Professor Persimmon is in her lab, bent over a machine with blinking lights on it.

"Hello, Gwen! Are you ready to begin your Pokemon journey?"

Gwen grins and nods eagerly. What do you have?

She knows who she'll pick, if Professor Persimmon has them.

"Wonderful! Then it's time for you to choose your first ever Pokemon! Take your time and choose carefully; with care and a little bit of luck, your Pokemon will be your companions for life.

I have three Pokemon here for you to choose from.

Would you like Charmander, the flaming salamander Pokemon?

Would you like Squirtle, the water turtle Pokemon?

Or would you like Bulbasaur, the plant dinosaur Pokemon?"

Bulbasaur, she signs, almost before Professor Persimmon's done talking. Obviously Bulbasaur. She bounces some more. Her very own beautiful plant-type Pokemon!!!

"Somehow, I am not at all surprised." She hands Gwen a shiny red-and-white ball. "Here he is. Why don't you take him out of the ball for a bit and get to know him?"

She lets her Bulbasaur -- her!! Bulbasaur!! -- out of his ball and kneels down to stroke his head and coo wordlessly at him. Does he want scritches in any particular place?

"Bulba-bulba!" He likes scritches behind his ears!

Awwww.

"I have some pokemon treats here. Would you like to give him one?" The Professor holds out a small blue piece of what looks like dried berry paste.

Gwen spends another moment scritching her Bulbasaur (who needs a name at some point, but it should be something she can say with her mouth) and then takes the treat with her free hand. "Can'y?" she asks him as she holds it out.

"Bulbasaur!" Om nom candy! Little vines come out of the bulb on his back and wave around a bit, then go back in.

"You seems to be getting along great! Would you like to learn to coach him through attacks now?"

Gosh, would she? What a hard question!

... No it's not. She signs Yes very exuberantly (read: more happy-flapping than average).

"Right now he knows Growl and Tackle. Tackle is a physical attack, and Growl is a nonphysical attack that startles the opposing Pokemon and makes their next attack do worse. I'm going to let one of my Pokemon out now, so he has a target to practice on."

The professor releases a Ninetales. "Ninini!"

"Alright, Fluffy, can you just sit here for a bit and be a target?"

"Tales."

"There's a good girl."

"Alright, now look at your Bulbasaur, point at the Ninetales, and say 'growl!'"

Nrrrr. R-sounds. Hopefully her best will get across what she means.

She gets her Bulbasaur's attention, points at the Ninetales, and says, "Gowl!"

... Maybe Pokemon can be taught to understand signs.

The bulbasaur goes "Aur-rrr-rrr!" at the Ninetales, which looks unimpressed.

"Hmm. Try making a sign with your other hand while you point. If you make the same sign every time, the Pokemon will learn that the sign means the same thing as the word."

Hmm...

Yeah, sure. "Gowl!" she says again, pointing with one hand and signing G-W-L with the other.

"Aurrrrr!"

Eeee she's got a Pokemon and he's adorable and she's helping him battle~~

Ahem. She is a Responsible Ten Year Old. She will only bounce and flap for ten seconds. ...Fifteen. Ok, now she's done.

Professor Persimmon's Ninetales is being a training dummy, so...

"'Ackle!" she says, pointing and signing T-K-L.

Bulbasaur charges Fluffy headfirst! 

It's rather like running into a furry wall. Fluffy twitches one of her tails indulgently.

She's not laughing at her own Pokemon, not even a little.

... Ok, a very little. Fluffy barely even noticed!

Hmmmm. One more attack. "'Ackle!"

Same charge, same result. "Saur."

"You can do the same attack a bunch of times, but too many will make a Pokemon sore and they won't want to use that move again until they heal. Growl can be used about 40 times, and Tackle about 35."

Gwen nods. Got it. She looks thoughtfully at Fluffy (unruffled wall of floof) and her Bulbasaur (definitely not getting anywhere), and adds, Maybe he should pick on somebody his own size.

"A proper match sounds like a great idea! Why don't you go down the street and challenge Sherry? She got a Charmander yesterday, I bet she'll enjoy a go."

Sherry's got a Charmander, huh. Well, Gwen and her Bulbasaur will just have to give it their all.

I'll do that, Gwen signs cheerfully, and gestures for her Bulbasaur to follow her.

A few feet out of Professor Persimmon's lab, she stops, turns to kneel in front of her Bulbasaur, and says firmly, "You Basauw."

Yes, it's the closest she can get to pronouncing the last two syllables of "Bulbasaur". It's also a name that a girl with issues about her speech problems can be proud of.

Basauw named, she gets back to looking for Sherry.

Sherry is at her house, finishing packing for her Pokemon journey!

Eventually she comes out, carrying a backpack. "Hi Gwen! I'm starting my pokemon journey!" 

Gwen waves, then signs, slowly and clearly, So am I! I have a Bulbasaur. Want to battle?

"You bet I want to battle! I'm gonna be the very best!" She moves to an open area of yard and lets her Charmander out.

"Char!"

Basauw is of course already out, because Gwen sees no point in putting him back in his Pokeball when he could be stretching his cute li'l legs.

She points firmly at Sherry's Charmander. "Basauw, 'ackle!" Because she is gonna be the very best.

Basauw goes at the Charmander full tilt! The Charmander is knocked back but jumps back up again.

"Sparky, growl!" yells Sherry. Sparky goes "Charrrrrrrr!".

Is that so. "Basauw, 'ackle!" He can do it, she knows he can, because Bulbasaur is the best Pokemon. (Except for Ivysaur and Venusaur, which are Bulbasaur but bigger anyway.)

Wham! Sparky is looking kind of unsteady on his feet.

"Come on, Sparky! Scratch!" Sparky slashes at Basauw with a handful of tiny claws.

Gwen and Basauw will win this with the power of love, friendship, and full ramming speed. "'Ackle!"

Basauw recovers from being scratched, takes a step back to get more space for momentum, and WHAM!s into Sparky again. Sparky falls over and doesn't want to stand up.

"You're good, Gwen! But expect a rematch really soon!" says Sherry, re-digitizing Sparky and handing Gwen a bit of prize money. "I'm going to go heal at the Professor's lab." She scurries off.

Yaaaaay she won her first Pokemon battle!! Basauw gets many ear scritches, which he would've got anyway but they won so they're victory scritches.

And then healing him at the Professor's lab sounds like a great idea. She shows him his ball and asks, "In bauw?" If he doesn't care or seems to like the idea she'll re-digitize him; if not they can walk back together.

"Bulb!" says Basauw. It may be relevant that even though Gwen's ten-year-old legs are short, Basauw's are much shorter.

Why yes, he is a teeny little thing with teeny little legs. In the ball he goes, and they're off to see the Professor (again).

"Ah, Gwen, I'm glad you're back. I have something I forgot to give you. But first, how did you enjoy your first battle?"

It went great! she signs exuberantly. My Bulbasaur's scratched up. And I named him B-A-S-A-U-W. And we won. She hands over his Pokeball so he can get digi-healed or however it works. (She is ten and her obsessive Pokemon research has focused on how cool Grass-type Pokemon are which is very.)

Professor Persimmon knows exactly how Pokemon healing works. The tray she puts Basauw's ball in is a marvel of biomedical science and software engineering, with fascinating implementation details which this margin is much too small to contain. The point is that Basauw is fine now.

"That's a lovely name. Congratulations on winning! Here's his ball back, and here, is your Pokedex!" She hands over the ball and a bright red device that flips open to reveal a screen and keyboard. "You can use this device to record information on Pokemon you find on your journey! You can also use it to send calls or text messages to other trainers. And since people in other towns might not understand sign, if you press this button, you can type into it and it will read your words out loud."

