Viridian Forest and Beyond

Before I really get started...

It occurred to me during one of my many visits to the pokecenter that that is a really creepy thing to say to people if you're a hospital, even if it's a veterinary one. At least it's a free service, because between all the wild critters and other trainers...your pets get hurt. A lot.

So, my adventures get underway, with my travels taking me to...
A pleasant glade, full of the buzz of insects. At this point, Cthuga was getting pretty powerful ,so I caught a raticate to soften things up without eating them, in case I wanted to keep them for myself. It so happens that I do, upon encountering a yellow rat with
I caught the thing and named it "Voltare." I...sort of missed an "i" in there, guess I should've paid more attention in philosophy class.

A bit of travelling through the caterpillar-infested forest, and someone runs into me as soon as he spots me.
Apparently, everyone else in this game has a near-psychic intuition when it comes to these strange creatures with whom we share the world. And they're very insistant about making them fight right on the spot.
Cthuga has an easy time with all these bug catchers, and just about anything else in the forest. Fire kills bugs dead. Very dead.
Lesson learned: people tend to throw money at you once you beat up their pets. At least I'll have a source of income on this perilous journey of mine. Somehow, I suspect it will also be wise not to lose a fight with any of these folks.

I didn't get the baby pictures, but at some point in the woods, I picked up one of the venomous caterpillars crawling around. I'm sure it'll be better off spending its days in a small ball, compared to the life of dropping out of trees on innocent passerby with violent and hungry monsters ready to kill it.
It pupated after a bit of training, though it can still make use of its poisonous stinger, which makes it a bit more dangerous than the occasional pupae found in the wild, which can only sit there and wiat to be cracked open. I...named this fellow off of a slight variation of Motha, which happens to have a poison stinger. I like old monster movies, ok?

Many battles with large insects and the children who catch them later, and I make it to the next city. I immediately rush to the pokemon center, as my pets could use the care of the nurse, who...is identical to the one in the previous town. I suspect something strange may be afoot in the world. I also encounter a few interesting things while there...
This young lady asked for my profile. Which is...a single sentence, as follows:
Well...it's true, isn't it?

I also encountered someone with a strange pink creature. Its song was...oddly soothing, though it made me quite drowsy.
I managed to keep my wits about me and continued on. This city was quite a bit larger than what I'm used to. And look, a museum! Not being one to ignore a chance at some education, I check it out.
I...I don't look all that young, do I? Then again, given the price of most things at the store, this is practically free. The first floor of the museum has displays of the planet's ancient past...
OOH! Dinosaurs. It seems these strange beasts have been here for some time. Strange and primeval monsters used to roam the land in the ages past, when man had not yet claimed the world. Where they once ruled, they shall rule agai- ...uh...what was I talking about?

Anyway, the rest of the museum wasn't as interesting. and it's worth noting that their prehistory exhibit had absolutley no mention of humankind, which is just a little strange, if you think about it. Anyway, I can't leave town until I beat the local Gym leader, Brock, and from checking the sign at the entrance to the gym...I'm going to have some trouble. I'll figure something out, but perhaps it's time for a detouer back toward Viridian city. I think there was a way I didn't go...

In which Tamaki gets her first Pokethulhu

Before I really start, I totally forgot to toss up a picture of myself last time. Here's my ID; I know it's not the best picture, but...they never are on these things. This isn't what you'd call "camwhoring," is it?

Typical day. Wake up, sacrifice a chicken to renew the voodoo ritual keeping the NES as old as I am operational for another week, save the corpse to toss over GARY's house later.

Yes. NES. I TOLD YOU I WAS OLD-SCHOOL.

Anyway, time to head out. MOM, who apparently is identified by her relation to me, and speaks in scary red text lets me know that Prof. OAK is looking for me. He's the absent-minded fuddy-duddy who asked me to pick my gender and remind him of his own grandson's name. A little exploration of the small hamlet of Pallet later, and I find the laboratory where he works, and the aforementioned grandson...but not the professor himself.

I did drop by GARY's house first, just in case. Also, chickens to toss in minor malediction, and all. Daily rituals are what give structure to our lives~

So, with nowhere else to look in town, I try heading for the one exit to the place. Looks like someone forgot to mow the path, becase it's quite overgrown. Maybe if a strapping young lad with a green tunic and sword dropped by, we wouldn't have this problem. Ah well, what can possibly go wrong? ...THEN the absent-minded professor shows up, to warn me that pokemon lurk in the tall grass, and asks me to follow him Apparently, he'll give me my first of the cute little beasts, becuase I'm not allowed to just kill them with my bare hands. Curiouser and curiouser.

This little guy looked like a winner. Don't ask about the name, it came to me in a dream a few weeks ago. I...can't remember much ,beyond something about fire and things not to be described. I...couldn't sleep the rest of the night after that... I'm probably not spelling that name right, but it seems about right. So, time to go out into the big world, right?

WRONG! I don't even leave the building before this happens. GARY, who also got a pokemon from his grandpa, decided he wants to see whose is better. Cthuga easily wipes the floor with GARY's squirtle (that sounds a bit dirty, doesn't it?). Gary coughs up a bit of cash before running away. "Smell you later"? Nobody says that anymore, and that's no way to treat one's grandfather.

So, a bit of travel north on Route 1 gives Cthuga some experience killing and eating birds and rats, and gets me to the next spot of civilization: Viridian City. A little exploration finds me the Pokemon Center, which can conveniently treat one's adorable monstrosities for the small fee of absolutely nothing. A little more finds me a convenience store, in which I am immediately co-opted to be their errand-girl and deliver a package to Professor Oak.

A bit more walking later, and I'm back at the lab. Oak thanks me for the delivery, and hands over some pokeballs, so I can actually cath something, and explains the ins and outs of collecting one's own cuddly wildlife in small balls. Technology these days sure is wonderful~ He hands GARY and I his two prototype pokedexes, and explains a few things about them. I think there was something about filing them with information on the indigenous wildlife of Kanto, but I could be wrong. One thing does stick out, though...
...Yeah, we'll see who isn't necessary. GARY here heads off on his own after this, and says soemthing about not bothering to get a town map from his sister. Whatever. I drop by his place anyway, and his sister hands me one after I explain things. He probably told her not to, but she's such a dear~

Armed with a firebreathing lizard, and a few empy balls for capturing other critters, I now go forth into the wilderness to...uh...what am I even supposed to do again?

A journey begins

Hm, I could've sworn this was one of those things you don't get to choose in life. Oh well, if I'm going to have to look at myself in the mirror every morning, I might as well be easy on the eyes.

Rivalry starts pretty young around here, huh? What'd I ever do to him, anyway? Steal his pacifier? At least he looks alright these days.

Isn't he your grandson? ...The professor here seems awfully forgetful. It's GARY. ...Wait, am I the only one whose name isn't written completley in capital letters?

And so, some introducing myself (and his own grandson) to the typical absent-minded professor (not shown) out of the way, my adventure begins in the sleepy town of Pallet. How old am I, anyway? How'd I get here, and why did I not have a gender until just now? What sort of world is this? We shall see...