Kapitel 3: Viridian City

I didn't pay any attention to the screams of Misty behind me, nor how tightly she was holding onto me. Instead, I just focused on pumping my legs as fast as I could.

The bike groaned in protest but I didn't pay it any mind. I needed to keep up this speed.

Gible was safe and sound in the holding basket but it was quickly fading, and without this much speed, we wouldn't make it. Luckily I was strong enough and had enough stamina that I'd been biking at top-speed for an hour now - which meant Viridian City was now within sight.

...I should get myself a bike, goddamn does it make journeying the Routes easier. No wonder Misty used it to get from Cerulean City to Route 1.

I raced into the city, hoarsely screaming redhead on the back of the bike and injured Gible in the front, swerving and making extreme maneuvers to dodge any passersby or their Pokémon in front of me. Soon enough I found myself in front of the massive Pokémon Center, a few Nurse Joys conversing in front of the building.

Skidding to a stop, I quickly got off the bike and took Gible out of holding basket.

Rushing up the one of the Nurse Joys, I hurried spoke, "Please, you've gotta help me. I found this Gible on Route 1 and it's pretty badly injured," I pleaded to them and both of the nurses, who had already stopped their conversation upon my dramatic entrance, burst into action as they took Gible.

One of them carefully held the injured Pokémon and took it inside the Center while the other began questioning me about the injuries I'd found. I explained it was the result of some sort of wild clash with a Huntail and that the Huntail had used a move like Ice Fang, brutally injuring the young Gible.

With that out of the way, she thanked me and rushed off after the other Nurse Joy to begin treatment on Gible.

Sighing, I sat down on the bench and ran my hand through my hair, scratching at my scalp as I thought through the situation. A Gible in Kanto was weird but a Huntail being in a river in Kanto was even weirder. For it to be so aggressive to have hurt a young Gible as well, is quite unusual.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Louis," Misty wheeled the bike over to where I was and shakily sat down next to me, "That Gible is definitely a lucky Pokémon to run into you while injured. I'm pretty sure I've been in cars going slower than a bike powered by you," she gave a laugh and I felt a smile crack the serious expression on my face.

"What can I say? I workout a lot," I clapped my thigh like it was a trusty machine and not a part of my body, earning a giggle from Misty.

She covered her mouth with a hand as she replied in between giggles, "I can see that, and sadly so can my bike. It'll definitely need some repairs after the workout you just put it through," she joked but wasn't being entirely unserious.

The gears and suspension of the bike were both pretty messed up after dealing with my furious pedaling. Still, neither I nor Misty were that upset about it seeing as it was for a good cause.

Realization sparked on my face as I fished out my Pokedex. Turning to Misty I gave her a wry smile, "Sorry, but I need to make a call about what we just witnessed. You don't need to leave or anything, just don't go all fangirl on him when you see who it is, alright?" I warned her and despite looking somewhat confused, Misty nodded nonetheless.

I input his number and a few rings went by before a video feed appeared on my Pokedex, showcasing Professor Oak out on the ranch it would seem and tending to a bunch of Tauros who curiously peeked over his shoulder at the Pokedex he was holding.

"Louis? What could you possibly need calling me this early into your journey? Change your mind on officially becoming my apprentice?" Oak joked after asking my reason of calling.

...He keeps bring that up, huh?

"That's--!" Misty stopped herself from saying anymore when I cast a 'Really?' gaze at her from the corner of my eye.

Oak obviously took notice of her and smiled, "Oh? A friend of Louis'? Hello! My name's Oak!"

"I-I know who you are," Misty croaked with an awkward smile before giving a little wave and introducing herself, "I'm Misty, I just met Louis on Route 1."

"Hm? Well, he does work quick--" I stepped in because this was just getting too ridiculous. Oak loved playing the role of a teasing grandpa whenever he could and usually I'd let him but right now I actually had something to say.

