Almost Anything

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Contents

Part 1: Joseph
Chapter 1: The Last Time (Below)
Chapter 2: Dust in the Wind
Chapter 3: Out of the Shadows
Chapter 4: Hope for the Future
Chapter 5: Legends in the Making
Chapter 6: Preparation
Chapter 7: Because Just Walking Out Would Be TOO Easy
Chapter 8: There Are Better Times to Think about Litten




Part 1: Joseph

Chapter 1: The Last Time
New Bark Town--McShire House

5:00 in the morning. Too early for anyone else, but not for Nick. He would get up at this hour every day, go into the basement, and start messing with whatever he was currently building. If he thought it would benefit him, he would wake his brother not ten minutes later for feedback. His brother himself did not particularly enjoy this practice, but it was one he had grown used to after five years.

Joseph McShire opened his eyes, and sure enough, there was Nick. Strangely enough, he was wearing a clean shirt. Nick always wore the same greasy tank top when he was working. Joe noticed that he had also combed his hair back, worn nice pants, and put on a pair of shoes that wasn’t about to fall apart.

“Don’t you know what time it is?” Joe moaned. He figured, if he stalled enough, he might get a few hours of sleep.

“Nice try, Joe. I need to show you this today,” Nick replied, calmly as ever.

“What’s today?”

He was lightly smiling now, a gesture he often used with Joe. Joe wasn’t sure if Nick meant to be condescending when he smirked like that, but it constantly got on hiss nerves. “You sure you’re awake?”

“No. I’m not sure, and I wouldn’t even try to get up if it weren’t for you.” But sarcasm was all but wasted on Nick. Joe climbed out of bed, thinking about today, the last time he would ever do this. “I’m not gonna miss this when you’re gone.”

“Well, I finished what I was working on, and I need to show you now, before I leave.”

“When do you have to be at the lab?” Down the stairs, into the basement, same route they always went.

“Ten. And no, I don’t know which Pokémon I’ll get.”

Nick had chosen to be in this year’s group of beginning Trainers getting a Pokémon from Professor Elm, and was leaving tomorrow to become a Pokémon Trainer. Joe wasn’t even ten years old yet, and would have to follow next year.

The basement, in sharp contrast to Nick, was just as dirty as ever: scrap metal tossed randomly across the workbench, old prototypes tossed into the corner of the room. The shirt Joe had expected him to wear when he woke up was tossed onto one of the boxes on the back wall, and one of his shoes was dangling off of a bungee cord hook hanging off the shelf on top. Joe couldn’t see the other half of the pair anywhere in the room.

Nick ignored the mess, making his way straight to the bench in the middle of the room. It was a good, sturdy table, one of the few things in the basement that wasn’t covered in junk. Nick didn’t want his current project to be ruined by an oil slick, but his level of interest in looks obviously didn’t reach much farther than that.

Joe tried following Nick, but tripped over an old toolbox on the floor. As he got back on his feet, he saw a Rattata dragging Nick's other shoe across the room.

Nick didn't even seem to notice. “First off, I finished this up,” he said, picking up a large wristwatch and handing it to his brother. Joe didn’t realize what it actually was until he was holding it.

“Is this my Pokégear?” Nick’s Pokegear had broken three weeks ago. Instead of sending it off to a repair shop in Cherrygrove City, he had requested parts to learn to do it himself. He had also somehow gotten permission from tech companies from around the world to add several new features. He had then taken Joe’s, and their friend Samantha’s, to get them up to date with his. Joe highly doubted that the only upgrade was a wrist strap.

“This is what I call the Pokegear Plus. It has improved functionality, online connection, full HD screens, and connects to a number of outside devices, such as the other Pokegears of this model. It can sync to mine so you can find out where I am on my journey at any time,” Nick explained while Joe was putting it on. “The same charger still works with it, so don’t worry about that.”

“Why would you send your location to me?”

“Just in case you wanted to know.”

Joe turned it on, and the main screen popped up, showing the time on the upper screen and recent contacts on the other. “Hey, Nick, you missed something.”

“No, I did not miss anything,” he assured. The grin had started to come back.

“Then why does this clock say 8:30?” The alarm had definitely not rang at seven this morning. Had it? he wondered.

The smile turned to a frown. “You’re still asleep, Joe. The Pokegear Plus connects to online servers, so the time is accurate.”

“I can read a clock…” trailed off, looking at the clock in the basement. 8:30. “Nick, what did you do?”

“I changed your clock so you could get a bit of sleep but still feel like everything’s normal. I forgot to do it with the Pokegears, though.”

“Well… Thanks?” This wasn’t exactly normal for Nick. He was the kind of person to be up front and explain, not sneak around and change the clocks. But one thing still didn’t settle well with Joe. “Wait. Why would I suspect anything’s abnormal?”

“There’s one more thing I want to show you, but you’ll need to come outside with me,” he said, completely ignoring Joe. “It’s already set up, so all we need to do is go there.”

“What is it?” Joe said,looking around the basement to see if he could see this mystery project. “And where are we going?”

“Just come on!” With that, he dashed out of the basement. Joe wasn’t in the mood to run blindly out to whatever his brother had planned, but with Nick, there was usually just no choice. He shrugged and followed Nick up the steps.


New Bark Town: A town where the wind blows and tells of impending change.
“Nick! Slow down!” Another atypical move. He only pretends to wake Joe up early, then runs out of the house without a moment’s notice. What did he make down there?

New Bark Town was particularly beautiful around this time of year. Summer had long since ended, and the fall breeze was amazingly refreshing. The simple houses seemed to blend in with the trees, leaves falling and splashing color across the heavily forested area.

Younger kids were making piles with the fallen leaves simply to scatter around again. Older ones were pretending that the wind was whipping up a sandstorm, adding a hazard to their pretend Pokemon battles. Nick had won every time when he had been that age, a feat he took constant pride in.

Some of the older townspeople were starting to wake up and walk around as well, waving to the boys as they passed. Nick wasn't a favorite to the townspeople, but his inventions did help many of them, and he did seem to try pretty hard for his brother. Joe was the town pity case: his tenth birthday was two weeks after the deadline, so nobody tried to make it any worse for him.

Which made Nick’s behavior even stranger to Joe. If he cared so much about including him, why wait so long, then leave exactly a year before his brother was allowed to?

Everyone in New Bark Town thought that it was rather nice of Nick to wait for Joe, especially since he should have no reason to. Nick had been adopted by Mrs. Annie McShire a year before Joe was born. The difference was obvious: Joe was almost a clone of his mother. He had lighter skin, with deep black hair and brown eyes. He was also much more athletic than Nick was, and his physique reflected that nicely. He almost lived outdoors, partly due to Nick not appreciating anybody watching directly when he was building.

On the other hand, Nick had skin a few shades darker, and his sandy-brown hair was also a sharp contrast. He had strong, dexterous hands from his time in the basement, but the rest of his body didn't quite catch up. He had never taken interest in sports, and he found tactics more suitable to a Pokemon Trainer-to-be than muscles.

His mind was another dead giveaway. Neither Joe nor his mother had any affinity for machines, but Nick was practically a savant, easily able to build anything he desired. His eyes were electric blue, and he never just looked at you; he always seemed to stare right through you, measuring you up, testing you, deciding who you were just with a glance.

Even when he was very young, it was extremely disconcerting.

The town had been reluctant to welcome him. Like Joe’s father, Nick was an outsider in one of the smallest towns in the Johto region. And his interest in mechanics was even more foreign, contrasting directly with this rustic area. New Bark Town had a very simple lifestyle, and people said we waited a long time to trust even Professor Elm. Joe’s father, facing the same feelings, had left, and Joe had never met him.

But Nick had gotten past that. Nick's general contribution to the town had caused most to accept him, even if he didn't have the best personality.

Nick eventually stopped running. Joe caught up with him, and looked around. They were standing at the far edge of the town, right next to the side wall of the Pokemon Lab. The forest thickened to the north, and a small path branching off to the east led towards Route 29. Joe had found his brother hanging around here often over the past few months, but Nick always shooed him off.

“It’s right through here.” He walked over to the trees and through a small gap. Joe looked into it, and once again, confusion set in.

There was a small clearing not very far in. The trees parted around a circular area that seemed extremely unkempt to Joe; it looked nearly impossible to walk without hearing leaves underfoot. Joe guessed that Nick had been here recently, but hadn't bothered with cleanup anymore than he bothered it in his lab.

Some of the trees had pictures of Pokemon taped onto them. Joe crawled through the gap to get a closer look. There were posters of Sentret, Rattata, Pidgey, Jigglypuff and a male Nidoran. They were extremely detailed, and reminded Joe of Samantha's artwork. Was she in on this? And each poster had a small metallic device attached to the top left corner.

“What is this?” It was definitely one of the stranger things he had done.

“A test run I set up for a new device I’m thinking of giving to the professor.” He pulled out a Pokeball and started tossing it up and down. It was plated in silver, which Joe had never seen before. Was it some new kind of Pokeball? Did Nick make it?

“What’s that?” He was just about done with Nick playing around like this.

