Chapter 3 - Professor Oak's Gift

"Very well. Here you go."

Brandon & I were handed a Poketch, & a set of six Pokeballs. "Professor... I thought the Poketch was for Sinnoh trainers?" I raised an eyebrow. "Just because we're in Kanto doesn't mean we can't use them, Katrina," he chuckled. I smiled & apologized for my stupid question.

The Professor briefly explained the Poketch, & how they came with videochat, which was a new feature recently installed. I already knew how they worked, so it was nothing difficult for me.

We registered Professor Oak's number so we could video call him if we needed to talk to him. Then we registered each other's number.

"Now... I have one final thing to give you two... But do not tell anyone that I'm doing this..." he trailed off. After we assured Oak we wouldn't, he handed us a Pokeball. "Katrina... I'm deeply sorry for your loss..." he frowned, & placed another Pokeball in my other hand. "Professor... Do these Pokeballs have actual Pokemon in them?" Brandon asked. "Yes they do. Unfortunately I am busy, so you two will need to be going now."

As we walked outside, Gary was resting there, next to a red sports car, a Porsche Boxster, smoking a cigeratte. Brandon rolled his eyes.

"Nice car," I admired the pretty vehicle. I had never even sat in a real car before. Not everyone had cars to get by, a lot of people simply walked, or flew around with their flying-type Pokemon. Besides, not many people saw a point in buying a fancy car when pretty much any Pokemon, even a measley Catterpie, could use a move like Tackle & dent the expensive vehicle.

"Thanks... What's your name cutie?" he asked. I blushed,"Katrina." "What a pretty name, come back soon Katrina," Gary winked at me. Brandon shot Gary a mean look.

When we were out of the Professor's office, Brandon turned to me. "I wonder what Pokemon I got?" "Me too." I was getting used to this whole 'me too' routine. Suprisingly, Brandon didn't complain or ask why Oak gave me two Pokeballs. But I knew why, it was out of sympathy.

Brandon's stomach growled. "Join me for lunch?" he smiled a little. After lunch & more talking & 'me too' moments, Brandon & I sat by the pier where we had been earlier when we arrived in Pallet Town. We released our Pokemon from their Pokeballs.

"Alright Growlithe, time to meet the new addition to our team!" Brandon yelled with enthusiasm. Out of the Pokeball came a small turtle Pokemon. Squirtle. "Squirtle!" the little turtle said his own name. "Cool it's a Squirtle! He gave you a starter Pokemon!" I was astonished.

I had thought only rich kids got starter Pokemon. "That's why he said don't tell anyone he gave them to us... Duh," Brandon chuckled at me.

"Amber, meet your new teammates!" I threw both Pokeballs into the air. A red lizard-like Pokemon with a flame at the end of its tail appeared. Beside him was a grass type, the other starter Pokemon for the Kanto region, Charmander & Bulbasaur.

"Wow," I was shocked. Brandon was, too. "I can't believe this," he explained. We fed our Pokemon & let them play around & get to know each other a bit. "What are your plans now?" Brandon asked me. I explained to him about how I was going to take part in Pokemon tournaments. He didn't seem convinced.

"Do gym battles." "What? Why?" "They are cooler, make more money, get you more noticed, & if you earn enough of them, you can enter the Pokemon League," he told me. As soon as he said the part about gym battles earning more money, I decided that's what I would do. "I'm heading to Viridian City first. Then to Pewter City, where I'll challenge Brock," he explained.

As Brandon went in explaining his future, I smiled at him. He looked so cute, & he was so ambitious. "Wanna come?"

"Hmm?" I hadn't been listening to Brandon for the past ten minutes. "To challenge Brock with me. Since you're gonna do gym battles." "Oh, yeah," I agreed. "Since we're both doing gym battles, we might as well travel the whole region together!" I joked & laughed.