"Old man," I cut him off, "I've actually got something to say that I think you'll want to hear," I said, my tone serious. Oak heard that seriousness and stopped his shtick of trying to embarrass me, instead turning his full attention to me, so I continued, "I saw a Gible on Route 1, but what's even weirder is that I suspect it got in a fight with a Huntail. In a river, not the sea. Have you ever heard of their being a Huntail population in Kanto's rivers?"

The professor's eyebrows raised in surprise, "A Huntail in a river? Are you sure it was one?"

I nodded, "About 90% sure, yeah. The wound on the Gible was the exact size and shape of the typical Huntail bite. Three incisions on the top half of the Gible and two on the bottom," I grimly informed him. Why was this so serious?

Because if a Huntail gets introduced to an environment like a river, it'll completely upset the food chain of that entire area, leading to a whole bunch of Pokémon deaths which would then begin to affect the people who rely on those Pokémon to survive. It's similar to what happened in my past life when you take an animal and drop it off in a completely foreign ecology - it either dies quickly or begins to disrupt the natural order.

That's exactly what that lone Huntail will do if left in that river. First it'll start off simple. Less Magikarp and Krabby. Then it'll effect the Pokémon who feed on those species. Fearow, most usually. Which will lead to a decline in the amount of Fearow and Spearow, leading to a massive burst in the Pidgey population which will allow Beedrill swarms to massively grow in numbers due to the increase in their main source of food.

Then it'll snowball from there. It's a pretty serious problem and is a major reason why differences in certain Routes are usually monitored by Pokémon Rangers and Professors.

"Hmm," Oak held his chin, humming as he thought about the implications I'd just described, "I'll inform the nearest Ranger station and have them investigate it. Thank you for informing me so soon, Louis. As you know this can develop into quite the serious situation," he let out a sigh before smiling, "Anyway, if the chance arrives, try and capture that Gible and document it's growth and unique biology. I haven't had the chance to see a Gible before!"

I rolled my eyes at his excitement before speaking up, "I'll do what I can but I'm not gonna force it to join my party. It already seems incredibly wary of people," I told the old man before giving him a quick wave, "Well, that's all I wanted to say, see you when I see you, old man."

"Indeed, Goodbye, Louis," he waved farewell and I ended the call.

Putting my Pokedex away, I saw Misty looking at me confused, "What?" I asked, suddenly wondering if there was something on my face.

Misty, noticing she'd been caught staring at me, flushed a little but shook her head and answered anyway, "I was just wondering...is it really that serious a problem? A new Pokémon in an area should be good, right?" I shook my head and began to explain why it could turn very bad and how there's usually only a small minority of Pokémon that can seamlessly and harmlessly fit into a new environment without upsetting the balance already established there.

By the end, Misty was wide eyed and her mouth was agape, "I...I had no idea stuff like that could happen," she shivered, probably imagining a gigantic swarm of Beedrill, "I guess you learn something new everyday, huh?" she smiled over at me wryly and I returned it.

"Don't feel too bad about not knowing about it. Not many people outside of Professors and the Rangers know a lot about Pokémon ecology," I shrugged, playing off how surprisingly rare this type of knowledge was, "Either way, it won't come to what I described because the Rangers will be on it like a rash and after they capture the Pokémon that caused the trouble, it'll be shipped off to it's natural habitat."

As I was leaning back onto the wooden bench, scratching at my head, I realized something and stood up ramrod straight. Misty looked confused and yelped at my sudden movement but I soon let her know what I'd realized.

"I left my cap near that river! Goddammit!" I covered my face and groaned in annoyance and frustration. I turned to Misty and pointed at her bike, "Please, let me use you bike so I can go get my cap back. I know it sounds stupid but it's something my mom got me and it holds a bunch of sentimental value and--" Misty stopped me with a smile.

"Sure, just get it back to me in one piece, okay?" she said and for a second I thought I was looking at an angel.

Overrun with gratefulness, I pulled Misty up and into a bear hug, earning me another yelp from the redhead, "Thanks, Misty, I'll definitely pay you back for this!" I let her go and picked up the bike, calling back to her over my shoulder, "Stay here just in case anything happens to that Gible, okay?!" before I swung my leg over the bike once more and took off even quicker than before due to the lesser weight.

