The road to Viridian was… uneventful, but only because we weren't rushing.
Charmander and Pikachu were up with the sun, training before breakfast.
By day three, Pikachu's weighted sprints were leaving faint crackles along his fur as his control drills paid off — not wild arcs, but threads of electricity, like muscles flexing under skin.
Charmander was hitting hard enough that each Metal Claw attempt gouged clean furrows into bark. His embers weren't embers anymore — they were molten-orange needle beams, hissing as they struck.
It was still early, but I could feel it: we were already tilting the board.
---
Viridian City Arrival
Viridian felt busier than the small-town quiet of Pallet. Merchants called from stalls, trainers milled about with their teams, and the Pokémon Center was packed enough to hum like a beehive.
I booked us in, got Charmander and Pikachu a rest cycle in the healing bay, and just as we were settling into the lobby lounge—
> BOOM.
The front doors exploded inward in a shower of splinters.
---
Interlude — Team Rocket's Entrance
Viridian City Pokémon Center — 2:13 PM
Jessie adjusted her gloves, stepping over the wreckage with the smug smile of someone who thought intimidation was an art form.
"Prepare for trouble!"
James smirked, flourishing a rose. "And make it double!"
Nurse Joy screamed. People bolted. I stayed put.
---
Back to My POV
I stood, cracking my neck. This wasn't the anime. They weren't just here for "Pikachu because the plot says so." They'd take everything.
"Pikachu," I said quietly, "Raikage warm-up."
The little rodent smirked — actual smirk — and his fur lit up in a golden sheath, faint but steady.
Charmander stepped forward, claws flexing, his tail-flame burning hot enough to heat the air between us.
---
Jessie's Ekans uncoiled with a hiss. James's Koffing floated forward, belching purple smog.
I didn't bother with the Pokédex-weakness-recitation. I'd already mapped the play.
"Pikachu, lightning burst — stutter-step."
He shot forward in a blur, electricity flickering along his fur, weaving through the smog before vaulting off a chair. His Iron Tail smashed Koffing's face mid-air, the momentum turning into a flip that landed him behind their line.
"Charmander — beam punch, now!"
His ember-beam lanced forward as he lunged, the heat-wave staggering Ekans before his claw, glowing white-hot from Metal Claw, smashed across its head.
---
The Finish
Ekans was down. Koffing staggered. Pikachu's cheeks flared and the controlled lightning burst into a pinpoint strike, slamming into Koffing's core — not enough to kill, but enough to make it crash into Jessie and James in a tangled mess.
The Team Rocket duo barely got out through the smoke, coughing and swearing about "this isn't in the script!"
---
Nurse Joy gave me a long, unreadable look once the dust settled.
"You're… not like other beginners."
"No," I said, smiling faintly. "I don't plan to be."
---
We left Viridian the next morning. Pewter was up ahead.
Brock's Onix was in for a very, very bad day.
---