The Pokemon Master - Chapter 5 A Casual Stroll Leads To A Big Discovery

“Yeah I have them,” Nurse Joy answered, coming from behind the door with a light blush. She walked into the semicircle and pulled out his things from behind it including his bag of gear, his socks, shoes, and most importantly, his beanie. She set it up on the table, allowing him to grab all of his things and prepare to leave, he wasnt very interested in staying in this place overnight preferring to just head back to the forest and camp overnight there. Vex was more then prepared to deal with anything he might come across and even decided that he wanted to train Pikachu and himself starting tomorrow morning.

“Do you have to leave?” Joy asked as she watched Vex put on his socks and shoes, the ones that were still a little wet. “You could always stay here until the sunrises before heading out, we have beds in the back of the building.” It seemed that she wnated him to stay though why exactly he wasn’t sure zeeing as he hadnt left a big impression on her other then shocking those clowns that had wanted to steal pokemon.

“Its Okay Joy, Ill be fine,” He placed his beanie over his head and slung his backpack over his shoulders, ready to head out. “Just make sure to keep your gorgeous self safe and Ill stop by to visit you later tomorrow or the day after, Im not sure.” He turned around and began to walk to the door, leaving behind a now blushing Nurse Joy.

“Hold it right there mister big shot,” Misty shouted at his retreating back, clearly still angry about their earlier conversation. “You still owe me a new bike and until you pay up I will continue to follow you, try me if you think l won’t.”

Vex turned around and stared at Misty with a bit of amusement. “I never really did tell you my name did I? My name is Vex Masters, an aspiring pokemon trainer, pleasure to meet you. As for the issue with your bike, I can pay you back but it’ll take some time, so feel free to travel with me in the meantime…if you can handle the dark and scary woods during the night.” With those parting words, he exited through the door and walked out into the night.

Well, actually he walked out into a thriving city, but it was still nighttime. However, Vex didnt care about how lively it was here as he didnt have any money to begin with so he turned left and walked in the direction he thought would leave him to a forest on the outskirts of the city. He heard running footsteps behind him and turned his head slightly to find Misty standing behind him, her own backpack over her shoulders and a small frown on her face.

“I’m coming with you only because that bike was expensive and I need you to pay for it.” She blushed and pushed past him, apparently now leading the way. “I’m not coming with you cause I like you so just stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

Vex could tell she was hiding extreme embarassment and trying to keep her own pride by bringing up the bike rather then just asking to travel with him. Though it seemed she was a bit peeved about the bike, he guessed that she mostly just wanted to join him and he was fine with it. Having an extra companion would make things a whole lot more fun, especially with a female, but he decided to shift his own thoughts before he went too far off base.

He ran to catch up to Misty as they travelled through the city, looking for a way out to the forest. It was actually pretty easy to get out, not hard to find the exit as they just kept going straight until they reached their destination. It turned out that the pokemon center was located near the forest. Though it wasn’t precisely next to it, it was better then it veing smack dab in the middle of the city.

The forest looked dark and creepy this late at night, the trees giving off weird shadows even though it was pitch black. “If you want to back out now Misty, I won’t blame you,” Vex said as he dropped his bag onto the ground and began sifting through the various items and food containers in his backpack for a flashlight. He found what he was looking for in between the carton of rice and a canteen of water, a flashlight about a foot long and a massive looking light at the end of it.

Misty wasnt about to turn back as she had already come this far, not willing to retreat and seem like she was a weak little girl who needed someone to hold her hand. She took a deep breath and took a step towards the forest preparing to walk in. Vex saw this and grabbed her wrist. “Hold up there princess,” He said as he stood up, waving the flashlight in her face, what are you gonna do without a flashlight? Just get yourself lost.”

Vex lifted up his bag and slung it over his shoulder after zipping it back up. “Lets go Pikachu, you too Misty if your still up for it.” He flicked on the light switch and aimed it in front of him as Pikachu ran up to his shoulder and rubbed its cheek against his own. Misty fell in behind him as he began to make his way through the forest of trees, completely unconcerned about what dangers they might run into.

“We need to find a clearing,” Vex said as they maneuvered their way between the trees. “At least a mile into the forest where we can start a fire.” He had already made a plan on how to survive in this forest by himself if he chose to, but he figured he would only stay in the forest for a couple of days at most to train his pokemon and educate himself on various pokemon.

