“Sure, I'm down for a battle.” Valerie readily agreed.

  “Alright!” The boy cheered, “It's a one-on-one Battle between one of your Pokemon and mine!”

  His trainer inclined her head towards him, “You up for a battle, Larry?”

  “Oh, I was born ready!” He stepped up to quickly take position in front of Valerie as the boy rummaged through his shorts, retrieving a regular PokeBall with a slight flourish.

  “Ready when you are!” He called out from his side of their impromptu court on the edge of the path, “Come out, Leddy!”

  A Ledyba appeared in a flash of light, but before the fight could begin, Matt cried out from behind Valerie, “Ow! D-Dude, Patrat! Drop it!”

  The rodent hopped off his trainer's shoulder angrily and stomped into the arena, “Pat-Rat-Pat-Pat!” “You know what?! I’m gonna fight!”

  “Huh?” Valerie exchanged a confused glance with first Larry, then the opposing youngster, and finally Matt, who was still nursing his ear after Patrat had pulled at it harshly. She gave her traveling partner a smile, “You wanna take this one?”

  “N-N-No, y-you take it! Come back here!” When Patrat seemingly growled back at Matt, he recoiled slightly.

  “Rat-Rat-Pat-Pat!” “I’m no pushover!” Patrat complained in loud squeaks.

  “Patrat seems willing,” Valerie pointed out as she urged Larry back close to herself, “Why not give it a try? You didn’t fight during our sparring sessions, but you must’ve learned something, right?”

  ‘Now I’m kind of curious as well…’ Larry realized as he took his place next to Valerie, ‘Our spar was cut short by my hunger pangs, so I never got to see Patrat in a fight.’

  “B-But I’m not a trainer…” Matt seemed indecisive about what to do, but when his gaze once again fell on Patrat's angered expression, he seemed to calm.

  “O-Ok…I’ll give it a try…” He finally nodded to the Youngster on the other side, his Ledyba crawling languidly across the floor.

  The boy smiled back happily, “Cool! I’ve never fought a Patrat! Where are they from?”

  “U-Unova…”

  …

  “Let’s go!”

  “T-T-T-T…” Matt stuttered loudly, fighting to catch his bearings,

  The youngster took advantage, “Leddy! Swift!”

  At the same time, Matt finally caught his stutter, “T-T-Tackle!”

  Ledyba and Patrat moved in the same moment, the Bug-Type created a barrage of cartoonish stars, which began to float around itself ominously. In the same moment, Patrat launched forward into his Tackle.

  “Ledy!” “Take that!” The Ledyba cried out as its stars launched towards the Normal-Type. Patrat dodged to the side, but Ledybas' swift stars simply followed after, smashing into Patrat's side with multiple loud smashes.

  WHAP! WHAP! WHA-WHAP!

  “Ugh!” Patrat didn’t take the hit well, losing its footing and rolling to a stop before quickly catching its bearings.

  “Now, Leddy! Mach Punch!”

  Larry could hear Valerie next to him audibly grimace, “Mmrrg…Not good…”

  “D-D-D-Dodge!” Patrat, still getting back to its feet, doesn’t have enough time to react and can only watch as Ledyba lifts up off the ground using its wings and, with the loud flutter of a helicopter, begins floating in the air. Its round arms begin to glow orange with Fighting-TE.

  Before any other commands could counter, Ledyba launched forward at lightning speed, smashing its arm straight across Patrat's face and knocking it unconscious and back down onto the ground.

  “Yes, Leddy!” The boy jumped in joy as his Bug-Type launched itself into his arms, “That was awesome! You destroyed that Patrat! He didn’t even stand a chance!”

  Matt looked discontent with the result, his brow furrowing as he quickly stepped into the arena and up to Patrat. Valerie and the others followed after him, with Larry’s trainer handing him a Potion from her backpack to spray on his Pokemon. “Here, this should make him feel better once he wakes up.”

  “...Thanks…” He picked up his rodent friend, cradling him in his arms like a baby as he schooled his expression into a smile, “Good fight.”

  “Thanks for the battle!” The young kid was all smiles and continued praising its Bug-Type relentlessly as they walked away, “That was too easy! I need a bigger challenge next time!”

  Valerie saw an opportunity, “Wait up.”

  “What’s up?”

  “You want a bigger challenge, and your Ledyba is still up for a fight, right?” She pointed down at Larry, “Up for a second one?”

  The young boy briefly wore a starstruck expression of surprise, “You sure?! I wanna!”

