Gotta Catch 'Em All!

"Hello! Welcome to the world of Pokemon! My name is Oak." Rose watched the T.V. screen with a bored expression on her face. She absent-mindedly braided a strand of her dark brown hair. Her dark brown eyes blinked sleepily as she regarded the screen. Earlier that day, she had recieved this strange tape in the mail, offering her a "once-in-a-lifetime opertunity". Supposedly, it had been sent to only a select few youths around the Honen region. The man talking to the camera was Professor Oak, one of the world's leading experts on pokemon. Although she dearly wanted to be a trainer, this tape was not impressing her so far.

"People call me the Pokemon Prof. This world is inhabited by creatures that we call Pokemon." Rose rolled her eyes. As if everyone didn't already know about the pokemon that lurked in tall grass everywhere. "People and Pokemon live together by supporting eachother. Some people play with Pokemon, some battle with them." Rose sat up and gazed more intently at the screen. She loved watching Pokemon battles. Perhaps she would get to see one?

"But we don't know everything about pokemon yet. There are still many mysteries to solve. That is why you have been contacted, promising youth. Inside the package you recieved, you should have found a hand-held device." Rose pulled out the device he had mentioned, suddenly currious. "This is called a Pokedex. It will collect data on any pokemon that you encounter. That information will be sent directly and soley to my personal computer." Rose rasied her eyebrows. Impressive. "You have recieved this gift because I myself am retiring from field work. It will be your job to travel Honen in search of new species of pokemon."
Rose was about to jump out of her seat, now. This was getting good.
"Of course, your parent's would have a fit if I sent you out unprotected, so anyone who responds to this tape within ten days will recieve a complementary pokemon, hand caught and trained by me." Rose's mouth dropped open. She was going to get a pokemon? For free!? She giggled with joy.
"Your pokemon partner choices are as follows: Caterpie, Weedle, Wurmple, Elekid, Magnemite, Mareep, Pichu, Shinx, Machop, Charmander, Chimchar, Cyndaquil, Magby, Torchic, Pidgey, Starly, Zubat, Bellsprout, Budew, Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Hoppip, Whismer, Porygon, Meowth, Lotad, Oddish, Seedot, Treecko, Geodude, Trapinch, Horsea, Mudkip, Piplup, Squirtle, and Totodile. Please send your choice along with your confirmation sheet - signed by a parent or gardian - to 100 Pallet Town. I hope to hear from you soon."

Rose jumped to her desk and scribbled the address onto an envelope. She quickly ran downstairs to her mom to get her to sign the paper. That done, she included another scrap of paper with only three words written on it.

"Meowth. Thank you!"

Leon sat on the fence along Route One. After biking for nearly the entire day he was a bit on the tired side. He was a bit worried about what was going on since he received a call from a rather Professor Oak. However if he tried to move any further now he'd fall over from exhaustion. He shifted his shoulder so that his backpack slid off his shoulder. The plan that was while the backpack was falling he reach out and grab the strap before it hit the ground. Sadly things didn't work out that way and now Leon flopped off the fence.

Leon landed with a loud thud and fumbled around for his water bottle. When his fingers finally wrapped around the cool plastic he hastily unscrewed the lid and guzzled down the water. He couldn't remember the last time he was so thirsty. Now that he thought about it he had actually been to quite a few hot places. Just the thought of it made him want to finish the rest of his bottle. Only problem was there was no bottle to finish since he had already drank it all. Frowning he stood up with a new found energy. Though it wasn't quite enough to finish biking to Pallet Town. Instead he figured he'd just walk the rest of the way.

He walked over to his bike and reached down, pressing a small red button on the body of the bike. The bike shined red and shot back into a small capsule that was in his hand. The technology was basically the same as the pokeball only it was for intimate objects instead. That and the said object could only return to the capsule it came from. Otherwise you'd have a bunch of people going around and stealing random things from people. Next Leon reached down to his belt and briefly touched all six of his pokeballs. He'd make sure that they got some time to stretch out once they arrived at Professor Oak's. Sighing he put the now empty water bottle into his bag and continued on his way to the professor's.

As he walked Leon took in the scenery and soon memories of when he first started came back to him. Now in his late teens Leon almost missed those days. Even back then though he was completely focused on his father's dream of researching thee bonds between pokemon and their trainers. Since he was so focused on that goal he hadn't even gotten a single badge. Even to this day the badge section of his trainer card was blank. Maybe after his visit with Professor Oak he'd drop by a few of the town's and challenge a gym or two. It wasn't like he didn't deserve a break from his research. He had just spent three months at Mt.Silver training with the Steel master. It was there and through their had training and trust that his Scyther had evolved into a Scizor.

