^-^" This is my first time posting a story, so forgive me if I've done something wrong. This story is rated G and I just started writing it a few days ago.
Chapter One: Kuro Sets Out! Viridian, Here I Come!
I guess I should have known it was coming. After all, I had always been told that I was quite mature for my age, and my parents loved to spoil me with gifts. They knew Pokemon had fascinated me since I was only a baby. They let me leave the house whenever I liked to go play with our neighbor’s Pokemon. My parents didn’t like Pokemon in the house because they were afraid they’d ruin something, so all my life I’d never had a pet. I'd rely on the old woman next door to play with her Pokemon. She only had one, but it was very fun. It was called a Mr. Mime, but she had nicknamed it Mimie. I came over to her house countless times since I was young just to see Mimie. I wasn’t sure of the woman’s first name, but she always asked me to call her Ms. Ketchum. Ms. Ketchum’s hair was extremely light since I had seen her when I was little, and even Mimie’s hair was graying.
On a day where I was almost ten, my mother suggested I go to old Ms. Ketchum's house to play with Mimie. I would be turning ten in less than a week. I left the house and rushed over to the her house. The first thing I did was knock on the door and wait for her to answer it. She did and escorted me to where Mimie was cleaning. He was vacuuming up the main hallway.
“Oh my,” Ms. Ketchum smiled. “I guess Mimie’s a little busy right now. Would you mind sitting with me in the den, dear?”
I nodded and we walked over to a tiny living room she called a den. We sat on a big couch that was set near a wall of the room. I wasn’t really sure of what to say; usually I would just come in and play with Mimie, but now that he was busy, I had to make conversation with Ms. Ketchum. What was I supposed to talk about? Nothing was going on in my life because it was the summer time and school was out. I didn’t have any friends to talk about, either.
“So,” Ms. Ketchum started, which startled me a little. “Your mother tells me you’re going to be turning ten very soon. How does that feel?”
“Okay, I guess,” I shuffled my feet, which couldn’t quite reach the carpet beneath the couch. “I probably won’t feel any different than how I usually feel when I turn a new age.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Ms. Ketchum replied. “You like Pokemon a lot, don’t you, Kuro?”
Right away I was confused. Ms. Ketchum never spoke like that to me before, she was always a sweet old woman that did nothing more than speak to me as if I was a very young child and offer me sweet food, like cookies. Now she was speaking to me as if she was about to tell me something really important, something I didn’t know. I guess now that I looked at it, it seemed logical. Elderly people were supposed to be full of wisdom, so what more was I to expect?
“Yeah, of course I like Pokemon, Ms. Ketchum,” I answered her. “But the only Pokemon I’ve actually seen face-to-face is Mimie. I’ve seen the rest in picture books and stuff.”
“You don’t have to rely on Mimie and picture books,” Ms. Ketchum kept speaking wisely. “You have options now that you’re going to be turning ten.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked slightly rudely, as I forgot to call her by her name that time. “What’s so special about turning ten?”
Ms. Ketchum smiled. “Kuro, you can travel and meet new Pokemon you haven’t come face-to-face with yet. You can capture them and train them, like how you see it done on the Stadiums on TV.” After seeing the still-confused look on my face, she continued. “Kuro, the bottom line is, when you turn ten you are legally eligible to become a Pokemon trainer. You get a starting Pokemon and then you get to travel all over Kanto, catching and training Pokemon and making them stronger.”
“You mean…” I was immediately shocked. “Those trainers battling in stadiums on TV…they all started out when they were ten? They all started out with one Pokemon and had to catch all the ones they own?”
Ms. Ketchum nodded. “Of course! Trainers have to start somewhere. Did you know that this town has its own professor that hands out three different Pokemon each year to beginning trainers? His name is Professor Elm. He’s also the professor for a small town in Johto called New bark Town. That’s his hometown, anyway. He’s very rarely here in Pallet Town because it’s so far away from New bark. But he’s coming over here next week to give three trainers their three Pokemon. He always does during the summer. It’s required for all Pokemon professors to give away the traditional three starting Pokemon once per year to introduce three new trainers who are of legal age. Anyone above age ten can just get their trainer’s license after taking a test at the DOL, but if you start when you’re ten, you don’t need to take a test!”
“Wow, this all makes so much sense all of a sudden, Ms. Ketchum,” I said, still in quite a bit of shock.
“Please, call me Delia,” she smiled. “Anyway, Kuro...I have decided to enroll you to receive your Pokemon license and your first Pokemon from Professor Elm. He’ll be here exactly on your tenth birthday to give you your Pokemon. He’s giving two other kids their first Pokemon as well. And I think you’re ready. And don’t you worry, your parents have given me permission.”
On my tenth birthday, I walked to the large building I had always been able to see from the large window in my room. I’d never bothered asking about the building, but now I was walking into it. The double doors swung open automatically, and inside was an enormous room with a yellow tile floor. Surprisingly, the place had been kept quite clean. I found that unusual since it was only visited once per year, according to what Ms. Ketchum told me.
Right away I noticed a very, very old man in a wheelchair. He looked to be about Delia’s age. He wheeled over to me automatically and smiled. “Ah, you must be Kuro! You’re the first to arrive, so you get to pick out your Pokemon. It’s first come, first serve. You can choose between one of these three.” He pointed to a small table in the back with three Poke Balls placed neatly on them. “Go ahead, open them.”
Without uttering even a word to him, I walked to the table and grabbed the first Pokeball. I pressed the white button so the ball grew bigger, and then tossed it lightly at the tile floor. A bright pinkish-red light flashed as soon as the ball broke open in two, taking the form of something very short and stout. When the light went away, a Pokemon was in its place. What was it?