!!!

Gwen's tucked away Basauw's ball by the time Professor Persimmon gets to the part about the Pokedex having text-to-speech, which is good because dropping your Pokeballs is a bad habit and she wants to have good ones. She immediately presses the indicated button, types rapidly, and the Pokedex says, "Thank you so much!"

And then she hugs the Professor. There are now pokey edges of a Pokedex digging into both of them. Gwen doesn't seem to care.

Professor Persimmon doesn't care either; her lab coat is plenty of cushion. "You're very welcome! The Pokedex already has your parents and my numbers in it, so you can text any of us any time. Now, go enjoy the wonderful world of Pokemon!"

Hug. Hughug. Ok, enough hug, the pokey Pokedex is finally bugging her. She will text her mom, with lots of exclamation marks, and get a less giddy-ten-year-old but still congratulatory response back, and spin out the door without bashing any limbs into anything.

Next stop, Adventure, population: Tall Grass.

The tall grass is tall and rustles when she walks through it! Sometimes the rustling noises come from locations other than her own!

Things in the tall grass? Really? She never would've guessed. She is ready and able to call out Basauw if a Rattata or Pidgey or something gets too friendly. Then Basauw can make friends. With headbutts and growls.

Soon enough a Pidgey appears! It wants to know if she is food or a sparring match and intends to find out by trying to peck her shoe.

She is neither. On the other hand, she has this Bulbasaur, would the Pidgey like to spar with him? He's a much more interesting fighter than her shoe.

The Pidgey will switch tracks and try to whap Basauw with its wings!

An excellent Pidgey. If she had Pokeballs she would consider trying to catch it and love it with all of her ten-year-old love, but alas. "Basauw, gowl!"

Basauw growls! The Pidgey looks slightly intimidated but buffets him again. 

"Basauw, 'ackle!"

Pidgey: is tackled, is not happy about it, kicks sand in Basauw's face.

Yeah, well. Ramming speed anyway. "'Ackle!"

The next hit is too much for the pidgey; it staggers off disgruntled. 

The victorious Basauw rears. "Bulba!"

They are so good at this! She coos at and pets Basauw, then re-digitizes him and continues through the grass.

Basauw loves being cooed at and petted!

They arrive in Viridian city with no further trouble, which is just as well because Basauw probably has one more fight like that in him, tops.

Viridian has a Pokemon center, a gym (closed), and a little shop. The sign in the window says:

POKEMART

* Pokeballs!

* Pokemon food!

* Healing items!

* Reasonable prices! 

Pokeballs! Excellent! She rummages in her bag, finds her wallet, and... she's got 100 pokedollars and a candy wrapper. Dangit. Well, she can still go to the Pokemon center and get Basauw healed up, so she'll go do that.

The machine cheerfully goes "beedeebeedeebeedeeBEEP!" and dispenses healthfulness. One other trainer is hanging out on one of the couches with their rattata.

Time to use the Pokedex's talking feature again! "Hi!" it says for her. "Want to battle?"

(Pleasedon'tbeweirdaboutitpleasedon'tbeweirdaboutitplease)

It takes the trainer a moment to pair the synthesized voice with the human child. "Hm? Are you asking me? Sure, I'll battle!" They scoop their rattata up and move toward the exit.

Hmm, yes, one should not battle inside the Pokemon center. She shall go outside and then her and Basauw will give it their all.

The other trainer and their rattata give it their all too, and the rattata is fast. Eventually Basauw is too worn out to fight anymore.

"Great job, Ratty!" says the other trainer, stroking it for a bit before re-digitizing and turning towards Gwen.

"So, are you staying at the center tonight too?"

Basauw can get consoling pats and go back in his ball until she's done talking, and the Rattata's trainer can get 20 pokedollars for winning. "I'm not sure," her Pokedex says. "I just started my Pokejourney. Let me check my map."

She gets her map out of her bag and looks to see how far away the next Pokemon center is. Could she get there before dark on her in-shape-but-still-ten-year-old legs?

She has about six hours before nightfall, but she'd have to go through Viridian Forest to get to the next town. It's safe enough, but a bit of a maze and not the most comfortable place to sleep on the ground in.

Mmmmmm. Mmmmrrrrrrr. Sleeping bags: not something you can buy with 100 pokedollars and a candy wrapper.

Well, maybe somebody wants to give a 10-year-old some change in exchange for minor errands, and she can go through Viridian Forest tomorrow and with pokeballs.

Map: back in bag. Pokedex: talking. "I'm staying tonight, I guess. Do you know if anybody in town wants any errands done?"

"Yeah, I heard the guy at the Pokemart needed a package brought somewhere, if you've got time. I didn't do it because I want to spend the afternoon scouting the forest, trying to get a caterpie."

"Thanks. Good luck!"

Ok. Heal Basauw again, then off to the Pokemart for some errand-doing.

"Hello!" says the woman behind the counter. "How's it going? You here to buy or sell or both?"

She flashes the woman a quick smile before typing away. "I heard a guy here wanted a package taken somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah!" She fishes a parcel out from under the counter. "If you run this to Professor Persimmon in the next town south, I'll give you P$1000 in store credit." That's enough for five pokeballs.

Gosh, does she know a Professor Persimmon?

Yes. Yes she does. She will take this package back home, and maybe see if she left any coins in her bedside table or something. She probably didn't, but hope springs eternal.

Does she stop at the lab first, or the house?

Mmm, the lab. Best to do the thing she's being paid for promptly.

That's very responsible of her!

"Ooh, thanks, I've been waiting for this," says the professor. She opens it up and starts taking out a bunch of little bottles. "I know you're already getting paid for this, but I should give you some sort of tip . . . oh hey, I bet you'll like this!"

She pulls a little device out of a drawer and holds it out. "This is an itemfinder! If someone's dropped a Pokeball or a potion or something, it'll go beep when you get close! You can keep anything you find with it unless it's a ball with a Pokemon in it; trying to get items back to their original owners is intractable."

Oooh, fun! She will take this itemfinder, put it in her skirt pocket (of course her skirt has pockets, pockets are mandatory and her mom can sew), and thank Professor Persimmon.

Then she'll go see her mom, show off Basauw and get a proper goodbye, and see what, if anything, she left herself in her bedroom.

... P$37. She will take it. All right, back to Viridian City to cash in that store credit, and she bets by then it'll be approaching a sensible time to see what kind of beds the Pokemon center has.

The Pokemon center has cute little curtained bunk beds, in a cheerfully painted room on the second floor with lots of windows. Some kids sleep cuddling with a small pokemon; others sleep alone.

She'll go for the nearest free bottom bunk, tucking the stuff in her pockets in her bag and her bag under the bed if there's any room. Basauw is probably not very cuddly, being a scaly boy with sharp, non-retractable claws, and yet she wants to try cuddles anyway. What does he think of cuddles, or perhaps just co-sleeping?

It takes a bit of shuffling to get them both arranged in the bunk, but his plant-bulb is soft enough to comfortably throw an arm over and he's nice and warm.

Mmm, comfy bed. Comfy starter Pokemon. Lots of walking today. Zzzzzz.

Morning dawns clear and breezy; Gwen and Basauw are woken up by the sun and by the other trainers getting out of bed.

Breakfast time! What do they have? She usually has oatmeal with fruit in, if the components of that are available she'll just have her usual.

They have oatmeal; they have fruit. They also have roasted potatoes and several dishes of Pokemon food (sorted by what types can eat them).

Oatmeal! Fruit! Breakfast for Basauw! Sitting... somewhere.

Agh.