By now Leon was arriving at the town entrance. Having been so absorbed into his thoughts he hadn't been paying attention to where he was. He had almost ran into a sign he was so absorbed. He scratched the back of his head and scanned the town for any sign of the lab. Even though he had traveled the world Leon had only been to Pallet town once or twice. Usually it was the Professor that visited him. Which he always found a little odd. Still since he wasn't really around these parts that often he was somewhat lost on where to go. He scratched his chin and decided that it would be best to just ask where he lived. Luckily enough for him he was standing infront of a house. Walking up to the door he knocked loudly, but gently, just enough for someone to hear it and not get angry.

Rose woke up early. She had hardly slept at all due to the all the thoughts that were buzzing around in her head. After all, today was the day that she would get her first pokemon. Her first partner. Just thinking about it made her grin. She hated having to waste time getting ready for her day, but she wasn't going to show up to professor Oak's lab in her pajamas. She threw on her favorite green jacket over a pink tank top, and quickly slipped into some jeans. She hastily ran a brush through her hair, even though she knew it would resemble a tangela again before long. Finally giving up on it, she quickly pulled it into a braid. There. Now it would be out of the way. She looked around the room, wondering if she'd forgotten anything. As a last precaution, she grabbed her backpack. After all, who knew what kind of things she might need to carry around. She paused for a moment, a sudden wave of anxiety overwhelming her enthusiasm. She really would miss this place. With a small smile on her face, she grabbed her growlithe plushie and stuffed it into her bag. It might seem slightly juvenile, but it would be comforting to know that her first "pokemon" would be with her.

She went down the stairs to find her mother already up and fixing breakfast. Her dad was probably still asleep.
"Aw, Mom. I don't have time for breakfast today. I've gotta go get my pokemon." Her mom simply smiled and motioned for the girl to sit down.
"Even pokemon masters need nutrition, dear. Now, sit down and eat your eggs."
With an exasperated sigh, Rose obeyed. She ate her breakfast as fast as she could, and then deposited her plate into the sink. She kissed her mom good bye, and headed for the door.

Just as she reached for the handle, a polite knock sounded on the door. Rose glared at the wood in front of her face. It was just her luck that they would receive their first visitor in over a year on the day she was in a hurry. She put a smile on her face, and opened to door. On the other side she found a tired looking teenager. She leaned against the door, doing her best to seem polite.
"Can I help you?"

Leon was just about to knock again when the door opened slowly. On the other side stood a young girl probably around the age of sixteen. She seemed rather irritated at his appearance and this made him back away a bit. Sure she looked las if she was being polite but he could see the look she was giving him. He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously as he did. Now that he thought about it why didn't he just check the town map. Oh well too late now. Immediately Leon's posture and composure changed. He pocketed one hand and extended the other to the girl, whatever her name was. "Hi. Name's Leon Fawkes. You wouldn't happen to know where Professor Oak's lab is would you?" He asked with a strong and confident tone. Even at such a young age Leon had made many speeches about the bonds between Pokemon and their Trainers before. That's were he had gotten so good at speaking to people.

Suddenly there was a loud bang accompanied by a rumbling of the ground. Leon planted his feet down to keep himself from falling over and turned to where the bang had come from. There was a large pillar of smoke from the distance and just as Leon was about to ask the girl where that was when his Pokegear rang. Surprised Leon pressed the "answer" button on the screen and a virtual picture of Professor Oak appeared who seemed to be rather panicked.

"Leon where are you? A group of Pokemon broke out of there pen just now!" He said rather fast. One could tell just by looking at him that he was pretty concerned for their safety.

"I'll be right there Professor." Leon said calmly as if nothing had happened. He reached down to his belt and pulled out a Pokeball with a small image of a wing on it. Once tossed into the air the Pokeball opened up and a Swellow appeared in the sky. Leon caught the ball just as Swellow landed down beside him. "So you think you can point of the Professor's lab from the sky?" He asked with a slight smirk. Really he didn't know if the girl even had any Pokemon or not, though at the age she was he presumed she had at least one. Swellow looked up at Leon who gave a slight nod and Swellow was off to where the pillar of smoke was coming from. Without so much as a word Leon understood what his pokemon had wished for. "Change of plans. You think you can show me the quickest way to his lab on foot?"

Rose wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that she wouldn't get to ride on his marvelous pokemon. With such a well behaved and evolved pokemon, it was not likely that this guy was an amateur. But if there were pokemon in danger, they had no time to waste. She took off in the direction of Oak's lab as fast as she could. She didn't look back to see if the man was following her, but she could hear his footsteps pounding behind her. She took them the quickest path. This included jumping a few neighbor's fences, but under the circumstances, it was unlikely they would mind. It wasn't long before the two had arrived in front of the now slightly demolished lab. Rose was a little out of breath, and she had no idea what to do. She hadn't gotten her meowth yet, so she didn't know how she could help.
"Well, this is it," she told the man.

