Pokémon : The Journey of Travis Tedford

Chapter 2: Anna

It took me about a week to get to Viridian Forest, but I enjoyed the journey every step of the way. I ran into lots of wild Pokémon on my way here, so Pichu was able to gain more and more battle experience. The only issue I had was that I couldn't decide on what Pokémon to catch next. Raichu had always been my favorite Pokémon, so having a Pichu as my first Pokémon was already ideal, but I never thought too far ahead on what other Pokémon I'd want to catch. Pichu liked to spend most of its time outside of its Pokéball, which I didn't mind since I enjoyed the company. Every time I would camp out at night and look up at the stars, I'd think about Efren and wonder where he was and how much stronger he had probably become by now. The following morning when I woke up, I decided that I had waited long enough and that today was the day I'd go out and catch my first Pokémon. I quickly packed up camp and then began searching through the forest. There were many Pokémon that I've seen since I've been in the forest, including many bug and grass-type Pokémon, but none of them caught my interest. I then suddenly heard a loud shriek from up ahead and quickly ran to check it out. There I saw a group of wild Pidgey attacking an egg-like Pokémon. I pulled out my Pokédex, which revealed it to be the Pokémon Togepi, which were rare to find even in the newly expanded Kanto region. "That thing's so small that it looks like it can barely fend for itself; let's help it out, Pichu! Use Thundershock on all of those Pidgey!" I called out. Pichu jumped into the air and let out its strongest Thundershock, which struck all of the Pidgey. Some flew away, but a few stayed behind, angered by Pichu's sudden attack. Their wings began to glow as they all came charging at Pichu with Wing Attack. "Pichu, quick, dodge and then use Swift Attack!" I shouted. Pichu was fast enough to dodge nearly all of the Pidgey's attacks except one, which managed to land its Wing Attack on Pichu. The attack did minor damage to Pichu due to it having an advantage over Flying types. Pichu then unleashed another Thundershock that struck the remaining Pidgey, and they all finally fled. I quickly ran over to Togepi and picked it up. Since Togepi saw that Pichu defended it, it decided to trust us. I immediately took it to a Pokémon Center where I explained to Nurse Joy what had happened. "Don't you worry! I'll see to it that Togepi makes a full recovery!" she said reassuringly.

While I waited for Togepi's recovery, I decided to sign into a PC to check my email. Among my emails was one from Efren. In it, he explained how his journey has been going so far and that he has already gotten his first gym badge from the Pewter City Gym. Not only that, but he had two new Pokémon added onto his team, though he didn't mention which two they were. At the end of the email, he wrote that he hoped to meet up with me in Cerulean City. I was happy to hear that Efren was enjoying his journey, but I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of his progress.

"I've decided, Pichu. I'm going to challenge the Kanto Gyms, and I'm going to win the Kanto League! That's my goal for this journey," I said. Pichu looked at me surprised, but then balled his little hands into fists, showing that he too was all fired up. After I finished responding to Efren's email and sending out an update to my mom, Nurse Joy called my name over the intercom to come to the front desk. I immediately ran over, and there she stood with Togepi happily in her arms.

"Togepi wasn't too injured; the reason why it wasn't able to defend itself from the Pidgey was due to starvation. It should be fine now that I treated its minor injuries and fed it," she said. I smiled and patted Togepi on the head.

"I'm happy to hear that. You take care of yourself, okay? Try not to get into trouble with any other Pokémon," I said. Nurse Joy looked at me confused.

"Wait, are you telling me that Togepi isn't your Pokémon?" she asked.

"No, it's not. Pichu and I just saw it needed help and came to its rescue. Now that I know Togepi's okay, I can head out to Pewter City to earn my first badge," I said. Togepi gave me a sad expression and then jumped out of Nurse Joy's arms and into mine.

"It seems like Togepi likes you very much! Why not take it with you on your journey?" she said. I looked down at Togepi and smiled.

"How about it, Togepi? You want to come along with me on my journey?" I asked. Togepi nodded. I then pulled a Pokéball off of my belt and tapped it lightly onto Togepi's head, watching in amazement as it went inside the Pokéball.

"Looks like we just caught our first new friend, Pichu!" I said, looking down at Pichu, who cheered. Shortly after, we left the Pokémon Center and followed the map onto the road toward Pewter City.

As soon as it started to get dark, I decided to stop and set up camp. I then made Pokémon food for both Pichu and Togepi, which both enjoyed. Despite only knowing me for a day, Togepi was already very attached to me, and just like Pichu, it chose to sleep outside of its Pokéball next to me. I was having trouble sleeping, so I decided to take out my official Pokémon League handbook and read about the Pewter City Gym. The Gym Leader there was named Brock, who specialized in rock-type Pokémon. I then realized I was at a disadvantage against his gym due to Pichu being an electric type. "I knew I should have caught a grass-type Pokémon when I had the chance," I thought before I drifted off to sleep. As soon as the sun came up, I was woken up by both Pichu and Togepi shaking me awake. "Hey, what's up, guys?" I asked, confused. They both pointed at the nearby bushes, which were moving. "Whoever you are, you better come on out!" I called out. The moment I said that, a girl about my age emerged from behind the bushes. She was beautiful with long brown hair and light blue eyes. "Who are you?" I asked. "My name is Anna, and I challenge you to a one-on-one Pokémon match!" she said, pointing at me. I heard rumors of trainers going to extremes to challenge other trainers to a battle, so I knew I had no choice but to accept her challenge. "Fine," I responded. We walked over to a nearby open field, and then she revealed her Pokémon, which turned out to be a Bulbasaur. "Whoa, that's one of the Kanto Starters! Awesome! Alright, Togepi, I choose you!" I shouted as I threw Togepi's Pokéball to release it. "Alright, let the match begin! Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!" she called out as Bulbasaur fired many sharp leaves at Togepi. I had forgotten to look up Togepi's moves, so I ordered it to dodge. "Alright, Togepi, let's show them what you can do!" I shouted. Togepi jumped into the air and launched a super effective Aerial Move. "Whoa, that was Aerial Ace! Nice one, Togepi!" I called out. "What kind of trainer doesn't know its own Pokémon's moves?! Bulbasaur, let's defeat this novice with your Vine Whip attack!" she called out. Bulbasaur unleashed two powerful vines that quickly came charging at Togepi. Togepi frowned, and then its eyes began to glow, and the Vine Whip stopped, and Bulbasaur was lifted into the air and then slammed onto the ground. I then pulled out my Pokédex and saw that Togepi was using Psychic. "Wow, you know quite a few powerful moves! Let's end this battle with this one! Use Flamethrower!" I shouted. Togepi then shot a powerful flamethrower that directly hit Bulbasaur, which caused it to faint. "We did it! Great work, Togepi!" I called out. Anna dropped to her knees and called Bulbasaur back into its Pokéball. "This is my fourth loss in a row. I suck at being a new trainer," she said, discouraged. I walked over to Anna and extended my hand to her. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You're new, right? You'll only continue to get better the more experience you gain along your journey. Join me for breakfast," I said. Anna began to blush, and she took my hand, and I lifted her to her feet. We ate breakfast together and exchanged stories about our hometowns. Anna was from Viridian City, and she had just started out on her journey two days ago. Her goal was to travel the world and make friends with as many different Pokémon as she could. "Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we travel together? In order for me to enter the Kanto League, I have to travel all over the Kanto region to win badges! I'm sure we'll see lots of cool Pokémon along the way!" I said with excitement. Anna stared at me in shock but then smiled and nodded her head. "Sounds like fun! Let's do it!" she said. "Oh, Mom, looks like I might have found the perfect guy to make my boyfriend," she thought.