Well, It's been a year since I've updated, but hopefully I"ll be more consistent. I appreciate all reviews, follows, and favorites. Thanks to Bass0bassinum for editing and revising this chapter, make sure to check out his stories, as they are great.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

A loud beeping noise snapped Red from his slumber, quickly looking over to see that it was coming from his Pokedex. That night prior, he and Leaf agreed to start early and set his alarm to 7:00am so he wouldn't sleep in.

Groaning as he rolled out, Red quickly got in the shower and began to wash his hair. He had to be quick as he didn't want to keep Leaf waiting and quickly glanced at his see if she had texted him. Thankfully, that wasn't the case and Red took his time sliding into his usual attire before quickly tapping out a message on his Pokedex.

7:16: Hey, I'm heading to the lobby.

Not wasting any time, Red quickly sent the message off, stuffing the pokedex in his pocket as he grabbed his bag and just as he was walking out the door, felt a sudden vibration come from his pocket.

7:18: OK, I'll be there in a few minutes.

Since it was early, nobody else was present in the Pokemon Centre's lobby and since he had a few minutes to kill, Red decided to head up to the front counter to check out.

"Good morning sir! Did you enjoy your stay?" the Nurse Joy at the counter asked as he slid his key towards her.

"Oh yes!" he happily replied "Thank you very much!"

The nurse smiled as she took his key and began typing away on her computer. "So….early start today huh?" she curiously wondered as Red nodded in response.

"Yeah, my partner and I want to get to Mt. Moon today." he casually explained before glancing over his shoulder, should be here any sec-"

"Red!"

"There she is!"

As quick as she could, Leaf came barreling down the hallway, panting heavily as she finally reached the red-capped trainer.

"You're late!" he teased as she proceeded to shoot him a deadly glare in return.

"Hey! You're lucky I got up at all!" she quickly retorted. "These beds are really comfy!"

Red chuckled and watched as she checked out as well. As much as he wanted to get today's journey underway, there was something he needed to do first. A promise he had to fulfill.

"So?" Leaf wondered as they exited the Pokemon Centre, "Shall we leave this town behind?"

Red shook his head. "Before we do that, do you remember asking me for a pokemon battle yesterday?" he stated as he Leaf gave him a confused look.

"You want to do that now?!" she bafflingly replied. True, she did ask him for a battle, but they had literally just woken up.

"Well…the terrain's going to get a lot more rocky from here on out so…why not?"

Leaf sighed. It was clear that Red was really eager to do this and she HAD challenged him. "Alright!" she finally accepted before turning and tauntingly winking at him, "But don't cry when you lose to me!"

With that, the two found a grassy field and positioned themselves across from one another as they prepared for battle.

"How's a 2-on-2 battle sound?" Red called out as Leaf nodded in response.

"2-on-2's just fine by me!" Leaf shouted back as she grabbed a pokeball from her belt, "Go Pidgey!"

"Go Pikachu!"

The two pokemon cried out as they materialized on the battlefield and Red smirked as noticed that he had the clear type advantage. "This should be a cinch! Quick attack!" he ordered as Leaf went on the offensive as well.

"Counter with tackle!"

Doing as commanded, the two pokemon picked up speed and slammed head on into each other.

"Use gust!" Leaf quickly followed up and in an instant, her Pidgey began to wildly beat its wings.

With nowhere to go, Pikachu was blasted by the oncoming gust and Red clenched his teeth as it was blown back. "Hang in there buddy!" he yelled in encouragement, "Blast it with thunder shock!"

Quickly finding its footing, Pikachu fired back with a bolt of electricity that knocked Pidgey out as it made impact.

"No!" Leaf shouted as her bird slumped over, unable to battle.

She wasn't about to give up however and upon returning Pidgey to its pokeball, prepared her next pokemon for battle, "Come on out Bulbasaur!"

Out came her plant pokemon and it glared at Red's Pikachu as it materialized on the battlefield.

"Bulbasaur attack Pikachu with Razorleaf!" Leaf exclaimed and watched as sharp leaves flew from the back of Bulbasaur at a lightning pace, scoring a direct hit on its target.

The ensuing hit caused the electric mouse to stagger and Red called out to it in a panic. "Oh no, Pikachu are you ok?!" he asked and Pikachu nodded as it slowly got back up to its feet.

Red nodded in return. "Alright use Iron Tail!" he ordered and the electrical pokemon launched up into the air; its tail aglow with a metallic shine to it.

Watching all this take place, Leaf smirked. Her opportunity to turn things around had finally come. "Counter with Vine Whip!" she enthusiastically shouted and just as Pikachu's tail was about to make contact, Bulbasaur launched its vines right into Pikachu's face, knocking it out instantly.