She couldn't just sit back and do nothing, though. Pokemon were running about everywhere. A flustered Oak came running up to them, his lab coat flapping behind him.
"Please you two, you have to help! I was trying to train a geodude, but it crashed into by pokeball case. All of the pokemon in those balls got loose. Please, help me round them up." He knew that Leon would have no problem catching these low level pokemon, but Rose was still an amateur. He hadn't even given her her first pokemon yet. Needless to say, he was surprised when she grabbed a handful of his pokeballs and rushed off to help just as quickly as Leon.

Rose rushed forward, eager to help and prove her promise as a pokemon trainer. Of course when she threw her first ball at a pidgey, the pokemon escaped right away. She bit her bottom lip, trying to decide what to do. She would obviously have to weaken them some before they would be re-caught. The geodude just couldn't have knocked over a case of trained pokemon. She gasped slightly as something bumped into her shoulder. She looked behind her to find a strange angled pink and blue pokemon looking up at her with wide eyes. She recognized it vaguely as a porygon.
"All right, little guy," she said nervously. "Wanna help me out?" The pokemon made a different face, that seemed to Rose like a smile. It twirled in the air, and playfully bumped her shoulder again. Rose smiled.
"Alright, porygon." She turned to face a lone rattatta. "Use. . . uh. . ." she drew a blank. Just what moves could a porygon learn? She wasn't even sure what element it was. She looked over at Oak for help, but he was in another end of the yard catching pokemon. She looked around for the other boy, hoping he was close enough to give her some advice.

Leon raced behind her as fast as he could. Though she was younger than him she was a hell of a runner. Even with his running shoes on he was barely able to keep up with her. He much proffered his bike over running. At least with that the wheels were doing most of the work. Not to mention he was still a little bit tired from his earlier bike ride. Needless to say when they arrived at the Lab Leon was panting pretty hard. Immediately though he pushed that tiredness aside and got to work. "Don't worry Professor I'll get these rounded up in five minutes!" He said with a confident grin and gave a thumbs up to the old man.

The young adult rushed forward and grabbing a ball from his belt as he did so. This one had a small flame sticker on it. When the ball opened up a Blaziken stood tall in front of him. The Blaziken let out a cry and assessed the situation. Without a single command from Leon it got to work dismissing a few of the tougher Pokemon. Leon Held out his arm and withing seconds Swellow landed on his forearm being extra careful to keep it's talon's off his arm. It let out a soft chirp and Leon fed it a small piece of food before putting back into his pokeball. "Good job Swellow." He said as the ball shrunk down and he placed it back on his belt. Leon turned back to Blazekin who was easily taking out the low leveled Pokemon. He was of course doing it as gently as possible.

"Blazekin there a Machamp around back!" He called to his Pokemon who in return nodded and ran around the Professor's lab. At this point Leon noticed that, well he hadn't quite gotten her name yet, was struggling. He jogged over to her and flipped open his Pokedex. It quickly scanned the Porygon and relayed the details to Leon, which he of course already knew. He handed it to the girl hopping that it would be able to help her through this battle. Turns out that she didn't actually have any Pokemon yet, which Leon thought was a little strange. Most people started off at the age of ten and most usually inherit a Pokemon before then. "I want that back after!" Leon called to the girl before going to join his Blazekin.

Leon slid to a stop when his Blazekin came into view. It was doing considerable well considering that they were both fighting Pokemon. Blazekin however had the advantage due to it's fire type attacks as well. Watching the two fight was like watching two black belts go at it. Each knew what the other was going to do before the other did it. However with Leon's guidance he could make sure that Blazekin came out on top. "Blazekin! Fire Spin!" He called out to his Pokemon which acted immediatly. Both of it's hands burst into flames, which he stuck out and began to spin. Before long there was a raging inferno around Blazekin. The Machamp had no clue what was going on and was hot repeatably by the fire.

"Alright! Finish is off with a Fire Punch!" Leon yelled. Blazekin stopped spinning and fluidly followed up with a Fire Punch straight to Machamp's noggin'. Leon tossed a pokeball at the fainted Pokemon which flawlessly captured it and was instantly sent back to Professor Oak's lab. Leon nodded to his Blazekin, which nodded back, and both headed back to where they were before.

Rose accepted the pokedex with a thankful smile. She quickly read the information, not even waiting to hear the electronic voice read it out to her.
"Okay, Porygon. Use," she double checked the pokedex, "Use psybeam!" She felt a thrill of excitement as strange colored beams shot from where the mouth would be on a normal pokemon. The rattatta shook for a moment as the attack connected, and then slumped slightly. Rose threw the pokeball at the creature. Her chest tightened as the red light in the middle of the ball switched off and on. With a high tone, it turned dark. Rose grinned as the ball was transported to the lab.

