Chapter 49: New Interests

With Viridian City and the surrounding Route 1, 2 and 22 now behind the trio, their Pokemon Rosters expanded once more. They now had their first six Pokemon each, and even a couple of them evolved! They had participated in a few battles against wild Pokemon here and there. That gave them enough experience, and with a little extra push, Lillie's Bulbasaur evolved into an Ivysaur, and Serena's Squirtle evolved into a Wartortle. Ricky also walked away with his latest prize, a Mankey, to which he is aspiring to evolve into an Annihilape. Serena also managed to catch a pretty powerful Shinx!

Ricky's Charmander did likewise experience a couple battles, but it wasn't as many as Bulbasaur and Squirtle had. Charmander didn't show any signs of evolving yet, but it was very possible Ricky could evolve his Charmander during their visit inside Viridian Forest. It was one, if not the largest forest in all of Kanto. It was very easy to get lost inside there!

The trio's first and foremost goal they had in mind was to secure a base camp that they can eventually navigate out from. It was approaching nightfall after they finished up their fun in Route 2, and they didn't have a lot of sunlight left. With that in mind, they hurriedly entered the forest. A sea of trees soon entered their view with Bug-type Pokemon buzzing all around them from the shadows. To Ricky's surprise, it was pleasant to listen to. It was as if he was listening to the summer cicadas in his previous life.

In their immediate sight, the trio could see Caterpie and Weedle slowly crawling up nearby trees without a care in the world. Unless one wanted to specifically target these two evolution lines of Pokemon, they weren't too exceptional. Caterpie and Weedle could evolve almost instantly, given one or two battles into their final evolution. That was the good part about raising Bug-type Pokemon. They could easily evolve compared to other Types. Now it did cross Ricky's mind to catch a Weedle, but he opted against it. Mega Beedrill was tempting, but he plans to shift his attention to other and more powerful Pokemon that could Mega Evolve.

Ricky did learn that it typically took Pokemon Trainers a good two, perhaps three days to traverse the entire forest. It was split up into three sections. The section the trio were presently in was the safest. They could then decide to wander deeper within, and eventually reach the heart of the forest where the most rare encounters could be located. That was likely where Ricky could try and capture his Pikachu.

There were two, perhaps three other Pokemon that drew their interest.

Two Kanto Pokemon. And one Johto Pokemon. The two Kanto Pokemon were likely some of the most popular Pokemon out there, being Scyther and Pinsir. The first one of these two can evolve into Scizor, which is a powerful Bug and Steel-type Pokemon. Scizor could even Mega Evolve. And likewise, Pinsir couldn't evolve, but it could Mega Evolve, just like Scizor. Pinsir, in this regard, became exceedingly powerful!

Now, if it went originally like the anime and the games, these two Pokemon likely wouldn't show up in the Viridian Forest. But Ricky has spotted several Pokemon that did not originally make any appearances in either two. This world was his to explore, even if it meant discovering Pokemon that don't typically belong where they should.

Ricky wanted to see if he could find these two Pokemon while they stayed inside Viridian Forest. Even if it took the entire week, he wanted their trio to walk away with something, just like how they caught some Pokemon in the previous Routes. And that could be said the same for the one Johto Pokemon Ricky was interested in encountering.

It was Heracross. Heracross was a single-stage evolution like Pinsir, but it also had the ability to Mega Evolve! Just having the opportunity to encounter strong Bug-Type Pokemon like this excited Ricky. This was the prime time to catch them too. He wasn't going to bother with weaker Pokemon like Caterpie and Weedle.

Thinking that, they took a moment to observe Viridian Forest. It was trees, trees, and more trees. There was a path leading off to the left, allowing Trainers to wander within Viridian Forest. This spot was a giant loop, causing Pokemon Trainers to eventually reach back to the entrance. If one wanted to battle a lot of Pokemon back-to-back, heading off to the left was the spot to go.

But the trio's interest lay to the right. It included a big, winding path that eventually looped around the center. Once would eventually reach the heart of the forest by doing so, before they came out the other side, landing in Pewter City. Depending on the time and season of the year, Pokemon Trainers will come across other Pokemon Trainers, and enjoy some battling. The trio did need to tread carefully, though. There isn't a Pokemon Center for miles. They had to make their Items worth it. It would serve them little if they left Viridian Forest with all injured Pokemon.

With that in mind, the scenery before them was peaceful, and harmonious. All kinds of Pokemon did whatever they wanted to, even with the arrival of the trio. Beneath them was soft and fluffy grass, stretching as far as the eye can see. Much thicker and taller grass were scattered in patches. That was where Pokemon loved to roam around and attack.

After taking some steps into Viridian Forest, Lillie frowned, seeing how expansive the forest before them truly is.

"You really can get easily lost here. We're already met with a fork in the road. Which path do you think is better to choose for the time being? I've read that you have to walk around the entire forest to reach the other side...", Lillie uttered, seeing two paths before the trio.

"It really doesn't matter which path we take now, does it? It's not like we're in a rush or anything. We should pick soon, though. The sun is starting to set. We need to make a base camp!", Serena replied.

"We can spend a few days here, yeah. We definitely aren't in a rush to head to Pewter City. I don't mind wanting to experience the camping life. I suggest we don't head leftward. It's a big dead-end. We can take our time walking into the right path. It's very windy and twisty, but like Lillie said, it'll eventually bring us out of the forest.", Ricky explained.

"To the right it is, then. Still, I can't help shake the feeling like we're being stared at. This forest is huge. So it's bound to have a lot of Pokemon lurking about. It's a bit unsettling, but as long as we stay clear of their territories, we should be fine.", Lillie said, warning the trio.

"Maybe at the first corner we reach, that'll be a good spot to set up camp for the night. Let's go.", Ricky said, deciding on their next area of interest. They could have wandered off to the left side of Viridian Forest, but the grass grew thicker with each step. It was quite a risky area, and hard to make camp. Instead, Ricky decided it was better just to continue along the one path to the right.

Shashashasha!

"Oh! A Caterpie descended from one of the trees nearby, huh?", Lillie questioned, seeing a small caterpillar-like Pokemon that was entirely green suddenly approach the trio out of the blue. It had large eyes too, looking at them with interest.

With the sun dipping ever so closer into the trees, painting the atmosphere a beautiful orange, Ricky was greeted with a Pokemon that jumped off a nearby tree. And it was a Caterpie!

Ricky initially wanted to just ignore the Caterpie, but he was feeling an itch again. An itch to battle. He also recalled that Ash's first encounter in Viridian Forest was a Caterpie, so he felt a bit of nostalgia. Unlike Ash, however, who only caught the Caterpie by tossing a Pokeball at it, Ricky had zero intentions of doing so. Instead, a different idea formed in his mind. He reached down into his Trainer Belt, and grabbed his Pokeball.