My cap better still be there!

. . .

I made it back in record time, only taking about half an hour to return to the place where I'd first met Misty. Luckily, sitting there on the edge of the embankment, was my lucky cap.

I rushed over to it, securing it back on it's rightful place on top of my head.

Ahh~ All is now right with the world~

As I did this, however, I noticed that I saw a familiar blue-jacket wearing teen floating and thrashing about in the river right next to me. Huh. So, it's around that time. Makes some sense...I guess. Walking over, I bent down and reached toward the person in the river, grabbed them by the collar and hoisted them out of the water.

Dropping them down in a pile of wet clothes and exhaustion, I couldn't help but smirk, "Really, Ash? One day without me and you're already in a river, thrashing about?"

Ash spluttered, coughing up some water before turning to look at me, "L-Louis...?" he croaked before laughing despite his situation, "Of course you'd find a way to appear at the last second. Ever the hero, huh?" he looked at me, bantering back at me full force despite nearly drowning.

Yep, that's Ash for ya.

"I think you're the one with the hero complex, bro, but whatever," I shrugged and squatted down next to him, pointing at the wet ball of fur currently shivering in Ash's arms, "What's up with this little guy? He your starter?"

Ash caught his breath a little more before nodding, "Yeah, this is Pikachu. He's a little be defiant but he's a pretty cool Pokémon for a starter--wait, enough of that, he's pretty beat up because of a swarm of Spearow. We need to get him to a Pokémon Center, quickly!" his entire body language went from relieved to urgent need within a few moments and I was somewhat taken aback.

Still, I pointed to the bike nearby, "Take that. It's a bike I'm borrowing off a friend. Use it to get to Viridian City," I pointed in the general direction of the city and began to stretch, "I'll run beside you."

Ash looked as if he wanted to refute what I was saying and just ask me to get on the bike with him but less weight on the bike means it'll be able to go quicker. And I'm not Ash's babysitter - he needs to solve these types of problems on his own. It's his Pokémon, after all. Granted if he really is in danger, I'll step in, but until then I'll stand back and let him do his thing.

In the end, Ash nodded and got up, walked over to the bike and got on it with Pikachu in the front basket. He began pedaling furiously and shot off.

I bent down into a sprinting position and turned my cap backwards so the bill wouldn't catch the wind as I ran and fly off my head. I'd already nearly lost the cap once today and that was one time too many. Can't be letting it turn into a habit, can I?

Taking a deep breath, I pressed off the ground and burst forward with incredible speed.

I pumped my legs and swung my arms and quickly, I began to catch up to Ash.

As we were moving, that flock of Spearow Ash was talking about? They caught up. They pecked at Ash while he protected Pikachu and tried to peck at me - it didn't really bother me. My skin was tough enough that their underdeveloped beaks and strength couldn't really hurt me. Still, they gave their damnedest until I started actively swatting them out of the air.

Despite being tougher than he would've been in the anime because of my influence, Ash was still getting hurt by the utter amount of Spearow around him and just as I was thinking of stepping in, Pikachu seemed to finally have recognized Ash as his partner.

Electricity sparked off of Pikachu in a majestic display of power and blasted out in an omni-directional way. It wasn't a move, just Pikachu using it's innate ability to generate electricity.

It washed over me, making me feel tingly and numb all over but didn't really do much to me beyond that. It certainly did much more to the Spearow, Ash and Misty's bike, however. The bike was pretty much ruined, Ash dropped to the floor like a puppet without it's strings and all the Spearow followed suit pretty quickly.

Skidding to a stop, I chuckled at the scene, "You picked yourself up a pretty strong Pokémon, huh, Ash?" I asked, gaining no reply because he was unconscious. Shrugging, I walked over to him and picked him up from the wrecked bike. I carefully picked Pikachu up as well and placed him on top of Ash before picking Ash up and holding him as I began to run. If I wanted to make it back to Viridian before it got too dark, I'd need to step it up a few gears, huh?