"Alright Porygon, I think we've got the hang of this." A grin lit her face as the Porygon danced in agreement. "Okay buddy, let's keep it up." She turned her attention to an igglybuff that was trying to sneak away. Her mind raced. She didn't want to use psybeam on such a low-leveled pokemon. She decided to play it safe with a move that almost any pokemon would know.
"Tackle it, Porygon!" The porygon seemed to understand right away. It moved swiftly, but it was also gentle. The baby pokemon fell to the ground, tears threatening to overflow from its eyes.
"Sorry, sweetie," Rose said as she threw the pokeball. She was so caught up in catching it, that she didn't see the Gengar sneaking up behind her.

Porygon acted quickly, sending out a powerful psybeam that seemed to hit a critical spot. Rose turned around just in time to see the Gengar faint. She had to admit, she was impressed. This strange little guy had not only protected her, but it had taken out a much stronger pokemon. She swiftly threw a ball, pleased as she sent the ghost pokemon back to the lab. She gently patted the thing on its head.
"Good job, Porygon. Thank you." She smiled as it bounced up and down with pleasure. She laughed. She could hardly believe how well her and this little man-made pokemon were getting along. She had never really considered porygon to be like other pokemon, since it was artificial. But it was acting so much like any pokemon, she was beginning to reconsider.
"Let's get back to work."

Once they arrived at the front of the lab again Leon pulled off his backpack and placed it on the ground beside him. With all the Pokemon that Blazekin had weakened before this was a prime moment for Leon to strike. He reached into his bag and pulled out an armful of pokeballs. Blazekin stood at his side beating away any rouge Pokemon that decided to attack the young adult. In response Leon tossed pokeballs left and right each one being caught and transported back to the Professor's lab. Just when he thought he was finished a wild Rhydon came charging at them. Both Leon and Blazekin dived to the side but the Rhydon kept charging straight for the lab, with Rose Right in it's path.

Leon bit his lower lip and pulled a pokeball from his belt. This one had a picture of a bug face on it. He drew his arm back and instead of throwing the pokeball gently ,like usual, he whipped it like a baseball. The ball hit the ground just in front of the Rhydon. Out from the pokeball came Leon's pride and joy. The recently evolved state of the first Pokemon he ever journeyed with. Scizor. The Scizor immediatly locked hands with the superior sized Pokemon but it's strength seemed to hold. Actually his strength was doing more than hold but was actually pushing the Rhydon back. "Do it Scizor!" Leon called out to his bug-steel Pokemon. Scizor let out a cry and pushed even harder against the Rhydon until it toppled backwards onto it's back. Leon pocketed both of his hands and watched as his Pokemon was making easy work of the rock-ground Pokemon.

"Finish it off with a Metal Claw!" Leon called to his Pokemon. Scizor beat it's wings and took off into the air. Stopping just after if passed the roof of the lab Scizor's claws began to glow. He turned and dived at the Pokemon using all of it's power and the extra boost of gravity to hit the Pokemon square in the stomach. Leon tossed a pokeball at the fallen Pokemon and it was instantly transported off the the Professor's lab. Smiling Leon walked up to his Pokemon and they both bumped fists. Well fist and claw. With that Leon didn't see any other released pokemon running around. With that Leon dusted off his hands and looked at the Professor. "So Professor why did you call me here today?" He asked as if nothing had just happened.

Rose had just finished catching all the weaker pokemon, and she turned around just in time to see Leon and Scizor protect her from the charging rhydon. She breathed a sigh of relief as the last pokemon was sent back to the lab. For some reason, she didn't consider the porygon to be one that needed catching. And sure enough, it followed her happily as she trotted up to Oak and Leon.

"I had just called you here to upgrade your pokedex, but I'm glad you got here when you did. You were a big help just now." The older man smiled in a fatherly way, and the turned to Rose.
"You had come to get your first pokemon, right?" he asked her happily. "You requested a meowth, if I remember right. I have one set aside for you right here. . ." Oak began walking towards a table that had indentions in it just the right size for a pokeball. Rose began to get excited. Her very own pokemon! She heard a whirling sound behind her, and turned to see the porygon floating around in slow, low circles. It looked sad. Rose rushed forward, and stopped him.
"W-well, actually sir," she said with a slight blush. "I think I'd like to change my mind, if that's okay. Is this porygon available? Its just, we seemed to work together pretty well. . ."

Oak nodded, seeming content.
"I had a feeling you might choose that pokemon, when I saw you two battling together. I'm glad it likes you; it hadn't been very sociable." He looked down at Porygon. "Looks like you finally found yourself a trainer, huh, little guy?" The porygon floated up, and nodded happily. Rose giggled.
"Well, then. If that's your final choice. . .?" Rose nodded. "Then here's its pokeball. I hope you two have great adventures together."

