Chapter 7: Adventure Begins (Part 2)

They walked a ways farther and noticed some stuff on the ground, “Must have been from that trainer who ran off during my battle.” Micah said as he picked up the stuff. “Just a potion and an antidote, nothing valuable. When we get to the Pokecenter we can give it to them.” Seth said as Micah held out the stuff.  Micah put the stuff in his pack and they started walking, “I was feeling all warmed up earlier from the battle, but now I'm feeling kind of chilly.” Micah said as a shiver ran down his spine. “Yah, I was just thinking the same thing. It felt good this morning at Bill’s house, but it’s starting to get cold.” Seth said, noticing he could see his breath. “I can’t believe how fast this hit. It was probably almost 80 degrees a few minutes ago.” Micah said as he retrieved Buddy. As they talked snowflakes started to fall, but they melted as soon as they touched the ground. Seth brushed some snow from his shoulder when all of the sudden a gust of sheer wind blew through them and brought a furry of thick snow. “It’s a blizzard, this is ridiculous!” Micah yelled over the howling wind. They started running down the trail but soon lost track of it, the snow was starting to accumulate on the ground and was getting thicker by the minute. Seth could barely see Micah a few feet in front of him as they trudged through the snow, and when he turned around to see Snorlax he didn’t see anything at all. “Wait, I can’t see Snorlax!” Seth yelled. Micah stopped and walked to his side. “He can’t be too far; we probably just don’t have enough visibility.” Micah said. Just then Snorlax appeared as he neared the boys. Seth let out a sigh of relief and retrieved his Pokémon. “I don’t want to lose sight of you again boy.” He said.

They kept walking and found themselves in the tree line. “At least the wind isn’t as bad here.” Micah said as he opened his pack. “It never snows in this part of Kanto, that would just be a waste of room in my pack”, those words echoed in Seth’s mind as he leaned up against a tree and shivered. “Mom was right about bringing a hoodie; after all, she had been an adventurer herself years ago and would know what she was talking about” He thought to himself before he turned to see Micah putting his hoodie on, “You guna be ok man?” Micah asked. “Yah, I’ll just put on a few more shirts, this won’t last long anyway” Seth replied with a shiver as he opened his pack and grabbed another shirt. Micah nodded as he put his backpack back on and acted like he was smoking a cigarette when he blew out his breath. Seth smiled and started to do the same, “I’m telling!” Micah chuckled as he punched Seth’s shoulder, just then a huge bird shaped shadow passed over them, followed by freezing wind and another blurry of snow. The boys looked up to see what the shadow was but the snow was so thick they only had a few feet of visibility. “Dude check this out!” Seth heard Micah say over the wind, the air was so cold the sea water that flowed from nearby Cerulean City was frozen solid. “That’s perfect; we can play around on the ice! It’s fun and it will keep us warm!” Seth said as he threw his pack down and jumped onto the ice, sliding several feet before falling on his back! Micah grinned from ear to ear and put his pack by Seth’s and started to slide around!

They started to see who could slide the farthest out, marking where they stopped with their Pokeballs! Seth made a mad dash and slid, he must have done something right because he flew passed Micah’s Pokeball and wasn’t slowing down! Micah laughed and picked up his Pokeball and started to make his way back to the starting point! Seth started to slide to a stop and fell on his back, the ice shattered under him and he went into the frigid water! It was so cold it took his breath away, he desperately grabbed at the ice, he couldn’t even see Micah through the blizzard of snow and he couldn’t catch his breath enough to cry out! He tried to fight to stay on the surface but the cold was too much, he could only watch as the water went over his head and it started to get very dark! Suddenly a hand grabbed his shirt and pulled him up and onto the ice, his vision still blurred he saw Micah on his belly being pulled by Hitmonlee and Snorlax on the shore awaiting his return to dry land!