She will probably stand frozen here with her tray of her food and Basauw's food trying to decide whether to sit alone or try to be friendly with strangers for at least thirty seconds, until someone or something breaks her out of her stuckness.

There's a group of giggling girls with mostly bird-types! There's a boy with a book and Caterpie! There's an empty table with nobody at it!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa she'll sit near the boy with the book but not try to talk to him how about that.

Yes. Ok good. Good plan. She heads over there, plops her tray down, helps Basauw up so he can reach his dish of breakfast, and then instead of eating immediately, pulls one of her sensory toys out of her bag and starts tangling her fingers in it.

Boy with book is content to read his book for a while.

Then she will calm herself down enough that she can eat, and do that, nibbling her way slowly through her oatmeal because stress makes her nauseous ugh. Conveniently, eating oatmeal only takes one hand, so she can pet Basauw with the other and that also helps. Midway through her oatmeal she puts her Pokedex on the table in easy reach, just in case book boy feels like talking.

He looks up and gives a little wave, but seems content to just eat. The Caterpie finishes eating and crawls across the table to poke Basauw inquisitively with its nose.

Awwww, cutie bug. Nobody can be stressed when there are cute bug-types being friendly. What's Basauw think of this?

Basauw finds this a pleasantly novel experience! At least until the caterpie tries to move in on his food; then it gets gently pushed away until it gets the message and goes back to curious nose-booping.

N'awwww. She will tap-tap on the table to get Book Boy's attention, then type, "Your Caterpie's cute."

Book Boy startles a bit, then looks up and smiles. "Thanks! I just got him last week."

"I got my Bulbasaur yesterday." Gwen pets his butt a little and then goes back to nomming oatmeal, now a lot less stressed.

"Nice!" The brief conversation seems to have reminded Book Boy that he has a plate of potatoes as well as a book; he starts back in on it.

Munch. Munch munch. Oh no her oatmeal is gone and it turns out she's still hungry. She will acquire something with lots of nuts and have that and if Book Boy wants to chat she will chat and if he doesn't she will finish her breakfast and wander off with Basauw in the direction of Viridian Forest.

They have several kinds of raw nuts at the buffet. Also peanut butter, if she likes her nuts in spread form. Book Boy mostly just wants to read. 

At the edge of the forest is an elderly gentleman with a grandfatherly expression. "Hello, youngster!" He says. "Do you know how to catch Pokemon?"

"It involves throwing Pokeballs at Pokemon," she types. "I've never done it myself. Is it more complicated than it sounds?" Her Pokedex reads out each sentence after she completes it.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, yes. There are things you can do to make it more likely that the Pokeball will get a good scan--and since they only work once, those things are pretty important! Would you like to just hear some tips, or see a demonstration, or neither?"

"Demonstration, please!"

"Alright then, kiddo, come on into the forest with me. We'll find something soon enough!"

Assuming she follows him into the forest, they rustle around in the tall grass for a minute and promptly encounter a Weedle.

Rustle rustle. Oh no, a Weedle! Oh no, it's too cute!

Grandfatherly gentleman squares up to the Weedle and releases a Butterfree.

"Alright, now, the first thing you got to do is tire 'em out a bunch. Keeps them from moving around so much while the ball's trying to scan 'em. Just be careful they don't give up and run off on you, that's no good."

He coaches his Butterfree through a round or two of attacks, and indeed at the end the Weedle is looking rather tired but still in the game.

Nodnod. Is Mr. Grandpa Gentleman going to use his own Pokeball or does he want one of hers?

"Next thing: if you can freeze the Pokemon in ice, or paralyze it, or put it to sleep, it'll be moving around even less. Orchid, sleep powder!"

The Weedle falls asleep.

"Now, would you like to keep it? If you want to try throwing one of your own Pokeballs, go ahead, I just release them afterwards."

Hmmmm does she want a cute Bug-type? It's not a Grass-type......

Yes. Yes, she does want this Weedle. It will become a strong Beedrill one day and she will love it very much. She rummages for a Pokeball and tosses it towards the snoozing Pokemon.

There is a flash, and a spinning hard drive noise while the ball vibrates gently, and finally a happy little ding.

"Good show!" says the older gentleman.

Of course good show. She is good at throwing things. Now she has a Weedle, yes?

She does! It's in no shape to fight, of course, having been pasted into near exhaustion by Orchid.

Awwwww. She should take it back to the Pokemon Center. But she wants to go through Viridian Forest already. But it'd be mean to make it be tired in its ball. Wait, are Pokemon awake while inside Pokeballs?

Well, there's a maybe-Pokeball-expert right here. Type type. "I can't remember, are Pokemon awake inside their balls?"

"Well, it's hard to be sure since they can't tell us, but scientists think it's a bit like when you're lying in a really cozy bed on a Saturday morning and you're not quite asleep but you're not quite awake yet either."

Mm, then her Weedle can wait. Basauw can....... aaaactually no, what if she gets lost and Basauw gets too tired, she should have her new Weedle ready. She'll thank Mr. Pokeball Grandpa and go back to the Pokemon center.

Also, her Pokedex is totally useful for more than talking for her, Professor Persimmon said it was for recording stuff about Pokemon she finds on her journey, how's that work?

There's a user's manual in it!

The Pokedex automatically syncs to her Pokeballs when she puts them on her belt. Any Pokemon she gets close to for more than a few seconds gets analyzed, and any Pokemon stored in one of her balls gets analyzed more thoroughly. She can see vague species data on Charmanders, Pidgeys, Rattatas, and Caterpies, and detailed info on Basauw and her Weedle, plus stuff like where her encounter with each species or individual was.

Sweet!

Ok, she will heal up Beedle ('cause Weedles evolve into Beedrill after Kakuna, get it?) and head back to the forest, and this time actually go in. What does the mazey forest have to offer her?

Caterpies! More Weedles! Several opportunities to get super lost! A bug catcher she can beat with her eyes shut and win P$25 off! . . . A Pikachu!

Ehhh. She's still got four pokeballs, since she didn't bother catching a Caterpie, but isn't really interested in catching a Pikachu only for more detailed data in her Pokedex. It seems mean.

If Basauw's not too tired he could have some fun, though, Grass-types are resistant to Electric attacks. Does he want to headbutt an electric mouse?

Basauw wants to headbutt whatever his human wants him to headbutt! Headbutting other Pokemon is awesome.

Oh, well then. "Basauw, 'ackle!"

Wham! Wham as many times as she says to or until the pikachu is no longer willing to put up with this. He can handle the scratches thrown his way in response, though not quite shrug them off without a thought yet.

Bonk that Pikachu! Bonk it into submission! And then hopefully they're close to Pewter City.

Yup! Pewter City contains: a Pokemon Center and Pokemart, more houses than Pallet Town did, a gym (this one's open), and a science museum.

Heal her Pokemon! Check her wallet! (She's got P$142!)

A science museum, huh? Sure, why not. She'll wander in that direction.

The science museum doesn't charge admission but does take donations. It has galleries on Pokemon and plants and rocks and fossils and meteorites.

Mmmm she is 10 they will understand if she only donates P$10. ...... P$20.

Anyway. Plants! Plants plants plants. Pokemon! All these other things are pretty cool too, but plants are the coolest, they get energy from the sun and nutrients from the air and the ground, and that's why Grass-type Pokemon are her favorite Pokemon. Are there any fossil plants?

There are! There are fossil ferns and petrified wood and fossil crinoids so old that what it meant to be a plant was different back then.

Soooooo cooooooool. She will wander around until a, she's looked at everything, b, she gets hungry, or c, it's late enough that the museum people are shooing visitors out and ten-year-olds should really be contemplating the Pokecenter's bunk beds. Probably B, unless the museum's smallish or it's late already.