Rose and Porygon wandered off to a corner of the room to get to know each other better. Rose still had a hold of Leon's pokedex, and she used it to quickly memorize Porygon's moves. It was still a low level, so it didn't know much. But she got very excited when she saw what technical machines, or TMs, were available for this pokemon. Once she got some money, she would have to try some of these out.
Oak watched the two for a moment before turning his attention back to Leon.
"So, tell me about how your research is going. I see that you got your scyther to evolve."

Leon walked over to the Professor and his Scizor followed after him. Leon looked around the lab as he walked. Other than a hole in the wall and a few broken pieces of furniture not too much about it had changed. At least his table in the center of his lab where he handed out low leveled Pokemon to new trainers wasn't damaged. If it had new trainers would likely have to wait to start or those that couldn't wait would head to Johto. Johto was Leon's personal favorite region likely because of the fact that that was where he was born and started his adventure. Professor Elm had been extremely helpful during the early days of his research. Now however it was only Professor Oak that was able to keep up with what he explained.

When he finally approached the Professor and extremely happy, well he still didn't know her name. rushed past him. He chuckled to himself as he was reminded of the first day he had received his Pokemon. Leon held his hand out to the Professor and nodded. "It's been awhile Professor. I was glad to help and it seemed like that girl was able to find a good partner." He said withdrawing his hand after Oak had shaken it. For an old man he still had quite the grip. "Ah yes. We took your advice and headed off to Mt.Silver to find the Steel Monk. Man it was pretty amazing how well him and his Pokemon understood each other. I was able to learn a lot of things and because of the training we underwent there Scyther evolved." Leon said with much excitement. Every word he said his hands seemed to have a motion to go with it. Just thinking about it again made his heart pound.

Leon pocketed tapped his Pokegear and brought up a screen of what seemed like random gibberish. Well to anyone other than Leon who looked at it, it was. Only Leon could make sense of his own notes, or anyone else if he took the time to explain them. Oak however was the exception to this and was the only other person to understand his notes. "Look here Professor. in the Sinnoh region there's said to be three legendary Pokemon that represent human emotions! Just think what I could learn if I was able to meet them!" Leon's voice rang with excitement again. Just from listening to him speak one could tell that he was extremely passionate about his research. "Before I seek them out though I think I'm going to challenge the Kanto gyms. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile now."

His eyes shifted from Professor Oak over to the girl playing with her Porygon. He tapped his chin briefly and a thought came to mind. He excused himself from the Professor and walked over to a machine with six spherical indents in it. He reached to his belt and placed one of his pokeballs into it. As soon as he did a screen appeared and he scrolled through it until he found the Pokemon he was looking for. He selected it, hit yes, and the pokeball he had previously flashed yellow then disappeared. Seconds later there was another yellow flash and another pokeball appeared. Leon took it from the indention and placed it onto his belt. Whistling to himself he walked over to the girl and pulled out the newly acquired Pokemon. "So fancy a battle before you head off for your grand adventure?"

Rose looked up curiously as Leon went over to the strange machine. She had seen things similar to it in nearby pokemon centers. She didn't know why he was switching out his pokemon though; his team already seemed very powerful. When he turned to her though, she figured it out. He hadn't traded for a stronger pokemon; he'd traded for a weaker one. She knew she shouldn't be embarrassed. After all, she had only gotten her first pokemon a few minutes ago. But still, she hated that he had had to get a weaker pokemon to fight her. She stared at the ground for a minute, unsure of what to do. She wasn't sure that she was ready to face a real trainer.

Oak watched from the side with eyebrows raised. This was slightly unfair, but he was glad that Leon was doing it. Studies had shown that a loss right away motivated trainers to work harder. And winning could raise the trainer's confidence in themselves and their pokemon. It was really a win-win situation.
"Rose," he said evenly, "I believe you have been challenged. Are you going to refuse?"

Rose looked up quickly, a stubborn look on her face.
"Of course not! Rule number one: a trainer must face any challenge. And that's exactly what I plan to do." She stood up, and looked at her Porygon.
"Well, little guy? You ready?"
The porygon nodded. This was its chance to prove its worth to its new trainer. A determined gleam entered its eyes. Porygon was going to try its best.
"All right. Leon, I accept your challenge!"

