Chapter 4:  Friendships and Love (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

A couple of days since Pallet Town, I had trained my Pokémon a little, I had to 
teach Twinkill some ultra-secret attacks and Scramble, a useful Grass attack.  
Dusty got some upgrading too.  
Now I was a little more ready for the next events that would unfold.  
Clouds covered up the bright sun, it was getting kinda late.  
I hurried up a little eager to reach a town, those clouds didn’t look too 
promising.  
I tripped over something, looking back I saw it was a Pidgey.  
“Aha! A new Pokémon! Twinkill I-”  
I stopped and noticed it was hurt.  
“Hey little guy, let me help you...”  
I was answered with a Sand Attack.  
Coughing, I charged through to try and pick it up, Viridian City wasn’t that 
far I hoped, but it unleashed a Gust attack on me and all I was trying to do 
was help.  
After the attack, it collapsed breathing heavily.  
I couldn’t just leave it here, even if it didn’t want to be rescued.  
“It may be risky but, Scramble!”  
“Cute!”  
“Scramble, use Hypnosis on that Pidgey, but try not to hurt it.”  
“Egg!”  
The little eyes glowed and the Pidgey, shocked, fell into a deep sleep.  
“Pokéball, Go!”  
It hit and pulled the Pidgey inside, I picked up the ball and ran faster.  
I had a wounded Pokémon which urgently needed help and I wasn’t sure how long 
it’d take me to find Viridian City.  
I bumped into a pretty girl with long blue hair.  
“I’m sorry Miss-”  
“Katrina Oak.”  
“Oak?”  
“Professor Oak’s granddaughter? Anyway, be careful where you’re going.”  
“I’m sorry, I need to find the Viridian Pokémon Centre quickly.”  
“Here.”  
She gave me a map of the Kanto region.  
“Now you won’t get lost.”  
Then she left, eager to get back home.  
I wondered if all the Oaks were that kind.  
Anyway, no time to worry about that, I had to get to Viridian soon, then I’d 
see why the Pidgey was so hostile, it didn’t feel like a proper capture and 
this Pidgey didn’t belong to me.  
In Viridian City I went straight for the Pokémon Centre.  

“Hello? Could someone...  Nurse Joy? What are you doing here?”  
“Hello, you appear to know my name but I don’t know you.”  
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Fuchsia?” I asked confused.  
“Oh that’s my younger sister, I hope she’s doing well.”  
“Uh...  She... is.  Anyway, I need you to help this Pidgey, it was pretty 
damaged so I caught it and brought it here.”  
“No problem.”  
“Do you know of anywhere I can sleep?”  
“I’m afraid our rooms are full, but perhaps if someone doesn’t show up before 
we close, we can give a room to you, it’ll take some time to help this Pidgey 
so why don’t you come back a little later?”  
“Okay Nurse Joy.”  

I stepped outside and thought I saw something ahead, running that way, rain 
started to fall down followed by a lightning blast, but I wanted to see what it 
was I had saw.  
It was a small blue Pokémon.  
“A Nidoran!”  

“Nidoran:  Female, the Poison Pin Pokémon.  The female differs from the male in 
that it has a smaller horn, but beware, Nidoran is still a powerful 
Poison-type.  
Use caution when dealing with one.“  

“I’d better not use Scramble for this so...  Dusty! I choose you!”  
“Veno!”  
“Dusty, use your Stun Spore.”  
“Venonenoneno...”  
“Ni... Ni...”  
“Tackle it!”  
The Nidoran fell down weak, that sure was quick, but if Dusty got poisoned, it 
would consume him quickly.  
“Pokéball! Go!”  
There were a crash and my Pokéball fell back into my hands.  
A pink Nidoran fiercely guarded the female.  
“Ran! Ran!”  

“Nidoran:  Male, the Poison Pin Pokémon.  Its large ears can easily sense 
danger, and the longer its horns, the more poison this Pokémon can hold.”  

“Its not safe to be out here, I’ll capture the both of you if that's what it 
takes to make us both happy and safe.  Dusty, try your Poison Powder!”  
It sprayed the purple dust but the Nidoran shook it right off.  
“Its strong.  Okay, use your Disable attack!”  
“Ran-”  
It froze.  
“Tackle this one now!”  
‘Bam.’  
The Nidoran flew backwards, I drew my Pokéballs but then the female was struck 
by someone else’s Pokéball.  
“Hey!” I shouted, but then I saw the face.  
“Emily?”  
“Tetsubo.”  
“How come you got to catch that Pokémon after I did all the work?!” I asked 
annoyed, but I couldn’t stay mad at her.  
“Well you can still catch the other one.”  
“Where is it?”  
Dusty was hit by some sharp needles and fell to the floor, overcome by the 
Poison Sting.  
“Dusty, don’t give up, we can-”  
“Stay put.” interrupted Emily, “Blossom, I choose you.”  
“Oddiissh!”  
I was a little surprised that it had the same name as my sponsor, still I drew 
out the Pokédex:  

“Oddish, the Weed Pokémon.  Because this Grass/ Poison Pokémon burrows itself 
into the ground, it’s leaves are often yanked, resulting in a loud scream.”  