“Here,” Professor Elm handed me a small red device. “This is an original, yet enhanced PokeDex. Use it to identify Pokemon and store your sightings of them.”
I took it from him and flipped it open. Automatically a blue button flashed and a picture on the screen showed the exact Pokemon that was before my eyes. The PokeDex spoke to me in an advanced woman’s voice. “Bulbasaur – The Seed Pokemon. Bulbasaur is a Grass and Poison Pokemon. The mothers of Bulbasaur plant a strange seed on this Pokemon’s back. As the Pokemon grows, so does the seed. Energy is stored on the bulb of its back so that they can go days without eating. The bulb is also filled with very important nutrients-“
“You may want to shut that thing off after a while,” Professor Elm spoke over the voice of the PokeDex. “It tends to get annoying.”
“Right,” I shut it off. “So now it’s automatically stored that I’ve seen a Bulbasaur?”
“That’s correct,” he replied. “Now I suggest you hurry up and pick which Pokemon you want to have, I need to get going here soon and the two others will be here any minute.”
“Bulba bulba!” I jumped at the Bulbasaur’s raspy voice. Quickly I picked up the next PokeBall and tossed it out. As the light faded away, out popped yet another Pokemon, but this one was orange.
“Char?” It blinked up at me. It looked like a small salamander walking on his hind legs, with fire at the end of his tail! I opened up the PokeDex.
“Charmander – The Lizard Pokemon. Steam is said to come out from the top if it’s tail when it rains, as it prefers hot places. In quiet places, the fire at the end of the tail makes a faint noise. If it is weak, the flame-“
I shut the PokeDex off and picked up the next PokeBall. After the laser-like light vanished, there was a blue turtle-like Pokemon in its place. “Squirtle!” It looked friendly, like the Charmander. I took out my PokeDex. “Squirtle – The Tiny Turtle Pokemon. At birth, the back hardens and forms a shell. To keep from danger, Squirtle tend to-“
After shutting the PokeDex a final time, I took a look at all three. There was Bulbasaur, the weird, aggressive-looking Pokemon with the raspy voice. Then there was the adorable Charmander with the cute, high-pitched voice. Lastly, there was the cute Squirtle with an even raspier voice than Bulbasaur.
“I’ll take the Charmander!” I said eagerly. How could I resist? He was so cute! Besides, I thought I liked Fire better than the other types.
“Alright, I have a lot of explaining to do, so listen up,” Professor Elm spoke hastily. “I don’t know what that old woman, Delia, told you, but I don’t own this Pokemon Laboratory. I just own the one in New Bark Town. The professor who owns this place, Professor Oak, asked me to come here and give out the three Pokemon today because he’s extremely busy taking care of the Pokemon at this lab, in the back. Now, you must keep your PokeDex and don’t ever loose it! Although your insurance does cover any loss or damage of your PokeDex, your PokeDex has your license inside it and it’s difficult to do most anything without your license. You must also wear this backpack at all times. It carries everything you need on your journey, including Pokeballs. I can only give you five Pokeballs other than the one containing your Charmander. You can only carry six Pokemon with you at a time. Any Pokemon you catch when you already have six with you will be sent to Professor Oak’s PC here at the lab, and you can contact him by video phone for transfers.”
I nodded and before I knew it, I was off with my new Charmander. As I left Pallet Town, I began to notice quite a bit of tall grass. I felt grateful I was wearing pants. I had been walking through the tall grass for quite some time before I began to feel something around my feet. I looked down and to my surprise, I had come face-to-face with yet another real live Pokemon!
“Ratta rat! Rattata!” It whined. I opened up my PokeDex. “Rattata – The Mouse Pokemon. It is quite a common sight in many areas. If sighted, you can be sure there are at last 40 more in the area. They bite anything when attacking and will chew on just about anything with-“
I shut the Dex off and pulled out Charmander’s Pokeball from my belt. I pressed the button and tossed it out, releasing Charmander. “Char char!”
“Charmander, attack that Rattata!” I pointed at the small purple rat running around crazily. It had large buckteeth and a curled tail.
“Charmander char!” Charmander stomped angrily at the Rattata. “Char char char!” He waved his arms around, calling for space to battle. I backed a few feet to give him room.
“Ratta! Rattata!” The Rattata screeched and narrowed his eyes at Charmander. It suddenly ran at Charmander, quickly gnawing at his leg. Charmander yelped and began hastily shaking his leg, trying to get Rattata off, but the little rat was clutching onto Charmander’s foot much too tightly.
“Charmander!” I called out, unsure of what to do. I’d never commanded a Pokemon before. “Get it on fire with your tail!”
On command, Charmander stopped shaking his foot and curled his tail around the left side of his body, getting the fiery tip up against Rattata’s back. As planned, Rattata screeched and jumped off Charmander, his back now completely on flames. Charmander and I watched as Rattata ran around in circles, yelping louder and louder. I noticed he was running slower and slower each time. Was he running out of energy? Finally, Charmander set his tail out in the trail of Rattata.
“Rat!” Rattata’s scurrying little legs fell to the trap of Charmander’s tail, and he tripped, landing in a skid on his belly.
“I think it’s weak enough, Charmander!” I called out from where I was. “Pokeball! Catch it!”
I reached over to my belt and pulled out a tiny Pokeball between my fingertips, hastily pressing the white button. I tossed the ball as high as I could, watching it almost magnetically drop down to hit Rattata on the back, whom had a large, black burn mark on it from the fire which was now put out.
“Did I catch it?” I whispered out loud as Charmander narrowed his eyes on the ball, which was twitching left and right, the button on the ball a glowing red color. We watched cautiously until the ball stopped moving and the button turned back to its natural white color calmly.