It does indeed end up being B. She hasn't seen all the rocks yet when she realizes that lunchtime came and went shortly after she left the forest. She can go have an early dinner at the Pokecenter and come back the next day if she likes.

Food. Very important. She will eat a food, and feed her Pokemon, and then flop in a lower bunk and mess around with the features of her Pokedex (hey mom!!! pewter city's museum is really great!!!!!! -- I can just imagine you flapping so hard I can barely tell what you're saying. -- yes!!!!) until she is tired enough to sleep. Zzzzzz comfy Bulbasaur.

When she wakes up, another kid sees her sit up in bed and says, "Good morning! We should battle, I've never battled a Bulbasaur before!"

Uh. Uh? Um. She has literally just woken up. She's a morning person, but not this much of a morning person.

Breakfast first, at least, she signs, and then she remembers she's not in Pallet Town and this trainer probably doesn't know sign and has to suppress the urge to smack herself in the face. Where's her Pokedex, where's her Pokedex..... it's on the floor. Why is it on the floor. Oh right, she must have knocked it off the bed in her sleep. Gaaaaaaah whyyyyy.

"Nrrrr," she manages to vocalize.

"Not a morning person, huh?" chirps the other girl perkily. "Well, do you want to wake up and get some breakfast and then battle me?"

"Mmm," Gwen says, leaning down to grab her Pokedex and then sitting back up. Taptaptap. "Yeah, I'll battle you after breakfast."

"Okay! My name's Sunny, by the way. I'll meet you outside!" She scampers off.

Okay then. Breakfast. Om nom oatmeal, this time with fruits and nuts and milk, and then once breakfast is over with she and Basauw will meet Sunny for battle. Fight, fight, fight!

Sunny is so excited for battle! She has a Pidgey and a Nidoran and sends the Pidgey out first.

A Pidgey. Ah-huh. Type advantage, how dare she. "Basauw, gowl!"

"Saurrrr!"

Battle proceeds for several turns back and forth; eventually Basauw and Gwen's Weedle vanquish the Pidgey and Nidoran and Gwen wins another P$20.

Eeeexcellent. Cheerful thumbs-up to Sunny and a wandering in the direction of the museum again. (Countcount-- P$142 becomes P$137. Museums are important.)

If she finishes looking at everything before lunch she'll go to the gym next; if not she'll lunch, museum again, then gym. Not to challenge the Gym Leader yet, just to check it out.

She can finish looking at all the rocks she didn't see yesterday well before lunch, but then if she listens to a visiting expert talk about extinct Pokemon species that will eat the rest of her morning.

Her morning is very eaten, as is her lunch. After those: the gym.

There are lots of extinct Pokemon species. Scientists know about them from fossils and from bits of them trapped in amber. Some scientists are working on a way to clone extinct Pokemon!

The gym is small and utilitarian in design, except for several decorative rocks scattered around. The gym leader, Brock, is present, as is one other staff trainer. If she hangs around for a while, she can watch someone else come in and challenge them.

Oooh, fight! What've they got, what've they got?

The staff member has two Digletts and two Sandshrews; the challenger has a Pikachu and a Rattata. They're having a hard time since the Pikachu is basically useless; eventually they lose.

Hmm. Rock-type Pokemon. Good thing she loves Grass-types so much. She will pop into the Pokecenter, and then wander around the Pewter City outskirts of Viridian Forest looking for Pokemon to fight until Basauw and Beedle are too tired or it's dinner, whichever comes first. 

They do both get worn out before dinnertime, but she can always heal them and go back out again if she wants.

Healing break for the Pokemon, snack break for the human, and then: wallop those wild Pokemon! Wallop them good!

Both of her Pokemon are noticeably stronger by dinnertime! And Basauw has learned a new move; he can throw seeds out of his bulb that sap an opposing Pokemon's energy while making him stronger. 

Beedle, meanwhile, figures out how to spin a cocoon and does so. Now it's a Kakuna!

Good Pokemon? No. Best Pokemon. She will geeeeently pat Beedle, because she can't remember how Kakunas work. Do they even need to eat? Oh, wait, she has a Pokedex. Pokedex: do Kakunas eat?

Humans and Bulbasaurs definitely eat, though, so her and Basauw are definitely having a dinner, over which she tries her best to pronounce the proper name of Basauw's new move. The closest she's managing to get is "Weech Seed", which sounds like she's five but is, you know, comprehensible.

Kakunas don't need to eat, but do need to drink, which consists of dipping some part of themselves in water and absorbing it through their tough-yet-flexible shells.

Basauw figures out what "weech seed" means pretty quickly. He doesn't seem to have any opinion on her pronunciation, given that he can only produce about 7 phonemes himself.

Good boy. Best Bulbasaur. Pats, scritches, pets, etcetera. Beedle will get some water, and once everybody's done with their dinner it is once more bedtime. (update to her mom: basauw learned leech seed, and beedle's a kakuna now! i kinda miss your cooking, but i'm having fun.)

Morning: food, and then more fights. Wild Pokemon or trainers, she'll go for either right now.

She can get some of both! Viridian forest has the usual options including a couple of bug-focussed trainers; the town has a hyperactive boy with a Pidgey and a Squirtle.

She and hyperactive boy can fight, and then she'll tromp around Viridian Forest again. Tromp tromp.

She scrapes out a win over hyperactive boy and gets a whole P$30 for it. In the forest, she runs into another trainer, who does not want to battle right now because he is lost.

(P$167!)

Hmmm! Maybe she can help. Taptap. "Where are you trying to get to?"

"Pewter City. I came from there, but I lost track of my turns and don't remember how to get back."

She bounces excitedly and takes a moment to remember to actually reply. "I remember my turns! This way."

Lead lead lead.

Eventually the trees thin out and they can see the city. "Awesome, thank you!" says the formerly lost kid. He gives her a chocolate bar as a thank-you present and scurries off to go heal.

Chocolate! She won't say no to chocolate. Hey Pokedex, she can't remember, is chocolate safe for Bulbasaurs? And if it is, does Basauw want some?

However that goes, she will tromp around the forest some more. When her Pokemon are tired out she decides it's time for a break. An art break.

She has six big sticks of chalk in her bag, primary and secondary colors. There are sidewalks and streets that could use pretty pictures. Does Basauw care to be a model for an artistic ten-year-old's chalk drawings?

Most Pokemon can eat most human foods, but they like foods designed for Pokemon more. Basauw is kind of take-it-or-leave-it on chocolate. He doesn't mind being a model, though, at least if she doesn't mind him wandering around the sidewalk a bit.

Sure, he can wander, she's mooned over pictures of the Bulbasaur line enough to draw a recognizable one from memory.

Scribblescribblescribble. Pokemon all over the sidewalk! She blends her six colors to get more than what she packed, but these definitely aren't true-to-life. Recognizable, though, yes. Scribblescribblescribblescribble, move aside for pedestrians, fill up her working space and move somewhere else, scribblescribble, yaaaaaay art. Almost entirely Pokemon she's seen on her journey so far, but she draws a passable Venusaur (about half-scale) and scribbles Best Pokemon Ever above it.

And now her hands and pants and her face where she got an itch are covered in chalk. Good thing her mom reminded her to pack changes of clothes, because she totally would have forgotten and gotten all gross otherwise. And each outfit's in this neat tube held together by her socks, so they hardly take up any space at all. Off she pops to look less like a crazy artist.

People take pictures of her pictures! How nice that the next generation are so enthusiastic about Pokemon/art/beautifying the towns they pass through.

Yaaaaay people who aren't from the teeny town she grew up in like her art!