So, I did. Instead of jogging like I had before, I threw myself forward at a full-on sprint, using every bit of strength and power I had in my muscles.

It's safe to say I shot forward at an incredibly fast speed.

But fucking hell was it tiring. Even for my monstrous body.

. . .

"My bike!" Misty dramatically collapsed to her knees just after I explained what happened to her bike, "It cost so much money...!" she groaned aloud as she gripped at her hair.

I felt sorry, but again, I didn't feel sorry enough that I wouldn't do it again if it meant saving Pikachu's life. You can always get a new bike but once a Pokémon dies, it's dead. That's it. Even finding another Pokémon of that particular species wouldn't fill in for the one that died.

"Louis!" she suddenly jumped to her knees, "Pay me back for my bike, you bike-destroying jerk!" she pointed her finger up at me, her fury really something to behold.

"...But I wasn't the one who destroyed it?" I said, confused. Take this up with Ash, or Pikachu even. Not me. I'm innocent.

Misty defiantly shook her head, "I gave the bike to you and whatever happened to it under your watch, is now you responsibility! So, pay me back!" he jutted her chin out, as if daring me to refute what she said. Funnily enough, she was technically right. I did let Ash get on that bike full-well knowing it'd get ruined.

"Okay, whatever," I fished out my Pokedex, "How much do I owe you?" I asked and the reply was instant.

"4000 PokeDollars--" I cut her off by shutting my Pokedex tightly and putting it back in my pocket.

"Nope," I shook my head.

Misty stopped, her mouth agape before her anger boiled over again, "What do you mean, 'Nope'?! Pay me my money, you bastard!" she grabbed my collar and shook me back and forth. Or rather, she tried to. In the end she just settled on holding my collar in his fists like some sort of gangster threatening to fight someone.

I held up my hands in surrender, "Hey, Misty, I only have six thousand on me and I need the money for supplies," I informed her before continuing when she gave me 'Why should I care? My bike's gone!' look, "How about this; you follow me around and I'll pay you off in increments when I get money from Pokémon battles and the like? Consider me in your debt, I guess," I shrugged, dropping my hands when Misty let go of my collar.

"Hmm, that does seem like a decent idea," she scratched at her chin, "I'll think on it. I think the two of us have been awake long enough, so we should get some sleep," she sighed before pointing back up at me, "Don't even think about running away in the morning. Got it?!"

I gave her a lazy salute, smirking, "Yes, Ma'am," to which she clicked her tongue and walked off to her room in the Pokémon Center.

Stretching my arms and stifling a yawn, I walked to my own room and let Mudkip out.

After I calmed her down that Gible was safe and sound, I attached two Macho Braces to her and two to myself and the two of us went through a rather extreme exercise routine. I'd gotten a decent amount of cardio in today but I still needed to workout if I wanted to keep my muscular physique and with the Macho Brace, I should be able to improve it even further.

Mudkip struggled at first but upon seeing me easily doing the exercises like a machine, her competitive spirit was thoroughly stoked and she burst forth with even more energy and determination.

Seeing as we were in a room we couldn't get any move training done because we'd damage the room but I did discuss some tactics and combos with Mudkip, while explaining why they worked well.

It was a good and effective workout.

Macho Braces really do give you a good pump. Especially so when you use two of them. Best part about them is that they're made of super dense and heavy metals that properly restrict the movement of whatever they're attached to - which makes them incredibly useful for an assortment of different exercises.

They're usually used to train Pokémon but some fitness nuts, like myself, use them to train themselves because of how effective they are and the utter gains you can get from using them.

When the workout was over, I fed Mudkip some PokeFood and I even had some myself because it was completely edible for humans too - not to mention how healthy and nutritious it is - before the two of us went to sleep on the bed.

Hopefully tomorrow, Gible is healed up and fine.

. . .

Sleep came quick enough and so did my time to wake up. I felt like I had a weird dream but in that classic dream fashion, I couldn't quite recall the dream. Though I do recall that I was interrupted from whatever I was dreaming by a banging sound.