  …

  Shellshocked. That was the best description of the Youngster's face once Larry was done with him. The large Bug-Type had been taken on a tour to an all-expenses-paid world of hurt, all by Valerie’s design.

  Firstly, a Sandstorm enveloped their small, battling arena. Then, Larry performed a Rock Polish to give himself the edge in terms of speed before giving the Bug-Type the beatdown of its life.

  Both it and its trainer had lost any and all composure by the time the sandstorm enveloped the arena, forgetting even that Ledyba possessed the ability to fly out of said storm. A mishmash of different moves was then called out by Valerie, but by the second one, Ledyba was already down and out.

  Only once Larry managed to pull his gaze away from Valerie’s self-satisfied smile did he notice the haunted expression on the boy's face.

  “Nice fight!” Valerie called out happily as she pulled Matt along with her, “We gotta get going now, bye!”

  “Y-Yeah…” The boy muttered under his breath, “Return…

  Larry followed after her, catching up with Sybil on her side shortly after, ‘So even Valerie can have a bit of a mean streak…’

  “Sorry about that kid,” Valerie apologized, “Guess some people are just bad winners.”

  “Y-Yeah…” Matt nodded in agreement, “Thanks…”

  He leaned close to Sybil, “And you saw all THAT beforehand?”

  “It is not quite that simple,” Sybil argued as she whispered into his ear.

  …

  Their group had finally made it into the fringes of the forest, and the place was practically infested with Bug-Types. Everywhere Larry looked, he could spot one of the creepy crawlies if he focused long enough. Surprisingly, there were more than the Weedle and Caterpie line of the first Generation present. Bug-Type had a higher chance of being able to fly, so it was obvious that they’d be able to cross larger distances than land-based Pokemon like Patrat, but still.

  An obvious Pokemon was a Spinarak he spotted in the darkness of the crown of a tree, with them being native to Johto, their presence was all but guaranteed. Other Pokemon still found on the same continent were a surprisingly adorable-looking Wurmple, which was munching on a large leaf. Pineco could also be seen in a group of Pine trees. Larry hadn’t seen any Pokemon from Unova yet, but he couldn’t count it out now either.

  The air around the humans in the group was still somewhat stressed, though. Patrat was still unconscious, and Matt looked content to hold the Normal-Type in his arms instead of keeping him in his comfortable Pokeball.

  “I know you’re not a trainer, but that was something else.” Valerie pointed out, “You could barely even get the attack out before you were out of the fight.”

  “W-When I’m nervous, I always stutter so much,” Matt complained, Patrat still cradled in his arms, “I-It just doesn’t work in a battle…”

  The conversation died like that, but Valerie had more topic she wanted to ask the boy about, “How’d you get your hands on a Patrat anyway? They’re not from around here.”

  Matt looked like he’d just eaten a lemon when Valerie finished, “I-It-It’s a…um…It’s a bad topic…”

  “It’s fine if you don’t wanna tell me!” His trainer apologized, “I’ve just been curious…”

  “No…” Matt shook his head, “I’ll tell you…Y-You’ve been nothing but if not nice and accepting of me following you like this…”

  Everyone waited with bated breaths, as Matthias caught his bearings and prepared to tell the story.

  “My dad is from Unova. H-Him and my Kantonian mom traveled a lot.” He explained, “I lived in both Unova and Kanto for parts of my life, a-and I’m fluent in both, but I wasn’t a good kid…”

  “I-I was annoying and spoiled…by both my parents…I-I never made any real friends,” Matt ruefully confessed, “B-Both are big in business leaders in Kanto and Unova.”

  Valerie stayed quiet, opting to let Matt finish telling his story.

  “W-When I was young and living in Unova…I got my hands on an empty P-Pokeball while outside, I-I still don’t remember where” The boys' story quickened, “I-I-I ran around looking for something to throw it at a-and-and-and-”

  “You found a Patrat?” Valerie finished for him, a hard expression on her face.

  Matt nodded, his lips thinned into a line, “I…At the time, I was ecstatic…I hid the Pokeball from my dad for a week, I knew he’d take it away from a seven-year-old if he found it…”

  “O-Only once I was on the private plane back to Kanto did I show it off…” Matt confessed, “A-And by that time I was technically a Pokemon smuggler.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Didn’t security say anything?” His trainer quirked a brow.