“Blossom! Use your Sleep Powder!”  
“Raan...”  
“What are you waiting for Tetsubo, you capture this one and we’ll call it 
even.”  
I threw the Pokéball and got a successful catch.  
“Still, why did you steal the female from me?”  
“I was battling it before you arrived, I did most of the work on that one.”  
“So where were you when I arrived?”  
“... I got scared of the lightning so I hid under that tree...” she said 
ashamed.  
“You do know you were in more danger standing under that tree than standing out 
in the open.”  
“I didn’t, but I’m even more nervous now.”  
“Emily, what-”  
Another crash of lightning caused Emily to hug me in terror, I analysed this 
and realised my feelings for her might not be purely on the friendship level, 
but I cleared my head of those thoughts.  
“Let’s go back to the Pokémon Centre.”  

Back at the Centre, myself and Emily sat in the canteen with towels wrapped 
around us and hot chocolate to drink.  
“So, like I was saying before we were interrupted, what are you doing all by 
yourself, I thought you were travelling with friends.”  
“... Oh Tetsubo, they’re not my friends, not anymore, real friends don’t ditch 
you in the middle of nowhere with no warning, just to be alone with their 
boyfriends.”  
“So what? They met guys and then-”  
“No, I knew the guys for quite some time, I thought my friends were okay with 
me hanging out with them, but no, they could have least told me before 
abandoning me in a place I don’t know.”  
“I’ve got a map.” I added, “Perhaps you should hold on to it.”  
“But what about you?” she asked concerned.  
The ‘Bing Bing Bing Bong Bing’ sound echoed through the Centre, it was the 
signal that the Pokémon were rested up, I had put them there after my encounter 
with the Nidorans.  
“I guess we should pick up our Pokémon.” I said.  
I had four Pokémon handed back, and Emily, five.  
“Nurse Joy, what about that Pidgey?”  
“We’re having trouble with it, it refuses to return to the Pokéball.  Take a 
look.”  
I opened the door and the Pidgey was flying around the room.  
Noticing the open door, it darted out and burst through a glass window into the 
storm.  
I was about to run out but Nurse Joy grabbed my collar.  
“No way Young Man, that Pidgey can find shelter in the trees, I can’t allow you 
to go out into that storm.  We have one spare room, a customer decided against 
going out in the storm so I suggest you stay put.”  
“But-”  
“Tetsubo, you can look for the Pidgey tomorrow.” added Emily.  
I gave up on resisting and sat down with Emily.  
“So what have you been up to, you have four Pokémon, not too bad.”  
“Hey, I’ve run into more trouble than new trainers should.” I added, why did I 
keep on getting involved with the Rockets with no sense of order or rules?  
“But some good things have happened, I saw a really rare Pokémon and I got to 
meet Professor Oak.”  
“Professor Oak, really?!” she asked surprised.  
“Would you-”  
“Introduce you to him, I don’t think I know him well enough to start bringing 
friends to his place.”  
“Oh, you’re no fun.” she moaned, one of the few times I’d seen her less than 
happy.  
“Have you done anything interesting?” I asked.  
“Well one time:  One of my friends...  Actually I don’t want to talk about 
them.  
Now I’ve got to travel alone.”  
“But you told me that a trainer must take the first steps with their Pokémon 
and no one else.”  
“Well it doesn’t feel right for me, I like human company.”  
“Well, maybe you could travel with me.”  
“Yeah right, I’d only be a bother, I saw how annoyed you were when I captured 
that Nidoran.”  
“I forgive you for that, speaking of which, wasn’t the male protecting the 
female back there?”  
“As if it were in love?”  
She dropped the Pokéball to the floor and picked up both the Pokéball and the 
Nidoran.  
“Look here little Nidoran, I’m sorry if you don’t like the idea of me training 
you but if you gave me a chance...”  
The little Nidoran slumped down sad.  
“Well I like to nickname my Pokémon, how about I call you... Poisoness, cos 
you’re a Poison-type and as beautiful as a princess.”  
“Ni, Ni.” it said putting on a not-so convincing smile.  
I knew what might cheer her up, and dropped a Pokéball.  
“Ran!”  
“Ni Ni !”  
The two Nidorans chased up to each other and leapt towards their partner, then 
they started  rolling about on the floor.  
“They’re in love.” I confirmed.  
They were now running circles around each other.  
I picked up my pink Nidoran.  
“I know how much you like that Nidoran, so I’ll try my best to keep you two 
together, would you like a nickname?...  How about Needle, nice and simple and 
straight to the point.  No pun intended.”  
I let him down anyway and he went straight back to his partner.  
“Emily? Does this change your mind at all.  If we travelled together then our 
Nidorans could be with each other.”  
“I don’t know...  I really don’t want to be a bother, after all the study 
you’ve endured, I really want you to make it as a trainer.”  
“Then come with me and make sure of it.”  
I was pretty convinced that Emily would make a great travelling companion.  
Sure it meant sharing Pokémon, but I could really use the company.  
“I’ll think about it.” she said recalling her Nidoran, I did the same, then 
went to our room.  

End of Chapter 4A  

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Chapter 4B
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