“Pokemon combat simulation drone, Model 001.” He tossed the Pokeball as if he were sending out an actual Pokemon. “Or, as I’m going to call it, the Bulbadrone.”

The Pokeball hit the ground, but instead of opening, the metal started sliding across itself, flipping outward, expanding until it almost looked like…Oh. Suddenly, Joe understood why it was called “Model 001”.

Nicholas McShire had built a Bulbasaur.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Aha, I made it to the first response

Technical Accuracy/Style
Needs some tidying up here and there. Odd typos aren't a huge deal, though not something I'd advise ignoring. You do slip into first-person here:

“Just come on!” With that, he dashed out of the basement. I wasn’t in the mood to run blindly out to whatever he had planned, but with Nick, there’s usually just no choice. I shrugged and followed him up the steps.

though, and that is something that'll need correcting. If nothing else it's liable to confuse readers and break the flow.

Oh, and I'd also advise a table of contents once you have two or three chapters posted. That kind of thing makes a big difference in making life easier for returning readers

Story/Characters
I'm not completely sure what to make of it. On the one hand I prefer pokémon fanfic that goes for relatively small breaks from canon and story hooks, etc - the whole "What if Ash had aura powers and started with Riolu and a deep dark secret Amourshipping" thing immediately puts me off. So running with this idea of mechanical pokémon - whatever direction this goes in - strikes me as an ok start. On the other hand I'm a bit sceptical about Nicholas the wonder inventor. I'm not sure I buy him as the town darling since all his interactions with his brother in this chapter are rather obnoxious.

But, as is usually the case with first chapters, I'm not really prepared to get off the fence. It's not really fair to make a complete judgement on the first impressions, on the strength of, what, 2,000 or so words?

Setting
It's about adequate for the needs of the chapter, I think, though it could do with generally being a bit more vivid as far as the description goes. First chapters can get away with being a bit thin on the ground here, since there's a good argument for saying that the first chapter needs to get to the point

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Fixed most of those errors you found. Should make the rest of the story quite a bit nicer.

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 2: Dust in the Wind
New Bark Town--Northern Grove

Joe was rendered speechless, but he understood some of the craziness he’d been through over the past few weeks. The sudden secrecy, the need to be out here, the silver on the Pokeball. But it didn’t exactly explain the posters on the trees, or his sudden need to leave right now.

“Do you wish to know what it does, or will you simply stare at it?” Nick chuckled. But Joe didn’t take his eyes off of it, couldn’t stop marveling it. It looked almost exactly like a real Bulbasaur, its chest heaved almost like it was breathing. It was proportioned perfectly, and there were patches exactly where they were supposed to be. The only indication you had to tell it wasn’t a living thing was the silver coloring, and a few creases where the metal came together. And on the side, it had, in very plain letters:

Pokemon Combat Simulator Model 001
“Bulbadrone”

“Is this really a Pokemon?” If this thing could actually be used for battling, then Nick was truly a genius.

“It’s a combat simulator, not a Pokemon. Its Tackle should be pretty close to the real deal, but that’s it.”

“How do you use it?”

Nick walked over to Joe and pointed to a button on the Pokegear. “It connects to your Pokegear, so you activate the simulation wirelessly.” As if he had planted it into the coding, a button labeled “Start Simulation” started flashing on the bottom screen.

Joe pressed it, and the world changed around him. The posters came to life, and real Pokemon were running and flying around the grove. The Bulbasaur was suddenly the real thing, too. The ground was suddenly free of leaves, as well; Joe took a few steps, realizing that the sound of leaves crunching underfoot had disappeared. Joe knew that it was just an illusion, but it was amazingly realistic.

The Pokegear’s display also changed. Its top screen had names and health bars pointing to 2D sprites of the Pokemon, all six of them, and their relative positions to each other. The lower screen had four icons on it, labeled Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, and Vine Whip. At the top was a standard-colored Pokeball, followed by five empty circles.

“What’s all this mean?” he asked Nick, who seemed to be loving the childish fascination.

“The top screen organizes the Pokemon on the battlefield and displays simple information, and the secondary screen shows your current Pokemon’s moves and the status of any other Pokemon you might have.” He walked over again and tapped the Sentret icon, which made a large infobox appear on the top screen. “Tapping an icon will bring up more detailed statistics on the Pokemon or move, if available.”

“How does the simulation work?”

“Nothing here is actually as you see it. Each of the Pokemon, except for Bulbasaur, are simply projections from the small devices you might have noticed above the posters. The Bulbasaur is simulating its own coloring and attacks. Everything tracks the damage from the moves, and if a Pokemon would faint in an ordinary battle, it will faint and drop out of the simulation. If Bulbasaur faints, the simulation will end. Would you like me to demonstrate?” Joe stepped back in acknowledgement.

Nick walked up and pointed at the Sentret. “Now, Bulbasaur, start with a Tackle attack!” The Bulbadrone responded immediately by lunging out at Sentret, which swiftly dodged out of the way. It retaliated with Defense Curl, and a red aura appeared over Sentret’s sprite on the Pokegear, with the message “Sentret’s defense increased!” Nick, unfazed, called out Vine Whip. The attack struck Sentret directly.

The exchange went back and forth, but Nick was in obvious command, with Bulbasaur not even taking a hit, and Sentret was rather quickly defeated. He turned and faced his brother. “So, would you like to try?” Joe walked up, and Nick backed up a few steps, saying, “Start with Rattata.”

As soon as Joe took command, Rattata dashed out with Quick Attack. He barely managed to tell Bulbasaur to use its Vine Whip in time, which easily stopped Rattata’s attack. Rattata’s onscreen health bar ticked away. “Now, use Tackle!” he yelled out. Bulbasaur launched itself into Rattata, fainting it.

Nick nodded. “Now, Pidgey will be a little harder. Try tapping Pidgey on the Pokegear.” Joe did so, and a blue arrow, pointing down, next to the word Flying immediately caught his eye. “That arrow means that Bulbasaur is naturally weak to Pidgey’s type, so choose wisely what you wish to do next!” he called out.

Joe dismissed the screen, noticing another blue arrow on Vine Whip’s icon, then turned to the battle. “Now, Bulbasaur, use Tackle!” The move connected, but Pidgey got off the ground and started flapping its wings. Sand flew all over the battlefield. On the battle screen, Bulbasaur’s icon turned blue, and “Bulbasaur’s accuracy decreased!” appeared.

Joe ignored the message and told Bulbasaur to use Tackle again, but he could barely see Bulbasaur through the sand, so he wasn’t too surprised when it missed. It did startle him when Pidgey used a perfect Tackle attack. The attacks continued, but Bulbasaur was missing again and again, while Pidgey was whittling faithfully away at the HP bar on the screen. Joe commanded Bulbasaur to get out of the sand, but Pidgey corralled it in with another Tackle.

Joe realized that he was losing but couldn’t do anything until, suddenly, everything stopped. The Pokemon disappeared, the Bulbadrone shut down, and the battle screens vanished from the Pokegear. The leaves had also appeared again on the floor, and Joe could easily see footprints where he, Nick, and the Bulbadrone had walked.

Joe assumed that this was the simulation’s version of a Game Over message.

Nick walked over and looked around the grove. “Well, you managed it pretty well for someone who’s never tried it before.”

“So, I did good?”

“Not even close. You let Bulbasaur sit there and get attacked when all it had to do was get out of the sand. And you could have used Leech Seed, or a Potion, or... well, anything!”

“I had Potions?” Joe asked. It would have been useful to know he could have healed Bulbasaur. And hadn’t Nick noticed that Joe had done everything else he had recommended?

Completely ignoring Joe again, Nick turned to the Bulbadrone. “Return.” The Pokemon started contracting until all that remained was the silver Pokeball, which flew into the glove onto his hand. Joe assumed he had some kind of magnet on it for that purpose.

He had no idea why Nick was getting so flustered over the defeat. Joe had plenty of time to get better, and Nick’s feedback made sense, even though Joe had done all of it. So why did he seem angry?

“So… should we get to the lab?” Joe couldn’t see any better way to get his mind off of the battle.

“Sure, let’s go.” He motioned for Joe to follow and left the clearing.

But before they could reach the town line, an extremely violent sound and bright flash of light erupted in front of them. Nick suddenly flew backwards into Joe, then some force started pushing him with his brother. Nick landed right on top of Joe.

Joe tried to register what had happened. The sound, the light, and what he thought was a shock wave… Was that some kind of explosion?

“What was that?” he asked as soon as he got back up.

“That sounded like it was at the lab. Come on!” He started running, and seemed to be even faster now, despite a very slight limp with his right leg. He was much closer than Joe was, so it was surprising he wasn’t more injured. Joe dashed between the trees right after him.

The sight in front of him was so horrible and amazing in the same instant: A figure clad almost entirely in black was running off to the west, and the professor was trying to chase after him. There was a massive hole in the wall of the lab, and through it Joe could see science equipment and broken glass scattered over the floor. A large console in the middle was smoking, and there were some more glass shards attached to the machine. Aides were at computers, typing rapidly, probably also trying to make sense of the scenario while saving as much camera footage as possible.