  “I-I guess they assumed a rich guy's kid had a Pokemon or two…” Matthias shrugged noncommitally, “I just know by the time we landed, m-my dad was forced to say it was my Pokemon or we’d be in way bigger trouble…”

  “M-My mom was furious too…” He added, “Obviously.”

  Once again, silence reigned around their impromptu camp. Larry had a lot of things to wonder about. ‘They couldn’t just send a Patrat back? Teleporters exist, right? Or is this another childhood thing where he wanted to keep it, and he’s in too deep now? Whatever the case, I didn’t expect the two to have such a complicated relationship…’

  “I should really release him. I’ve always thought so, I-I just could never commit to doing it.” Matt spoke with a sad smile, “I-I vowed once we went back to Unova I’d release him…b-but then my family divorced, and my Mom got c-custody of me…”

  The boy could only sigh in disappointment, “Haaa…I’m a terrible trainer…H-He must hate my guts.”

  ‘Hate him?’ Larry wondered, ‘I mean, he talks badly about him, but never with any real anger behind it.’

  “Doesn’t he do a lot for you?” Valerie wondered, “I thought you looked like pretty good friends.”

  “You should’ve seen him when I first released him after catching him…” Matthias muttered darkly, “I-I’m lucky he plays nice now…”

  Valerie, just like Larry, saw the reality of the situation, “Matt…I think you’re imagining things. If Patrat really wanted to leave, he would’ve told you or already done so, right?”

  “B-But why would he want to stay with me?” Matt questioned himself, “I-I’m a wannabe influencer, I-I can’t even throw talk without stuttering, and I suck a-at battling!”

  “Calm down,” His trainer cut him off, “Matt, you’re not thinking straight.”

  Just then, the rodent stirred back to wakefulness from the developing argument, “Mmrghnn…What?”

  “Patrat!” Matt forgot entirely about his previous train of thought, “Dude, you’re finally awake!”

  “Patrat…Pat-Pat?” “What…happened?”

  “You got Mach Punched.” Larry explained, “Super effective priority move.”

  The Rodent rose heavily, “Ugh…I didn’t win, I guess?”

  “Nope, never even got a hit in.”

  “Damnit!”

  Matt finally cut through their conversation, unsure what they’d even talked about, “I’m just happy you’re alright, Dude!”

  Patrat still looked dissatisfied, but reciprocated the hug anyway with a huff.

  “I know you said before that you didn’t wanna train with us.” Valerie began, “But I think it would be nice to have another training partner. I think it could help both of you. How about it, wouldn’t hurt to try?”

  The two looked at each other for a moment before turning to Valerie with simultaneous nods, “Please.”

  …

  With that decided and the awkward mood surrounding Matt and Patrat rapidly fading, their group continued. There was still more than enough daylight, so with Patrat finally awake again, they made their way deeper into the forest. Sybil had had enough walking for the day, her increased size after evolution didn’t allow her to ride on Valerie’s shoulder anymore, and the bird's body was built for standing still for an entire day while staring at the sun and not for hiking through a thick forest. So she’d tapped out and gone back into her Pokeball, slightly haggard and exhausted.

  Deeper into the forest, not just Bug-Type made the forest their home anymore, even Grass-Types were to be found around here. Oddish, Bellsprout, and even the rare Sinnohan Budew could be spotted in between the high grass on the edges of the forest walkway. Shroomish drank in the sunlight that filtered through the leaves of the tree canopy above them, and Seedot hung on the branches of trees in the distance.

  Regular Flying-types like Hoothoot and Pidgey were also present, but in fewer numbers. It seemed that with so many bug types around, even Pidgey didn’t trust themselves to go for a meal when the outsides of the forest were just fine hunting grounds for them.

  Couple those with the various bug types one could spot in between it made the Viridian Forest one of the most densely packed ecosystems Larry had ever seen. The sheer variety of Pokemon from just a few rare Types this forest held access to had Larry gape in wonder at every turn of the head.

  ‘I mean, Mt. Silver doesn’t even hold a candle to this…Like, what do we have? Bears? Elephant-things and like Ghosts and other things that every human thinks will murder you on sight.’ Larry shuddered at the thought of how his mother was getting along with Mewtwo of all things, ‘Still gonna have to address that Elephant in the room sooner or later…Or is it Copperajah in the room now?’

  He even spotted a wild Pikachu, its yellow fur sticking out in the green forest floor like a sore thumb.

