After an hour of stumbling through the dense forest, Erik was already tired. The

sun was starting to get low in the sky, and Erik wasn't too thrilled with the aspect of

spending the night alone. After all, there were monsters, like the creature he had seen

before, out and about.

His shadow was behind him and he was already chilly when he came upon a

small spring. Exhausted from the day's hard walk, he fell to his knees before it. With his

hands, he gulped down the cool, rich water. Pulling his plaid around his knees, he sat

with his arms in the same position. He knew he could not make a fire. He had never

been able to. It always went wrong, even if he could.

With nothing to think about but the now biting cold, Erik suddenly remembered

the ball. He glanced to see if it was there, and then carefully grabbed it. When nothing

happened, he looked at it more carefully. It was like he had thought, half red, half white,

separated by a thin black line. The only feature that Erik could see that was different was

the black circle. It penetrated both the white and the red. But, he now saw, the black

circle wasn't half red and white, but all white. Inside that white was a completely raised

circle, that looked like a button on a toy Erik's parents had bought him.

Unconsciously, he ran his finger across it. At the touch, it went down slightly.

Erik blinked, surprised, and tried to push it down. The "button" went almost all of the

way. Suddenly, at the same time, the ball grew in his hand to the size it had been when

he first got it, like a baseball.

But, this time, he didn't drop it. He drew back, and held it away, but that only

made him push the two sides together. It was very small, but the ball burst apart in his

hand.

Just like before, the red split from the white, the "button" encircled in black part

of the white. A blinding light burst out of the ball, forming into a stream of light. The

stream dumped itself beside him, the small amount multiplying into a form of incoherent

light. As the energy began to take on a more defined shape, Erik felt a twinge of fear in

his stomach.

After just a few seconds, the light hardened into the shape of the creature he had

seen earlier. It faded, revealing blue skin and that distinctive green bulb. Erik dropped

the ball and fell back.

The creature tilted it's head. "Saur…?"

After a moment of studying him, the creature walked next to Erik and curled up

next to him. Scared to move, Erik could do nothing but gape. After a moment, he

reached a nervous hand out to it.

"Okay, okay, nice…um…" he muttered. It occurred to him that he didn't have a

clue what this thing was. Carefully, he put his hand on its bulb. It opened its eyes and

looked at him.

"Bul...?" it questioned him.

Eyes wide, Erik tried to find something out.

"H-Hi."

It seemed to smile at him.

Something occurred to Erik. "Can you talk?"

Eagerly, it nodded and said, "Bulba!"

Erik was feeling a little more at ease. "What's your name?"

"Bulbasaur! Bulba saur."

"Bulbasaur?" Erik tested the strange name out. "Bulbasaur…Do you mind if I

call you Bulby, for short?"

It seemed to consider this. Finally, it nodded. "Bulba!" it said.

"Okay…Uh, why do you keep saying 'Bulbasaur' or some part of it?"

"Bulba bulb saur! Bubulba saurbulb!"

A bit distressed, Erik replied. It was sentient, anyway. "Um...Is that all you can

say?"

With a firm nod, and a "Bulba!" Bulby responded.

"Okay…I guess you're with me."

Bulby rubbed its head against his arm and walked over to the ball. He pushed the

"button" and was promptly sucked inside, a sort of reverse display of how he had come

out. At least, Erik thought it was a "he". Not feeling so lonely anymore, Erik went to

sleep, after causing the ball to, as he called it, "minimize," and put it on his belt.