“Well, I have a question for you.” Misty said clinging to Vex’s shirt as she walked, if she shut up and didnt complain so much, Vex might’ve actually considered her a potential love interest, but most of the time he found her to be slightly annoying. “What do you plan on doing about the gym leader of Viridian City? He uses ground type pokemon, I dont think your quite equipped to handle that with your little Pikachu there.”

“Pika pikachu pika pika” Pikachu said, obviously offended. However Vex didnt hear that, instead he heard “Bitch say that again I WILL shock you”. This time he was certain that it was Pikachu that had been speaking though he didnt know how that was possible. However considering that he had travelled through worlds, this wasnt too strange. “Easy there buddy, she’s just worried about us.” Vex rubbed his hand against Pikachu’s head which seemed to calm it down.

“Okay, now its my turn to ask you a question,” Vex answered as he turned around, not bothering to to give her own question a second thought. “What the hell is a gym leader? Matter of fact, what the hell is a gym? Where you go to work out?” The Professor had mentioned gyms in passing but he hadnt gone into too much detail about it.

“Wait wait wait, your a Pokemon Trainer and you don’t even know that?” Misty asked incredulously, never having heard of something so ridiculous. “What kind of trainer are you to not have heard about gyms, gym leaders, or even badges before.”

“Well I have heard of the word gym before, but your definition and my definition are completely different.” Vex said as he continued dodging through the trees. “Since your so enlightened though, why dont you tell me ALL about it after we set up camp? I’ll listen to you gabber on all you want when we find a clearing.”

They did find a clearing, but since they were still too close to the city, Vex, against the complaints of Misty, continued forward as he looked for a clearing that was a bit farther away and less likely to be discovered by wanderers and other trainers. He was about 3 miles west of Viridian City when he saw the light, a soft orange glow in the distance where there shoulve been only darkness. His curiosity peeked, he sped up his pace forcing Misty to speed up her own despite her complaining.

They burst through the bushes at an almost dead run, dashing straight towards the light coming from a rather large campfire. Sitting near the campfire eating some kind of meat was a young woman around 16 to 17 years old with long blonde hair and deep green eyes. She wore a short skirt and a white blouse that was dirty and a bit tattered, showing a bit of her skin but nothing that would draw too much attention. She had probably already noticed them but chose to finish her piece of meat before turning to face them.

“Could you please leave? I’m trying to enjoy my meal in peace.” The young woman licked the bone clean in an uncivilized manner before tossing it to the side. “I told you trainers before that I dont know pokemon, so stop bothering me.”

Vex frowned a bit and pointed a finger at her, Pikachu taking that as his cue to use his shoulder as a spring board and jump to the ground, ready for a command. The girl merely looked away and licked her fingers, clearly not caring in the least about Vex’s Pikachu attacking her. “Excuse me, but who are you?”

The girl looked towards him with an expression of intrigue and curiosity. “I got a better question, where did you get those clothes?” She had an expression that told him she already knew, but that was impossible. “My name is Beatrice Tracer if you must know.”

“My name is Misty,” Misty interjected clearly not wanting to be left out of the conversation especially when Vex was paying so much attention to this strange girl. “Its a pleasure to meet you.”

Beatrice gave her a side glance, poorly disguised distaste written on her face. “Okay, noted.” Her words were short and blunt with borderline rudeness, but Vex was still curious about something and couldnt waste any brain power worrying about Misty’s feelings.

Vex walked over and sat opposite the roaring fire, Pikachu following closely and jumping into his lap after he took a seat. “So what are you doing here Beatrice?” He had a sneaking position that he already knew but he had to be absolutely sure before throwing around assumptions.

“Well, thats a bit difficult to explain without giving away where I’m from. Though I guess it couldn’t hurt to tell complete strangers my story since you’ll be on your way soon anyways.” Beatrice waited until Misty sat next to Vex before continuing. “However, remember to keep an open mind.”

Misty leaned next to Vex and whispered something in his ear. “How did we go from wandering around to talking to a strange girl in the middle of a clearing?” She asked him this, bringing up a rather valid point, things had happened rather quickly but it was too late to really change that.

Vex stared at Beatrice who was extending her legs and crossing them, as if she was finally using a bit of manners. “Okay Beatrice, we’re all seated and comfy, tell us why your here by yourself with tattered clothes and no clue what pokemon is!!”

Beatrice smiled bitterly as she picked up a nearby stick and began poking at the dancing flames. “Where to begin….how about I begin my story from yesterday, the day I was struck by lightning in my hometown of New York City and ended up in this dumb ass situation.”