The Girl and the Harlot [Oldrivalshipping]

Chapter 2: Viridian Forest

Leaf was glad that Pokémart employee had given her a pointer on potions for the long journey ahead. She didn't expect the path that connected the two cities to be a lush forest full of upcoming Pokémon trainers, chomping at the bit for someone new to challenge.

Viridian forest was littered with Weedle and Caterpie. Leaf didn't want either of those Pokémon on her team in particular, and neither did Squirtle. It seemed disinterested in bug- type Pokémon for the most part. They continued walking, and avoiding the gaze of any boys welding a bug- catching net.

There were tons of things hidden amongst the lush greenery. Lots of weird berry plants and items trainers must have dropped on their way through here. Leaf didn't see and shame in grabbing want she thought would be useful. Squirtle liked Razz berries anyways.

Returning back to the forest from a run to the Pokemon center, Leaf had a new goal. A girl she had defeated in battle had told her Pikachu lives in this forest, albeit hard to find. She thought Pikachu would be a perfect addition to her team, and Squirtle seemed to be on-board enough with the idea.

So, the two of them went on the search for a Pikachu.

They searched, and searched.

...and searched.

-x-

Leaf pulled an energy bar out of her bag and gave a portion of it to Squirtle. The two of them had been roaming around the forest aimlessly for a couple hours, but to no avail. Maybe Leaf would have to settle for a weaker Pokemon after all.

Rattata couldn't be that bad, right?

No, Leaf couldn't even work that out in her own mind. She wouldn't be rasing a Rattata after the infestation that happened at her Father's job. Maybe their best bet was to just leave Viridian Forest for good.

There were only a few more patches of tall grass between Leaf and the exit. She could only see Squirtle's head poking out against the lush greenery. At least being blue made him easier to spot.

Leaf's head turned quickly to the sound of a pokemon in the grass. She caught something small and yellow scurrying around out of the corner of her eye. She prayed it wasn't just another Weedle this time.

Squirtle had already beaten her to the punch however, pouncing on the mysterious Pokemon and rolling out of the tall grass.

The long, lighting bolt-shaped tail and perky yellow ears were unmistakable. Leaf and Squirtle were finally able to find one!

Leaf chased after the two, and someone else must have been chasing the two wrestling Pokemon as well, because Leaf collided face-first with them.

The two of them hit the ground hard. Leaf's hat flew off in the process and the person lost some belongings out of their backpack in the process.

Leaf rubbed the side of her noggin before reaching for her hat, and the other person did too. She paused, and looked to who the hand belonged to.

It was a boy.

A boy with messy, brown hair and a red cap. He looked to Leaf with a monotone expression and handed her the hat back.

"Oh- thank you." She gave him a shy smile. He simply nodded before adjusting his hat.

Squirtle still stayed on top of the Pikachu, the two still wrapped up in their fight. Pikachu squeaked before escaping Squirtle's grasp, running for shelter behind the red-capped boy's legs.

"Oh, that's..." Leaf said before trailing off in embarrassment. That was his Pikachu, not a wild one.

The boy held a Pokeball out in front of himself. It wasn't Pikachu's pokeball, so who's was it? Leaf looked on in curiosity.

"You know what they say about when two trainer eye's meet..?"

Leaf shook her head no. She had been in enough battles for today, but the boy wasn't letting up. He let a Charmander loose from the Pokeball, and it scurried around, excited to be in a new area.

"Where did you get Charmander from?" Leaf asked, a bit demanding. The only place she could think he would've gotten it from was Professor Oak's lab.

"If you win-," the boy said quietly,"-I'll tell you."

Squirtle ran over to Leaf's side, ready to defend its trainer in battle. She smiled confidently back to it.

"Charmader, use scratch!"

"Squirtle, use pound!"

-x-

The two put up a good fight, but Leaf lost the battle. She frowned before trying to let Squirtle back into it's pokeball. The boy stopped her.

"What are you doing? You already won." She told him, annoyed.

The boy took the straps of his backpack off, letting it slide down one arm and fall on the ground with a satisfying thump. Leaf watched him, puzzled, as he dug something out of his bag.

He held something yellow and shiny between his thumb and index finger. Leaf watched as he gave it over to Squirtle, which immediately prompted it to wake up. The shiny thing was gone, but Squirtle was better.

"What... What did you do?"

"I gave it a revive." He told her. Pikachu and Charmander smiled to Squirtle, who went over to say hello.

"I guess you learn something new every day, huh?" Leaf smiled. The boy didn't seem interested in her, instead going over to pet his Pikachu.

"I never caught your name? Mine is Leaf." She tried again.

"Red." He said, not looking up at her, putting Charmander back in it's Pokeball.

"Well, I wanted to say thanks for the battle. I sure learned a lot from you!"

Leaf held her hand out towards him, prompting for a handshake. Red got up and looked to her blankly. She let out a frustrated groan.

"You're not a man of many words, are you?" Leaf questioned. Red shrugged, putting his backpack back on.

Red mad his way towards the exit of Viridian Forest, but Leaf still didn't have her Pikachu just yet! She couldn't let her one ticket to the yellow pokemon leave!

"W-wait!" Leaf cried, causing Red to stop dead in his tracks,"I know I lost, so you can't tell me when you got Charmander from."

He turned to face the shorter girl, and nodded. Leaf regained her composure before going to speak to him again.

"Well.... You see, the whole reason I ran into you out here is because I was looking for a Pikachu. And I still haven't found one."

"They're elusive." Red spoke, nodding to his Pikachu that was now perched on his shoulder. Pikachu purred happily.

"You seem to be some sort of Pikachu-whisperer, so I was wondering if you could help me find one?"

Red stood in thought for a minute. Leaf tried to keep the most polite expression on her face that she could muster.

"... Sure. I can help you." Red told her, quietly.

"Oh, thank you, thank you thank you!!" Leaf jumped up in excitement, hugging the taller boy.

Red stood there akwardly, almost completely still. At least this would give him an excuse to see more Pikachu.

"Oh, whoops!" Leaf let go of Red almost immediately,"we should get a move on, shouldn't we?"

Red simply nodded. Leaf was a strange girl to spend time with.