Seth began to cough up water as Hitmonlee picked him up and took him to the shore, “You better not die man, or I’ll be in some serious trouble!” Micah said as they all huddled in Snorlax’s arms, the ground around Snorlax was thawed and the snow melted from the body heat he produced. “How did you find me?” Seth finally asked as he started to regain his strength. “I knew I couldn’t beat the slide you had just made so I threw out Hitmonlee and Snorlax to give me a push, then Snorlax started to act really odd, like he heard something. Then the snow cleared for a second, just enough to see the hole in the ice. If you had been any deeper I would have had to jump in.” Micah explained. Seth extended his hand to Micah, “I owe you man, ill return the favor someday” he said. Micah grabbed Seth’s hand and thought for a moment, “I hope you never have too…” he replied. The two young boys both got quiet and thought, it was only the beginning of their adventure and already one of them nearly died. As morbid as it sounded, they couldn’t help but think that they may not be so lucky next time.

Seth looked up at Snorlax, who was keeping a sharp eye on him, “I’m ok big boy…” just then he saw a dim light in the distance, “What is that?” he said as he stood up. Micah turned and gazed into the distance. “Looks like a fire maybe.” Micah guessed.  “We should go check it out, I’m sure were not the only ones who have run into trouble out here” Seth said as he grabbed his pack, Snorlax stood up and grabbed the two boys and started to walk through the blinding snow, Hitmonlee stayed close and shook off the cold with an iron like will. As they came up on the light Snorlax put the boys down and led the way to the light. When they came near they finally made out what it was, there was a gap between some large boulders and a beautiful teenage girl was huddled around a small fire. She looked up from under a large hood to see a massive figure with shining eyes approaching her. She stood up and got in a defensive posture, grabbing a pokeball ready to throw it.  Misty clouds of breath rolled out of Snorlax’s nose and then it became visible what she was looking at as they got close, she smiled and her big blue eyes lit up! “Are you ok?” Micah asked as Snorlax wedged himself in the large gap between the rocks, the wind no longer howled and the fire grew large and bright as Snorlax blocked the elements out. “Well I’m doing better now! I was on my way to my friend Bills house when I got stuck in the blizzard. What are you two doing out here, and why aren’t you wearing a coat or something?” She asked as she looked at Seth. Micah and Seth sat by the fire and Seth said “It’s a long story!” The girl pulled her hood off and her bright red hair fell in front of her face, “My name is Misty by the way, and I would love to hear this story! And the one about how you two ended up with such large powerful Pokémon!” she said as she gazed at Snorlax and Hitmonlee.

The boys started to tell Misty the story at the same time and explained the whole ordeal to her. “So you are the two kids who were in the news paper this morning. You guys beat those Rocket Grunts!” She said excitedly. “Yep, that was us.” Micah said proudly. “So how was Bill, I need to talk to him about some issues I am having with my computer at the gym.” Misty asked. “Gym? You mean like a Pokémon Gym?” Seth asked. “Yah, I'm the leader of the Cerulean Gym, holder of the Cascade Badge. Sorry I forgot to mention that, it completely slipped my mind. “Oh wow, that’s amazing!” Seth exclaimed. “Are you familiar with the Fighting Dojo in Saffron?” Micah asked. “Yep, I sure am. I have met koichi several times. Is that where you got your Hitmonlee?” Misty replied. “Yah, my dad is a trainer there. Maybe you’ve heard of him, his name is Japi.” Micah told her. “Oh yah, I have met him before.” Misty answered.

They all told stories around the camp fire until they fell asleep, and as the night went on the bad weather passed.  The next day the snow was almost all gone and Misty cooked up some breakfast before the boys woke up. Misty looked at the two young boys and their Pokémon, they had an unusual bond with each other. She had fought many trainers at the gym and had never seen anything like it. The boys woke up and they all ate, soon it was time for them to go their separate ways. Misty gave them a hug and said “You boys need to remember something, a friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. It sounds like you have already made some enemies out there too; but don’t worry, the antidote to fifty enemies is one friend.” She said before she turned to Snorlax and Hitmonlee and placed her hands on their shoulders, “Watch their backs; they might need it one day.” The boys started to walk away when Misty called out to them, “A true friend never gets in your way… unless you happen to be going down” she yelled with a smile!