Hmmmm. Is it food o'clock? It's probably food o'clock, she spent a while drawing. Food time.

The Pokemon center cafeteria apparently likes to mix it up a bit; they have pizza among their menu options.

Sure, she's not a picky eater. Pizza, om nom nom. And then back to training up her Pokemon, because beating gyms is a tangible marker of her and their progress.

...

Actually, you know what, she'll try the gym now instead of tomorrow. She's not totally sure Basauw and Beedle will win, but they can sure try. Onward, to battle!

She has type advantage, and she's been training hard. If she heals between battles, she can take out both the staff member and the gym leader and earn her very own Boulderbadge! (And P$1386.)

She is a smart ten-year-old with not too much "I must do this In One Go" stubbornness, so she will heal her Pokemon in between battles.

First gym badge, get!!!!! (And up to P$1553!)

She only bonks her shins on a decorative rock once on her gleeful way out of the gym, and barely even stumbles. Now she's going to dance, which primarily consists of flapping really hard and spinning around until she gets dizzy. Wheeeee now the world's all spinny, she will sit down (on a bench or low wall or something if one's easily available, but the ground exists too) and hug Basauw and giggle madly.

Basauw is delighted about winning and delighted that his trainer is happy!

Those people over there in the red shirts, red pants, and red hats don't seem to be having nearly as good of a day. They're muttering at each other and looking around shiftily.

She will cheer these people up by telling them she won a gym badge! People are always happy to congratulate young trainers, right?

She remembers to not fling Basauw off her lap when she gets up, then bounces over to the group and signs I just got the Boulder Badge! exuberantly.

... Wait.

Eh whatever. Pokedex out. Taptaptap. "I just got the Boulder Badge!"

"--map is probably in the vice president's safe--Hey, what's the big idea, sneaking up on us like that? Scram!"

Gah! Unfriendly people! Stressful!

Um um um. Taptap. "Sorry! Didn't mean to. Just excited." She'll back away a few steps.

But not many. A map? In a safe? What?

They stare at her until they realize she finds them interesting, then skulk away faster than Gwen can follow. They manage to make "walking down a street in broad daylight" deserve the word "skulk".

Well, that's suspicious. She'll ask at the Pokecenter and Poke Mart about weird groups of people all in red. Are they a gang or something?

The woman behind the counter at the Poke Mart sighs deeply. "I haven't seen them, but I bet they are a gang. Probably either organized crime or a bunch of mystics who think they can end the world. One or the other of those crops up every ten or twenty years, you wouldn't be old enough to remember the last time."

If trying to end the world keeps not working, why do people do it so frequently this lady knows it as a pattern? That's dumb. Why are people dumb.

"Thanks."

Ok, what's next... map, map map. Next city is Cerulean City, with Mt. Moon between here and there. It's probably too late in the day to get to the city before dark. And also: cave through Mt. Moon. Caves are usually dark and don't have any plants in them. Will she need a flashlight for this cave.

Between the glowing fungi and the occasional hole in the ceiling, it's actually pretty feasible to navigate Mount Moon with neither a flashlight nor a Pokemon capable of making a light. Only during the daytime, though. It'd be best to wait until morning.

Ok, glowing fungi are pretty cool. Not technically plants, but there are mushroom-like Grass types, so she knows some stuff. Anyway, waiting until morning it is.

Cue morning, and breakfast, and setting out. What adventures does this mountain contain?

The first, second, third, and fourth adventures . . . are all Zubats. The fifth is her itemfinder going off!

Zubats: kind of annoying. Too annoying to try to catch one.

Itemfinder going off: exciting! Can she play hot-and-cold with its beeps, or is she close enough already to see something?

She has to play hot-and-cold for a bit, but then she spots a bottle of healing potion on the ground.

Aw yeah, free potion. Stash stash. Onwards!

She finds a Paras!

Hellooooo, little Bug/Grass mushroom Pokemon! Come to Gwen, she will love you and feed you and give you many opportunities for fighting interesting Pokemon you'd never see in this dreary cave! (Basauw, bonk 'em good!)

Sadly Paras cannot understand her unspoken promises of various desirables, because it isn't psychic and also doesn't speak English. It can certainly understand being bonked good, though, and also the concept of giving as good as it gets. She can catch it, but Basauw ends up poisoned.

Dang iiiiiit. Hopefully she can get through the rest of the cave without Basauw; she did just pick up a healing potion she can use on her new Paras.

Basauw can't feel sick while he's digitized, so he would quite like to stay in his ball until they get to a Pokemon center. Gwen's closer to where she came in than to the far end, though.

Pat pat, poor Basauw. Stay in your ball; Gwen will take care of you. Hopefully without being too assaulted by Zubats.

If she moves fast she'll probably run into fewer Pokemon? That seems logical.

That works, but is she running back the way she came or deeper into the caves?

She has a Mission, and her Mission is to Continue Forward. Onward into the depths!

Then she will soon run into a hiker who insists on battling right! now! She hasn't found anyone to battle in hours, you know.

Ugh, fiiiiine. Paras-to-be-named, Beedle, do your thing.

Beedle takes out the hiker's first Pokemon, but the Paras isn't used to fighting with a trainer yet and Gwen loses.

Gah. Have P$50. (P$1503 remains in her wallet.) Can this hiker at least escort her to the Cerulean City end of the cave, since her only other Pokemon is poisoned?

The Cerulean City end is pretty far away, and there were some really annoying people back there. She'd really rather escort her to the Pewter end instead.

Yeah, okay. Back she goes.

The Pokemon center here is just as good as the ones everywhere else. And the day is still young; she can go right back to the cave as soon as she's done healing her team.

All right, she will try that again. Let's go, Basauw and co.!

Hey, that rhymes! 

This time she gets a lot farther in. Zubats fall before her in their hordes. So do a couple of geodudes, unless she wants to catch one of them instead.

Nah, she doesn't want a Geodude.

Does she manage to get to the far end of the caves?

She gets within sight of them, at least. But between her and the exit is a narrow place, where two of those people in all red are staring at something on the wall.

Well, she really wants to get to Cerulean City, soooo... Taptaptap. "Excuse me, I'd like to get past."

"Why are you talking out of a box? Wait, never mind that! Go away! You can't have my fossils!"

Well, at least the first jerk about how she communicates is firmly in the "opinions not worth beans" category. It still stings, though.

"I'm not here for your fossils. I'm just going to Cerulean City."

The red-clothed man says "Well, you'll have to go through me! Let's fight!" and releases a Koffing.

Ah-huh. Basauw, get 'im.

The goon yells attacks at his Pokemon; when they get hit, he says "get up" angrily instead of encouraging them. At one point the Koffing misses an attack and he says "How could you miss?!" His Pokemon (the Koffing and a Geodude) seem kind of dispirited at all the yelling, and Gwen promptly hands him his rear end.

Having to type it before she can say "Why are you so mean to your Pokemon?" is an effective way to prevent her from saying it, but her face is probably yelling it pretty loudly anyway. Man, what a jerk. Is he going to let her go to Cerulean City now? Also, is he enough of a jerk to not pay up?

He pays up, and pretty well too (P$40!) but he doesn't look happy about it. And then he has to run off to heal, leaving her with a clear path to Cerulean City and two fossils sticking out of the wall in front of her. One is a dome-shaped thing with bits sticking out; the other is a spiral. Both of them look like they could be broken off the wall with a good yank.

(P$1543 total!)

Hmmm... yeah, ok, the crazy cultist or mob minion or something was really interested in these fossils, but what's the worst that could happen? Yoink. Bag. Cerulean City.