Elm turned around and walked towards Nick and Joe. “Nick… I… he…”

Someone else climbed through the hole, and Joe recognized her as Samantha Davis. Joe saw her as an opposite to Nick: her flowing brown hair, hazel eyes, and athletic body contrasted sharply with his brother. She was also much nicer, and her smile was welcoming and inviting rather than Nick’s calculating look. She was wearing a blue shirt and brown cargo pants, and she had borrowed a white coat from her mother. She had a basic apprenticeship under the Professor, since her mother was Elm’s main assistant.

“Joe?” She saw him and immediately ran over. “What are you doing here? You could’ve gotten hurt!”

“I probably would have if Nick wouldn’t have been standing right in front of me,” Joe confessed. “What happened?”

Sam looked back at the hole. “Somebody came into the lab as I was helping the professor set up for today. He set up a bomb on the wall and pushed us down and… and…”

Sam looked more scared than the boys had ever seen her as she turned to the professor, who was standing on the edge of the route again, shouting, “Get back here! I’ve called the police, so you’d better turn yourself in!”

“And, what?” Joe pushed, but he had a sickening feeling that he already knew the answer.

She sighed, and faced him and Nick. “He took the Pokemon. They’re all gone.”

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 3: Out of the Shadows
New Bark Town

“What do you mean, gone?” Nick asked. “Are you saying someone just walked in and stole all of the Pokemon?”

“No, the Pokemon walked off earlier, and this guy just happened to be visiting.” She smiled at Nick’s dubious look. “Yes, he stole them.”

“This isn’t really the time for humor, Sam,” Nick groaned. Joe assumed Nick was about to launch into another argument with Sam. Sam had never liked Nick that much. She thought him too proud for his own good, and only handled his company when Joe was around. “This is serious. How are we going to get them back?” He pulled out the Bulbadrone’s Pokeball. “This is all we have to defend ourselves with.”

“And… that is…?”

“There’s no time. We need to get out there and follow him.”

Joe laughed, despite the mood of the conversation. “What, are we supposed to rely on a fake Tackle all the way to wherever this guy is?”

Nick took one last look at Joe. “If we have to.” He ran off, pushing past the professor.

Sam waited a few seconds, then turned back to Joe. “Long story?”

Joe sighed. “Short version is, he built a giant simulation in a fake Bulbasaur. If I know Nick, he’s out there trying to find this guy with nothing but that.” Joe started running after him, then turned and looked at Sam. “You coming?” He heard her footsteps behind him as they left town.


Route 29: A road that begins a journey. The path smells like freshly-cut grass
Joe wondered how this day happened to play out so strangely, and it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet. Not only was this the second time that Nick had run off on his own, but Professor Elm’s starter Pokemon had been stolen. Nick had built a “Pokemon” from scratch, and he was now using it with a fake Tackle attack to track down the kidnapper. And Joe was following him with Sam, both of them trying to offer some kind of support. Joe couldn’t help thinking, Why do I have a strange feeling that this won’t work out?

Joe knew that Sam was also unsure about this. While Joe had regularly gone out onto the route with his brother for various demonstrations, Sam had only been out here once, and she had stuck strictly to the main path to Cherrygrove City. But he also knew that, for Sam, this was more personal. Part of Sam's job at the lab was to make sure that the Pokemon were safe. She couldn't fail a mere forty-five minutes before all that work paid off.

“Joe, how much farther ahead is he?” Sam asked. But before he could answer, they heard a loud crash behind them. They turned around and ducked behind a tree to see Nick standing about twenty yards away, glaring at the kidnapper. He had somehow caught up and commanded the Bulbadrone to use “Tackle”.

The man stood up, and Joe got his first good look at him. He was slightly taller than Nick, and probably only one or two years older, but somehow he made Joe feel that he was on a completely different level than the kids. His cap cast a slight shadow over his face, but Joe could still see a little bit of black hair poking out the sides. He didn’t look as well-built as him or Sam, but he wasn’t scrawny either. His outfit wasn’t as black as Joe had originally thought; looking at it now, Joe recognized the white gloves and boots, and the large red R on his chest: Team Rocket.

But didn’t Team Rocket end ten years ago?

Nick stepped forward. “Exactly how did you think you would get away with this?”

The grunt looked at Nick, then at Sam. “This is who comes after me? Two kids?” Sam could barely see him smile. “I bet you don’t even have Pokemon yet.”

“No, you made sure that didn’t happen.”

“Oh, that was supposed to be today?” He chuckled. “I suppose that means you’re Nicholas McShire, then. Your patience has piqued our curiosity. It’s almost like you were waiting for us.”

Joe hadn’t stuck around to listen to him. Just before the man had gotten up, Joe had started sneaking around him to the bag at his feet. Joe might have gotten it, but Sam saw him and gasped. The grunt turned around. “Well, what do we have here?”

Joe could clearly see his face now. He had brown eyes with a strange fire in them, and his expression seemed to tell me that he knew Joe wasn’t worth whatever he was thinking.

Joe smiled. “I am the last person you want to be messing with right now.” He quickly circled back around. The grunt, seeming to be startled enough at the sudden move in the wrong direction to not retaliate, simply turned with him. “After all, kids seem to be your worst enemies.”

Now, Joe was facing east, towards the sun again. He bent his arm, reflecting the sunlight off the Pokegear straight into the grunt’s eyes. With the shadow back on his face, he had to readjust his vision; the sudden burst of light effectively blinded him long enough for Joe to reach the bag.

Just as Joe reached it, the grunt pulled a device out of his pocket and turned it on. A sudden high pitched sound went off for about a second. A large flock of Spearow, probably at least thirty of them, flew out of the trees.

Joe wouldn’t have a better opportunity, so he threw open the bag. Inside were three Pokeballs. He didn’t know what Pokemon they were, but there were three of them, and three kids. Joe grabbed two of them and threw them to Nick, who passed one on to Sam. He grabbed the third one for himself, then they all threw the Pokeballs at once.

Now, there were three confused Pokemon in front of them. His Pokegear's battle interface came back on. The three Pokemon were in a triangle, with the one in front of Joe on the bottom of the screen. Joe tapped on the Pokemon sprites: Nick had the Grass-type, Chikorita. Sam got Totodile, a Water-type. Joe had sent out the Fire-type, Cyndaquil.

The grunt chuckled again. “So, here we have three young wannabe Trainers and their stolen Pokemon that they’ve never seen before. This should be interesting.” He produced a Pokeball of his own and threw it. Joe’s Pokegear recognized it as an enemy, but the only information it gave him was that it was an Ice/Dark type called Sneasel. It used Taunt almost immediately, which set off the Spearow. They dove as one.

Right about then, Joe realized that this was Plan B: let the kids take the Pokemon, but set a flock of Spearow against them, in addition to his Sneasel. Luckily for Joe, even though the Pokegear wasn’t the most helpful thing right now (It had registered four Trainers, each with one Pokemon out, as a Multi Battle with Nick on the grunt’s side), it told him that Sneasel was the only Pokemon the grunt had; if they took that one down, then they could get away safely.

On the other hand, Sam had never done anything with Pokemon before, and Joe’s only experience was the simulation. The Pokegear registered the starter Pokemon at Level 5 and the grunt’s Sneasel at 8, so they were at a disadvantage from the start. And with all the Spearow flying around, they would have to split their efforts, hindering them even further.

The grunt smiled. “Now, Sneasel, use Quick Attack!” Sneasel shot out at Chikorita, and Nick didn’t have enough time to tell it to dodge. Joe told Cyndaquil to use its Leer attack; he didn’t feel that the best idea was to attack it head-on. Sam commanded Totodile’s Scratch on one of the Spearow, and it was soon joined by Chikorita.

Joe found it slightly amusing that the three-on-one scenario and tons of Spearow were confusing the Pokegear, now seeing a Triple Battle: Totodile, Chikorita, and Sneasel versus Cyndaquil and two Spearow. He would have to get on Nick about that one later.

The grunt turned to Joe. “So, you’re Joseph, I assume. You were mentioned in your brother’s file, along with your little friend. I didn’t expect you to be such a nuisance.” But his couldn’t-care-less expression had changed to one of extreme interest. Was it more than unexpected retaliation that he had noticed?

Sneasel used Taunt on Cyndaquil. The Pokegear notified Joe that Leer would no longer work. He told Cyndaquil to focus on the Spearow for now. Chikorita and Totodile had managed to bring down two or three of them, but more were attacking. Joe noticed noticed that the Spearow were trying to aim their Peck attacks mainly at Chikorita, who was at a disadvantage. He watched Sam picked up a rock and threw it at the Spearow closest to her. It turned and cried out, calling the others to change priority. Nick cast a glance at Sam, who shrugged.

“So you know our names. Little creepy,” Joe retorted. He watched Sneasel running towards Cyndaquil, then shouted, “Now, turn around and use Tackle!” It worked perfectly, with Cyndaquil’s Tackle blocking out Sneasel’s Scratch. “It would be nice if we knew yours.”

