Heading to Cerulean Forest

Its new form is still a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon but it now has dark red scales and a cream underside from the chest down. It has blue eyes and a long snout with a slightly hooked tip. On the back of its head is a single horn-like protrusion. It has relatively long arms with three sharp claws.

The flame on the tip of its tail burned even fiercer than when it was still a Charmander.

"Charman-... Charmeleon, you evolved!" Chelsea said with a cheerful tone as she rushed towards Charmeleon and hugged it tightly.

Charmeleon wanted to establish a fierce character for its evolved form but seeing Chelsea's cheerfulness, it could only bitterly smile and let Chelsea hug it.

Folker and Farlan then approached Chelsea's direction with excitement on his face as he looked at Charmeleon's figure.

"Wow, Charmeleon. Awesome!" Folker didn't hold back his praises.

"Oh, that's right. Folker!" the spiky haired young man in white karate uniform exclaimed and hurriedly rushed towards Folker's figure.

It was only now that Folker noticed the spiky haired young man. He then looked at him and asked "Kichi, what's wrong?".

"Folker! The Karate Master and the black belters still haven't returned from the Cerulean Forest!" Kichi replied with urgency in his voice.

"What!? Is there any news about them so far?" Folker exclaimed as his brows furrowed.

"That's exactly the problem. There's still no news about the Karate Master nor the Black Belters" Kichi said as he shook his head.

'Zapdos, Team Rocket, and the Karate Master.. What's going on in the Cerulean Forest at this moment?' Folker thought to himself as he rubbed his chin.

"What about Sabrina, the Saffron Gym Leader? I assume her gym also went to check out the incident in Cerulean Forest?" Folker said as he looked at Kichi.

"Uhm.. I'm not sure but I think so?" Kichi said with doubts.

"If the Karate Master went to check it out, then as the Gym Leader of Saffron City, then she should have gone there too" Folker guessed.

He didn't know what it was but his gut feeling is telling him that this Sabrina can't be trusted. He still hadn't met her nor seen her but for some reason, he had doubts on her.

He decided not to think about Sabrina for now, but he didn't dismiss his doubts towards her.

Chelsea's excitement from Charmeleon's evolution was short-lived as her mood suddenly turned sour when she heard Kichi's words. She then looked at Folker who had a worried expression on his face.

Farlan didn't say anything and just listened to their conversation with concern.

"What about the other trainers who went to the forest?" Folker asked.

"Some returned with no actual news about Zapdos but there were a few missing trainers" Kichi replied.

'What should I do?' Folker asked himself inwardly. He didn't want to get involved with Team Rocket but he was rather worried about the Karate Master and the Black Belters of the dojo

He wasn't particularly close with the Karate Master but he treated him rather well without holding back on his teachings. As for the Black Belters, he was somewhat closer to Randy while he had a good relationship with the other three.

Farlan didn't know what's going on with Folker's mind but he knew that look. That's the face of someone who was afraid and hesitating.

Nevertheless, he didn't speak and just let Folker gather his thoughts. However, it appears that Chelsea had a different idea.

"Let me guess, the others in the dojo are planning to investigate the whereabouts of the Karate Master and the Black Belters, right?" Chelsea guessed as she looked at Kichi's figure.

Kichi then turned to look at Chelsea with the corners of his eyes widened in shock and nodded.

"Let's join them, Folker" Chelsea said as she turned her gaze towards Folker.

"Are you sure? You don't have to get involved with this. It's dangerous" Folker replied as he looked at Chelsea with a somewhat confused expression.

"Look at you. You weren't this afraid when you and Corin helped me back in Viridian Forest. Aren't you a trainer?" Chelsea replied with a shrug.

Suddenly, Folker's eyes lit up. When Farlan saw Folker's eyes, the corners of his lips slightly curled up to show a faint smile.

He then recalled the first time he met Chelsea. Despite being all alone with Tyranitar, she courageously faced off against the fearsome Pokemon Hunter. At that time, when they saw Tyranitar, they didn't think twice and jumped right into the rescue.

He then recalled the time in Mount Moon wherein he just let the Clefairys be despite knowing that they're in danger because of Team Rocket. Although he wasn't that close with Clefairy, he was somewhat attached to it since they became friends with his Magnemite at that time.

'That's right! What am I afraid of? Team Rocket is strong and all but if I insist on becoming the Pokemon Master, it's only a matter of time before I clash with them' Folker thought to himself in realization as his resolve further strengthened.

He found himself running away from danger quite a lot recently.

From now on, he wouldn't cower in the face of danger. He wouldn't go as far as saving every trainer and pokemon he comes across but he would surely maintain this impulsiveness of his for the people and pokemon he cared about.

He still wanted to visit the Sinnoh Region despite all the warnings of his parents and his aunt.

He then looked at the actual Charmeleon's figure who looked at him as if it understood him.

'Corin, I apologize in advance but I'll have to mess with Team Rocket this time' Folker thought to himself as he recalled Corin's figure.

Folker then took a deep breath to calm himself down and said "Alright, let's check it out".

"Well, if you say so, I'm in!" Farlan replied.

"Can you even protect yourself?" Folker said with doubts in his eyes as he looked at Farlan.

"Folker, my man. Don't underestimate my belly" Farlan said as he proudly showed his fat belly.

"What does your belly have to do with this?" Chelsea replied as the corners of her eyes twitched.

"Oh come on. It's just a figure of speech" Farlan retorted as he rubbed his belly.

The three of them laughed while Kichi just looked at them with a bitter smile. He was still worried about the Karate Master and the Black Belters.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Folker said as he packed his things and recalled his pokemon back to their pokeballs.