Soon enough, James and Jen stood in front of their houses, ready for the off. Typhlosion was slumped next to his trainer's shoe, not wanting to stand up until it was really time to go. The downside to his refusal to stay in his Pokéball was that he found himself standing still a lot, or otherwise running alongside his trainer. He didn't mind too much, since the exercise was good, but the Fire-type had begun to value his down time a lot more.
Jen adjusted the strap on her bag as she chatted with Darrell, James' oldest brother, discussing new strategies that she wanted to try out. Darrell looked like an in-between version of his father and brother, a tall and thin eighteen-year-old with short-cropped dark hair and blue eyes. Nearby, James fiddled with a loose thread in his shorts, while his fifteen-year-old other brother, Shane, had an encouraging hand on his shoulder. Of the three Enfield boys, Shane looked the most like their mother; his hair was light brown, long enough to tie into a short ponytail, and he was the only one of the three brothers to inherit Andrea's emerald green eyes. His soft, calm features contrasted James' hawk-like gaze.
Across from their children, both sets of parents had conversations of their own. Jen's mother Emma, from whom Jen had gotten her jade green eyes, spoke with Andrea, while John Richards swapped old stories with Matt. John, for his part, insisted that his former job was nothing but unrelenting drudgery, while Matt discussed various hikes and fossil hunts he'd been on with his own father. The hike that had resulted in his acquisition of Tyranitar was clearly not routine, to hear Matt tell it, but an exciting exception to an often uneventful rule.
Eventually, everyone broke off their conversations, and Jen addressed their families.
“I guess this is the part where we head out,” she said, “and we'll be sure to make you guys proud. We'll keep in touch as much as we can.” Everyone made nods or noises of assent.
“You've already made us proud, Jennifer,” Emma said, as she and John moved in to hug their daughter.
“Watch each other's backs, both of you,” Darrell added. “It's even more important now, since you're both headed for a new region.” He handed James a small plastic card. “I dug out my old Kanto map card, to make things easier for you guys.” James slid the card into his black wrist-mounted PokéGear, and the display flashed to a map of the new region. He keyed the screen a few times, and it jumped back and forth between the maps of Kanto and Johto.
“So...there's Tohjo Falls...then...right. That's really going to help. Thanks, Darrell.” Darrell clapped his brother on the shoulder.
“Any time, kid. Can't have my little brother getting lost, can I?” He stepped back, laughing, and Andrea Enfield approached to hug her son.
“You stay safe, okay? No running after any Sneasel, or anything else dangerous.” She smiled a little, then pressed something into James' hand. James opened his hand, and blinked in surprise at what he saw.
“It's the Zephyr Badge I won in my first gym battle.” Andrea nodded.
“I attached it to a hard-wearing string. You can wear it as a necklace, so you'll always have a bit of home with you.” James nodded silently, then put the necklace on, slipping the badge under his shirt.
“Thanks, Mom.” Andrea wrapped her youngest son in a hug. Shane squeezed James' shoulder, and Darrell ruffled his hair. Matt gave his son an encouraging nod.
“Go get after it, you two. You'll do fine, just work hard and stick together.” Both youngsters gave a final nod, then walked towards the main road out of town, Typhlosion in tow.
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The trip from Violet City to New Bark Town seemed a lot easier when they were headed in the opposite direction. There were more cut-throughs along the road, and they didn't stop in the Dark Cave this time, something James appreciated despite Jen's teasing. The route down to Cherrygrove City was peppered with the odd beginning trainer, ordering their Pidgey or Rattata into battle with abandon. Neither James nor Jen was inclined to challenge any of these rookies to a battle; while Jen reasoned that it might make a decent challenge for one of her less developed team members, James didn't want Typhlosion or Elekid to dominate their competition and discourage the opponents.
In Cherrygrove City, they stocked up on supplies and trained together on the Centre battlefield. James remembered it as the site of his first proper battle, the kickoff of his rivalry with Hunter. He wondered where the aspiring defensive specialist was now, and thought he might challenge him to another battle if they met along the way. Jen used the time to really start Pichu on a rigourous training program, trying to get her up to her teammates' level. She continued to use Tentacruel as a target for Pichu's electric attacks, which were getting stronger, but remained unpredictable. Because of this, Jen was careful to keep the two training partners well back from the rest of the team; the last thing she wanted was a freakish lightning strike to fry one of the others.
After Cherrygrove, the road was fairly easy to navigate. The two youngsters passed the northbound gatehouse, which led to the treacherous Route 46, and reached New Bark Town in just a few days. Before they headed any further east, they stopped by the Elm Pokémon Lab, situated on a hill on the northern side of town. Jen keyed the door buzzer, and the young professor appeared a few moments later.
