3. Chapter III: Leaf Fire (2/2)

"he's not my friend!" the two exclaimed, pointing at each other.

"aw, you two are just like a married couple." the man laughed, then turned to see xion. "hey, you okay?" he knelt down beside the girl. "here's a handkerchief." she looked up at him with tear stained eyes, then buried her nose into his cloak and blew in it. he jumped back, startled, and laughed.

"want a candy?" he held out a rare candy which xion grabbed and gobbled down.

"aren't those for pokémon?" lea whispered for isa who nodded. "figures why she'd like them..."

"sorry about that! i saw you two boys fighting and had to step in. my name's demyx." the man smiled, holding out a hand. isa looked over at lea who was looking warily at it, but xion accepted it.

"hello mr. demyx!" she smiled.

"so are the two of you going to get back to your pokémon battle?" demyx asked, turning to lea. "i was passing by and saw you two battling." he hurriedly explained at lea's suspicious look. "it seemed like a pretty intense battle!"

"intense? that's the last word i'd use..." lea muttered dryly, then turned to xion. "what do you think? should we finish this battle?"

"yes!" she cried. "ivy will defeat you!" the bulbasaur let out a cry, jumping in front of xion.

"charmander, go!" lea commanded, and the pokémon jumped to action.

"ooh, a grass versus fire battle!" demyx exclaimed, stealing some of isa's popcorn. "i prefer water to both types, personally." he winked at isa.

"do you battle, too?" isa asked.

"battle? nah, not really." demyx laughed. "i mainly hang out with my pokémon. every now and then we do, ya know?"

"yeah, i guess..." isa frowned, turning his attention to the battle.

"ivy, use sleep powder!" xion smiled, and a powder sprayed from the bulbasaur's bulb. it coated lea's charmander who took a sniff of it and fell asleep.

"what? charmander, wake up!" lea shouted. "hey, didn't i just tell you that you can't win a battle by immobilizing the other pokémon?"

"but...but charmander can't fight." xion whimpered, then grinned. "so i won!"

"that's not how it works! you need to get rid of the other pokémon's hp and make it faint." lea exclaimed.

"but that's cruel!" xion protested, shaking her head.

"that's how a battle works!" lea sighed.

"it's a pretty impressive strategy though." demyx grinned, walking over to the two. "making it so that the other pokémon is unable to fight back."

"yeah! and with sleep powder, even if the trainer wanted its pokémon to wake, it can't!" xion exclaimed triumphantly. "so, ha! how's the organization gonna get out of that one, lea?"

"they'll probably have their ways..." lea sighed, a crestfallen look on his face. "don't underestimate what they can do..."

"hey, lighten up!" demyx smiled, patting his back. "so, where are you three headed?"

"pewter city." xion explained. "i've never been there before, but apparently it's nearby and there's a gym there."

"are you new to kanto?" demyx asked.

"nope! i live in viridian forest, and i've been there all my life!" xion smiled at him.

"a viridian forest trainer, huh? interesting..." demyx mused, looking around as if searching for something. his gaze finally turned back to the three, and he smiled. "well, i better get going. have fun you guys. nice meeting you!" he waved as he started off down route 2 and back into viridian forest.

"he was pretty nice!" xion smiled, watching his retreating figure.

"i guess, except for the fact he stole some of my popcorn..." isa frowned. he glanced over at lea, but the red haired boy was silent for once.

"should we continue on our journey?" xion looked at lea, then down at the sleeping charmander and growlithe. "oh, almost forgot. ivy, synthesis!" a

ight light engulfed the pokémon, healing their wounds. charmander sleepily woke up, looking around at his surroundings.

"growlithe, charmander, return." lea finally said, returning the two to their pokéballs. "i guess you're right, we might as well head to pewter city. maybe isa will have time to challenge the gym while we're there."

"aren't you going to challenge the gym leader, too?" isa asked lea, standing and walking over to join the others.

"nah,

ock's a rock trainer. and i'm not really a fan of that type." lea laughed, the smile returning to his face. "but you should be fine against his pokémon with squirtle. oh, almost forgot!" he handed isa a pokéball. "see, i was thinking, i have a team of three. xion's got her two. but, you only have one pokémon you just got, making you the weak link."