Said banging sound turned out to be coming from my door. Mudkip was up and tapping my chest until when I opened my eyes, upon which it pointed toward the door.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," I called out, moving Mudkip off of me as I stood up and walked toward the door, "Hello?" I said just as I opened the door. I was expecting Ash or Misty but who I was greeted by was actually a pink-haired woman with an unusual hairstyle who was wearing a pink dress, a white apron over the top of it and a beret with a Pokeball symbol on it.

It was a Nurse Joy!

"Hello, Mr. Ketchum!" the Nurse Joy energetically greeted me before raising up the silent Gible in her arms, "I was thinking you might want your Gible back seeing as it's fully healed! We'd like to ask you to keep it hear for the rest of the morning just in case, however. Just in case."

I didn't correct her about the Gible being mine and instead smiled as I took the Gible from her hands. Said Pokémon did seem to mind me not correcting her, however, and huffed when I held it.

I gave it a few pats before speaking to the nurse.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Is that all?" I asked, gently touching the Gible - not out of fear that I'd hurt it but because stroking it was like stroking sand paper.

Nurse Joy made to leave but stopped herself, instead putting a finger to her cheek and giving me an inquisitive look, "I hope this isn't a rude question, but how old are you, Mr. Ketchum?" she asked with a somewhat coy voice.

"Uh, I'm 16, ma'am," I answered politely, wondering where this could be going.

"That's a shame," Nurse Joy deflated, her shoulders dropping into a slump, "If you were two years older, I'd have asked you out on a date since you're such a strapping young man," she gave me a wink and before I could say anything in reply, she continued, "Either way, bye-bye! Maybe I'll see you in two years time!" she waved and then she was gone.

"...What the hell?" I asked myself before looking down at Gible who was giving me the stink eye, "Why're you looking at me like that, man? I didn't do anything!" I grumbled, closing my door.

I walked over to my bed and sat down on it, letting Gible hop out of my hold and into the blanket. He - and it was a 'he', I'd had the Nurse Joy's check - waddled around on the blanket for a little bit before he found a warm spot and sat down on it. He just sat there and looked at me with his blank eyes.

"Gib," he spoke aloud in a language I couldn't understand but Mudkip could, because she jumped onto my lap and looked down her nose at Gible.

"Mud! Mud! Mudkip!" she barked out three times and Gible audibly huffed, seeming to roll it's eyes.

I was lost.

"Uh, guys," I chimed in, stroking Mudkip's head, the smoothness being much better than Gible's rough skin, "Mind letting me in on what you're talking about? I assume it's about what Gible's gonna be doing?" Mudkip hopped off my lap and went toward the pile of clothes next to my backpack, rummaging through it before she came back over and dropped a Pokeball right in front of me. This was the answer. "You want me to capture you?" I raised an eyebrow at Gible who nodded, "But why? You seemed pretty against being captured yesterday and I don't peg you for the type to be keen on paying back debts, no offense."

It took offense. It charged from it's sitting position and into my chest, pointy nose impacting me right in the sternum. Well, sucks for Gible but that actually seemed to hurt it more than it did me.

Still hurt a decent amount though. This Gible's about 2'2" and weighs about 50lbs (23kg), meaning it has some decent heft behind it's attacks. That and it's rough skin just plain hurts when you touch it with any force.

The Gible fell back in a daze and Mudkip laughed at it's attempt, as if mocking it even trying to hurt me. Regardless, Gible looked up at me, glaring.

"Okay, okay," I held up my hands to placate it, "You're honorable, yes, you're an honorable Gible," my praise seemed to fully placate it and it nodded to what I was saying, shamelessly agreeing with the praise about itself, "So, you want to join my party to pay me back for saving you? Are you sure you wanna do that? Because as soon as you're a part of this group, it ain't gonna be easy. The training's hard and we'll be in lots of battles from now on."

I gave it one last chance to back out but it scoffed and nudged the Pokeball still in front of me toward me.

"Okay then," I picked up the Pokeball, smiling, "Welcome to the team, Gible. It's good I have another strong Pokémon on board like Mudkip," I scratched at my Water-Type's head and she preened at my praise. I touched the Pokeball to Gible and a red beam shot out and sucked him inside.

