, or had a Pokémon with Flash…” Suddenly, something dropped from the trees and landed right in front of her!
Kit screamed and toppled to the ground. She sat up painfully, then laughed. It was only a Kakuna, hanging from a low branch. She looked around again and saw that it was getting darker and darker by the minute. “It’s getting late. I really should try to get out of here…” She started to walk back, but heard a loud buzzing noise, and a scream rang out from nearby.
“What the…” Without thinking, Kit rushed toward the noise, and came face-to-face with a Beedrill swarm. “Aw, not again!” She was about to run in the opposite direction when she noticed they were crowding over a small, crumpled form. Looking more closely at it, she saw that it was moving. “They’re attacking another Pokémon!” she realized. “It must be hurt!” She threw out a Poké Ball. “Sakura! Ember!” Hot flames shot out, and Kit ran over to the Pokémon on the ground.
It was no Pokémon she had ever seen before – it was incredibly small, and looked almost like a Pikachu, but with black striped ears and a black tail. It had numerous bruises and cuts on it, and was shaking uncontrollably. “Those Beedrills must have hurt it bad,” she said frantically. She pulled an antidote from her pack and used it on the Pokémon, but nothing happened. She tried a Full Heal, then a Potion, and still nothing happened. “What the heck?! Nothing’s working!” She could hear buzzing as loud as machine guns and feel the extreme heat from the flames. “I have to do something fast – Sakura can’t hold them off forever!” Then, Kit turned around and gasped. “Oh, drats!”
The Beedrill swarm had moved away from Sakura and heading straight for Kit and the injured Pokémon. Kit put herself over the Pokémon like a shield and screwed her eyes shut, expecting the worst. Instead, she felt a blast of heat, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the Beedrills dropping. She looked up and saw Sakura a few feet away, still burning them, but tiring out. Then she looked next to her and saw a Houndour, doing the same thing.
“Huh?” Kit stared at the Houndour, bewildered. Then, she noticed its trainer standing over her and gaped. “Taiyu!?”
Taiyu turned to her and said tensely, “You get that Pokémon out of here! Kaze and I’ll deal with these!” He glanced toward his Houndour and the Beedrills.
Kit nodded. “Right. Sakura! Return!” Sakura disappeared into her ball and Kit slipped it into her pocket. “Get some rest. You’ve done enough!” She took out an empty ball and placed it near the hurt Pokémon. “Please,” she asked frantically, “if you can, get in here. I’ll get you some help…” The Pokémon glowed a faint red and slowly entered the ball.
Kit got up and ran, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the Beedrill swarm. It had become pitch-black dark by then, and she couldn’t see a thing. She could feel branches scraping at her clothes, and could still hear faint buzzing behind her. Suddenly, she tripped over something and fell flat on her face. Disoriented, she took a few deep breaths and shook her head, wasting precious seconds. Then, someone grabbed her arm, abruptly pulled her back up, and ran, pulling her along. Kit blinked.
“Taiyu!” she said, startled, “I thought you were–”
“There’s too many of them!” he replied anxiously. “Kaze couldn’t burn them all!”
They kept running until they reached the edge of the forest, guided by a flashlight Taiyu brought with him. They collapsed on the ground and Taiyu trained his flashlight near the trees, expecting the swarm to follow them out. Nothing happened.
Taiyu sighed in relief. “Guess they got sick of following us.” He turned toward Kit. “What were you thinking, wandering around in there by yourself without a light?”
Kit smiled faintly. “I’m sorry. I just thought I could make it through there and get to the next town before dark. It was really stupid of me, now that I think about it.”
Taiyu smiled back. “Well, at least we’re okay now.”
“How did you know where I was?” Kit asked questioningly.
Taiyu frowned. “Actually, I was looking around for you, after you left the Pokémon Center. I wanted to talk to you again before you’d leave Viridian City. A passerby told me he saw you walking toward the forest. I went in to find you, and, well… you know the rest.”