Brandon didn't laugh, however. "I mean, if that's what you want?" he raised an eyebrow. He thought I was serious. I barely knew him, what if he was a serial killer? "What if you're a serial killer?" I spoke my mind without actually thinking. "Me, a serial killer? Oh please. How do I knew you're not a rapist?" his eyes became wide.

"Even if you were, it wouldn't be called rape if I liked it," he winked, making me blush again. "Shall we be heading to Viridian?" Brandon questioned as the sun began to fall.

We wanted to be there by nightfall, so out we set, to Viridian City. I expected Route 1 to be crawling with trainers, but it was actually empty. "Vulpix!" Amber ran ahead with Growlithe, playing tag? "Our Pokemon seem to be getting along fairly well," I said casually, walking side by side with Brandon.

"We're getting along pretty well too," he pointed out. "Well, you haven't pissed me off yet, & when you do, it won't be so pretty," I warned him with a smirk. A commotion in front of us caused us to run up ahead.

"Rattata! Use Tackle!" I heard a voice & I heard Vulpix shriek. "Pidgey use Gust!" the voice repeated. Worried for the sake of my Vulpix, I ran as fast as I could into a clearing. Vulpix & Growlithe were on the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I cried as I ran to Amber, who was forming bruise on her ribcage. "I saw them first! These are rare Pokemon to find around these parts! I'm gonna catch them!" the young boy boasted.

"They're ours dumbass!" Brandon helped Growlithe up. "I'm gonna defeat them & capture them," he narrowed his eyes. I knew at this moment that we would have to battle this kid. I shot Brandon a look & he was way ahead of me, already positioned.

I scanned Amber with my Poketch, & found that she had known the moves Ember, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, & Confuse Ray. "Okay Amber let's start with a Quick Attack on Rattata," I instructed. She obediently preformed her attack & knocked Rattate aside.

Brandon's Growlithe had used Bite on Pidgey. "Rattata & Pidgey, use Tackle!" the young trainer ordered, sounding angry. "Amber, dodge that & use Confuse Ray!"

Amber was quick enough to dodge Rattata's Tackle attack, but as soon as she did, she was hit by Pidgey's. They were double teaming Vulpix?

"Growlithe, use Bite on Pidgey!" Growlithe pounced on the tiny bird Pokemon & sunk his fangs into her wings. "Quick Attack!" I said without thinking. Amber hit Rattata & knocked him down. I didn't want it to get a chance to get back up. "Ember," I said, just loudly enough for Amber to hear. Small flames escaped her mouth & Rattata kocked out.

It was fairly easy to beat the young trainer, who definately did not have much experience. I glanced over at Pidgey, who was using a Gust attack. "Hit 'em with Flame Wheel, Growlithe." Growlithe ran straight at Pidgey, curled into a ball, past the Gust attack, & hit her, knocking her down & out. The kid began cursing under his breathe & left.

"Brandon, your Growlithe knows Flame Wheel? How long have you had him?" Brandon looked at me & smiled,"For about a few months now. My parents got him for me."

"Wow, I won my first official Pokemon battle," I said to myself excitedly. "Me too," Brandon chuckled. "How did your Growlithe become so strong then? If you never had a real battle?" I questioned. "Training, we trained a lot, & sometimes battled wild Pokemon. This was our first battle with a trainer," he explained.

Route 1 was not very long. We each ended up battling up battling another trainer, winning both times. I got to use my Bulbasaur, who was extremely smart. Brandon got to use his Squirtle, who seemed a little timid.

"There it is," Brandon whispered, as we saw Viridian City just up ahead. "Yep," I nodded at him & smiled at Amber, who was flirting with Growlithe behind us. The town was small & quiet. I was enjoying walking & after a while, I noticed we were heading towards Route 2.

"Wait, why are we leaving so soon?" I asked, stopping. "We need to get to Pewter City by nightfall," Brandon continued to walk. "It is night already," I argued. "It's 8. We can get out of Viridian Forest by 11."

I argued for a few minutes with Brandon, but he won, & just like that, we were headed into Viridian Forest, at night. I did not have a good feeling about this.