“Yeah, we did!” I jumped for joy. “Bring it here, Charmander! Good work! That was so great!”
Charmander picked up the ball containing Rattata with both hands and brought it to me. I pressed the button to make the ball smaller and put it in my belt. I then got out Charmander’s ball. “Return, Charmander. I’m really proud of you for catching Rattata for us, and you deserve a rest.”
After returning Charmander, I continued on my way through the tall grass. After a while my legs were really getting tired. I’d never been much of a person to work out, and my legs were feeling weaker with each step. That’s when I realized we were going uphill anyway.
“I wonder,” I spoke out loud, flipping out my PokeDex. “Does this thing have a map of Kanto?”
“Loading Kanto Map,” the PokeDex spoke and brought a very detailed map. “Currently Location – Route 1. Destination – Viridian City.”
“Viridian City?” I repeated. “That’s the nearest town?” I shut the PokeDex and looked ahead of me. Sure enough, there was a clear opening where the start of Viridian City was. “Almost there!”
“Coo! Coo! Coo! Coo!”
What was that? I looked up. “Birds!” I flipped out the PokeDex right away to see what it had to say about the birds I was seeing.
“Pidgey – The Tiny Bird Pokemon. Its types are Flying and Normal. This Pokemon is commonly found in forests. They kick up much sand from the ground to avoid being attacked. They don’t enjoy-” I quickly put away the PokeDex and released Charmander.
“Charmander, I think Rattata’s too weak to fight so I’m leaving this battle up to you,” I told him. “See those Pidgey up there? I want you to bring one of them down here so we can catch it!”
“Char charmander!” he grinned. “Char!” I was surprised to see him annoyingly wave his tail in the air at them, then pat his own butt. “Char charmander char, man man derrrrrrrrr!” He mocked, pulling down one of his eyelids and sticking his tongue out at the Pidgey above.
“What did you just say to them?” I asked nervously as a small Pidgey swooped down at Charmander’s head.
“Chaaaaaar!” Charmander covered his head and ran around in circles as the Pidgey pecked at him. This was getting nowhere!
“Charmander, quit running from it!” I ordered. “Face it like a real Pokemon and start swiping! Jump if it gets too high!”
Charmander swerved around, whipping around to face the Pidgey, his tail having curled around at hit Pidgey right in the face! The Pidgey glared angrily at Charmander and tried to take a flap at Charmander’s face, but he started scratching at Pidgey each time it flew near him, damaging the Pidgey’s wings. Suddenly, Charmander seemed to go through a fury, swiping without stopping. Even when the Pidgey hovered a little to avoid being attacked, Charmander would simple jump up and attack Pidgey some more until the Pidgey slowly fell lower and lower.
“Pid . . . gey,” the Pidgey was struggling to fly as Charmander was now whipping it with his tail.
“Stand back, Charmander,” I called out. “I think we’re ready to catch him! PokeBall, get it!” I threw out a new Pokeball.
This time I threw the Pokeball downward, but it still swept toward the Pidgey, whom was only a foot above ground. I guess the Pokeballs had minds of their own, like they knew what they were supposed to catch.
Pidgey let out a cry of pain as the ball hit him in the head. I watched carefully as the battered Pidgey turned into nothing more than a laser light and shrunk as it flashed inside the Pokeball. As soon as the ball closed, the button turned red and it started twitching left and right as it had down with Rattata. I waited anxiously, and then finally, the button went white and the ball’s movement seized.
“We did it again, Charmander!” I smiled. “You’re the best!”
Charmander nodded and smiled, picking up the PokeBall and cutely handing it to me. I pressed the button and put it back in my belt. “We’re almost at Viridian City. I’ll heal you there. Do you want to walk the rest of the way there? I don’t think we’ll be catching any more Pokemon until we get there, you’re probably pretty worn out by now, aren’t you?”
“Charmander!” he shook his head. “Char char!”
“Let’s go then,” I smiled, happy that the starting Pokemon I chose was so full of energy and willing to battle and help me catching more Pokemon.
We only walked in the tall grass for a bit longer until we reached a gate opening. Just passed the gate was the city of Viridian. It looked like a small town, like where I was from. In fact, I only saw three large buildings. One of them had a large “P” displayed on the front, so I walked to that one first.
Sliding glass doors opened for Charmander and I as we walked in, and I began to get nervous about Charmander being at my side. Were they allowed out of their PokeBalls inside buildings? But before I could return him, a woman behind a huge desk greeted me happily.
“Welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center,” she smiled widely. “I’m Nurse Joy and I’ll be happy to heal your Pokemon!”
“Oh,” I rushed up to the desk. “Hey great! Do you want them in our out of their PokeBalls?”
“If they’re small enough to fit through that opening in the wall, you can let them out. The ones that can’t fit through that will have to be put in PokeBalls and then opened up in the back room by our Chansey,” she answered.
I didn’t question what a Chansey was, but I brought out Rattata and Pidgey from their PokeBalls and set them on the stopped conveyor belt before me on the desk. They had their eyes shut and they weren’t moving. Rattata still had that horrible burn mark on his back and Pidgey’s feathers were more ruffled than ever. I carefully picked Charmander up, watching out for the tip of his tail and set him on the conveyor belt as well, just behind Pidgey and Rattata. Although Charmander could easily have gone through the opening standing up, he politely sat down.
“Oh, a Charmander!” Nurse Joy spoke. “You must be one of the new trainers! Yes, the boy with the Squirtle came by here hours ago. I believe his name was Kenoku. He looked in a hurry.