There's a Pokemon center and a store and a gym, of course. There's also a couple flyers on street lamp poles, and a house with a broken window and a uniformed officer outside.

Oh dear. If there's an officer outside the house then the broken window can't just have been an accident. Probably nothing she needs to worry about, though. What do the flyers say?

One of them says "Will trade Jynx for Poliwhirl", and below that "Well-trained, friendly Jynx doesn't get along with my Growlithe and needs a good home; will trade for any poliwhirl" and a phone number. The other is a request for help clearing out an attic, with payment of P$30 plus choice of the stuff the attic-owner doesn't end up keeping.

Hmmmmm does the attic cleaning request have a phone number? If it does she'll heal up her team and then text that number to offer her help.

Yup, there's a number! Texting the number produces an address; going to the address reveals an elderly woman with a Pidgeot. "Hello there! Are you the kid who offered to help with my boxes?"

Taptap. "Yes!"

"Great! The way I want to do this is, you bring things down the stairs, I sort them into these "keep" and "throw away" piles, and then we take the "throw away" pile to the donation center except you get first pick of anything you want from it."

Nodnod. She can do that, and will proceed to do it unless this nice old lady has more to say.

The nice old lady has nothing more to say, and will sort stuff. Things she doesn't want anymore include:

* a box of crayons

* several different plastic flowers

* plenty of clothes, of which two skirts and a pair of pants are roughly Gwen's size

* a music box with a little spinning plastic Horsea in it

* a piece of blue glass, worn smooth by being in the sea for a long time

* a framed picture of a willow tree next to a brook

* a video that promises to teach you how to teach Pokemon how to cut down small trees

* a book of poetry

* a thermos

Oh wait, the old lady does have one more thing to say. "I know you can't carry a lot of things with you while you're on your Pokemon journey, so I can mail the stuff you want to your house if you like."

Nodnod. Gwen looks through the stuff.

Crayons, eh. She's got enough art supplies at home that these can go to somebody else.

Oooh, she likes the different greens on that skirt and the sunset pattern on the other and these black pants have nice embroidery on the legs.

Nah, she doesn't want a music box.

That blue glass is hers now; it is soothingly pretty.

That picture would look really nice on her bedroom wall.

Ooh, can she teach one of her Pokemon with that video?

Ehhh, poetry. Nah.

Thermos! Very useful. Hers now.

"You can mail the clothes and picture to my house. I live in Pallet Town; my full name's Gwendolyn Selby." And here's her house number, though really as long as a package labeled for her got to Pallet Town it'd make it to her house pretty quickly.

And they can take the clothes and picture to the post office and everything else to the donation center. Now Gwen has a thermos and a video tutorial and P$30 that she didn't have before. The video is on a chip that looks like it can go in her Pokedex.

(P$1573!)

She also has a pretty piece of smoothed blue glass, don't forget that.

She will slot the chip into an appropriate-looking part of her Pokedex. Caaaan she teach Basauw how to chop down little trees?

Lots of Pokemon can learn to chop down trees! Many have sharp claws or beaks that can do it--her Paras is one of these. Some species can do it with a punch or a kick. Many grass types can do it with vines or super-sharp leaves, Basauw included. Some species can't do it safely and shouldn't try--Beedle, for instance, should wait until evolving into a Beedrill (it won't be a long wait).

Hmmmm, her Paras can learn to chop down trees. It can be a bonding experience, and she shouldn't rely on Basauw for everything. Also, her Paras is now called Mushy.

Mushy seems to enjoy both the nickname and the new use for its claws!

Good Pokemon. Best tree-chopper. Pat pat.

And you know what? She's gonna ask that officer what's up with the broken window.

Some people wearing all red smashed the window, ran through the house, and stole things! They took the television and some fancy plates and the homeowner's work access card. She works at Daedalus Labs and she's very scared and angry about the whole thing. 

Wow, that sounds really awful. Gwen hopes these red-wearing menaces are stopped soon.

Say, she doesn't know much about Daedalus Labs. Where can she find out more about it?

(She's not going to be a Daring Kid Detective or anything. ... Probably. She just has a hunch and she wants to follow up on it.)

Daedalus Labs is south of here, in Saffron City. They do a mix of normal science stuff, like seismological surveys and tracking migratory Pokemon, and weird ambitious science stuff like trying to reconstruct extinct pokemon from fossils and digitize humans so they can take advantage of Pokemon healing.

Very helpful! (Not immediately useful, but helpful. And she's in the middle of a Pokemon journey anyway, this doesn't have to be her problem.)

Next stop on her travels: What's Cerulean City's gym and gym leader like?

Four trainers, all with a water theme. The leader's name is Misty. The inside of the gym is mostly swimming pool, and the trainers and their Pokemon spend a lot of time swimming.

Water? Really?

... She won't try to beat them right now, though. What time is it, anyway? Lunch? It's probably lunch.

It is about lunch, yeah. Her Pokemon are strongly in favor of lunch, at least, and the narrator didn't survey anybody else.

Lunch it is! Much lunch. And then what do her Pokemon think of tromping around training up on wild cave Pokemon?

Those wild cave pokemon are going down!

If she keeps it up for more than a short while, Basauw will learn Vine Whip and Beedle will evolve into a Beedrill.

Nice! Go team! She will keep it up, with trips to the Pokecenter as needed, until they get bored (not likely) or it's dinnertime.

Bored? Never! Hungry, though, that will eventually happen.

Well, they've been working hard, of course they'll get hungry.

Dinner! She wants to sit with somebody, who looks sit-with-able?

There's a girl with a clefairy who looks friendly!

Plonk. "Hi! Your Clefairy's cute!"

"Hiiiii! She is cute, isn't she! I got her in Mount Moon! Your Beedrill looks cool too."

"She is cool!" Pat-pat. Good Pokemon, best three-foot drill-handed girl. "I got her in Viridian Forest as a Weedle."

And now... conversation? Or eating? Either is good, really.

"Aww! Watching her evolve must've been nice. Oh, my name's Mary, and this is Cottonball."

Nodnod, smile. "I'm Gwen, she's Beedle."

"Awesome to meet you both! Do you have any others? I can only carry two and I haven't picked another one yet."

"I have three so far. My starter's a Bulbasaur, and I got a Paras in Mount Moon."

"Mount Moon is cool. That's where I got Cottonball! My big brother brought me in there to look for Pokemon."

"Aww, nice!"

Ok, now food. Food is important.

Food is important! It's good that she and her Pokemon have plenty of it.

Food food food.

She's pretty tired after all that tromping around. She'll get some sleep and see about taking on the local gym in the morning after breakfast.

The leader and the two warm-up trainers smile from their giant swimming pool as she walks in. A little sign on the wall announces that only the second warm-up trainer must be beaten before challenging the gym leader; the first one is optional.

Oh, sure, optional, but Gwen and her team will have maximum fun if they challenge everybody. Fight, fight, fight! (With stops back at the Pokecenter after each bout, of course. She's got enough money for potions now, but eh.)

Eventually she gets P$1600 and a shiny new badge!

Her team is the best and she loves them and this is great. And wow, she has an entire P$3173 now, that's a lot.

Saffron City's got Daedalus Labs and also another Gym, so looks like that's her next stop via Route 5. Onward!

Sherry and her Charmander are hanging out at the south gate of the city.

"Hi Gwen! My team and I have been training hard. We got the cascade badge here yesterday! Want to battle?"

Hiiiiii Sherry! Yeah I wanna battle!

Oops, Sherry's only kinda good with sign, slow down. We've been training hard too, and just got that badge. Yes, I want to battle!

"Did you say you just got the Cascade badge too? Awesome! Let's see what you've got!"