“Goodness me, I haven't seen you two in a while!” Elm said with a laugh as he repositioned his glasses. “The last time I saw you, you were just starting off on your adventures.”
“We've come a long way, Professor,” Jen answered. “The Silver Conference was tough, but we both did all right.” Elm nodded and turned to James and Typhlosion.
“And how about you two? You had a Cyndaquil riding on your shoulder years ago. I see he evolved all the way.” James nodded, and Typhlosion grinned.
“He did. Right after taking down Chuck's Poliwrath, too.” Elm gave him a stunned look. “Yeah, I know, sending a Quilava out against a Water-type isn't the best strategy, but we improvised and got the badge in the end.”
“Well, I congratulate you on your achievements so far. Where are you two headed next?”
“Kanto.” Jen said. “Our friend is from the region, and we figured it was the logical next move.” Elm nodded again.
“I see. Professor Oak was my academic advisor when I was studying at the university. He runs the regional Pokémon Lab in Pallet Town, and there's no doubt he's the ultimate authority on Pokémon in any region. If you end up around there, you should pay him a visit.” Both youngsters nodded back.
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“We'll give it a look,” James said, then checked his PokéGear. “Well, it was good to see you, Professor, but we need to get moving. We're hoping to reach the border in the next couple of days.”
“Goodbye, then. And good luck.” Elm shook hands with both of them, scratched Typhlosion's ears, then returned to his lab, while James, Jen and Typhlosion kept moving towards Kanto.
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Route 27 stretched long and water-swept beyond the small crossing from New Bark Town. After crossing a narrow bridge, a large sign welcomed travellers to the Kanto region, and gave the distance to the Tohjo Falls, which sat in a cave partway down the route. Inside the cave, two falls thundered down. Water sprayed everywhere, annoying Typhlosion, while the noise of the falls made it difficult for James and Jen to hear one another.
“Look for a ladder or something!” Jen yelled as James moved towards one waterfall. “They can't expect everyone to be able to scale these things, right?!” James felt along the wall, searching for a way up.
“This is insanity!” he shouted fifteen minutes later. “I know you've got Tentacruel, but you never taught him Waterfall, did you? And it's not something we can learn that quickly!”
“We can try!” Jen said, tossing Tentacruel's Pokéball into the water. A moment later, the jellyfish floated on the surface, eyes narrowing at the look of the falls. “Hey, can you try to climb that thing?” Tentacruel gave her a narrow-eyed look, then swam quickly at the cascading falls. He made it about six feet up before flopping backward into the pool below. “Oh, dear. Keep trying! We need to get up this thing!”
“I'm more worried about coming down!” James shouted. Jen gave him a light punch on the shoulder.
“First things first!” Tentacruel rushed the falls again, making it up a little further before plopping down into the pool again. Undeterred, he made a third attempt...then a fourth...then mustered everything he had to zip all the way to the top. Jen cheered, and James smiled in spite of himself.
“That didn't take much, did it? But can he get us up there?” As he spoke, Tentacruel plummeted back into the pool, splashing water everywhere and nearly soaking them all. “Maybe a little more practice first?”
As the others slept, Tentacruel kept rushing up and down the falls, determined to get them past this obstacle. When everyone woke up again, James argued with Typhlosion about returning to his Pokéball for the next few minutes.
“It's not like you're gonna be in there forever, pal,” James said, the ball held tightly in his left hand. “It's either this, or you get soaked.” Typhlosion looked from the ball to the water, then growled in annoyance as he nodded. James recalled his buddy and turned to Jen. “I'd better go up first, otherwise he's gonna be mad at me because I left him in there too long.” Jen giggled, and agreed. Twenty minutes later, both youngsters stood at the bottom of the second waterfall.
“Thanks, Tentacruel.” she said, and recalled the exhausted jellyfish. “All right, we'd better leave the cave so you can let Typhlosion out.”
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After the relative treachery of Route 27, Route 26 was more of a straightforward uphill. Once travellers reached the northern gatehouse, the road split. Going west, the road developed into the path to Silver Town, while the northern road led to the Indigo Plateau. James, Jen and Typhlosion went east, waving off the guard in charge of inspecting for Kanto badges, and emerged onto Route 22. A signpost told them that they were travelling towards Viridian City. Rocky walls surrounded them, but the path was mostly paved, which made walking easier.
As they got closer to Viridian City, the two youngsters' talk turned to their prospective team members in the region.