“Hours ago?” I repeated, looking to my watch. What time was it? “Ack, it’s already passed noon! I started out early this morning! I guess I really got into catching Pokemon.”
“If you huƲ« after we heal your Pokemon,” Nurse Joy replied. “You might be able to make it to Pewter City before night falls. You are permitted to sleep at the Pokemon Centers if you’re a legal trainer. Which reminds me, I’m going to need to see your license. I’ll enter it into the database so that every Pokemon Center in Kanto gets your license and then you won’t have to show it to every Center you end up in.”
“Oh, uh, here,” I pulled out my PokeDex and flipped it open for her. “By the way, ma’am, how much is this going to cost me? To get my Pokemon healed, I mean.”
“It’s free, of course,” Nurse Joy smiled. “All legal trainers get to do pretty much everything for free. You get free admission to all the best places for trainers, your Pokemon healed for free, free nights stayed in Pokemon Centers, and even free food for yourself and for your Pokemon here. Of course, restaurant food is usually nicer, but you don’t get food for free there. Most should have special discounts for Pokemon trainers, though. You barely have to pay for a thing.”
“Wow, if only I had known that sooner,” I laughed. “Hey, is there a Gym around here? I remember my PokeDex saying something about gyms in every main city in Kanto or something like that. Is that where Pokemon work out and train or something?”
To my surprise, Joy was laughing. “Oh no! There are eight Gyms in Kanto and you have to beat the Gym Leader of each gym to earn each Gym badge. Once you have all eight badges, you can battle in the Pokemon League, the one they show on TV. But yes, we do have a gym here.”
“Great!” I jumped. “I’ll go battle the Gym Leader as soon as my Pokemon are healed!”
“What?” Joy was laughing hysterically. “Oh no, this isn’t the first gym you’re supposed to battle at. In fact, it’s the last! The first one is in Pewter City, that’s the one you want. But I warn you, so far you don’t have any Pokemon that will do much damage to Flint’s Pokemon. He handles Rock and Ground Pokemon so your best bet would be to battle him against a Water Pokemon. The bad news is, you can’t get Water Pokemon anywhere from here to there unless you’d chosen Squirtle.
“Just great,” I sighed. “Oh well, we’ll figure out a way around it, I’m sure.”
Before we could continue the conversation further, a “bing” was heard. On the other side of the desk I noticed another opening, which was obviously where Pokemon were supposed to come out from. Above the opening was a little red light featuring a PokeBall. I noticed it had been glowing red the whole time my Pokemon were in there, and it was now its normal white color. The conveyor belt in front of me moved and my three Pokemon came out of the opening, in perfect health.
“There you are,” Nurse Joy smiled. “Oh, and I almost forgot! Here are some complementary stickers you can use to label the buttons of your PokeBalls so that you can tell one from the other.”
“Hey, thanks!” I smiled and returned Pidgey, Rattata, and Charmander to their PokeBalls. “I’ll see you sometime, then!”
“I really wish I could at least meet the Gym Leader of this city,” I spoke out loud to myself. “Maybe figure out what kind of Pokemon they use.”
“By the time you reach his gym, you’ll already have every Pokemon type,” a voice spoke behind me. “That’s how long it will take you.”
I turned around and jumped. “Ack! Who are you? Don’t you know it’s rude to sneak up on people like that?” I noticed it was a woman whom was probably in her thirties. She only smiled at my remarks.
“I’m terribly sorry, but you were speaking, so I answered,” she explained. “Professor Oak is the leader of that gym. He’s always terribly busy taking care of the Pokemon at his laboratory he rarely has time to train his Pokemon in there, the poor guy. Oh! By the way, my name is Susie. Susie II, that is. I was named after my aunt Susie by my father, Timmy.”
“Ah,” I muttered, not really caring to know her name. “Professor Oak must be a preppy busy guy, huh? He hosts my Pokemon but I haven’t even seen his face yet. A Gym Leader and Professor, wow.”
“Yes, well,” she shrugged off my talk. “My brother, Tommy II, is the gym leader of Pewter City. He has been since our father, Timmy, was killed. It’s a very long story, but it’s pretty interesting. We have a long heritage of working with the gym.”
“Tell me all about it,” I yawned. Surprisingly, however, the Susie person kept talking, probably thinking I had been serious.
“Finally someone who’s interested!” She clapped. I noticed she was wearing a frilly pink dress. “Well, the first to own the gym was my uncle, Brock. Then he had to leave with The Champion to become a world famous breeder, just like he’d always wanted to be. That left my grandpa, Flint, to be the gym leader. After he died of very old age, his son, Tommy took over. You see, my grandpa had eleven kids, but Brock had been the oldest. Anyway, Tommy was a really good Gym Leader, and he got married long ago and had my brother, Timmy II, and me. He died just a few years ago, so since then, my brother has been the Gym Leader. Apparently Timmy and Susie were the names of some of my dad’s brothers and sisters. There were loads more, though! I think another one of my aunts was Susie.”
I almost fell asleep from boredom. “Peachy. I have to run.”
And run I did. I ran straight out of Viridian City and into another place where there was tall grass. Even when I felt the Rattata scurrying around my feet or heard Pidgey cooing above me, I didn’t stop. I finally stopped at what looked like a small rest area up ahead.
“Thank god,” I was breathing heavily, thankful to be away from that creepy and annoying girl. “Let’s see. . . . Where is this place?”
“This is the beginning of Viridian Forest, of course,” said a familiar voice behind me. “And it’s the only way to get to Pewter City where you can battle my brother. He’s really strong, though!”
I turned around furiously. “How did you get up here so fast? I ran all the way here! Oh never mind, I’d better get going before the sun sets.”