Sparky, sensing an imminent battle, lets out an excited "Charmander!"

Hmmm. Basauw first would be a type disadvantage, but who cares about type disadvantage when you've got the power of love and friendship?

Get 'em, Basauw!

Basauw does not understand the sophisticated intellectual satisfaction of starter vs. starter; Sparky wears him out. He would probably have had more fun facing Sherry's Abra or Rattata (she also has a Pidgey). He, Beedle and Mushy put on a good show, but eventually Sherry scrapes out a win with just the Pidgey left standing. 

Oh well, they gave it a really good try! Here's, uh, P$350 sounds about right. (P$2823 remaining, which is still A Lot.) You were better, Gwen signs. But we will be better next time. She grins.

Aaaand back to the Pokecenter to heal her tired team, and now onward.

She can get a little ways down the road before encountering a roadblock and a sign reading 

ROAD CLOSED -- ROCK SLIDE -- DANGER 

DO NOT ENTER

Yeah, she doesn't want to get buried under rocks, she's not going to try to get past the roadblock.

Maaaaaap, map map map. Since Saffron City's blocked off, she'll wander up Route 24. Maybe she'll find a cool and/or cute Pokemon to add to her team.

There are a lot of trainers here! This group of six says they'll give her this beautiful gold ball if she can beat them all without healing. 

Eeeehhhh. Each of them will have at least one Pokemon, and she's only got three...

Taptaptap. "No thank you. I'm not interested." It's a very pretty ball but she's ten, not stupid.

That's fine! They're also all down to fight without any special conditions or prizes!

You know, maybe she should have bought some potions with her vast riches. Oh well. When If she loses she can go back and get some then.

Get 'em! (Beedle first.)

She does end up needing to heal in the middle, but she beats them all eventually. She gets P$200 and they're impressed.

Haha, who's an awesome ten-year-old who loves her Pokemon? She is! (P$3023, except on her trip to heal she picked up three potions so P$2123.)

Okay, who else wants some? And is there tall grass to find Pokemon in?

There are a couple more individuals who want some! One is wearing all red under their blue jacket and looks nervous at the prospect of small talk, but he'll battle.

There are also Abra and Oddish hanging out in the grass! The latter are both easier to catch and probably more to Gwen's taste.

She's not much for small talk, anyway. Battle, battle.

Hmmm. Yes, she wants an Oddish, Oddishes are great. And she'll try to catch an Abra, and probably end up using her last two Pokeballs on that.

Yeah, the Abras around here are the least interested in fighting of any Pokemon she's seen. They just teleport away from her balls. She does get her Oddish, though! The one she catches has slightly more frondy leaves than average; they're sort of fern-like. 

Oooh, interesting. Does Fern mind having his leaves pet? Pet pet, gentle pet.

However that goes, onwards!

Fern waves his fronds to pet her hands back! They're pretty soft, for leaves.

Onward is: more road! Her itemfinder finds a TM that teaches Thunder Wave.

Oh, neat! She'll have to think about who to teach it to. Meanwhile, more walking.

Route 24 turns into route 25, and she finds another TM, this one labeled "Seismic Toss". A little further down the road is a house with its door open and odd thumping noises coming from inside it.

Hello, TM, you're going in her bag.

...

... Well, the door's open. Beedle, if something tries to jump her when she goes in, you're out to deal with it.

Nothing tries to jump her, but the large human-pokemon hybrid(?) clumsily bumping around in the front room might be kind of concerning.

"Excuse me, can you help me out?" says the entity, voice somewhat garbled but still understandable.

What. What.

Um.

... No, seriously, what.

"Uh?"

"I've accidentally merged myself with a Pokemon!" says the strange being. "Can you go to the console over there and press 'Revert'?"

.... Yeah she can do that. She does that.

The being disappears in a shower of sparkles, and a human and a Rhyhorn appear next to each other in similar showers of sparkles.

"My goodness, that was an adventure!" says the human in a much more comprehensible voice. "Looks like my teleporter still needs a lot of work. I'm Bill, nice to properly meet you."

Gwen, she signs, and then her brain finishes rebooting and she remembers her Pokedex. Taptap: "I'm Gwen."

"Hello, Gwen. Say, I have a present for you. I got this cruise ticket for a ship full of Pokemon trainers, but I have a schedule conflict and can't go. As a thank-you for getting me out of that jam, why don't you take my ticket and have a fun boat trip?"

Processing...

"...'Kay."

He grins and hands her a slip of thick, glossy paper with "S. S. Anne" written on the front. The back has a set of available dates and times and the pick-up and drop-off address in Vermillion City.

She takes it and tucks it in a skirt pocket.

... Taptaptap. "You're working on a teleporter?"

"I am! It's well known that it's possible to store Pokemon as digital information in one place, and reinstantiate them in another. So it ought to be possible to send them places without needing to carry a physical Pokeball or use the large machinery of PCs. Unfortunately, without a Pokeball on the receiving end, it's difficult to do things like 'make sure you're aiming at a clear space'."

She giggles a little and then stops herself. Taptap. Pause. More taptap. "Aim it at special pads? Then you know not to step there."

"Yes, but then you're back to having to put a piece of equipment at the destination instead of being able to send to anywhere."

"That's fair."

She's no science prodigy, and so she'll wish Bill luck and head back the way she came. Hey, TMs, which of her Pokemon can learn Thunder Wave and/or Seismic Toss?

None of them can learn either one! Seismic Toss is very tricky and specialized, and Thunder Wave only works for Pokemon that can generate their own electricity.

Oh well. They can just stay in her bag, then.

So! Ticket: how long away is this cruise? Map: what's the best way to get to Vermilion City?

The cruise is an all-day affair complete with buffet lunch, leaving in the mornings and dropping folks back off in the evenings. What with that rockslide outside Saffron City, the best route to Vermillion is an underground path that goes from Route 5 to Route 6.

Hmm, more caves! Depending on how late in the day it is she should stay the night at Cerulean City's Pokecenter again before heading off.

Well, this one is actually an artificial tunnel with electric lighting and everything, but for the sake of her sleep schedule she should probably do that.

Yeah, if she doesn't get enough sleep she'll be completely incoherent and that will just confuse and alarm her Pokemon. Bed o'clock it is, and after breakfast she'll head off again.

On her way to the entrance, she passes another trainer and a place calling itself the Pokemon Day Care.

Hmm she will check out the Pokemon Day Care that sounds interesting.

The Day Care is run by a smiling elderly couple who offer to board one or two of her Pokemon for a while. "They'll have plenty of opportunities to spar with the other Pokemon here, so you'd get them back stronger than they were."

Taptaptap. "Not right now. But thank you, I might come back."

Onwards?

Onwards! Here's the entrance to the underground path, clearly marked as the best way to get to parts south of here.

Trompity tromp, tunnel sweet brightly-lit tunnel.

There aren't any wild Pokemon in here, possibly because there's no plants for them to eat, but there are a couple of full restores against the wall under a handwritten sign saying "FREE STUFF".

Free stuff? Free stuff! Her free stuff, now.

The far end of the tunnel has more of those people in all red. One of them is holding some sort of device; as Gwen approaches she can hear her saying, "very promising seismic readings. I say, go ahead with the next test."

Hooray, these cultists-or-mafia-or-something again.

Taptap. "Excuse me, just passing through."

Startled cultists-or-mafia-or-something! Hurried stuffing of device into pocket! Very innocent expressions on all three of them! 

"What? Argh--who are you? Never mind! Let's battle!" says one of the ones without the device. He lets out a Zubat without waiting to see if she's interested.

She can't exactly cross her arms when she has to type, but she's going to glare her best ten-year-old glare. Taptaptap. "You're very rude!"

