After a few more moments of unbridled affection that were given to her Squirtle much against its eventual distaste of the clinginess, Iris stopped and carefully set it back on its feet where it looked at her while puffing up its chest slightly. It squabbled with her in its tongue it couldn't quite understand, but she slowly felt as if she got the hint as it patted its chest while parading about her with its fake and almost laughable gait that could have been meant to show power. "Ohhh...I see I see, you're very strong yes? Getting caught having hugs and snuggles like that embarrasses you?" Squirtle shot her a quick look agreement that was followed by the crossing of his arms, leaving her smiling and laughing slightly. It was truly invigorating to see such a small creature full of such...determination! "Alright, alright. I'll only hug you when you want me to then, is that alright, Squirtle?" It gave her a nod, followed by his name's repetition and Iris let out a slight sound of realization that she needed to figure out where they had to get to in the first place!

Sitting on her knees, Iris rummaged through the unused pink bag and searched for her Pokedex which wasn't very hard to find. Truth was, Iris had prepared for this a long time ago and had just never used it; inside the bag was a fresh, never used Pokedex followed by a Pikachu shaped pouch that held her funds. 1,000 PC that she'd saved for years by doing her chores, 3 Pokeballs for she had no idea how many she'd needed when she was ten years old,  3 potions as well, and finally she had another pouch covered in a flowery design. "Oh...I forgot about this." Iris's attitude seemed a little more morose than usual as she opened the pouch and a small assortment of small, stale cookies fell into her palm. "Ahhh...they're all gross now. I'm really lucky I kept them in this pouch." Turning around to crumble up the cookies that had turned to powder in the motion, Iris turned back around only to find Squirtle seated in her bag, shifting around and getting comfortable before sitting down with his arms crossed. "Ahhh...no no, what are you doing, ah don't sit on my sweater!" She whined and whined and they bickered...well, Squirtle bickered and Iris whined until it became painfully apparent that he wasn't moving and possessed no intention of going back in his ball. With a loud sigh, Iris gave in. "Okay okay...I wasn't going to put you back in anyways. You're my first Pokemon after all, I..I want to spend as much time as I can with you!" Satisfied with her answer, her Squirtle cozied up in her bag and Iris flipped open her Pokedex. "First thing's first...cheese!" Without much warning, she'd snapped a picture of him with a quiet squeal of delight at how innocent and off-guard Squirtle had looked and as it bickered about the flash, Iris checked through a few things while gently rubbing Squirtle's head with the other. Squirtle attempted to keep up its angry and demanding air, but soon found itself closing its eyes and nodding off with the petting. "Okay so...I-I looked things up online a long time ago and I think that we should visit Pewter City first. I don't want to fight the gym leader at all...but I would like to go to Mt. Moon. The views from the mountain should be really beautiful and..and I'd like to start my journey off with a really great view." All of this talking and Squirtle had already fallen asleep, but her hand still gently pet and pat at his smooth head while she flicked through a few more things. "So with the 2000 PC we already have, plus my allowances over the years, we'll have 3000 and the closest route is this way..."

"Ah, I almost forgot, we need to get you food! Ugh, I'm so dumb...I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Iris lamented to her sleeping companion while gently sticking her Pokedex beside its snoozing form, carefully putting on her bag as she dusted the sand and dirt from her stockings before heading towards the Item Store. It didn't take too long for her to find what she was looking for and she hummed to herself quietly, filled with an optimism and determination she hadn't held in a very long time. "Hmm...I don't really know what you like though...I guess I'll get two kinds then." Two purchases of a sweet and a sour pack of Pokemon food later, 40 PC down, Iris headed back towards the way out of Pallet Town. This part of the journey was both the hardest and the easiest; Iris feared the unknown and the land outside of safe little Pallet Town, but she held no fond memories here either. Taking a deep breath and eyeing her Pokedex's map, Iris decided they'd head first to Viridian City and see where they got from there....

An hour later and she was wheezing while her Squirtle still pleasantly snoozed to the point of envy. "It sure would be nice if I could be carried..." Sulking and aimlessly wandering, Iris couldn't take it anymore with the way her legs hurt so badly. Finding nearby shade, Iris happily fell against the tree with her loud panting being heard as she bodied heavily into the sturdy wood. Taking off her backpack and setting it carefully onto the ground so as not to jostle Squirtle too much, Iris flopped down with her eyes closed, chest rising and falling quickly while she rolled up her sleeves. "Ahhh...ah..ah..." All the preparations she'd made and she hadn't thought to at least run or work out a little bit to prepare her for this...and she still had THREE more hours to go!! "Ughhh..." Slowly opening her eyes, the sunlight that dotted through the leaves was refreshingly pretty and she rested until she could feel the burn in her lungs subside a little bit...then she noticed something falling from the tree.

The soft fluff fell on her face and she sat up, confused as she held a single brown feather in her hand. "Hmn?" Then suddenly she heard the loud chirping as more feathers fell down from the leaves until the Pokemon possessing them fell from the tree all talons and beak. "AH!! Squirtle, Squirtle wake up, wake up!!" Iris squealed as she turned tail and ran, the angry bird vehemently chasing her and pecking for her ankles, making her whine to the point that the volume woke up her cranky companion. At first, Squirtle watched groggily as Iris scrambled about before falling and covering her head as the small bird pecked her. Admittedly, it didn't hurt and the experience as a whole was more surprising than scary, but she didn't know what to do! "Squirtle please, I need your help!! Use Tackle!" The tiny turtle Pokemon sighed as it crawled out of her bag and the wild Pidgey stopped attacking her to square off against the new challenger.

Sniffling and scrabbling away, it was Iris who looked more pathetic than ever as she hid behind her Pokemon, rubbing the dirt off her cheeks with a sleeve that had fallen down. "U-Use Tackle!" The battle that ensued was a bit one-sided; Squirtle's tackles landed most times and Pidgey's tackles did as well, but between his irritation of having woken up and his pathetic trainer being hurt, Squirtle managed to land a single crit that wounded the Pidgey just enough and it allowed Iris to see her opening. Reaching behind her, blindly searching through her bag, Iris produced a single gleaming Pokeball and just as Squirtle was about to attack she launched it with precision she wasn't even aware she'd had. The Pidgey, caught off guard let out a confused squak before the ball hit it and it disappeared with the bright ray of red light, the ball falling to the ground shortly after and slowly rocking back and forth as the button glowed red in the center. Iris and Squirtle watched, Iris biting her nails slightly as it rocked slowly side to side before emitting an angelic ding that left them both in silence for just a moment that was quickly broken by her loud squeal. "Oh my god, my first captured Pokemon!! Squirtle,  you did it!! Oh my goodness, you're so amazing!" As if replaying their first meeting, Squirtle was caught in an embrace that almost suffocated him even with his shell in the way, but he allowed it for this kind of fawning was what he deserved after all!!

After the two had gathered their bearings, Iris was now one Pokeball short and she had a few scrapes and scratches, as did Squirtle. She carried her Pokemon tenderly in her arms, her Pokeball stashed inside of her bag as they walked the next three hours with one-sided conversations on Iris's part. "You're so strong and cute, I can't believe it! I can't wait to take Pidgey and you to your very first Pokemon Center visit, Nurse Joy will fix you both up and you'll be great friends! Ahhh...I can't wait!" Through sheer optimism alone, Iris found herself feeling better than she had in years and even though Squirtle acted as if it distaste the way she'd behaved, her fawning and sunny demeanor after the battle was refreshing and it left him feeling a little proud of her too.


1000 PC Awarded for savings

40 PC Spent in Pokemart