"Pikachu!" Red shouted, but it was no use, the electrical pokemon wouldn't budge and Leaf excitedly leapt in the air as a result.

"Ha! Ha! We did it Bulbasaur!" she cheered as the grass pokemon turned and smiled at her.

"Bulba!" it happily replied, when all of a burst of light emanated from Bulbasaur's body. Red and Leaf watched wide eyed as the flower on Bulbasaur's back began to bloom and the shape of its body slowly morphed into that of a larger being.

"Oh wow…" Leaf gasped, unable to even catch her breath at what she had just witnessed, "Y-you just…."

"You just evolved into Ivysaur!"

The cheers of joy from the brunette haired girl were almost deafening and as Red stood there smiling, he soon returned to a serious expression. As much as he hated to break up such a joyous occasion, he wasn't about to lose either and as he returned Pikachu to its pokeball, quickly prepared his next pokemon for battle.

"Charmeleon! Come out!"

Leaf watched as the flaming lizard materialized on the battlefield. Even though she was at the disadvantage, she was confident that her new found power would carry her through.

"You ready for this Ivysaur!"

"Saur!"

Leaf nodded. "Alright! Use Vine whi-"

"Use Ember!" Red commandingly ordered and before Leaf could even finish her command, smoldering hot flames blasted her Ivysaur, effortlessly knocking it out.

In an instant, all happiness that Leaf had been experiencing vanished as she stared at her fainted pokemon. Granted, it was clear that Red had the advantage. But he still could have at least been a little lenient with her.

"I guess…that's it?" Leaf sighed, frowning as she returned Ivysaur to its pokeball.

Despite how happy he was that he won, Red could tell just how upset she was and quickly attempted to make amends. "Hey…that's just how it is Leaf." he causally explained to her as he returned his pokemon as well, "Come on! Let's head to Route 3 and maybe you'll catch some new pokemon that can match mine!"

Seeing that there was no use in being upset, Leaf nodded and the two made their way the outskirts of the city to start their journey.

Upon reaching Route 3, the two decided to train up by battling some trainers and wild pokemon. Despite being a rather rocky area, they managed to find some grassy areas full of wild pokemon and after battling for a few hours, Red and Leaf decided to rest on a nearby log and eat some lunch.

"Traveling and pokemon training is so great," Red stated as he stretched out and leaned back against a rock, "I get to be outside, spend time with my pokemon, and meet amazing people like you."

His words made Leaf blush. "Yeah, I'm definitely glad I got the opportunity to be a trainer and travel." she replied, longingly staring up at the sky as Red excitedly looked over.

"Yeah, I can't wait to visit all the cities and pokemon across the region!" he happily exclaimed.

With that, the two finished up their lunch and continued their walk along Route 3. Rocks grew more and more abundant the steeper they went and just as they felt like their feet were going to fall off from climbing so much, spotted a Pokemon Centre right outside the entrance to Mt. Moon.

"Oh thank goodness! The Pokemon Centre!" Leaf huffed as they walked up to the giant sliding glass doors, "I have never been so happy to see it!"

Red couldn't deny her words. They had been walking all day without breaks and he was thoroughly exhausted.

"Come on." he huffed as well, "Let's go check in."

The two did just that and only hung out together for a short while before resigning to their beds.

However, despite how tired she was, Leaf just could not sleep. She and Red had agreed to get up at 7:30 that morning; but after tossing and turning all night, Leaf finally decided to throw on some clothes and get up.

It was only 6:00 in the morning and the red sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky with a faint orange glow. Taking a minute to admire the sunrise, Leaf recoiled in shock as a female Nidoran suddenly jumped out at her.

"What the-"

"Nido!" It growled and wasting no time, Leaf quickly grabbed a pokeball off her belt in preparation for battle.

"Go Ivysaur!" she yelled as her grass-and-poison type was released and despite its loss to Red the day before, Ivysaur was quickly gaining the upper hand against the advantageous poison type.

"This Nidoran's pretty resilient…." Leaf thought as she watched the two pokemon battle back and forth, "It would definitely make for an interesting member of my team…."

With a sharp tackle from her Ivysaur, Nidoran was knocked to the ground and seizing her opportunity, Leaf grabbed a pokeball and threw it at the poison type pokemon.

In an instant, it was quickly encapsulated and Leaf watched as it shook ice….

*SNAP*

Like lighting, the ball broke causing Leaf to grit her teeth in frustration. "Dammit…..how am I going to catch this thing?!" she cursed in her head. "Only if Ivysaur knew a status move…."