“Good luck!” she called out to me just as I was entering the forest.
Chapter One: Kuro Sets Out! Viridian, Here I Come!
I guess I should have known it was coming. After all, I had always been told that I was quite mature for my age, and my parents loved to spoil me with gifts. They knew Pokemon had fascinated me since I was only a baby. They let me leave the house whenever I liked to go play with our neighbor’s Pokemon. My parents didn’t like Pokemon in the house because they were afraid they’d ruin something, so all my life I’d never had a pet. I'd rely on the old woman next door to play with her Pokemon. She only had one, but it was very fun. It was called a Mr. Mime, but she had nicknamed it Mimie. I came over to her house countless times since I was young just to see Mimie. I wasn’t sure of the woman’s first name, but she always asked me to call her Ms. Ketchum. Ms. Ketchum’s hair was extremely light since I had seen her when I was little, and even Mimie’s hair was graying.
On a day where I was almost ten, my mother suggested I go to old Ms. Ketchum's house to play with Mimie. I would be turning ten in less than a week. I left the house and rushed over to the her house. The first thing I did was knock on the door and wait for her to answer it. She did and escorted me to where Mimie was cleaning. He was vacuuming up the main hallway.
“Oh my,” Ms. Ketchum smiled. “I guess Mimie’s a little busy right now. Would you mind sitting with me in the den, dear?”
I nodded and we walked over to a tiny living room she called a den. We sat on a big couch that was set near a wall of the room. I wasn’t really sure of what to say; usually I would just come in and play with Mimie, but now that he was busy, I had to make conversation with Ms. Ketchum. What was I supposed to talk about? Nothing was going on in my life because it was the summer time and school was out. I didn’t have any friends to talk about, either.
“So,” Ms. Ketchum started, which startled me a little. “Your mother tells me you’re going to be turning ten very soon. How does that feel?”
“Okay, I guess,” I shuffled my feet, which couldn’t quite reach the carpet beneath the couch. “I probably won’t feel any different than how I usually feel when I turn a new age.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Ms. Ketchum replied. “You like Pokemon a lot, don’t you, Kuro?”
Right away I was confused. Ms. Ketchum never spoke like that to me before, she was always a sweet old woman that did nothing more than speak to me as if I was a very young child and offer me sweet food, like cookies. Now she was speaking to me as if she was about to tell me something really important, something I didn’t know. I guess now that I looked at it, it seemed logical. Elderly people were supposed to be full of wisdom, so what more was I to expect?
“Yeah, of course I like Pokemon, Ms. Ketchum,” I answered her. “But the only Pokemon I’ve actually seen face-to-face is Mimie. I’ve seen the rest in picture books and stuff.”
“You don’t have to rely on Mimie and picture books,” Ms. Ketchum kept speaking wisely. “You have options now that you’re going to be turning ten.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked slightly rudely, as I forgot to call her by her name that time. “What’s so special about turning ten?”
Ms. Ketchum smiled. “Kuro, you can travel and meet new Pokemon you haven’t come face-to-face with yet. You can capture them and train them, like how you see it done on the Stadiums on TV.” After seeing the still-confused look on my face, she continued. “Kuro, the bottom line is, when you turn ten you are legally eligible to become a Pokemon trainer. You get a starting Pokemon and then you get to travel all over Kanto, catching and training Pokemon and making them stronger.”
“You mean…” I was immediately shocked. “Those trainers battling in stadiums on TV…they all started out when they were ten? They all started out with one Pokemon and had to catch all the ones they own?”
Ms. Ketchum nodded. “Of course! Trainers have to start somewhere. Did you know that this town has its own professor that hands out three different Pokemon each year to beginning trainers? His name is Professor Elm. He’s also the professor for a small town in Johto called New bark Town. That’s his hometown, anyway. He’s very rarely here in Pallet Town because it’s so far away from New bark. But he’s coming over here next week to give three trainers their three Pokemon. He always does during the summer. It’s required for all Pokemon professors to give away the traditional three starting Pokemon once per year to introduce three new trainers who are of legal age. Anyone above age ten can just get their trainer’s license after taking a test at the DOL, but if you start when you’re ten, you don’t need to take a test!”
“Wow, this all makes so much sense all of a sudden, Ms. Ketchum,” I said, still in quite a bit of shock.
“Please, call me Delia,” she smiled. “Anyway, Kuro...I have decided to enroll you to receive your Pokemon license and your first Pokemon from Professor Elm. He’ll be here exactly on your tenth birthday to give you your Pokemon. He’s giving two other kids their first Pokemon as well. And I think you’re ready. And don’t you worry, your parents have given me permission.”
On my tenth birthday, I walked to the large building I had always been able to see from the large window in my room. I’d never bothered asking about the building, but now I was walking into it. The double doors swung open automatically, and inside was an enormous room with a yellow tile floor. Surprisingly, the place had been kept quite clean. I found that unusual since it was only visited once per year, according to what Ms. Ketchum told me.
Right away I noticed a very, very old man in a wheelchair. He looked to be about Delia’s age. He wheeled over to me automatically and smiled. “Ah, you must be Kuro! You’re the first to arrive, so you get to pick out your Pokemon. It’s first come, first serve. You can choose between one of these three.” He pointed to a small table in the back with three Poke Balls placed neatly on them. “Go ahead, open them.”
Without uttering even a word to him, I walked to the table and grabbed the first Pokeball. I pressed the white button so the ball grew bigger, and then tossed it lightly at the tile floor. A bright pinkish-red light flashed as soon as the ball broke open in two, taking the form of something very short and stout. When the light went away, a Pokemon was in its place. What was it?