  Valerie was mirroring his amazement, her head whirling from side to side as she stepped between multiple roots, “Whoa…I knew Viridian Forest was lively, but I didn’t know it was this lively.”

  “P-People say it's dangerous because of that…” Matt supplied, “Keep your eyes peeled, Patrat.”

  “Pat!” Patrat was back to healthy and on watchout duty on Matt's shoulder. Larry had a good pair of eyes on him, better than a human, but he doubted he could hold a candle to a Pokemon specifically built to keep watch, Pseudo-Legendary or not.

  Though if Larry had any concerns, it wasn’t because of the perceived danger of the forest. Every Pokemon they’d come upon so far had either been just fine, not acknowledging their existence, or simply sitting back and watching them. He’d even managed to get an adorable little Oddish to wave back at him using its head-leaves.

  ‘We’ll be out of here before long, you’re supposed to brave this place without a badge after all, we’ve got this in the bag.’

  “Kyaaaa!” A scream resonated between the trees from the distance in front of them, and everyone's head whirled towards the direction.

  Patrat's ears swiveled in place as his gaze sharpened. He turned to Matt after a few seconds, writing the words in Matt's phone as he talked, “Patrat. Ratpatrat.” “It's a human, a girl. I couldn’t see what happened to her.”

  “Let’s get going! Patrat, over here!” Valerie quickened her pace as the Normal-Type leaped from Matt’s to her shoulder, “I have an antidote if she got bitten by a Bug-Type!”

  “W-Wait!” Matt followed after.

  Valerie led the group as she sped along the forest path, Patrat pointing in the direction of the girl as they went.

  A bit after a minute, they were already in front of her.

  “Get away! Get away!”

  “Catyyy-piiiiii!”

  A young blonde girl, no older than ten years old, sat in the high grass next to the path, her eyes closed in panic, while a Bug-Type swung uncontrollably above her from the branch. The girl wore a practical outfit of a jacket with a T-shirt and a pair of shorts underneath.

  She shielded her face as the Caterpie swung in front of her face again. From the hints in the scene, it looked like the girl had tumbled into the high grass after the Bug-Type had somehow landed on top of her while hanging from its string, only for the Bug-Type to get swung around wildly once the girl freaked out and dropped into the high grass to escape the Pokémon.

  “Hey, it's alright! Are you ok? Did you get bitten?” Valerie knelt next to the girl, who still had her face in her hands. Only when Valerie started to inspect the girl did she realize who she was looking at, “Wait, Stella?”

  “What…” She lowered her arms at the name, “Huh? Aren’t you that girl with the Larvitar?”

  “Yeah, we met at that Hotel in the League Reception Town, didn’t we?” Valerie clarified as she stopped the Caterpie’s out-of-control swings with a careful hand before setting it down on the side of a tree. It squeaked back a quiet thanks to the girl before crawling up the tree trunk. Turning back, she held out a hand for the girl to get back to her feet. “Are you alright? What are you doing out here?”

  “I think I’m ok.” With Valerie’s help, she wobbled back onto her feet, “I really hate this forest…I'm on my way to Pewter City.”

  “W-Wait up!” Matt finally caught up with a wheeze.

  His trainer's question looked pretty obvious, “You’re doing your first contest run?”

  “Yeah.” Stella nodded meekly, “My mom said I could finally give it a try.”

  ‘I see...’ Larry thought to himself, ‘Just like Valerie, is going on her journey. I completely forgot that contestants also had journeys, you’d think they’d simply travel in a more convenient way.’

  After catching his breath, Matt finally retrieved Patrat from Valerie’s shoulder, “What-uh…What happened?

  Valerie turned to her traveling partner, “Nothing much, Stella here just got scared by a Caterpie. I was still surprised, though. I’ve met her before, at the League Reception. ”

  “Ohh…” Recognition dawned on Matt’s face as he finally looked at the young girl, “I-I think I’ve heard of her before. N-Nice to meet you, Stella…”

  “Thanks…” Stella nodded noncommittally. The little seemed shy around people she didn’t know, but that hadn’t applied to Valerie when the two barely even met once before. Larry didn’t know.

  Valerie still had a steady hand on the girl's shoulder, “You’ll be alright now?”

  Stella didn’t look all that composed when she looked at the path beyond, “...”

  “H-How about she comes with us?” Matt suggested from the sidelines.

  “Sounds like a good idea.” Valerie agreed, “We’re going to Pewter as well, I’m challenging the Gym there, why not come with us?”