“I am a grunt of Team Rocket. I have no name,” he replied very matter-of-factly. He told Sneasel to use Leer, but Cyndaquil ran right through it with Tackle. The Pokegear told Joe that Taunt had worn off, and Cyndaquil could use its own Leer again. Joe told his Pokemon to do so.

More and more fainted Spearow were littering the battleground as the fight went on. Joe watched for a moment as Sam called out another Scratch, which knocked out yet another Spearow. A different one flew at Totodile from the back, but Chikorita knocked it out of the way. Sam's Pokemon launched another Scratch, and one more Spearow bit the dust. A light flashed on Joe's wrist, and he looked down to see that Totodile and Chikorita had reached level six. Another notification showed, "Totodile learned Water Gun! Chikorita learned Razor Leaf!"

Sam, who likely received the same notification, pumped her fist in the air and called out, “Totodile, try Water Gun!” A stream of water shot out of Totodile’s mouth, pushing a Spearow back. It was intercepted by a large group of leaves. Joe looked over to see Chikorita producing large quantities of leaves and sending them in all directions. The Pokemon still had low health, but the new attacks almost made Joe forget it.

Sneasel attacked again, hitting Cyndaquil for the first time. But Sneasel’s lowered Defense was starting to get to it, and another Tackle from Cyndaquil almost defeated it. Joe noticed that Sam and Nick had almost gotten rid of the Spearow. (The Pokegear had given up on the Spearow, and finally had the three kids against Sneasel) “What kind of a rule is that? You join, and your immediate reward is that nobody cares what your name is?”

Then Cyndaquil got hit by another Tackle. Cyndaquil had extremely low health now, but so did Sneasel. Neither Pokemon could take another hit. Most of the Spearow were gone, but both Chikorita and Totodile were also nearly fainted. If any of their Pokemon was hit, it would certainly be knocked out.

The grunt must have figured this out, too, and told Sneasel to use Quick Attack. “In Team Rocket, you earn your name. And your performance right now would not give you anything.”

Time seemed to slow down as Joe searched for a solution, but nothing was coming. It would have been over if a Spearow hadn’t flown into Sneasel’s face. The attack that would have knocked out Cyndaquil instead tossed the Spearow back towards Sam, who finished it off with another Scratch. Cyndaquil had ran back towards the others, away from Sneasel, and the grunt commanded another Quick Attack. But the Spearow had given Joe an idea, and now he was ready for the attack.

“Cyndaquil, jump behind Chikorita!”

Cyndaquil rolled behind Nick’s Pokemon, which took full damage from Quick Attack. Chikorita fainted, but Sneasel was now in perfect range. Cyndaquil used Tackle again, and Sneasel couldn’t dodge or counter with Quick Attack, and merely fainted. Just then, Totodile used another Tackle, fainting a Spearow. All the others flew off.

The battle was over. Team Rocket had lost.

The grunt returned Sneasel and picked up the empty bag. “It seems that you three are everything the Professor could hope for.” He turned around, took a step, then looked back at Joe. “Braiden.” Then he ran off. They tried to follow, but somehow he was already gone.

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 4: Hope for the Future
New Bark Town

The International Police had arrived shortly after the group had returned to the lab with the Pokemon. If this really was a revival of Team Rocket, then their involvement would be necessary.

Team Rocket was a terrorist gang that had shaken up the Johto and Kanto regions several years ago. They didn’t manage to do too much damage, however, because of a kid from Pallet Town, somewhere in western Kanto. He had apparently taken down their entire operation single-handedly. Thirteen years had passed since then, and they had only been active once since then, when they were stopped yet again by one of the Trainers Professor Elm gave a Pokemon to. Supposedly, those kids prompted Elm to start his three-Trainer program.

“I can’t believe we actually beat them.” Joe said after the investigators had left.

“Well, we isn’t the right word, Joe. You beat that guy alone.” Sam bragged.

“No, he didn’t. Using Chikorita as a shield like he did gives me credit.” Nick explained.

“Well, he might have done just as well without Chikorita being there. If he had told Cyndaquil to duck behind a Spearow, would it have been all his win?” Sam argued.

“He did use a Spearow. And either way, Sneasel’s first attack was against Chikorita. Joe wouldn’t have lasted as long if that grunt would--”

“Braiden. His name is Braiden, not ‘that grunt.’”

“Guys, we beat him. Okay?” Joe interrupted before their argument could get out of hand. Joe hated their constant arguing, especially when it was over him.

The police had asked simple questions, then sent a force to Cherrygrove City to intercept Braiden. They would arrive in two days.

Sam sighed. “Well, that’s over with, so let’s go to the lab now. It’s past ten.”

Nick looked at his Pokegear. “Yes, it is. We actually seem to be late.”

“Well then, what are you waiting for?” They ran to the lab.

Joe started to follow, but suddenly got the feeling someone was watching him. He turned around and noticed a man leaning against a tree, facing in his direction. Joe didn’t recognize him from the town, and would have remembered that light hair with a few gray streaks, a shade that wasn’t common around here. He was slowly taking in the area, until he got to Joe. As soon as he noticed Joe looking at him, he stood straight and walked into the town. Joe tried to forget him, and ran towards the ceremony.


The ceremony usually took place right outside the lab, but the Team Rocket attack had forced Professor Elm to move it to the town square. Joe was particularly excited this time. Joe knew for a fact that Nick was one of the Trainers that was chosen, but the other two were still a mystery. Usually, nobody would know until the event, but the kid waiting for six years suddenly making a move isn’t something you can keep quiet about very well.

Despite the extra time taken with the police, Joe was right on time for the ceremony. Joee assumed that it was just because they had to get the Pokemon calmed down and move everything away from the lab. But when he got there, he noticed Elm walking up onto a small stage, with someone else right behind him. He looked to be much older than Elm, with a rather wrinkled face and gray hair, but he still had an excited energy coming from him. This second man’s appearance prompted applause from the growing audience.

Sam groaned as Joe ran up to her and Nick. “Joe, where were you? I was worried you wouldn’t make it!”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Yes, so worrying that he might get lost in the town he’s lived in his entire life.” He turned to face Joe. “You at least could have put on more suitable clothes.”

Joe looked down, realizing that he had been wearing a pair of pajamas the entire morning. “You couldn’t have told me sooner?”

“I thought you went home just now. You still can.” Nick pointed over to the edge of the town square. Their house was only a few blocks away.

“Guys, it’s starting!” Sam whispered. All three turned to the small platform that had been set up as a stage.

Both men walked up to the edge of the stage, then the one Joe hadn’t seen before started talking. “Welcome to the world of Pokemon!” He allowed the crowd to cheer before continuing. “My name is Samuel Oak, but perhaps I am better known as the Pokemon Professor.” More cheering. “As I recall, a decade has passed by since Team Rocket was disbanded in Goldenrod City. And for ten years, my friend here, New Bark Town’s very own Professor Elm, has been certifying new Trainers in groups of three, hoping that someday, a new Trainer would shine just as brightly as the great ones before him.

“Now, I know that this delay might be a little uncomfortable for some of you, but this is a truly marvelous occasion. We have sent Trainers to start their lives for ten years now. Please welcome my good friend, Professor Elm!”

As he walked up, things started to click for Joe. The second man was Professor Oak, and he was here to celebrate the tenth year of these trios of journeys. No wonder Nick was so keen on leaving now. But why didn’t Oak mention Team Rocket? Everybody in town knew something was up, didn’t they?

Elm took Professor Oak’s place in front, then started to speak. “Thank you, Samuel. Now, I must admit, the incident this morning did surprise us. One of my assistants, who I will not be naming, startled the Pokemon so much they broke out of the lab and ran away. That’s what the noise you might have heard this morning was, and why the International Police came. But that crisis has been averted!”

Cheers erupted through the crowd, but Joe didn’t get it. He turned to Sam and asked in a low voice, “Why are the professors lying?”

Sam shrugged. “If people know that Team Rocket is back, won’t they freak out? They just explained all the weirdness from this morning, and everyone’s happy.”

Elm started again. “Luckily, the Pokemon were found by a group of children from our town. Two of those kids are some of the ones I was looking at for this ceremony. Nicholas McShire and Samantha Davis, please come to the stage!”

Joe watched two of the most important people in his life start to leave it. He already knew that Nick was more than likely about to leave, but Sam? As he thought about it, though, it made sense. Sam didn’t understand battling like Nick, and didn’t outright want this, so she wouldn’t have expressly told Elm to not give her this opportunity. But that made him wonder, what would happen next?

“There was another child on Route 29 today,” Elm continued after the applause died down. “However, he is not yet ten years old, and cannot join us today.”

He was about to continue, but then a voice rang out from the crowd. “So, this boy must wait?” The man Joe had seen right before the ceremony walked forward. “The rule exists so that children who cannot stand the outside world have time to wait. Is that correct?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“But age is not the only factor in one’s ability to deal with problems, is it?” He paused to let his point sink in. “Does the fact that a boy is twelve mean he is perfectly suited to a journey?”

“No, not necessarily. But we can’t-”

“Yes, we can. You heard about the battle with the Spearow in the forest, right? Those two on your stage would have lost if the one you will not recognize for his actions had not been there.” He stopped as Sam nodded. “I would say that youth is not what we are looking to protect, but inability. Exceptions can be made.” He turned and sank back into the crowd.