The button on the ball glowed three times before an audible click signaled Gible's capture.

Not being able to control myself, I pumped my fist in joy as I caught my second Pokémon. Gible was just as good as Mudkip, with a final evolution that was both cool-looking and uber strong. What a catch, indeed.

Capturing it instantly recorded it's data down in my Pokedex and no doubt sent it off to the professor who'd be excited to delve into it.

Looking to the side, I saw that it was about quarter to seven, so I let out a yawn and got up, releasing Gible from his Pokeball before addressing my two Pokémon, "Okay you two, we're gonna be doing some physical training to start the day off. Both of you are more focused on physical moves than special moves, so we need to train your brawn and overall endurance. You ready?"

"Gible!" "Mudkip!"

I asked and got two enthusiastic replies. I don't think there's anymore joy to have as a Trainer~

As a repeat of last night's training, I distributed two Macho Braces to both of my party and used two for myself. Though before starting, we did a little warm-up, followed by some stretching.

Gible took to the training like a fish into water and kept up with Mudkip easily enough.

Still, it was only some easy training to wake us up. Nothing mind-bogglingly hard or anything. Just enough to get a pump and to fully wake us up. By the end of it, Gible actually seemed more excited to be a part of my party. He no doubt understood this type of training would give him much more improvement than whatever he could do on his own.

Mudkip was also pretty hyped and I was glad I had two ambitious and motivated Pokémon who loved getting stronger just as much as I did.

By the time we were done, it was half seven and I took all three of us to the en suite bathroom so we could all wash up. I washed Mudkip and Gible first with some Pokémon specific shampoos and gels before finally washing myself with some human shampoo and soap. One out, I dried everyone up, got dressed and returned Mudkip and Gible to their Pokeballs before leaving my room with everyone packed up and on my person.

When I got down to the main reception desk, I asked for two bowls and the Nurse Joy at the front smiled and gave me two - I only had to pay ten PokeDollars for them. I exited the Center and let both my Pokémon out before pouring some food out for them.

While they ate, I ate some protein bars I'd brought on my way back from my run yesterday. Brought them near the entrance of Viridian City - a general convenience store.

PokeFood was edible and kinda tasted nice to me but nothing beat a good ol' protein bar.

Especially after a workout.

While I was sitting and eating with my Pokémon, I saw someone approaching us. Or rather, they were approaching the Center with a shopping bag held in one hand and an overall gloomy aura around them.

Who was it? Our friendly neighborhood redhead, Misty! Maybe rub out the friendly part though because, for a second, I saw her scowling at me.

Though when she saw Gible she beamed a smile and walked over, sitting next to me on the bench as she gave Gible a stroke, "So, it seems he healed up and is doing fine," she said, seeming relieved. I nodded with a smile of my own.

Finishing off my food, I stored the trash back in my backpack before speaking up, "Have you made a decision yet, Misty? You gonna come with us while I pay you back for your bike or not?"

"Of course I'm coming with you," she huffed, rolling her eyes, "What would I do about the bike you owe me if I just let you wander off without me?" she asked and I smirked a little.

"Your funeral," I joked, leaning back, "Don't complain about the pace at which I travel at if you're gonna travel with me, okay?" I teased her and her facial expressions went a little stormy before I continued on, changing the subject, "What's in those?" I asked, gesturing to the plastic bag she was still holding.

Her expression froze for a second before she shook her head and just went with it, "I brought myself some breakfast...and I didn't know if you had anything to eat, so I brought you something as well," she blushed a little, fidgeting as she pulled out a few sandwiches and some water.

I smiled and picked up one of the sandwiches, "Thanks Misty. You're pretty thoughtful, huh?"

She blushed a little more before scoffing, "Yeah, way more thoughtful than you, you bike destroying jerk," though towards the end she actually smiled at my compliment and her tone took on more of a bantering tone.

...I'm pretty sure I'll get on well enough with here. This adventure just got a whole lot more fun!