A smirk appeared on Leon's face. That was exactly what he was hoping to hear. Spinning the pokeball on his finger he tossed it up into the air before catching it again. "Excellent. Though the Professor would probably want us to battle outside right?" Leon asked while glancing over at Oak who nodded. Leon stepped out into the grassy field and waited for Rose. Reaching into his pocket Leon pulled out a stick of bubblegum and began chewing on it. A habit of his for whenever he battled another trainer. He eventually had to convert over to the sugar free stuff. Sometimes when traveling you didn't get to brush you teeth often. Shuddering at the though Leon saw Rose step out of the hole in the lab and took her spot across from Leon.

Blowing a bubble Leon tossed his pokeball which let out a Heracross. During his earlier days his Heracross and Scyther had been quiet the dangerous combo. He figured that Heracross would be able to put up a decent fight for the Porygon since he hadn't really stretched his legs in awhile. When Leon saw Heracross his eyes lit up like stars and he ran over to him. He gave the Pokemon a once over and looked over at Oak. "Professor! Looks like you've been taking good care of him! His shell of so shiny!" Leon's voice was full of excitement, he was like a little kid on Christmas. He took a few steps back and the Heracross looked back at him and raised a fist. Leon raised his fist as well then lowered it and pointed at Rose. Heracross of course followed Leon's motion. "Sorry Rose but you're going down."

Rose almost giggled. His connection with his Heracross was so cute! Now was not the time to be amused by her opponent, however. He had much more experience than her, both with training and battling. She had determination and passion on her side, however. She had been waiting for this day all of her life. She had grown dangerously ill the week that Oak had been giving away beginner pokemon to children who had turned ten that year. Since she missed that, she had thought she would never get the chance to have her own pokemon. Here she was though, with a brand new Porygon by her side. There was no way she was going to loose her first battle as an actual trainer.

She patted her little Porygon on the head, and knelt down to its level.
"Alright my little Bit," she said quietly. "This'll be our first real test, okay? Don't worry. I'm new at this too." She winked at it lightly. "I know you can do it."

Bit reacted positively to the pep talk, floating up while making happy noises. It turned serious however, when it turned to face its opponent. It lowered itself close to the ground, staring the bug pokemon down. Interesting clicking noises sounded in the back of its throat, simulating a growl. It was going to win this, and prove its worth to this new master.
"Alright Bit," Rose said excitedly, "Let's start out with Conversion 1!" she smiled, glad that she had retained a little from her brief use of the pokedex.

Leon raised an eyebrow when codes of binary left the little Porygon and surrounded Heracross who seemed just as confused. It swatted away at the code but it just went through it. The attack however didn't seem to damage Heracross at all. Once the code flew off of him Heracross took a few steps back and patted itself down. After it came to the conclusion that everything was alright it gave Leon a quick thumbs up. Well more like a claw up in this case. "I don't know what you're up to but it's not going to stop us!" Leon informed Rose while pointing to the Porygon. "Let's start things off with Horn Attack!" Heracross nodded it's head in response and let out a cry, opening up it's wings as it did. With surprising speed it flew forward towards the Porygon with it's horn held up high. As it got closer to the Porygon it flew up above it and flew down at like a suicide bomber.

Rose felt her heart beginning to race. So this was what it felt like to be a trainer.
"Dodge it, Bit!" she cried out. Her reflexes were too slow however, and Bit hardly had time to move before Heracross' attack made contact. It was able to dodge a little bit, avoiding any major damage. Rose winced as her poryon took the hit however, concerned.
"Are you okay, Bit?" The pokemon nodded without taking its eyes off its opponent. She took a deep steadying breath.
"Alright then! Use psybeam!"

Bit responded automatically, sending multicolored beams out of its mouth area towards Leon's Heracross. It was only after she had called out the attack that she remembered a critical fact. Heracross was part fighting wasn't it? A small smile spread across her face, although it was too soon to celebrate. That would mean that if the attack it, it would be super-effective!

Bit seemed to be encouraged by his trainer's new found confidence, and it showed in its attack. Rose bit her lip as she waited to see if it connected. This could be the turning point in the match for her.

A small smile played across Leon's face when his Pokemon's attack had hit. Though he was a bit surprised that it was able to avoid critical damage with such a late order. Seemed like he would have to keep an eye out in the future. Heracorss pulled his horn back up from the Porygon and flew backwards landing near Leon. The two exchanged a quick glance before knocking their fists together.Leon had a natural talent for being able to bond with Pokemon almost immediatly. Maybe it was because he valued Pokemon as more than just partners, or maybe it was because he could "understand" a Pokemon. Sure he couldn't understand what they were actually saying but through their mannerisms he could understand that his Pokemon was hungry, scared, or happy. A key talent for any trainer really.