Elm was speechless, but the crowd wasn’t. Nearly all of the town was shouting, demanding that Elm reveal who this Trainer was. Sam turned and whispered something in Elm's ear. The Professor looked over at the kids on the stage. Joe didn't catch the exchange, but he had a feeling he knew what was about to happen.

Elm turned to the crowd. His expression revealed how unsure he was that this was the right decision, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. “Will Joseph McShire please come to the stage?”

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 5: Legends in the Making
New Bark Town

Ms. Annie McShire threw a party for the kids as soon as they had left the ceremony. It was supposed to last all night, with the new Trainers leaving the next day, but Joe had snuck out after a few hours. He wasn’t used to having any amount of attention, with his brother being better at battling and quite amazing with machines. And the fact that everybody in town knew that he was an outsider in this new undertaking didn’t help.

Joe slowly made his way to the small grove where Nick had demonstrated the Bulbadrone. He climbed through the trees, then walked to the edge of the clearing. He slumped against a tree, slowly sinking to the ground. Bark peeled off and scratched up his bag, but he didn’t notice. After several seconds, Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out Cyndaquil’s Pokeball. He would have preferred having it next year than this strange sinking feeling he had.

He could still hear the Professor’s uncomfortable stammering as he tried to continue the ceremony as cordially as possible after Joe took the stage. He could see the mixed reactions from the crowd, the fear of the unknown that perpetrated the unnatural feeling of justice as he took the Pokedex from Sam’s mother. He had never lost that sense of dread as he had picked Cyndaquil, certain that he would disappoint everybody he knew.

He knew already that Nick was uncertain how long he would last without breaking.

He sent out Cyndaquil, knowing how freeing it was supposed to be. The small Pokemon looked up at him. Joe realized that this was the first time he had seen Cyndaquil without a massive amount of pressure looming over him. It stared up at him expectantly, which made Joe feel even worse. He knew nothing about caring about Pokemon, how he would feed it, what to do with it after battles. He didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl.

Joe sighed. “How did I end up with this?”

The Cyndaquil cocked its head to the side, confused. “Cynda?”

“No, it’s not you,” Joe explained. “I’m not supposed to be a Trainer yet. I should be excited, but… what if I’m not what everyone wants me to be?”

“Cynda?” the Pokemon repeated.

Joe looked straight at the Pokemon for the first time since the battle in the forest. “What do you think? I’m not ten years old yet, Nick and Sam are both way more equipped for a journey, and the only reason I even have a Pokemon is that someone has a really strange view of the rules.” He sighed again. “Do you think I can do this?”

“I think you’ve got just as good a shot as anybody.” Cyndaquil immediately shot a small flame from its back. Startled at the sudden voice and fires, Joe jumped to his feet and looked at the entrance to the grove. Sam was crawling through the trees. As soon as she managed to get through, she ran over to Joe. “After all, you did save all three of the Pokemon from Team Rocket.”

“Did I? Or did I simply use Nick’s Pokemon efficiently?” Joe retorted.

Sam frowned. “Okay, what’s wrong? You don’t get down like this.”

“I can’t do this. Too many people are counting on me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You work for the Professor. Nick… well, he’s Nick. Both of you are far more capable than me, but everyone thinks I’m some wonderchild who can prove that ten years means nothing!”

In spite of everything that was going on, Sam smiled. “Why do you think we’re better?”

Joe looked up at Sam again. “What do you mean?”

“You think that studying under the professor makes me good with Pokemon, but I only got through that battle because both of you were there with me. And for all that Nick is good at, he’s a jerk, and he’ll never fix that. You have the best parts of both of us.” Sam patted him on the shoulder. “The only thing you haven’t done great at is handle attention. So get back to your party, and deal with it. The only ones who will be disappointed are the ones you’ll smash once you get out there.”

She left without another word.

Joe watched her disappear into the foliage, then looked down at Cyndaquil again. It was staring up at him expectantly. Joe folded his arms, now slightly more annoyed than sad after Sam’s pep talk. “What?”

Before Cyndaquil could give any form of answer, he heard another voice, shrill and monotonic. “Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. It is a timid Pokemon. If it is startled, the flames on its back will burn more vigorously.” Joe also heard the Pokegear read off Cyndaquil’s height, weight, and that he had, in fact, caught it. He had completely forgotten that Nick had linked their Pokedexes to their Pokegears soon after they had received them, for mid-battle convenience.

Joe thought about it, then looked down at Cyndaquil. “Timid, huh?” He knelt down, started stroking its back, then remembering the fire and petting its head instead. “I guess we ended up as the perfect match didn’t we? Neither of us like the attention we’re getting.” He smiled for the first time since the ceremony. “But you heard the Professors. “We’re the best New Bark Town has to offer.”

Oak had made a powerful closing at the end of the ceremony that Joe only just now understood. He had told the three of them, “Your own Pokemon legends are about to unfold.” He had called them legends.

He couldn’t burn out like this.

He stood and put away the Pokeball, without returning Cyndaquil. “Let’s go!” They ran out together.


After Joe returned, the party went much like it was planned. The adults commented on Nick finally pursuing a life outside of the town, questioned Sam on what this journey meant for her apprenticeship. Joe tried to give straight answers when adults asked how he was holding together. He couldn't remember anyone else seeming insecure when they got the chance to leave. At least, not when they were still in town.

But the hardest part was explaining the battle. Sam tried to explain what had happened as carefully as possible, while Nick expertly edited out Braiden's involvement. Joe was asked about the victory during the other's description. Sam laughed, saying that Joe and Cyndaquil were the ones who did most of the work. Cyndaquil was the only one who hadn't leveled during the battle, so they had to work even than the others. Nick called him the "Bane of the Spearow" at one point.

The other kids in town were a riot. The younger ones asked the group to show off their Pokemon, while Nick took the older ones outside to give them battling tips. Most of the kids ended up watching as Nick started up the Bulbadrone, and gave the children a chance to battle. Nick explained it so carefully that most of them ended up beating all four Pokemon.

The only Joe wished he had done was talk to his mother. As the party started to die down, Joe had tried to get a word in with her. But every time he tried to get near her, someone pulled him away to get a picture with him and Cyndaquil, or ask him to show off his Pokemon's moves one last time.

He went upstairs to get some time alone. Too much had happened all at once over the past day. He had woken up being the younger brother of the kid finally leaving home, but now he was the one going with. He sat on his bed, not remembering when he fell asleep.

Route 29
The next day was day one of their training journey. Joe hadn’t even realized that he had gotten up at the crack of dawn, until he looked up at the clock. 5:00. Joe wondered if Nick got up at this time to prepare for the journey. Was he also preparing his brother by waking him? Joe decided not to ask.

They had barely left town when Nick suggested that Joe battled him. He was sporting that same grin, but now he had another gimmick: spinning one of his Pokeballs on his finger. He stared at Joe, his eyes drilling into him, wondering if he would perform as well as he did against Sneasel (which was in Joe’s Pokedex) or bomb again, like in the simulation (Pidgey, Rattata, and the others were registered, and it thought he had caught Bulbasaur). Joe could see he was expecting an easy win.

“Sure.”

Nick frowned. “Wait… you’re doing it?”

Joe smiled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t. Unless you think I can’t compare to all this,” he said, gesturing at Nick.

Nick closed his eyes and shrugged. “Anything is possible, I guess.” He opened his eyes and drew his Pokeball. “Well, almost anything. I highly doubt you’ll beat me.”

Typical Nicholas.

The battle screens appeared on the Pokegear again. Nick sent out Chikorita, and Joe used Cyndaquil. Sam sat on a stump, sending out Totodile so it could watch. Nick said, “You get the first attack.” Joe told Cyndaquil to use Leer first, and the blue aura appeared around Chikorita’s sprite. But before he could even register it, Chikorita had ran headfirst into Cyndaquil. Joe told Cyndaquil to use Tackle, but Chikorita dodged easily.

Nick chuckled as he commanded another Tackle. “Not good enough, Joe. It is a good idea to use status moves, but make sure you’re not in immediate danger. And don’t let yourself get distracted.” Chikorita landed another Tackle. Then, it started to launch another attack, but tripped and hit the ground. Cyndaquil used Leer again, then launched its own Tackle. It hit, and Chikorita’s health bar depleted quite a bit. But Cyndaquil was still at a disadvantage.

Joe and Sam both winced as the attacks continued. Except for that one miss earlier, the battle was completely in Chikorita’s favor. But Cyndaquil was acting strange. It had been healed completely after the battle with Braiden, and0 Joe had already tried battling a imaginary opponents to get used to Cyndaquil’s highs and lows. Cyndaquil somewhat lazily launched another Tackle, which Chikorita easily dodged. What was wrong with Cyndaquil?