“Here,” Professor Elm handed me a small red device. “This is an original, yet enhanced PokeDex. Use it to identify Pokemon and store your sightings of them.”
I took it from him and flipped it open. Automatically a blue button flashed and a picture on the screen showed the exact Pokemon that was before my eyes. The PokeDex spoke to me in an advanced woman’s voice. “Bulbasaur – The Seed Pokemon. Bulbasaur is a Grass and Poison Pokemon. The mothers of Bulbasaur plant a strange seed on this Pokemon’s back. As the Pokemon grows, so does the seed. Energy is stored on the bulb of its back so that they can go days without eating. The bulb is also filled with very important nutrients-“
“You may want to shut that thing off after a while,” Professor Elm spoke over the voice of the PokeDex. “It tends to get annoying.”
“Right,” I shut it off. “So now it’s automatically stored that I’ve seen a Bulbasaur?”
“That’s correct,” he replied. “Now I suggest you hurry up and pick which Pokemon you want to have, I need to get going here soon and the two others will be here any minute.”
“Bulba bulba!” I jumped at the Bulbasaur’s raspy voice. Quickly I picked up the next PokeBall and tossed it out. As the light faded away, out popped yet another Pokemon, but this one was orange.
“Char?” It blinked up at me. It looked like a small salamander walking on his hind legs, with fire at the end of his tail! I opened up the PokeDex.
“Charmander – The Lizard Pokemon. Steam is said to come out from the top if it’s tail when it rains, as it prefers hot places. In quiet places, the fire at the end of the tail makes a faint noise. If it is weak, the flame-“
I shut the PokeDex off and picked up the next PokeBall. After the laser-like light vanished, there was a blue turtle-like Pokemon in its place. “Squirtle!” It looked friendly, like the Charmander. I took out my PokeDex. “Squirtle – The Tiny Turtle Pokemon. At birth, the back hardens and forms a shell. To keep from danger, Squirtle tend to-“
After shutting the PokeDex a final time, I took a look at all three. There was Bulbasaur, the weird, aggressive-looking Pokemon with the raspy voice. Then there was the adorable Charmander with the cute, high-pitched voice. Lastly, there was the cute Squirtle with an even raspier voice than Bulbasaur.
“I’ll take the Charmander!” I said eagerly. How could I resist? He was so cute! Besides, I thought I liked Fire better than the other types.
“Alright, I have a lot of explaining to do, so listen up,” Professor Elm spoke hastily. “I don’t know what that old woman, Delia, told you, but I don’t own this Pokemon Laboratory. I just own the one in New Bark Town. The professor who owns this place, Professor Oak, asked me to come here and give out the three Pokemon today because he’s extremely busy taking care of the Pokemon at this lab, in the back. Now, you must keep your PokeDex and don’t ever loose it! Although your insurance does cover any loss or damage of your PokeDex, your PokeDex has your license inside it and it’s difficult to do most anything without your license. You must also wear this backpack at all times. It carries everything you need on your journey, including Pokeballs. I can only give you five Pokeballs other than the one containing your Charmander. You can only carry six Pokemon with you at a time. Any Pokemon you catch when you already have six with you will be sent to Professor Oak’s PC here at the lab, and you can contact him by video phone for transfers.”
I nodded and before I knew it, I was off with my new Charmander. As I left Pallet Town, I began to notice quite a bit of tall grass. I felt grateful I was wearing pants. I had been walking through the tall grass for quite some time before I began to feel something around my feet. I looked down and to my surprise, I had come face-to-face with yet another real live Pokemon!
“Ratta rat! Rattata!” It whined. I opened up my PokeDex. “Rattata – The Mouse Pokemon. It is quite a common sight in many areas. If sighted, you can be sure there are at last 40 more in the area. They bite anything when attacking and will chew on just about anything with-“
I shut the Dex off and pulled out Charmander’s Pokeball from my belt. I pressed the button and tossed it out, releasing Charmander. “Char char!”
“Charmander, attack that Rattata!” I pointed at the small purple rat running around crazily. It had large buckteeth and a curled tail.
“Charmander char!” Charmander stomped angrily at the Rattata. “Char char char!” He waved his arms around, calling for space to battle. I backed a few feet to give him room.
“Ratta! Rattata!” The Rattata screeched and narrowed his eyes at Charmander. It suddenly ran at Charmander, quickly gnawing at his leg. Charmander yelped and began hastily shaking his leg, trying to get Rattata off, but the little rat was clutching onto Charmander’s foot much too tightly.
“Charmander!” I called out, unsure of what to do. I’d never commanded a Pokemon before. “Get it on fire with your tail!”
On command, Charmander stopped shaking his foot and curled his tail around the left side of his body, getting the fiery tip up against Rattata’s back. As planned, Rattata screeched and jumped off Charmander, his back now completely on flames. Charmander and I watched as Rattata ran around in circles, yelping louder and louder. I noticed he was running slower and slower each time. Was he running out of energy? Finally, Charmander set his tail out in the trail of Rattata.
“Rat!” Rattata’s scurrying little legs fell to the trap of Charmander’s tail, and he tripped, landing in a skid on his belly.
“I think it’s weak enough, Charmander!” I called out from where I was. “Pokeball! Catch it!”
I reached over to my belt and pulled out a tiny Pokeball between my fingertips, hastily pressing the white button. I tossed the ball as high as I could, watching it almost magnetically drop down to hit Rattata on the back, whom had a large, black burn mark on it from the fire which was now put out.
“Did I catch it?” I whispered out loud as Charmander narrowed his eyes on the ball, which was twitching left and right, the button on the ball a glowing red color. We watched cautiously until the ball stopped moving and the button turned back to its natural white color calmly.