He snapped back to reality when Rose declared for her Porygon to use Psybeam. His Heracross instinctively moved away from it's trainer, not wanting any harm to come to him if something went wrong. "Heracross! Endure!" Leon commanded knowing that there wouldn't be anytime to dodge. He knew his Pokemon though and he knew that he wouldn't go down without a fight. Heracross crossed his arms over his chest making an "X" as the beam collided into him. As he was slowly being pushed back he opened up his wings and started beating them as hard as he could with a look of determination on it's face. The air was filled with a buzzing noise as Heracross continued to beat his wings, slowly pushing back the beam. Finally the beam ceased and Heracross dropped to it's feet and back onto the ground. It was panting slightly but it's eyes told Leon that it was still quite willing to fight.

Leon nodded to his Heracross acknowledging the fact that it still wished to fight on. It really was quite the stubborn Pokemon. He'd make sure to finish it off in the next attack though. Heracross may not have had a lot of bug moves, in fact the only one he did learn would be far later on. However there was one move that Heracross knew that could end this fight. Areial Ace, a flying type attack. Only now was it that he remembered what Conversion1 did and a flying move against a bug/fighting pokemon was deadly. "Alright Heracross! Let's take it down with Areial Ace!" Leon commanded pointing forward at the Porygon again. Heracross nodded and took up to the sky. Positioning itself with the sun to his back he flew down at the Porygon with alarming speed. Each time he dive bombed the Pokemon He attempted to strike it with it's horn or the hardened shell that protected it's wings.

Her porygon was already dodging frantically, but Rose knew that it couldn't keep it up forever. She bit her bottom lip, trying to think a way out of her predicament. She had used Conversion in an attempt to keep Heracross' fighting moves from being super effective, but she hadn't considered it using a flying move.

Although she knew that the chance of success was unlikely, she knew she had to give this battle everything she had. She couldn't let Bit down, not on their very first battle together! An idea suddenly hit her, though it seemed almost impossible to pull off. She had faith in her pokemon though, so she was willing to give it a try.

"Alright Bit," she called out, "it's time to show these two what we can do! Let yourself get hit by one of the moves, if only barely! Then use Conversion Two!" It was a risky move, but if it worked then he wouldn't be able to use another super effective hit. She only had to hope that her porygon could withstand one blow from the flying bug.

Bit took the attack, and managed to get back up. Rose grinned. Yes! Now the pokemon would be safe against many of attacks her opponent could use. She knew that last attack took a lot out of Bit though, so she needed to finish this soon.
"Bit!" she called, "Use sharpen, and then a consecutive psybeam!"

Bit nodded, a bit tired, but did as it's owner said. It began to glow as Sharpen raised it's attack power. It then aimed one last, powerful attack at it's enemy. The Heracross was not able to block this one, and it hit it in a critical spot. Rose jumped up and down in victory as the bug pokemon went down for the count.

Heracross tried to dodge the beam of psychic but it caught him across the chest. Had he not been as tired he would have likely dodged it. It pushed against the beam desperately trying to get a final hit in on the Porygon. It just didn't have the strength to do it and was blasted backwards. Leon jogged over to his fallen Pokemon and knelt down beside it. He gave it a good pat on the shoulder then stood up. "Ya did good Heracross. Ya did good." He said before returning it to it's pokeball. He sighed slightly and shook his head while walking towards Rose. "You and that Porygon make a pretty good team." He said stopping just short of her. Leon slid his backpack off his shoulder and started rummaging through it. Even though there was separate spot for everything Leon obviously never used them. Eventually he pulled out five pokeballs and handed them to Rose. "Think of it as a victory prize."

Leon left Rose to talk with the Professor while he switched his team back. He exited back to the field from the hole in Oak's wall again. While walking over to Rose and Oak he flipped through his Pokegear. He took a quick glance at the map which had been installed into it. It had been quite awhile since he was last in the Kanto region and things were a bit fuzzy. It seemed like his next destination was Viridian City. "Hey Rose. Where are you headed after this?" He asked while flipping through notes displayed on his Pokegear.

((Fail post is fail.))

Rose could hardly believe she had won. She giggled happily, jumping up and down in joy. She grabbed hold of her porygon, and hugged it close to her.

"Oh Bit!" she exclaimed, "You just did wonderfully!" The artificially created pokemon chirped back at her, clearly pleased with itself. Rose looked up at Leon with a silly grin on her face. She accepted the pokeballs, amazed.
"Wow! Thank you!" she said happily. It would be hard to become a good trainer without more than one pokemon, regardless of how amazing that one was. She put the balls in her bag, careful to actually use the correct compartment. She grinned as Oak walked up to her.

"That was quite an impressive show," he said happily. "It's not an easy task for a beginner to beat Leon; he's a very experienced trainer. I have a lot of faith in your abilities," Rose blushed, "So I want to give you a gift as well." He pulled a pokedex and pokegear out of his lab coat pocket. "These will help you along in your journey. I hope they come in handy!" Rose accepted them with a grateful smile.
"I really can't thank you enough!" she said, but Oak just brushed it off. "If things go as I think they will, you'll be helping me. Every pokemon you catch will be recorded on that. I hope you catch some rare ones!"