Joe was running out of ways to stretch the battle, so he tried looking at Tackle’s description to see if that was the problem. It didn’t directly help, but it gave him an idea. He pressed Cyndaquil’s icon, and the Pokedex came up. The entry was different, though: “It is timid and always curls up in a ball. If attacked, it flares its back for protection.” It was slightly more battle-oriented, which was perfect. He tapped on Chikorita. “Chikorita, the Leaf Pokemon. In battle, Chikorita waves its leaf around to keep the foe at bay. However, a sweet fragrance also wafts from the leaf, becalming the battling Pokémon and creating a cozy, friendly atmosphere all around.”

The entry was a slap in the face for Joe. He realized that, while he had thought Chikorita was battling harder, it was actually using its leaf to make Cyndaquil slower, less attentive. It was distracting Cyndaquil. Now, Nick’s warning, don’t get distracted, was slightly ironic.

Or was it? Was he hinting at his strategy, or making Joe less likely to check the Pokedex and find it?

“Cyndaquil, watch out! It’s making you not want to battle!” Cyndaquil immediately started looking around. Then, it suddenly stared at Chikorita’s leaf, figuring out what was happening.

Nick frowned, but he didn’t stopped now that his plan had fallen through. He commanded Chikorita to use Tackle, but now Cyndaquil was dodging attacks, and landing its own. But it wasn’t enough. The ploy had gone on too long, and Cyndaquil didn’t last long, leaving Nick on top.

He smiled and returned Chikorita to its Pokeball. “You won’t be able to succeed by battling like that, Joe,” he bragged.

“You set him up!” Sam shouted. She got up and stormed over to Nick. “Did you think he wouldn’t notice that Cyndaquil wasn’t battling well?”

“He certainly didn’t seem to notice for a while.”

“You told him not to get distracted… did you mean to pay attention to you, or ignore Chikorita’s Pokedex entry?” she asked.

“It’s his fault for not noticing.”

Joe walked between them. “Guys, please don’t fight. It was a good battle.” He turned to Nick. “That being said, try not to con me like that.”

Nick shrugged. “I was not conning you. Chikorita’s leaf emits that odor as a defense mechanism, not a cheap trick.”

“But it is a cheap trick to tell us that you were trying to make me ignore my resources.” Joe argued.

“I needed to teach you a lesson, and that was the easiest way to do so.”

“Wow.” Sam stared coldly at Nick as she shouted, “You’d think that having this responsibility would at least make you act like you care about what happens to your brother!”

“I do care,” he replied, still not raising his voice. “If I wasn’t here to show him how the world works, he wouldn’t even make it to Cherrygrove City.”

Joe walked away. He had had enough of Nick, and he was just about ready to leave him behind. But he didn’t even make it four steps before Nick called out, “You forgot to heal your Pokemon!” Joe turned back, and his brother walked up. “You won’t get anywhere with a fainted Pokemon.”

Reluctantly, he followed Sam back to the town. Nick smiled, turned, and walked further to the west.

As they left, all three of them failed to notice four figures, silently watching them through the trees…

 

[Legacy]

Hey I just started reading, but I really enjoyed the first chapter. Great description and prose that make it easy to read. A few typos and things but nothing major. I'm also really intrigued by the inventions element. Watch your POV as you write to make sure you don't jump around too much. Overall, very well written and I am excited to see where you take this.

 

[AceTrainer14]

Hello. So finally got around to reading this, and I must say that I am impressed. I can tell your a new writer, but you've got a nice, original enough take on the journey concept and a solid grasp of your characters already. The concept of the adopted older brother and the younger brother traveling and semi-facing off is a nice addition, and already you can tell there is going to be tension - especially around the father leaving as a result. The addition of the battle bot was a nice touch, but I was sad to see it wasn't featured after the second chapter: it's such an intriguing idea it would be a real shame to let it go to waste. There were also some really nice descriptions, such as Joe's bag scraping bark off the tree - that was a really touch that blew me away by how subtle it was.

Though it's a great start, there are some general areas you could improve moving forwards:
- There are times when Joe comes across as much older than the eight/nine years old he is. I know he must have to be mindful of his adopted, more erratic brother, but some word choices (i.e. "If I know Nick") come across as a bit generic so there were points in the middle chapters I was a bit confused as to his age. Be mindful of that when writing and try to play up the age differences in your dialogue and descriptions.
- I would be careful of going too deep into cliches: Braiden and the "I read your file mwahaha, the professor will be happy teehehehe" stuff feels a bit hammy right now. When you develop, you should try to avoid falling for cliches such as turning the leads into mega important people that 'grown ups' are hunting them down before they have even done anything special. It can a bit of a stretch, so if the villains are hunting them down, make sure to give them clear reasons for doing so.
- Be careful of descriptions and PokeDex entries in tense scenes. Describing Samantha when a bomb has gone off is a bit distracting from the tension, and PokeDex descriptions during battles can interrupt the flow, especially if its against a proper foe.

My biggest piece of advice, something I wish I had known when starting out, is to take your time. Don't be afraid to include lots of description, lots of internal thinking, dialogue, just take things nice and slow and let the story flow naturally. This quote in particular stood out:

The party had ended on a good note with Joe returning. Nick welcomed Joe back as soon as they saw each other. Most would think that Nick was showing affection for his brother. Many residents of New Bark Town came in to give them one last hurrah, especially Joe for overcoming the age barrier. Joe had finally embraced the coming journey, enough to only give a slightly dubious stare when Nick announced him as the “Bane of the Spearow.” The nickname stuck.

That's a lot in one short paragraph, a lot that goes ignored. Why wasn't Nick showing affection for Joe? Why is the nickname only mentioned once? Who was at the party, what did it look like, what does their mother look like, how does she feel about them leaving?

I am really intrigued by this story though and can't wait to see what happens next. I think you've got some great ideas here and there's a lot of set up I'm looking forward to seeing pay off. If you want any more advice, feel free to send me a message as I'm here to help.

Also, remember to read our Welcome Hub for all the main links, such as the Workshop Directory

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 6: Preparation
New Bark Town

Joe sent out Cyndaquil as soon as he left the Professor’s lab. It had taken nearly an hour for Elm to switch priorities to fixing his healing machine, but now Cyndaquil was at perfect health. Sam had stayed with Joe to keep him company, but Joe was pretty sure she was secretly making sure he didn’t slump like he did in the forest. At, the moment, though, she was taking care of some things with the Professor, so Joe had a bit of time to himself.

Joe looked down at his Pokemon. It was staring up at him again. “What?”

“Cynda.”

Joe threw his hands in the air dramatically. “This again?” He sat down, getting closer to Cyndaquil’s level. “You did really good out there.”

Cyndaquil seemed to brighten up with the praise. “Cynda cyndaquil!”

Joe started petting the Pokemon again. Cyndaquil moved closer, leaned against Joe’s leg. For that one moment, Joe managed to forget the stress pushing him on all sides.

“If Nick wouldn’t have cheated, you would have won,” Joe assured his Pokemon. Cyndaquil looked up at him again. “You almost did, even with that disadvantage. And you beat Team Rocket, too.”

Joe looked up to see Sam walking out of the lab. They smiled when they saw each other, and Joe shouted, “Hey, there you are!” Cyndaquil ignited its back defensively when it heard the sudden noise, and it took a few seconds for Joe to realize that his pants had caught fire.

Joe jumped up, quickly emptying his bag as he stood, and started smacking the flames uselessly with it. Cyndaquil squealed and ran circles around Joe’s legs. Sam put her face into her hand, sending out Totodile with her free arm and commanding a Water Gun. Totodile forcefully shot water in every direction, drenching everybody.

Cyndaquil stopped running, and Joe put his bag back on. They exchanged a quick look. Then, both of them started laughing. Sam returned Totodile, rolled her eyes, and tried to get Joe’s attention. Failing to do so, she was forced to wait until he calmed down.

Joe finally stopped laughing. “Good one, Cyndaquil.”

“Quil Cynda!” it shouted.

Sam took her opportunity. “Maybe we should put on dry clothes?” she suggested.

“Yeah, I think walking back out of town soaked like this wouldn’t be that good.” Joe waved at her as he turned to his house, Cyndaquil trying to keep up.


Joe wasted no time once he got home. His mother merely gave him a surprised look as he dashed upstairs into his room.

As he put on dry clothes, he realized how much he had under-packed. Nick had rushed all three of them out to the route, not leaving any time for much else.

Joe got out a black, rolling carry-on back and opened it on the floor. As he ran around the room getting a change of clothes, Joe grabbed a camping set his brother had bought him--tent, sleeping bag, spare bottles of water, a canteen with a built-in water purifier, and several other supplies.

He also decided to take the alarm. Nick had built it to function on solar power, to beep as soon as it caught light. In case storms were expected for early morning, it also saved energy for up to two weeks. Joe had originally thought it was a bit much, but now he had that feeling again, that this was another sneaky way to prepare him for the journey.

Yet, with the battles his brother had challenged Joe to fight, Nick seemed to be waiting for him to fail. Joe had never pretended to understand his brother, but why would Nick try to help him so much, but put him down so often?

Joe eventually decided to put on a red T-shirt and blue jeans. He put on a pair of sneakers, but packed boots and sandals just in case. Then, he grabbed a black down jacket. Winter was coming fast, and it would start getting cold in southern Johto. He also had warmer clothing and a cap, just in case he managed to stretch this journey into warmer days.