  “That’d be great, yes please!” She jumped at the opportunity, “I hate all the stupid bugs!” She shuddered at the mere mention of them, “Just thinking of them giving me the shivers!”

  ‘New party member acquired?’

  …

  The afternoon to evening was spent getting to know their new party member. First impressions back at the League Reception, she looked like a stupid spoiled brat when she was complaining about having her towels folded into a swanna. Now, she didn’t look much smarter, she’d freaked out from just a single Caterpie being near her. Larry wasn’t going to say everyone who had a fear of Bug-Types was stupid, but apparently, the girl had seen the Bug beforehand, tried to maneuver around it silently, and after failing at that, simply tried to sneak under it before the scene they happened upon finally unfolded.

  A similar thing happened a few minutes after. Traversing the forest path, they walked past a Wurmple relaxing on the side of a tree, everyone else gave the poisonous Bug-Type a respectfully distanced pass, steering clear of its impressive-looking spikes.

  Stella, meanwhile, stepped off the beaten path and into the higher grass behind a tree to stay out of its vision. In her amazing feat of avoidance, she managed to step on top of a Shroomish relaxing in the shade. The Mushroom Pokemon shucked her off its body with an angry cry, but luckily fled thereafter.

  It was an amazing thing that the Grass-Type hadn’t simply defended itself and attacked the girl. Valerie lightly chastised the girl in response, explaining to her why one doesn’t go off the beaten path in a forest.

  Why is a brand-new trainer like Valerie chastising a brand-new contestant like Stella? Well, as it turns out, the girl looked up to Valerie for some reason. Whether it be an infatuation with famous people or something else, she stuck close to Larry’s trainer the whole walk, ignoring Matt’s existence entirely when the boy wasn’t being addressed by Valerie herself.

  ‘Maybe she’s just shy around boys? There are some young kids like that, right?’ Larry couldn’t find a big reason why, but he’d find out sooner or later, Valerie was seemingly draining the girl of every bit of information on their hike through Viridian Forest.

  …

  With it still early spring, the little sunlight afforded through the canopy of leaves above them started to wane in the late afternoon, so all three of them finally decided to set up camp for the day. They found a nice clearing in the forest and dropped their backpacks on the ground.

  Taking a sip from a bottle, Valerie huffed a big exhale, “Whew, let’s call it for today.”

  “Yeah…” Matt looked red in the face from exhaustion, sweat dripping from every pore on his body. Valerie hadn’t looked better than him when she’d gone into Mt. Silver, but by now she’d somewhat worked on her constitution.

  She set down her small backpack and opened the zipper. “Let’s split up tasks. I’ll set up my tent. Matt, can you prepare the sitting area?”

  “S-Sure, I’ve got the chairs here.” Matt retrieved a pair of fold-up chairs from underneath his backpack.

  “What can I do?” Stella asked Valerie eagerly.

  “Hmm? Can you start a campfire? I have a gas stove with me, but I’d be nice to save on it if you’ve got an idea.”

  “Leave it to me!” She announced with a big thumbs up.

  “Alright, Larry. You come over here and help me push the pegs into the ground?”

  Happy to help, Larry watched Valerie perform the magic tricks of her space-time law-defying bag and pull the pieces of the tent out of her diminutive bag and lay them down on the floor, “Alright…We’ll need this…The pegs…Where are the pegs? Ah, there!”

  Larry picked the manual out between the poles and sheets of fabric, flipping it around a few times until he finally found the right direction. As Valerie pulled more and more pieces of the tent out of her bag, Larry began logically arranging them, so the girl with the thumbs could connect them, and he could finally hammer the pegs into place.

  “Here…This goes here…” His trainer began fitting the pieces together, arranging her tent.

  After just a short ten or so minutes, the girl had finished setting up her tent. They’d practiced doing so beforehand, so there was no big drama surrounding the assembly. Wiping a bead of sweat from her head, Valerie rose again, “Phew! Nice work, Larry!”

  “Thanks!”

  The two finally turned back to Stella to see the girl sit on a wooden log next to a pile of wet branches with a lighter, striking the device repeatedly, “...Why. Won’t. This. Burn?!”

  She turned to Matt, who was sitting in his chair, “I-I tried to tell her…”

  “Stella.” Valerie put a hand on her shoulder, drawing the girl's attention, “It's wet.”

  ‘Maybe she really isn’t that smart…’ Larry guessed, ‘No…No…That’s just inexperience, I wouldn’t have known that either some months ago…’