“I don't know what I would catch, honestly,” James said as they passed a group of Rattata playing in the grass. “From that brochure, it said that the Viridian Gym uses Ground-types, and Pewter uses Rock-types. The only Pokémon I've got to go after the Pewter Gym is Elekid, and neither he nor Typhlosion is going to be the best option against...” He stopped short, watching Typhlosion wander towards a small blue quadruped with large ears and big front teeth. A small horn sat in the middle of its forehead. The creature turned towards the Fire-type, who turned his head away in an unconvincing I'm not looking at you gesture. “What the...?” James murmured, taking out his Pokédex.
“Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokémon,” announced the device. “The creature you are scanning is this species' female form. It has small, venomous barbs that can incapacitate predators. Even one scratch from its barbs or horn can be extremely dangerous.”
“Maybe we should stay away from it,” James said, stowing the device. As if on cue, the Nidoran reared up at Typhlosion, who began to back away. “Easy, buddy. No sudden moves...” Nidoran's eyes glowed, and small glowing spikes shot towards Typhlosion. “Hey! What's with the Poison Sting?”
“It's not gonna leave us alone now!” Jen shouted. “You're gonna have to beat it or catch it...or both,” she added quickly. James raised an eyebrow, then considered.
“She's right.” he conceded to himself. “Typhlosion! Keep it out of range, and use Ember!” Typhlosion shot a few fire bolts that hit their mark, and Nidoran fell to the floor. “That should knock it down enough...” James took out a Pokéball and threw it at the prone Poison-type. The ball sucked Nidoran inside and began to shake. Three shakes later, the capture tone sounded, and James moved to pick up the ball. “That was easy eno-...” He was cut off as what looked like a purplish blur shot across his path. As both James and Typhlosion stepped back, the blur was revealed to be very similar to the Nidoran he'd just caught. Its ears, horn and body spikes were larger than its blue counterpart's, and its hindquarters were wider and heavier, as if this creature was a jumper. While James composed himself, Jen scanned it with her own Pokédex.
“Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokémon. This is the male form of the species. It uses its prominent ears to monitor its surroundings, and its poison-filled horn is its primary weapon.” Jen gave James and the purple Nidoran a worried look.
“I think you just caught his...sister? Mate? Just a friend?” James gave her a brief, annoyed glare, and she backed off. “You might have to catch him, too, just to keep the peace.”
“Wonderful.” James thought quickly, as Nidoran's eyes flicked from himself to Typhlosion and back again. “Typhlosion, back off. I'll have our other teammate deal with this.” He tossed out his other Pokéball, and Elekid emerged, spinning his arms and grinning. “Easy, now. We've got to knock his strength down so we can catch him.” Elekid nodded, and James pointed to the Poison-type. “Get it with ThunderShock!” Elekid aimed a short jolt of electricity at Nidoran, who dodged around the blast and leaped into the air. As he descended, his hind feet glowed, and he delivered a pair of short kicks to Elekid's midsection. Elekid doubled over as Nidoran ran over to the ball containing his friend and poked at it a few times. “Quick, while he's distracted! Brick Break!” Elekid delivered a fierce chop to Nidoran's back, making him spin around and snarl. Nidoran jumped again, and it dove at Elekid headfirst, aiming his horn between Elekid's eyes. “Sidestep it!” Elekid deftly avoided the attack, and Nidoran crashed into the ground nearby. “Okay, we've got it good and winded. Here we go...” James took advantage of Nidoran's position and threw another empty Pokéball at him. Nidoran converted to red energy and disappeared into the ball. A few shakes later, and he joined his friend as one of James' team members. James picked up both Pokéballs and let the two Poison-types out. The blue Nidoran smiled a little, but the purple one glared at his new trainer.
“How are you going to keep their names straight?” Jen asked, as she looked at the two creatures. “You'll drive yourself nuts when you call one but get the other by mistake.” James thought about that; it was an issue. He checked the Pokédex; once evolved, he'd be able to refer to them by their proper names with no confusion, as long as he said -a instead of -o and vice-versa. With this in mind, he turned to the female.
“Since I caught you first, I'll give you a nickname until you evolve. How does Blue sound?” The blue Nidoran considered, then smiled and nodded. “Okay, then, let's try this out. Blue, use Poison Sting!” Blue screwed up her face and shot a volley of glowing spikes at a nearby rock wall. The stings didn't make much of a scratch, but James didn't care.
“Looks like you've caught your first Pokémon in Kanto, James,” Jen said with a grin. “I think you can find them in Johto as well, but that's not important.” James checked his PokéGear as he recalled Elekid and his two new Poison-types.
“Nearly seven. We'd better get to Viridian City before it gets too dark.” Jen nodded in assent, and they ran towards the first city of their Kanto adventure.