Joe put more and more into the carry-on bag, then sat on the bed, letting out a sigh of relief. For the first time, he was glad he had lost. He wouldn’t have made it very far with one set of clothes and nowhere to sleep..

“Cynda cyndaquil!” Joe turned his attention to the Pokemon. It had dug its head into Joe’s bag, and was pulling out several shirts and pairs of shorts.

“What are you doing?” Joe pulled Cyndaquil out of the bag, then looked down at it. Even with half the clothes being pulled out, it was overstuffed. “I packed too much, didn’t I?”

“Cynda.”

Joe glared playfully at Cyndaquil. “What does that mean? You keep saying that.”

Cyndaquil dug its head into the bag again, and Joe started putting the spare clothes back into his closet. He decided to pack only three extra sets, and put the boots back.

Joe looked back and noticed that Cyndaquil was stuck in the bag. It was trying to pull something out, but it was making no progress. With a dubious look on his face, he wrapped his arms around Cyndaquil and pulled. Cyndaquil felt the tension, and added its own strength. The bag the camping set was in flew out of the bag, the remainder of the bag’s contents spilling out onto the floor. The set itself continued straight into Joe’s chest, knocking him to the ground. He sat up, and started laughing again.

Right about then, Joe saw his mother approach the doorway.

Annie McShire often watched videos of Pokemon Contents, and her biggest pet peeve was people who used cute Pokemon in a beauty contest. Joe had heard her joke with Nick that “cute” Pokemon made you look twice; “beautiful” Pokemon were impossible to look away from in the first place.

After hearing that, Joe had considered his mother “beautiful.” She had shoulder-length, dark brown hair that naturally formed small waves as it cascaded down. She wore simple dresses and comfortable shoes; she dressed fancy only when she needed to. Her warm hazel eyes and maternal smile made her impossible to hate. The adults in the town often joked that her husband had left because there was no way anybody deserved a woman like that.

Annie looked mildly worried at her son. “What was that noise?”

“Pulled out the camping set a bit too hard.” He smiled at his mother. “I could have been changing, mom.”

“You had your door wide open.” The smile on her face and hint of laughter in her voice didn’t come like Joe expected. She walked in a few steps. “Why are you back so soon?”

“Well, Cyndaquil fainted, so I came back to heal it, and... “ He trailed off, noticing that he had no clue where Cyndaquil was. “Cyndaquil?”

The Pokemon popped up out of a pile of clothes. It had somehow gotten stuck in one of Joe’s shirts. Joe laughed as he pulled it off, and turned back to Annie.

Annie was softly crying.

Joe got up and walked to his mother. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

“It’s really happening,” she said softly. “I knew it would happen, that you would leave me one day, but…” She sniffled. “It wasn’t supposed to happen so soon.”

“Mom…” Joe hugged his mother. “I… I didn’t mean to…”

“No,” she breathed. “It’s okay.”

They stood there crying for several minutes, before Joe stepped back. “I need to finish packing.”

He sat down, putting the camping set and alarm back into the bag. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up. Annie gave him a small box. “I came up here to give you this. You should take these.”

Joe opened it. Inside was a wallet, a photo, and a small red scarf. Joe opened the wallet to find a large sum of cash. “Where’d all this come from?” He couldn’t help worrying about money; Nick had taken a job as soon as possible to get funds for his workshop. Ever since, Joe had been very conscious about money; the P3000 in the wallet was more than he had ever seen in one place.

“I’ve been saving it for today.”

Joe looked back at the box, trying not to cry again. The photo was taken two years ago; it was a shot of Sam, Nick, and Joe smiling at the camera, dressed nicely for a festival they were attending in Cherrygrove City. Joe remembered that a wild Sentret had attacked the kids on the way to the city. Sam had freaked out, hiding behind Nick. Joe had imitated a Pidgeotto cry, which scared it off. Sam had asked for her apprenticeship as soon as she had gotten back to New Bark Town, vowing to study Pokemon so she was ready next time.

And the scarf…

It was a silk garment meant for a small child. Joe had been wearing it the first time he followed Nick onto Route 29, when Joe was about five years old. For reasons Joe couldn’t remember, Nick wanted to sketch a Sentret. Nick had quickly noticed he was being followed, but allowed Joe to sit with him and watch the Pokemon. Joe, not realizing the concept, tried to pet one of the Sentret. Nick tried to stop Joe, but the young child had somehow managed to calm down the Pokemon and play with it. Joe gave the Sentret the scarf, trying to make a new friend, before Nick showed him back to town.

Three days later, Nick had given the scarf back to Joe. Joe never learned how Nick had gotten it.

Joe couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Annie smiled for the first time that day.


Joe left happier than he thought he could have. His mother had been concerned, but she told him that having fun and learning was what mattered. Her only real worry had been Team Rocket; Annie was the only one Joe had told what really happened in the forest. She had warned him that they didn’t forget things easily.

Other than that, it was only the typical mother things, making sure he packed the right things, telling him to wash his clothes regularly. It was in his best interest to have clean underwear every day.

Joe met Sam back in the town square. He walked over to her, and set down the carry-on. “Sorry about that fiasco back there.”

“Don’t sweat it.” She eyed the bag suspiciously. “You’re gonna carry that the whole time?”

“It shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Better for me to have a little more than average than almost nothing.”

Cyndaquil looked up at Joe and shouted, “Quil!”

Joe sighed. “Cyndaquil doesn’t exactly agree with me,” Joe joked.

“How do you know that?” Sam asked.

Joe laughed. “I found Cyndaquil in a pile of clothes it pulled out of my bag. It’s safe to say it doesn’t agree with me.”

“It?”

Joe shrugged. “I… can’t tell if Cyndaquil is a boy or a girl.”

Sam smiled. “I almost see why Nick thinks you need so much help.” She walked over to him and pressed a Pokeball icon on her Pokegear. Information on Totodile popped up on both screens. “Party stats.” She pointed to a small blue symbol of an arrow pointing away from a circle. “Blue means boy, pink means girl.”

Joe, red with embarrassment, went to the menu Sam had pointed out. He found the pink circle attached to two crossed lines. Female.

Sam started laughing hysterically. “Think we should get going?”

Joe smiled again. “Race you to the route!” He grabbed the bag and ran, Cyndaquil following directly after him.

Sam didn’t even have time to ask Joe about the red scarf around Cyndaquil’s neck before he was gone.

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 7: Because Just Walking Out Would Be TOO Easy
Mahogany Town

Her brother wouldn’t like this. But, then again, that had never stopped Kara before, so why should it now?

Because you’ve never snuck out of town with a stolen Pokemon to go on a journey before, she told herself as she ran into the trees.

Borrowed, she thought. And besides, the guy never used it, so why should he care?

That doesn’t mean anything, she scolded.

Kara looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t see anyone, but long, bright red hair was easy to see, especially in the middle of the day. Her dress was catching on tree branches, and her boots could have been heard a mile away. And if that wasn’t bad enough, everyone in town would be looking for her.

But she also knew she didn’t have a choice.

She ducked behind a tree and listened. Wind whispered through the leaves, plucking several off the branches and carrying them away to the north. She could hear Spearow and Mankey crying in the distance, but neither would stand much of a chance against her.

She opened her purse, dug through the Super Potions and Ethers, eventually feeling the small object shoved under everything else. Kara pulled out the Pokeball, knocking the medicine out as she retracted her hand. She quickly reloaded her bag so that nobody would see the scattered items, then firmly pressed the button on the Pokeball.

Locked.

Well, of course it’s locked, you idiot! she thought. Kara had completely forgotten that Pokeballs had fingerprint scanners encoded on the buttons. You could only open the Pokeball and use the Pokemon inside if you were the one who caught the Pokemon.

Usually, Kara reminded herself. If the Pokemon wanted to come out, the system would be overridden. And she knew this Pokemon; she knew exactly how to draw it out.

She stood, Pokeball held firmly in her right hand, and ran.


Route 42
Kara stood at the edge of the trees, looking out onto the route. From here on out, her life would either get a lot better, or a lot worse, very quickly and completely irreversibly. She had taken a lot of risks for a twelve-year-old girl, but this blew them out of the water, quite literally.

She scanned the path ahead, taking in the terrain. A herd of Mareep and Flaaffy meandered across the open valley, and a flock of Spearow flew overhead. A large lake cut through directly in front of her between the mountains on both sides. If you wanted to cross Route 42, you would need to use a Pokemon to cross the two lakes that cut the valley into three, or travel through Mount Mortar. Both would be possible, if she could get the Pokeball open.

She looked again to see if she was being followed. Aside from the Mareep herd, nothing moved. She had escaped the authorities, for now.

STOP! the part of her that knew how insane this was tried to tell her. The orphanage will be the least of your worries if this doesn’t work out!

The orphanage will be the least of my worries if this DOES work out, she told herself confidently. Then she ran.

The Mareep herd turned and looked at her as she dashed out of the trees, and Kara thought she heard one of the Flaaffy growl. CAN they growl? she asked herself.

Concentrate, she muttered in her head.