"Well, you're a nosy kid who talks with a Pokedex! You wanna fight or not?" (The other two are speedwalking north.)

"I don't."

And yet, out comes a Bulbasaur, who is totally up for a fight.

Basauw is not only up for a fight, he's up for more fight than this Zubat is. Gwen's team also takes out the grunt's Sandshrew, and then his Ekans. None of them seem to like him very much.

Very rude, and not very nice to his Pokemon. Figures.

Taptaptap. "Being mean to your Pokemon doesn't win fights."

"Ah, what do you know about anything, you just think you're hot stuff because you can carry four." He hands her P$600 and scrams.

No, she thinks she's hot stuff because she keeps winning.

(P$2723.)

All right, onward out of this tunnel? Or are there more weirdos?

No more weirdos! Just the outskirts of Vermillion City.

Yaaaay, city! Hey, city, what interesting stuff you got?

The outskirts have tall grass, and a couple of bug catchers and other such youths!

Hello, tall grass! Hello, bug catchers and other such youths! Just passing through, her Pokemon are probably pretty tired but are of course Pokemon and so won't turn down a battle unless exhausted.

Very responsible of her. The tall grass, and probably also the trainers, will still be there after she heals.

Yes, it is very important to be nice to your Pokemon.

Vermilion City! Gwen is here to use your Pokecenter!

She can totally do that! She can also go to the store, or the docks, or the Pokemon Fan Club, or the Gym, except if she goes to the gym it will turn out to be closed.

After healing her Pokemon she will wander around and oooh, Pokemon Fan Club, sounds interesting!

An old man waves at her from his porch while she's wandering.

Wave wave. Friendly people, yay!

"How's it going, kid? You out catching Pokemon?"

Taptaptap. "Yeah. I'm on my Pokemon journey!"

"Have you caught anything out of a lake yet? Those were always my favorite ones. You get some real neat Pokemon underwater!"

"Not yet!"

"Why not? Do you not have a fishing rod?"

She nods.

"Say, would you like to have one of my old fishing rods? I have a whole bunch, and I can hardly fish with all of them at once, can I? You'd get better use out of it than me."

"Sure!" Probably a good place to go fishing for Pokemon, Vermilion City.

"Great! I'll be right back." The man goes into his house for a minute and comes back out with a slightly battered but still sturdy collapsible fishing rod, which he hands to Gwen. "Here you go! I hope you catch some wonderful Pokemon with it!"

Taptap. "Thanks!" Aaaand fishing rod get! Into the bag it goes.

Okay, more wandering.

There's that Pokemon fan club she was looking for!

Pokemon! Fan club! Hello, yes, she is a fan of Pokemon and a fan of hearing people being fans about Pokemon give her your finest infodumps.

This kid her age infodumps about how fire Pokemon avoid burning things they touch! This teen girl infodumps about how some scientists are trying to use psychic Pokemon to help with therapy! This middle-aged lady infodumps about how Pokeballs have gotten more reliable since her day and how that was accomplished! This eight-year-old who doesn't even have any Pokemon yet infodumps about Magnemites!

Yaaaaay, knowledge!

She will infodump a bit about how grass Pokemon are so cool, everyone, because photosynthesis! And then her hands hurt from all that rapid typing, whoops.

Everyone enjoys her infodump, and then there is tea and cookies! There is also a raffle for a bicycle, if she'd like to put her name in.

Tea and cookies, om nom nom. And she will definitely put her name in the raffle.

She wins the raffle! The head of the club, who happens to be the woman who infodumped about Pokeballs, grins at her as she hands over the bike voucher and gives her directions to the bike store. 

Sweeeeeeeet! Now she can go places faster!

Bike store, here she comes!

"Hello! What can I do for you?" says the woman running the bike shop when Gwen walks in.

Here's a bike voucher.

"Ah, congratulations! Would you like help picking out a bike in your size, or are you going to be okay on your own?"

Taptap. "Help, please."

The proprietor is happy to help! If she's on a Pokemon journey she'll probably want one of their all-terrain models, with fat grippy tires and adjustable gears so she can get extra power on hills. She should also get an adjustable frame if she isn't done growing yet, since it wouldn't do to end up with a perfectly functional but undersized bike a year from now. They have bikes with those qualities in a wide variety of colors. 

Hmmmmmm that foresty green one.

Okay! Also she should really buy a helmet, this is not just an attempt to make money, helmets are very important. And if she wants to pay for a bell or a basket or handlebar streamers she can do that too, but the helmet is the important thing.

Helmets are very important. She wants one with leaf patterns, or at least a green one. And if this doesn't totally exhaust her P$2723 she wants a bell and a basket too, in that order of importance.

A good helmet only costs as much as a Pokeball, and she can find one with leaf patterns if she's alright with it being a paler green than the bike. She can also get a basket and a bell, and altogether it will come to P$600.

Yeah, paler green is fine. Yay bike! Yay bike accessories! (P$2123.)

Now: she will very safely and responsibly find a not-too-busy street and zoom around a little. Whee? Oh good she still remembers how to ride a bike, wheeeee! Ding ding, Gwen coming through!

There are a couple other bikers and some pedestrians around, but it's not crowded enough for her to have any trouble with traffic.

She bikes around for a little while and eventually ends up at the harbor, which seems like as good a time as any to try out that fishing rod the friendly old man gave her.

Heeeere, fishy fishy?

Magikarp! It chomps onto the lure, and when she reels it in, it lets go, ready for a fight.

N'awwwww. She will love it and train it and it will become a Gyarado--

--she doesn't have any pokeballs right now because she forgot to buy more after trying to catch an Abra. Grumble, grumble.

Well, Fern can still have a battle, and she can catch a different Magikarp.

Fern appreciates the fight and has no idea there was a mistake involved.

Buying more pokeballs: not that hard. Getting a different Magikarp: Also not that hard.

Okay! +4 Pokeballs, -P$800, for a remaining total of P$1323.

Beedle, get 'em, but not too hard.

Beedle does not really understand pulling punches, but does understand "stop attacking now and move over so I can throw this Pokeball". Now she has a Magikarp, her fifth Pokemon!

Yaaaaaaay! Her name iiiis.... Gywa. She is a good fish and will evolve big and strong as one of Gwen's Pokemon. She will get healed up and then Gwen will... give her some opportunities to learn how to be a big strong fish. There's still that tall grass the way she came into Vermilion City, for instance.

Training training training! Gywa doesn't know any attacks that work on land yet, so she has to watch a few fights from the sidelines first. 

Yup. This, for instance, is how best to headbutt a Pokemon. Basauw is very good at it.

Basauw is very good at it! And when that fight is over, Basauw proves able to do something else, too. A pulsing aura of light forms around him, intensifies until he's too bright to look at, then fades to reveal Basauw in his Ivysaur form! "Ivy!" he shouts gleefully.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is a GOOD POKEMON and and SUCH A PRETTY BOY and she LOVES HIM VERY MUCH.

"Ivy!!!" she echoes.

He loves her very much too!

He is such a good boy and oof he's kind of too heavy to carry but he's going to get impossible to carry the next time he evolves so, scoop hug and then back down he goes.

More training!!

Her whole party enjoys training! The SS Anne is going to go on one of its trips soon, if she wants to use her ticket.

She will detour to the Pokecenter and then yep, it is Time For Boat. Where does she leave her bike while she's on the boat?

She can clip it to the dock railing out of the way where it won't fall over.

That makes sense.

Bike stashed, it is time! for! boat!

There are beautiful views of the harbor! There are lots of trainers to fight! Also her itemfinder finds a Max Potion that rolled under one of the benches on a previous cruise.