No sooner did she think that and Ivysaur conveniently shot a bunch of spores at Nidoran, putting it to sleep.

"Oh my god! Do I have psychic powers?!" Leaf excitedly thought before quickly realizing that it was natural for Ivysaurs to learn sleep or poison powder at this point.

With her opponent now defenseless, Leaf threw a pokeball at the Nidoran and this time it finally stuck.

"Alright! We did it Ivysaur! We have a new partner!" she happily exclaimed to her grass partner as she brought Nidoran's pokeball to eye level, "With this and Ivysaur's new power, I should be able to beat Red in no time!"

Completely content with herself, Leaf skipped back to the pokemon center, ready to start the day.

Red was having a great dream involving him battling the champion when his alarm brought him back to reality. "Beep...Beep...Beep!" It rang out and Red cursed in his head as he clicked it off.

"Ohh and the dream was just getting good…."

Wasting no time, he quickly got ready and made his way to the lobby, only to be surprised by Leaf already standing there waiting for him.

"Good morning!" she cheerfully greeted and Red yawned, amazed that she was actually up before he was.

"Morning…" he mumbled groggily.

Red was still tired from the previous day's trek and couldn't even react as Leaf walked up and suddenly pinched him in the cheek. "Wake up sleepy-head!" she playfully teased. "We have a big day ahead of us!"

With that, she happily skipped out of the Pokemon Centre and Red stared at her in bewilderment. "What's got her so happy?" he wondered as he checked out.

Thankfully, the entrance to Mt. Moon wasn't too far from the Pokemon Centre as Red was forcefully tugged towards the mountain's entrance by his companion.

"You ready to do this Red?" Leaf asked as they stood in front of the giant cavern that marked the entrance.

A long time ago, miners had dug a tunnel through the mountain that allowed one to go from Pewter city to Cerulean and vice versa. The tunnel was no longer mined and was now used by travelers and trainers brave enough to journey through it.

"Uh-huh…." Red yawned out to answer Leaf's question, "I'm ready…."

A small smile crept over Leaf's face as she glanced towards the ground. She really wanted to tell Red about her capture that morning, but ultimately decided against it. "I'm going to surprise Red the next time we battle!" she enthusiastically thought as they walked inside.

After walking only about 100 yards into the tunnel, it started to get dark and it only got darker the deeper they went. Not only that, but a distinct odor began to emanate from the cave and before long, Leaf found herself stepping in something squishy.

"Ewww!" she squealed as she looked down to realize she had stepped in poop. "Red! I-" However, he squealing would come at a cost as Red noticed a bunch red eyes light up in front of them, and a flock of Zubat suddenly swarmed around them.

As quick as he could, Red dove to protect Leaf as they passed by, only letting go once he was sure they had left.

"Are you okay?" he asked out of concern.

"Yeah…." Leaf replied before holding her shoe up to his face "Look! It's all over my shoe!"

Her childish behavior made Red chuckle. "That explains where the smell came from." he mused before extending his arms to her, "If it's that bad, you want me to carry you?"

Leaf blushed, that wasn't really her intention, but she wasn't going to turn his offer down either. "O-okay!" she stammered as Red leaned down for her to hop on, which she happily did.

After carrying her past all the Zubat dung, Red let her back down and the two continued deeper into the tunnel until Red thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. "What the hell was that?" he frighteningly wondered and quickly turned his head to see nothing behind him, "Huh, must be my mind playing tricks on me…"

However, despite telling himself that everything was okay, Red was still on edge and even after making small talk with Leaf, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

During their talk, Red once again thought he saw something move behind him and this time when he looked over and turned back around, Leaf was nowhere to be seen.

"Leaf?! Where are you?!" he yelled and quickly looked down to see if there any were footprints for him to follow. However, because they were walking on rock, no footprints could be found. "Ok Leaf, you got me. This isn't funny anymore!"

"Whatever that movement I saw must have something to do with this…." Red pondered as he frantically searched the cave. "It must have kidnapped Leaf! I need to find her!"

He continued calling out for Leaf, when suddenly, Red thought he heard a noise and ran towards it. The voice was coming from a smaller tunnel branching off to the left and as he got closer, Red could hear what sounded like a radio.

The sound got louder and louder the closer Red got to it and then all of a sudden he froze.

"That's no radio…." he gasped as he suddenly realized what the sound was, "It's a walkie talkie!"

No sooner did he think that and a tall man stepped out of the shadows with a giant red R across his chest and Red realized he was in trouble.

Thanks for Reading! Hopefully, I can have the next chapter up somewhat soon. I appreciate all reviews, and like constructive criticism, so let me know what you think. -Muskieiwz