“Yeah, we did!” I jumped for joy. “Bring it here, Charmander! Good work! That was so great!”
Charmander picked up the ball containing Rattata with both hands and brought it to me. I pressed the button to make the ball smaller and put it in my belt. I then got out Charmander’s ball. “Return, Charmander. I’m really proud of you for catching Rattata for us, and you deserve a rest.”
After returning Charmander, I continued on my way through the tall grass. After a while my legs were really getting tired. I’d never been much of a person to work out, and my legs were feeling weaker with each step. That’s when I realized we were going uphill anyway.
“I wonder,” I spoke out loud, flipping out my PokeDex. “Does this thing have a map of Kanto?”
“Loading Kanto Map,” the PokeDex spoke and brought a very detailed map. “Currently Location – Route 1. Destination – Viridian City.”
“Viridian City?” I repeated. “That’s the nearest town?” I shut the PokeDex and looked ahead of me. Sure enough, there was a clear opening where the start of Viridian City was. “Almost there!”
“Coo! Coo! Coo! Coo!”
What was that? I looked up. “Birds!” I flipped out the PokeDex right away to see what it had to say about the birds I was seeing.
“Pidgey – The Tiny Bird Pokemon. Its types are Flying and Normal. This Pokemon is commonly found in forests. They kick up much sand from the ground to avoid being attacked. They don’t enjoy-” I quickly put away the PokeDex and released Charmander.
“Charmander, I think Rattata’s too weak to fight so I’m leaving this battle up to you,” I told him. “See those Pidgey up there? I want you to bring one of them down here so we can catch it!”
“Char charmander!” he grinned. “Char!” I was surprised to see him annoyingly wave his tail in the air at them, then pat his own butt. “Char charmander char, man man derrrrrrrrr!” He mocked, pulling down one of his eyelids and sticking his tongue out at the Pidgey above.
“What did you just say to them?” I asked nervously as a small Pidgey swooped down at Charmander’s head.
“Chaaaaaar!” Charmander covered his head and ran around in circles as the Pidgey pecked at him. This was getting nowhere!
“Charmander, quit running from it!” I ordered. “Face it like a real Pokemon and start swiping! Jump if it gets too high!”
Charmander swerved around, whipping around to face the Pidgey, his tail having curled around at hit Pidgey right in the face! The Pidgey glared angrily at Charmander and tried to take a flap at Charmander’s face, but he started scratching at Pidgey each time it flew near him, damaging the Pidgey’s wings. Suddenly, Charmander seemed to go through a fury, swiping without stopping. Even when the Pidgey hovered a little to avoid being attacked, Charmander would simple jump up and attack Pidgey some more until the Pidgey slowly fell lower and lower.
“Pid . . . gey,” the Pidgey was struggling to fly as Charmander was now whipping it with his tail.
“Stand back, Charmander,” I called out. “I think we’re ready to catch him! PokeBall, get it!” I threw out a new Pokeball.
This time I threw the Pokeball downward, but it still swept toward the Pidgey, whom was only a foot above ground. I guess the Pokeballs had minds of their own, like they knew what they were supposed to catch.
Pidgey let out a cry of pain as the ball hit him in the head. I watched carefully as the battered Pidgey turned into nothing more than a laser light and shrunk as it flashed inside the Pokeball. As soon as the ball closed, the button turned red and it started twitching left and right as it had down with Rattata. I waited anxiously, and then finally, the button went white and the ball’s movement seized.
“We did it again, Charmander!” I smiled. “You’re the best!”
Charmander nodded and smiled, picking up the PokeBall and cutely handing it to me. I pressed the button and put it back in my belt. “We’re almost at Viridian City. I’ll heal you there. Do you want to walk the rest of the way there? I don’t think we’ll be catching any more Pokemon until we get there, you’re probably pretty worn out by now, aren’t you?”
“Charmander!” he shook his head. “Char char!”
“Let’s go then,” I smiled, happy that the starting Pokemon I chose was so full of energy and willing to battle and help me catching more Pokemon.
We only walked in the tall grass for a bit longer until we reached a gate opening. Just passed the gate was the city of Viridian. It looked like a small town, like where I was from. In fact, I only saw three large buildings. One of them had a large “P” displayed on the front, so I walked to that one first.
Sliding glass doors opened for Charmander and I as we walked in, and I began to get nervous about Charmander being at my side. Were they allowed out of their PokeBalls inside buildings? But before I could return him, a woman behind a huge desk greeted me happily.
“Welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center,” she smiled widely. “I’m Nurse Joy and I’ll be happy to heal your Pokemon!”
“Oh,” I rushed up to the desk. “Hey great! Do you want them in our out of their PokeBalls?”
“If they’re small enough to fit through that opening in the wall, you can let them out. The ones that can’t fit through that will have to be put in PokeBalls and then opened up in the back room by our Chansey,” she answered.
I didn’t question what a Chansey was, but I brought out Rattata and Pidgey from their PokeBalls and set them on the stopped conveyor belt before me on the desk. They had their eyes shut and they weren’t moving. Rattata still had that horrible burn mark on his back and Pidgey’s feathers were more ruffled than ever. I carefully picked Charmander up, watching out for the tip of his tail and set him on the conveyor belt as well, just behind Pidgey and Rattata. Although Charmander could easily have gone through the opening standing up, he politely sat down.
“Oh, a Charmander!” Nurse Joy spoke. “You must be one of the new trainers! Yes, the boy with the Squirtle came by here hours ago. I believe his name was Kenoku. He looked in a hurry.
“Hours ago?” I repeated, looking to my watch. What time was it? “Ack, it’s already passed noon! I started out early this morning! I guess I really got into catching Pokemon.”