They kept walking and soon they reached a clearing on the north end of route 24. “Alright, the Nugget Bridge! Let’s catch some lunch; that little breakfast Misty cooked was nice but it wasn’t very filling.” Micah said as he ran to the bridge. They got to the bridge and looked over the edge into the water, they could see fish already. Snorlax put Seth down on the bridge and jumped up over the side of the bridge into the water, making a big splash and getting one of the nearby trainers wet. “Sorry man, he’s just hungry!” Seth said as the man wiped water off of himself. “It’s ok, as long as he doesn’t eat me!” The man said with a laugh. “Go ahead, catch yourself a meal!” Micah said as he let Buddy out. Pidgeotto dove off of the bridge and immediately caught a Magikarp that was leaping out of the water to get away from Snorlax. “Hey, don’t forget about us!” Seth said as he watched Pidgeotto land by the bridge and tear into the Magikarp. Pidgeotto ate the Magikarp as quick as it could and dove back down to the water, circling around watching for fish. Snorlax was paddling around in the middle, looked like he had given up trying catch a fish in the water. “Scare up some fish Troll, Buddy can catch us a meal.” Seth yelled. Snorlax rolled over and dove down under water and soon a Magikarp came splashing out! Buddy caught Micah and Seth each a fish and then piled up ten of them for Snorlax, she had dropped them all off one by one behind the fence on the trail to the west side of the water. Seth and Micah dove into the water and swam to the land. They got out and jumped the fence, joining Pidgeotto and the fish. Micah pulled his shirt off and hung it up on the fence, “Where is Troll?” Seth asked as he did the same. Just then Troll came walking out of the water with a big round fish with a horn, it was still flopping around trying to escape his bear hug. “Wow, a Seaking! That’s a fully evolved Pokémon!” Micah said as he looked at his pokedex.  “Hold on Troll, I want that one!” Seth said as he pulled out a Pokeball. Snorlax dropped it over the fence and Seth caught it as Troll climbed over.

“I’ll start the fire if you help me get the wood.” Micah said as he opened his pack and pulled out some matches. “Ok, there should be lots of it around here. Hey Troll, can you get us some big rocks to make a pit out of. We just need like seven or eight of them as big as my head.” Seth said as he turned to Troll. Snorlax nodded his head and hoisted himself over the fence, and then he started walking around in the water looking for big rocks. “Buddy we need a long thin stick that is still green, and it needs to be strong. And we also need two sturdy sticks that have a fork at the end of them; do you think you can find that stuff for us?” Micah asked Pidgeotto as he walked around picking up sticks. Pidgeotto nodded and flew off into the tree tops. Seth let out his Meowth and pointed at the fish, “I need you to scale them and gut them, do you think you can handle that?” He said as Meowth looked at him. Meowth shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the pile of fish, and to Seth's surprise he did exactly as Seth told him to. After a few minutes they had a pile of dead brush, a bunch of stick, and a few logs. Seth showed Snorlax how to put the rocks in a circle and dig out all of the grass in the middle, leaving nothing but dirt. Micah put the brush in the pit and grabbed a match, “This will make good kindling for the fire.” He said as he lit the match and put it in the brush. It caught fire and started to smoke, so Micah cupped the brush tighter and blew into it. It lit up fairly large and they started to place the sticks over it, soon they had a good sized fire. Pidgeotto landed nearby with the sticks they had requested and Micah picked them up, “Thanks Buddy” he said as he patted her on the head.  Micah and Seth jabbed the sticks with the forks at the end of them into the dirt on the outside of the rocks with the fork-side up. Pidgeotto sharpened the long stick on both sides with his talons and gave it to Micah. He and Seth skewered two of the fish and put the stick over the fire on the forks. Micah sat down on a log that Snorlax had carried over and let Hitmonlee out of his ball. He was groggy but awake so Snorlax helped him to the shoreline and let him lie in the cool water. “We need to get him looked at. He is worn out after being beaten by that Onix and then having to help us yesterday in the snow.” Micah said as he watched Hitmonlee. After the fish were cooked everyone ate their fill, except Hitmonlee. He didn’t have much of an appetite and wasn’t feeling very well. When they were done they packed up the leftovers and put them in their backpacks before snuffing out the fire and returning the rocks to the water.  