Kara had often heard that she was the nicest, sweetest girl in Johto, but her intentions were never pure. Kara disagreed. She had hung on to a Tauros at a competition in the National Park for forty-five seconds, slept in Mount Mortar for three days in a row on a bet, and countless other reckless things to help her brother keep food in their bellies and a roof over their heads.

And her brother was the reason she was doing this. If she could pull this off, she would prove she could take care of herself, and all of her brother’s problems would be solved.

Your brother would have stopped you from doing this, the good side of her said in a last, desperate attempt to talk her out of this.

My brother would laugh his head off when he saw me pull this off, the reckless part argued.

She tried to keep the fantasy of her brother’s pride in her mind as she sprang into the air. The ground stopped, giving way to sky-blue water under her feet. The Pokemon had all but forgotten her by now, but she would capture their attention again when she hit the surface of the lake.

Her Pokegear beeped. Her brother was calling.

She didn’t have time to react before the water swallowed her, dragging her down. She quickly pushed her head back above the surface, and started swimming towards the opposite shore. She wouldn’t make it, but she was counting on that.

She took an extra second to answer the phone. “Kara Williams, at your service.”

“What are you doing?” her brother’s voice responded. She didn’t have the new model that came with video chat; there was no way she could have afforded it.

She knew he could hear the sound of the waves, but she had prepared for that. “I’m swimming at the lake.” Not exactly a lie, but not what her brother would have guessed. He would think that she was in the Lake of Rage, where there was plenty of supervision.

“Yeah, the lake on Route 42!” her brother shouted. Kara stayed silent in shock, and he continued, “What in the world are you--?”

“I’m thinking about you laughing your head off,” she quipped, cutting off her brother. She couldn’t help but notice that he was not laughing. “Why do you think I’m on 42?”

“The tracker.”

Kara had completely forgotten that her brother had implanted a homing device into her Pokegear after their parents disappeared. He hadn’t put down the receiving end once they were presumed dead.

“Look, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this,” Kara said, mainly to stall. She was a strong swimmer, but the current would get far too fast for her soon enough.

She had barely finished when she heard a tremendous crash behind her. She turned her head to see a massive blue beast erupt from the water. Anyone would recognize the serpentine body, the glaring eyes, the gaping mouth with horrendously sharp-looking fangs inside.

Gyarados. Terror of the seas, able to destroy entire cities in a matter of minutes. Staring at her as if it had found its next meal.

“A reasonable explanation that I will give to you as soon as possible,” Kara managed to say before dropping the call.

This is why you should have stayed in town, she thought.

On the bright side, she argued, the orphanage is the least of my worries now.

That was the last thing to cross her mind before the Gyarados lunged.

 

[Dark Terminator 2901]

Chapter 8: There Are Better Times to Think about Litten
Route 42

The funny thing was, Kara would have bet against her chances right now. You don’t escape a Gyarados in water.

Well, tell that to Kara.

At the last second, Kara dove underwater, barely escaping the Pokemon’s gaping mouth. She felt the displaced water from Gyarados’s charge threatening to push her away, the natural current dragging her out, her own dress weighing her down.

The dress was a stupid idea, Kara thought as she tried to break the surface again before Gyarados inevitably turned around.

I had to wear it. People needed to think I wanted to talk to the guy from the orphanage.

Well, right now it’s about as useful as a Litten.

Don’t downplay Litten. Those things are adorable.

Kara noticed right about then that Gyarados was turning around, as if it had just noticed it didn’t have a mouthful of human. She swam with the current to gain speed, dodging again. She pushed her head back above water, but she knew it wouldn’t help much. She tried the button on the Pokeball again. Nothing.

Gyarados lunged again, and Kara tried to break to the left slightly too late. One of Gyarados’s fangs cut through the bottom of her dress, somehow missing her legs.

Kara wished she hadn’t had this idea. She hadn’t expected anything like this, just a simple walk to Ecruteak City. All she wanted now was to crawl into her bed, calmly petting a Litten as she fell asleep.

STOP THINKING ABOUT LITTEN!! she shouted at herself in desperation.

Gyarados started turning again. The current was getting too strong for Kara to swim against. Gyarados was getting ready to charge again, and she didn’t think that she could escape again.

Gyarados started to swim forward, and time seemed to slow down as Kara threw her hands defensively in front of her face, as if that would offer any sort of protection. She dropped the Pokeball, completely forgetting about it.

Perhaps that was what saved her life.

As soon as the Pokeball hit the water, it popped open, the sound and flash startling the Gyarados enough for it to veer off to the left. The light converged on front of Kara, solidifying into a blue-and-white Pokemon about the size of a toddler. It had large, rabbit-like ears, and a long, zigzagging tail ending in a blue ball.

Kara smiled at the Azumarill in front of her. “Hey there, Azu!” she tried to say cheerfully.

Azu looked extremely disconcerted, which Kara could understand. His real owner was an old man living near Kara in Mahogany Town, and he had never taken his Pokemon out of town. Now, Azu was in a small lake he had likely never seen before in its life, with a half-drowned Kara smiling weakly at him as she tried to keep her head above water..

“Rill?” it asked, and Kara couldn’t tell what it was thinking. It could have translated anywhere from “Where am I?” to “What pushed you to do this?” She had no idea how much Azu knew about the last few hours, and she wasn’t looking forward to learning.

Hey, aren’t I forgetting something? she asked herself. She looked past Azu to see the Gyarados sizing up the new addition to the scenario. It roared and charged the smaller Pokemon.

Azu turned and squeaked loudly, noticing the Gyarados, then swam furiously towards it. He quickly scaled the creature, then pushed its head underwater and held it there, while slamming his tail into Gyarados’s back. Kara tried to cheer on Azu as he used the Play Rough attack, but ended up with a mouthful of water and had to stop.

Azu jumped off of the Gyarados and landed in the water. He swung his tail, throwing a massive amount of water in Gyarados’s face. Kara almost stopped panicking, until she realized that Gyarados was unfazed. It used Bite, but Azumarill intercepted with another Aqua Tail, then launched another Play Rough.

Kara, out of all the feelings she could have felt right then, felt sorry for Gyarados. She had never planned on attacking it; she only wanted Azu to get her out of the water. Granted, it had tried to eat her, and was probably still thinking about it, but still.

For all the problems Kara faced regularly, she considered Pokemon one of the best parts of her life, and couldn’t stand hurting them for no real reason. It was completely against her morals to fight a Pokemon, then leave it for whatever happened next.

That was the only reason she had not become a Pokemon Trainer as soon as she hit ten years old, like every kid on the planet seemed to want to do. Life was getting dull, and starting a journey would prevent her from getting trapped in some orphanage in Goldenrod until adulthood. But fighting innocent Pokemon just wasn’t worth it.

Seriously? she asked herself.

Hey, I’m invading its territory, she argued. It’s trying to defend itself.

By eating you.

That’s no reason to attack it until it can’t do anything!

So don’t.

She suddenly realized what her mind was suggesting, and reached into her purse. Water cascaded in as she dug through it, but she didn’t have time to care. She finally drew out a standard Pokeball, and closed the bag. She slowly advanced on the Gyarados, lined up a shot, and started to throw the ball.

As she moved her arm, though, the clasp on her bag’s strap snapped under the extra weight of the water inside. She reached for it with her free hand, but missed and could do nothing but watch it sink.

And that’s why you don’t overpack, she told herself.

Oh, well. Azu can get it once the battle ends.

What if you miss Gyarados? You only have one Pokeball.

Deciding not to think about that one, Kara looked at the Gyarados and Azumarill pathetically wrestling in the water, then chucked the Pokeball in the general direction of the Gyarados.

It fell short, skipping over the water and stopping much closer to Gyarados, but not hitting it.

Gyarados turned, and must have pieced together what was happening. It tried to swim toward Kara, but its progress was severely hindered by Azu, who was still hanging on and hitting it between the eyes with Aqua Tail.

Kara swam forward toward the Pokeball. The current was on her side, but Gyarados was closer. She knew that being closer to it was the only way she could even come close to catching it, despite how risky it was. But she hated the alternative.

You shouldn’t have done this, her mind scolded. You should have stayed in Mahogany Town and let fate happen.

No, she argued. A forced life is not my fate.

Kara screamed in agony. The stress was unimaginable, and her muscles were beyond tired from hours of running and swimming. Gyarados was getting closer, and Kara’s only chance was getting dimmer and dimmer with every passing second. And random thoughts of Litten were still plaguing her mind.

But it was right in front of her…

Kara stretched her arm as far as she could.

And felt the metal on her fingertips.

Overflowing with relief, she pushed forward one more time and latched her hand onto the Pokeball. She looked up, and Gyarados was right in front of her. She screamed again, more in rage than anything else, and threw the Pokeball as the Pokemon’s mouth engulfed her.

Not a moment too soon, Gyarados turned into a cast of red energy, sinking into the Pokeball.

Before she could register that she had almost been eaten alive, she heard a squeal directly above her. Just as she looked up, Azu fell directly on Kara’s head, knocking them both underwater.

Kara wasn’t sure if it was shock, fatigue, or the Azumarill falling on her, but she passed out just after that.