Kit sighed. “Yeah. Sorry about that.” Then, she gasped. “Oh, no! The sick Pokémon!”
Taiyu’s eyes widened. “We almost forgot about it! I hope the Pokémon Center’s still open!”
Nurse Joy was slightly annoyed when Kit and Taiyu woke her up, but when they mentioned a sick Pokémon, she was wide-awake and attended to it quickly. The two young trainers sat impatiently, waiting for any news. Soon enough, Nurse Joy came back.
“The Pokémon’s condition is stable now. A good night’s rest here, and it’ll be fully recovered!” she said. Kit and Taiyu brightened. “However,” the nurse continued, “the Pokémon was badly poisoned. How did it get into that condition?” She looked pointedly at them.
Kit told her everything, including the Beedrill attack and the sick Pokémon not responding to any healing medicines. Nurse Joy frowned.
“That’s odd,” she murmured, “Beedrills don’t usually attack one target like that. And your sick Pokémon was inflicted with a very strong poison that the Beedrils don’t have. What’s more, I’ve never seen any Pokémon like that around here. It doesn’t register with any species normally found in the Viridian Forest.”
Kit and Taiyu were astounded. “Do you mean that the sick Pokémon wasn’t supposed to be in the forest at all?” Taiyu asked incredulously.
“It’s not the first time this has happened,” the nurse replied. “We’ve been getting strange reports lately about unusual species of Pokémon being found in the forest, and of people being attacked by super-strong, aggressive Pokémon deep in the forest.”
Kit, who was lost in thought, suddenly spoke up. “Could it be that the Beedrills are some of those super-strong species and poisoned the Pokémon we found, or maybe someone deliberately poisoned that Pokémon and left it in the forest?”
The nurse blinked. “That’s an incredible theory, but we’d really never know for sure.”
Kit and Taiyu stayed at the center overnight, and the next morning, the sick Pokémon was in much better condition. Kit was considering bringing it back to the forest, but Taiyu disagreed.
“I think you should keep it with you. You were the one who saved it, and it’s going to get hurt again if you let it go.” He smiled. “And besides, it likes you already!” He looked at the Pokémon curled up in Kit’s arms.
Kit looked doubtful, but then relented. “Okay. I guess you’re right.” She looked down at her new Pokémon and sighed. If someone really did try to get rid of you, she thought, whoever it was is going to answer to me!
A short time later, Kit told Taiyu that she was going to leave Viridian City. “I’m going to the next town – Pewter,” she told him, “If I train everyone enough, I can beat the Pewter Gym leader and get my first badge!”
Taiyu smiled at her. “I’m sure you’ll do well.” He was about to say something, then hesitated.
“What is it?” Kit asked.
“Well…” Taiyu hesitated another moment, then stammered, “C–can I come with you? I could probably help you out…”
Kit smiled. She could tell he was a bit concernedabout her. He really is a nice person, she thought gladly. She answered him, “Sure. You can come along. I really could use the company.”
Taiyu beamed. “Thanks!”
Kit smiled back, and then, realizing something, added, “Just wait for a little bit!” She started walking toward the Mart. “I have to get something important before we go!” Taiyu looked puzzled, but he waited as Kit went inside the Mart and soon came out.
“Okay!” she said cheerfully, “Now we can go!”
As they started through the Viridian Forest again, which was still darkened but a little brighter in the morning sunlight, Taiyu asked, “What did you get?”
Kit smiled mischievously. “I wanted to make absolutely sure I didn’t get caught anywhere after dark anymore…” She put down her pack, opened it, and pulled something out. “So I got this!”
Taiyu laughed as she held out a flashlight.
This is where the story ends, unfortunately. I did have a partial draft of Chapter 4 but it, along with the rest of my notes for this fic, got lost in a hard drive crash back in late 2005. (Yes, it was catastrophic enough that I remember the date it happened.) I've toyed with the idea of reworking this fic over the years, but nothing has come of it yet. In the meantime, this fic will be archived here. To anyone who reads this, thank you, and I'm sorry!