“Let’s get into town, I want to get Hitmonlee looked at in the Pokecenter.” Micah said as he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “Ok, what about the people on the bridge?” Seth said, pointing at the Nugget Bridge. Micah looked back over at them, there were six of them all lined up. “We can fight them when we get back from the Pokecenter.” He said. They walked along the shore until the water receded and Cerulean City was just a short distance from them. Just to the south of them was a gate that opened up to a ledge that would lead them into Cerulean City. But just before they walked away from the water they heard someone calling to them. They turned around and to their surprise Gary was making his way over to them, he was riding west in their direction on his Gyarados.

"What are you doing here Gary?" Seth asked as he pet Gyarados. “I was just looking around in Cerulean Cave for some Pokémon when I decided I should go outside and take a break. I was going to get a bite to eat and stop by the Pokecenter when I noticed some kids with some Pokémon on the westward shore, turned out to be a couple of kids I knew!” Gary said as he jumped off of Gyarados and walked over to the boys, giving them each a firm handshake. “What happened to you Hitmonlee? You’re not looking so hot.” Gary said as he looked Hitmonlee over. “Yah, he got knocked out in my last battle. Then we got stuck in the blizzard yesterday and he helped us.  We were just headed to the Pokecenter to get him patched up.” Micah said. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. But don’t worry, we all lose every once in a while. You can’t win all the time.” Gary said as he rubbed Micah's head. “Oh no, I didn’t lose. I ended up winning” Micah said, “yah, and his Pidgey evolved too!” Seth added as he pointed at Pidgeotto, who was perched on the fence watching them. “Nice job, you kids are naturals.” Gary said as he pulled out a berry from his pocket and tossed it to Pidgeotto. “You boys hungry, I'm buying?” He asked as Pidgeotto swallowed the berry. “No, we just finished eating some fish by the lake.” Micah said, rubbing his stomach. “Well how about we walk to the Pokecenter and then yall can sit with me at the restaurant.” Gary suggested as he retrieved his Gyarados. “Sounds good to me, let’s go!” Seth said as he headed for the gate in the fence.

They made their way into town and visited the Pokecenter, handing the nurse all of their Pokeballs. While they waited Micah and Seth pulled out their pokedex and downloaded the update. “What are yall doing with your pokedex?” Gary asked. “Were downloading an update, it looks like Professor Oak updated the information on Snorlax.” Seth said as he looked through the info on the page. “Oh wow, what did he add?” Gary asked as he pulled out his pokedex and started to do the same as the boys. “Although its arms are short, they are long enough for Snorlax to grab its food and eat it, and strong enough to deliver powerful blows. When trained and exercised properly, Snorlax can gain supreme strength and ability. They can throw incredibly powerful punches and cause immense earthquakes.” Micah read. Gary looked at the new page and nodded his head, “Oh, so this first paragraph is the original information and the second one is the new stuff. Wow, you guys are already finding new information for the pokedex! That’s pretty cool that Oak already published your findings, yall should be proud of yourselves.” Gary said. Just then the nurse came back to the desk with their pokeballs, “Did I hear you say there was an update available for the pokedex?” She asked as they grabbed their Pokeballs. “Yep, you heard right.” Micah replied. “Ok, I better put up a sign to inform other trainers about the update. Thank you very much.” She said as they walked out the door.  

After they walked outside Gary took them to a local restaurant near the bike shop.  Micah let out Hitmonlee and Seth let out Snorlax as they walked up to the front of the restaurant and looked at the sign. “Water Lilly Café! Pokémon welcome!” Seth read as they passed the sign and walked in. A waitress walked up and looked at them all, “Oh my, what a big hungry looking crowd!” She said as she grabbed some silver wear. “Oh, most of us have already eaten.” Seth said as he patted on Snorlax. “Table for five please, and I will be the only one eating.” Gary said with a smile. “I think Hitmonlee will eat also, he didn’t have much for lunch because he was hurting so bad.” Micah said. “Ok then, the two of us will be eating.” Gary said as he put his hand on Hitmonlee’s shoulder. The woman smiled and led them to a large booth designed for big Pokémon, “How is this? I think it’s the only place that this big guy will fit.” The waitress said as she patted Snorlax on his belly. “It will work just fine, thank you.” Gary said as they all sat down. “Great, the buffet is over there. Can I get you anything to drink?” The waitress said. “We will take some ice waters!” Seth said as he looked at Micah. “Ice waters all around.” Gary said, and then the waitress walked away. Gary got up and took Hitmonlee over to get a plate while Seth and Micah relaxed with Snorlax.