Rose looked over at Leon as he came back into the yard.
"I have no idea," she admitted sheepishly. "I was planning on training a bit in Viridian Forest, but I hadn't planned much beyond that."

(Fine post is fine. xD )

Leon looked up from his notes after typing away on his Pokegear for awhile. It took a couple seconds for him to recall what Rose had said and he nodded slightly. This was good, excellent even. After seeing their previous battle Leon wanted to follow Rose and add her to his studies. Even though she had just met her Porygon the two had almost bonded instantly. It was possible that the Porygon was just friendly natured. However it seemed unlikely that the two would have been able to beat him if that was such a case. No...there was something else that linked the two together. Something that could possibly tie into his research. "You mind if I tag along? I'm headed in that direction anyways." He said closing his notes and looking up at her.

He didn't even wait for a response though. Instead he just pulled out a capsule from his bag and tossed it at the ground. From the smoke appeared his bike. He mounted it and rode forward a bit before stopping and turning around. "Oh. Be sure to say good-bye to your parents before ya leave. I'll wait for you at the exit to the town." He called back to her before continuing forward and down the path that lead to Professor Oak's lab.

Now Leon waited on the fence that he had taken a rest on earlier. At his feet sat his Jolteon which was eagerly eating the food from his hand. Leon kept his eyes focused on the exit of town. Hopefully Rose would arrive soon, it was getting rather late. Now that he thought about it though, maybe he should have gotten a place to stay in Pallet Town. Oh well. Wasn't like this wouldn't be the first time he slept outside.

"Well, I-" Rose was cut off as Leon took out a strange capsule and it erupted into a cloud of smoke. As the cloud cleared, Rose saw that a brilliant red bicycle had appeared. Leon hopped onto it, and with a few words, rode away.

Rose blinked, surprised by the abruptness of his departure. Did he always act this way? She shook her head, and with a word of goodbye to the good professor, walked back towards her house. She didn't want to put her porygon in it's ball quite yet, so she let it follow behind her. She went into the house, excited to show Bit off to her parents. They both seemed very happy for her, but sad at the same time to see her go. She stayed only a few minutes, not wanting to make Leon wait for her too long. Regardless, it was beginning to get dark by the time she left.

She met Leon at the side of the road, leaning up against the fence. A strong looking Jolteon was at his feet. Rose couldn't suppress a small gasp. After all, the eeveelutions had always been some of her favorite pokemon. She composed herself quickly, though.
"So, would you like to head out now, or wait until morning?" she asked casually.

Leon's head turned when his Jolteon let out a cry. He hopped down from the fence and jogged over to Rose. He was surprised she had gotten here as quickly as she had. Probably in a hurry to start her adventure and all that. His Jolteon nudged his head against Rose's shin as if begging to be petted. "Hey. Knock that off." Leon said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a treat. "Jeez you're such a kid." He turned away from Rose and tossed the treat off into the bushes. Jolteon immediatly stopped nudging Rose and took of into the bushes after the treat. "Sorry about that. Well shall we get going? We should be able to hit Viridian before it gets too much darker. If not well I hope you don't mind camping." He said the last bit with a wink.

Leon whistled as they walked along the path that lead to Viridian City. It was a bit surprising that they hadn't run into any wild Pokemon yet especially considering how dark it was. Maybe it was because his Jolteon was walking beside him. He suddenly stopped and placed both hands on his hips. "Well looks like this is as far as we're going tonight. To dark to go any further." He scanned the area and his eyes fell upon a clearing near the road. "We'll camp over there tonight. You got a tent?" He asked while walking over to the clearing.

Rose laughed quietly as the Jolteon nudged her, but composed herself once Leon distracted it.
"I'm ready to go when you are!" she exclaimed to his first comment, and blushed at the second. She had never been camping before. How hard could it be, though? She checked her backpack, making sure it was securely on her, and glanced at her porygon, who seemed to be staring questioningly at the treat Jolteon was eating. Rose giggled.

"I'm not sure you could eat that darling," she told it. She wasn't sure how porygon ate, now that she thought about it. She pulled out a treat of her own that she had borrowed from Professor Oak's lab. Bit came up to sniff it, and suddenly it was gone. She jumped a bit, surprised. That answered one question, at least.

The two walked for a while with their pokemon, but they didn't come across any wild ones. Rose found this a little strange, and even a little disappointing. She was beginning to think that they wouldn't stop for the night when Leon finally called them to a stop. Rose sighed, looking around at the clearing. His question caught her off guard though.
"I, uh, didn't think to bring one," she confessed.