“If you huƲ« after we heal your Pokemon,” Nurse Joy replied. “You might be able to make it to Pewter City before night falls. You are permitted to sleep at the Pokemon Centers if you’re a legal trainer. Which reminds me, I’m going to need to see your license. I’ll enter it into the database so that every Pokemon Center in Kanto gets your license and then you won’t have to show it to every Center you end up in.”
“Oh, uh, here,” I pulled out my PokeDex and flipped it open for her. “By the way, ma’am, how much is this going to cost me? To get my Pokemon healed, I mean.”
“It’s free, of course,” Nurse Joy smiled. “All legal trainers get to do pretty much everything for free. You get free admission to all the best places for trainers, your Pokemon healed for free, free nights stayed in Pokemon Centers, and even free food for yourself and for your Pokemon here. Of course, restaurant food is usually nicer, but you don’t get food for free there. Most should have special discounts for Pokemon trainers, though. You barely have to pay for a thing.”
“Wow, if only I had known that sooner,” I laughed. “Hey, is there a Gym around here? I remember my PokeDex saying something about gyms in every main city in Kanto or something like that. Is that where Pokemon work out and train or something?”
To my surprise, Joy was laughing. “Oh no! There are eight Gyms in Kanto and you have to beat the Gym Leader of each gym to earn each Gym badge. Once you have all eight badges, you can battle in the Pokemon League, the one they show on TV. But yes, we do have a gym here.”
“Great!” I jumped. “I’ll go battle the Gym Leader as soon as my Pokemon are healed!”
“What?” Joy was laughing hysterically. “Oh no, this isn’t the first gym you’re supposed to battle at. In fact, it’s the last! The first one is in Pewter City, that’s the one you want. But I warn you, so far you don’t have any Pokemon that will do much damage to Flint’s Pokemon. He handles Rock and Ground Pokemon so your best bet would be to battle him against a Water Pokemon. The bad news is, you can’t get Water Pokemon anywhere from here to there unless you’d chosen Squirtle.
“Just great,” I sighed. “Oh well, we’ll figure out a way around it, I’m sure.”
Before we could continue the conversation further, a “bing” was heard. On the other side of the desk I noticed another opening, which was obviously where Pokemon were supposed to come out from. Above the opening was a little red light featuring a PokeBall. I noticed it had been glowing red the whole time my Pokemon were in there, and it was now its normal white color. The conveyor belt in front of me moved and my three Pokemon came out of the opening, in perfect health.
“There you are,” Nurse Joy smiled. “Oh, and I almost forgot! Here are some complementary stickers you can use to label the buttons of your PokeBalls so that you can tell one from the other.”
“Hey, thanks!” I smiled and returned Pidgey, Rattata, and Charmander to their PokeBalls. “I’ll see you sometime, then!”
“I really wish I could at least meet the Gym Leader of this city,” I spoke out loud to myself. “Maybe figure out what kind of Pokemon they use.”
“By the time you reach his gym, you’ll already have every Pokemon type,” a voice spoke behind me. “That’s how long it will take you.”
I turned around and jumped. “Ack! Who are you? Don’t you know it’s rude to sneak up on people like that?” I noticed it was a woman whom was probably in her thirties. She only smiled at my remarks.
“I’m terribly sorry, but you were speaking, so I answered,” she explained. “Professor Oak is the leader of that gym. He’s always terribly busy taking care of the Pokemon at his laboratory he rarely has time to train his Pokemon in there, the poor guy. Oh! By the way, my name is Susie. Susie II, that is. I was named after my aunt Susie by my father, Timmy.”
“Ah,” I muttered, not really caring to know her name. “Professor Oak must be a preppy busy guy, huh? He hosts my Pokemon but I haven’t even seen his face yet. A Gym Leader and Professor, wow.”
“Yes, well,” she shrugged off my talk. “My brother, Tommy II, is the gym leader of Pewter City. He has been since our father, Timmy, was killed. It’s a very long story, but it’s pretty interesting. We have a long heritage of working with the gym.”
“Tell me all about it,” I yawned. Surprisingly, however, the Susie person kept talking, probably thinking I had been serious.
“Finally someone who’s interested!” She clapped. I noticed she was wearing a frilly pink dress. “Well, the first to own the gym was my uncle, Brock. Then he had to leave with The Champion to become a world famous breeder, just like he’d always wanted to be. That left my grandpa, Flint, to be the gym leader. After he died of very old age, his son, Tommy took over. You see, my grandpa had eleven kids, but Brock had been the oldest. Anyway, Tommy was a really good Gym Leader, and he got married long ago and had my brother, Timmy II, and me. He died just a few years ago, so since then, my brother has been the Gym Leader. Apparently Timmy and Susie were the names of some of my dad’s brothers and sisters. There were loads more, though! I think another one of my aunts was Susie.”
I almost fell asleep from boredom. “Peachy. I have to run.”
And run I did. I ran straight out of Viridian City and into another place where there was tall grass. Even when I felt the Rattata scurrying around my feet or heard Pidgey cooing above me, I didn’t stop. I finally stopped at what looked like a small rest area up ahead.
“Thank god,” I was breathing heavily, thankful to be away from that creepy and annoying girl. “Let’s see. . . . Where is this place?”
“This is the beginning of Viridian Forest, of course,” said a familiar voice behind me. “And it’s the only way to get to Pewter City where you can battle my brother. He’s really strong, though!”
I turned around furiously. “How did you get up here so fast? I ran all the way here! Oh never mind, I’d better get going before the sun sets.”
“Good luck!” she called out to me just as I was entering the forest.
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