“This place is pretty nice!” Micah said as he looked around. The building was painted like a marsh on the inside with a small stream running through it on each side into a small pond in the middle. The Buffet table stretched around most of the pond but there were some viewing spots where he could see a big Pokémon swimming around. “Hey look, there are some Horsea swimming around in the stream!” Seth said as he pointed his pokedex at the little fish swimming around near the table. “Yah, and there is something big in the middle of the pond.” Micah said as he got up and walked over to look. He pointed his Pokedex at it and then yelled at Seth, “It’s a Kingdra, come look!” Seth ran over and they looked at the Kingdra in amazement. They walked back to the table and noticed the waitress dropping off their drinks. She placed water in front of everyone’s seat and placed the pitcher in front of Snorlax. “We like your Kingdra in the pond over there, it’s pretty sweet looking.” Seth said as he slid over and leaned into Snorlax. “Thanks, most people do. Kingdra is a rare Pokémon and most people have never seen one in real life, so it’s a real treat for people to see King George over there when they come in.” the waitress said before walking away. Gary and Hitmonlee came back with big heaping plates of food and sat down. “Did you like King George? I saw you guys over there looking.” Gary asked with a smile before eating. “Yah, he’s a pretty impressive Pokémon.” Seth said. “I actually caught all of the Pokémon in here for the owner, we were childhood friends. A couple of years ago he told me he was opening a restaurant and wanted some nice looking Pokémon to put in it. I showed him my pokedex and he picked out a Kingdra, so I went out and captured a bunch of Horsea. I dropped them off and kept one to raise so I could evolve it for him. And last year it finally evolved into a Seadra, so I traded it to him after I found a Dragon Scale. Trading a Seadra with a Dragon Scale as its held item will make it evolve into a Kingdra.” Gary explained. The boys were impressed by how much Gary knew about Pokémon, “I wish we were as smart as you are.” Micah said. “Speaking of smart, a smart trainer keeps all sorts of different Pokémon with them. You boys need to catch all sorts of Pokémon and start a line up; it will help you win battles.” Gary said. “I have two Pokémon right now, and one of them evolved. I haven’t had a chance to catch very many Pokémon yet.” Micah said. “Yah, and I have three now! Snorlax caught me a water Pokémon in the lake outside.” Seth said as he looked at his pokeballs. “Well that’s good, and I thought I would help you guys out with another Pokémon.” Gary said as he finished his plate. Then he paid the waitress and they walked out of the restaurant after taking one more look at King George.

They walked outside and headed to the north part of town. “So what were you talking about in there, something about helping us catch another Pokémon?” Seth asked. "Well an old friend of mine lives north of Pewter City in a very old house, you boys should stop by on your way to the first gym. He is the gym leader’s dad.” He said. “So is he going to give us something or what?” Micah asked. “Yah, he raises Pokémon. You will see when you get there.” Gary replied. “Ok, we can do that.” Seth replied. “Well you better get going, as should I" Gary said as he tipped the fishing hat he was wearing. “Where are you going?” Micah asked as Gary walked to the stream and let out his Gyarados. Gary pointed across the river to a cave and said “Cerulean Cave, I'm studying some strong Pokémon for Oak.” The boys looked at the cave, “Strong Pokémon live in there?” Seth asked. “Yep, some of the strongest in the Kanto region.” Gary answered. “Can we come in with you?” Micah asked. “No, sorry boys. You have to have all eight gym badges and you also must defeat the Elite 4 to get inside, there is a man inside who checks.” Gary informed them. “Oh, I guess it will be a while before we go in.” Seth said as he shrugged his shoulders. Gary jumped on his Gyarados and looked back at the boys, ”See you guys later!” he said as he once again tipped his hat. “Ok, well I guess we will see you later. We are going to go battle the people on the Nugget Bridge before we leave town.” Micah said. “Well be careful, I don’t like the look of that creepy older guy who hangs out up there.” Gary warned, and with that he threw Troll an apple and waved goodbye.