"thanks..." isa muttered, glaring at him.

"that's why i decided on the gym leader challenge! it'll give you a chance to catch more pokémon, train them, battle and become stronger, so you can become as good as me! i only have one pokéball left, but we should be able to buy more in pewter city. for now, though, try and catch something."

"pokémon mainly live in tall grass." xion piped up, pointing over at a patch of grass. "try looking there!"

"i know that already..." isa sighed. "i'm not an idiot, guys..."

"need me to teach you to throw a pokéball?" lea asked, wrapping his arm around isa.

"oh shut up, i know how!" he blushed, walking into the tall grass. something flew up out of it, startling him. he jumped back and nearly tripped over lea.

a pidgey flapped in the air before isa, glaring at him with its beady eyes. it let out a squawk and attacked. isa threw his pokéball, and squirtle flew out.

"squirtle, tackle!" isa commanded, and the little turtle head butted the pidgey. it fell to the ground, and isa threw the pokéball at it. it opened, and shook three times before shutting with a click.

"nice isa!" lea cheered, patting his back as isa picked up the pokéball from the ground.

"are you going to nickname him?" xion asked.

"who nicknames their pokémon?" lea scoffed.

"i do!" xion shot back indignantly.

"i think i'll just keep his name pidgey." isa said, looking down at the pokéball. he threw it, and it opened up. pidgey flapped its wings, and landed on isa's shoulder, nuzzling his neck with its beak.

"what's that?" xion asked as isa pulled out his pokédex.

"it's called a pokédex. my grandfather made it to record the pokémon you catch. i'm seeing what moves pidgey has..." isa mused, looking down at the machine. xion and lea leaned over to see as isa read the words on the screen aloud. "lv. 2. it knows tackle."

"we really have to get you started on training." lea sighed, his hands over his head. "you can't beat the organization with a lv. 5 squirtle and a lv. 2 pidgey..."

"i've been wondering, lea, how are your pokémon on such high levels?" isa frowned, walking after the boy. xion skipped along beside the two.

"i've been with my team for a while now..." lea smiled. "ponyta was my first pokémon. my grandfather gave him to me." he stroked the ponyta's mane fondly. "as for the other two, well, they befriended me on my journey to beat the organization."

"you and your team seem close..." xion mused, looking over at them. she then smiled. "i'm glad to see you have such a good connection! you too, isa." she turned to the blue haired boy. "squirtle has already taken a liking to you. and even pidgey!"

"how about we get a move on, eh?" lea grinned. "don't want to stay in one place for too long." xion and isa's expressions darkened and they nodded. the trio began their journey again when isa froze.

"did you hear something, lea?" isa asked, instinctively reaching to grab onto the older boy's shoulder.

"no...why?" lea asked, then frowned. "you don't think it could be...a nobody?"

a/n: those pokéball throwing tutorials though...cuz you think after six regions worth of games, i'd know how to throw one xd as always, i love to read reviews and favorites/follows make me happy. thanks for reading and all your support!

(2) i know growlithe usually has an ability called flash fire which makes it immune to fire type moves, but for the sake of the story let's pretend lea's doesn't ;)

"our team so far..."

lea's team of pokémon

charmander: lv. 20. moves: ember, scratch, smokescreen, dragonrage. type: fire. gender: male.

growlithe: lv. 10. moves: bite, roar, ember, leer. type: fire. gender: male.

ponyta: lv. 25. moves: fire spin, flame wheel, stomp, ember. type: fire. gender: male.

isa's team of pokémon

squirtle: lv. 5. moves: tackle, tail whip, water gun. type: water. gender: male.

pidgey: lv. 2. moves: tackle. type 1: normal. type 2: flying. gender: male.

xion's team of pokémon

ivy [bulbasuar]: lv. 5. moves: tackle, leech seed, sleep powder, synthesis. type: grass. gender: female.

kitty [caterpie]: lv. 2. moves: stringshot, tackle. type: bug. gender: female.

also, in case anybody was wondering about ages...

lea: 11

isa: 10

xion: 9

so that's it ^.^ again, i'll keep you updated of the ages because they are different from the character's real ages in kh. oh, and lea actually said "got it memorized" in this chapter! it was once, but he still said it!