Rocky Cliffs
On an Unexpected Journey
- Joined
- May 13, 2003
- Messages
- 104
- Reaction score
- 0
Well, here it is. After a year and a half in the making, and another year and a half of doing nothing with it, and this past week of furiously re-doing it, I am finally ready to unveil my story, no, my epic: Unexpected Journey. Some of you might remember this from the previous BMGf or from Pojo, but this is expanded and better. And here's the great news! I won't be stopping at Chapter Two now! I'll be continuing to write. How great is that?
Here's the deal. I love reviews, but I have two requests:
1. Don't comment about its length. I am comfortable with how long this story is, and I don't want to hear, "It's too long!" If you feel that it's too long, please go read something else.
2. If you're going to voice a comment/compliment/complaint/concern, please make sure you do so in a polite manner. While I'm sure you all will, I've had enough bad experiences to feel the need to state this.
I am really looking forward to writing this story once again. For those of you out there who've read this before (you know who you are, Kurai and Seadra!), thank you for being patient!
One quick note: Since tabbing doesn't work here, double spacing is consider a new paragraph. Triple spacing means there's an actual break.
I'd like to dedicate this story to Seadra Reef.
And now, without further ado, Unexpected Journey.
-----------------------------------------
Unexpected Journey
Prologue
I stepped down from the bus and turned around, watching it drive off down the street, stopping to let other kids off. I sighed and started walking up the drive to my house. It had been another long day.
Pulling the key out from its hiding place underneath our brown welcome mat, I slipped it into the lock and slowly opened our front door. “I’m home.” I wearily announced before remembering that I was the only one present. Mom and Dad had left for their week-long business seminar in Chicago, and I was home alone for that period of time. I had reassured them numerous times that I was going to be fine, but now, I wasn’t so sure. I trudged up the stairs that were on my left, trailing my hands along the wall on the way. I came to my room and walked in, tossing my heavy backpack onto the bed. Retreating back downstairs and into the kitchen, I poured myself a bowl of Cheerios and dug in, recalling the day’s events. Horrible teachers, horrible kids, and a horrible school. I was not looking forward to high school.
I swirled the leftover bits of cereal around in the bowl before rinsing it out in the sink. “You know what?” I told myself, “You need to go outside and run around some. It should help you feel better.”
I agreed with myself and went upstairs to my room. It took me a few minutes to locate a Frisbee in that chaos, but after finding one, I went back downstairs and through the kitchen to the back door. After exiting the house, I walked across the back yard, walking through the leaves and enjoying the crinkly sounds they were making. Just for fun, I ran to a big pile of leaves that my father and I had raked up the previous night and leapt in. I spread my arms and legs open and shut a few times, then carefully stepped out and inspected my leaf angel. I deemed it ‘crappy’ and walked over to my bike, which was still leaning against the tree I had set it against a few days earlier. I kicked up the kickstand and swung my leg over, nestling comfortably on the seat. I gave myself a push and began my short journey to the neighborhood park where I had played for many years. Still clutching the Frisbee in one hand, I rode down the street, waving to anyone I knew. I inhaled deeply of the new autumn air and smiled. Fall was my favorite season, and even though it was still technically summer, it still looked and felt like autumn. “See?” I talked to myself once again. “You’re feeling better already.”
I arrived at the neighborhood park and, after chaining my bike to the bike rack, wandered around. I walked slowly, taking the time to look around and notice the beautiful colors of fall that were proudly displayed by the trees. Birds chirping in the background added nicely to the overall effect. I headed straight to my favorite spot in the park, the perfect place for a nice Frisbee toss or two. There weren’t too many trees, just enough to provide a challenge. I gripped the Frisbee, aimed, and shot the Frisbee through two adjacent trees. “Bull’s-eye!” I shouted. The other good thing about this part of the park was that almost no one came through here, leaving me free to do things that other people might find just a tad weird. After a half-hour or so of Frisbee throwing and retrieving, I was ready to go. I decided to toss the Frisbee just once more, and then go back home to do the dreaded homework. I still couldn’t believe it was only the first day of school, yet every teacher had assigned homework. The 9th grade would have to take some getting used to. I cranked up for my final Frisbee shot, shot the Frisbee out, then ran looking for it. I ran out of the tree section and found it in a bare field. I ran over and flopped down beside the Frisbee, breathing heavily. I picked up the Frisbee and slowly got to my feet. I turned to leave and shouted out of surprise, dropping the Frisbee. “What the..?”
Something had just appeared. I looked about five feet in front of me and saw a huge shimmering oval. “Boy Rocky, you need to get some more sleep.” I blinked. It was still there, floating 6 inches or so above the ground. I rubbed my eyes. It still didn’t disappear. It had to be real. Being the curious type, I carefully walked over and examined it. It was about 6 feet high and 3 feet wide, big enough for a human to walk or jump through. I touched it and immediately pulled my hand back just in case it was hot or deadly, but nothing happened. I touched it a little longer this time and felt a minor charge go through my body. The weirdest part about this whole thing was the center of the oval. It was a mixture of different colors swirling around, never staying the same. Once second it was teal blue, the next, lime green. Then tye-dye. It was intriguing, yet scary. I took a deep breath and put my fingers in. Nothing major happened, although my fingers disappeared. I don’t know what came over me, but I had a sudden idea to jump in. C’mon! A voice inside me urged. This is what you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? You’ve always wanted to have a wild adventure, to go where people haven’t before! Just do it! But another voice spoke up. But is it actually worth leaving your home and maybe never returning? You could be stranded on some alien planet! Heck, you don’t know where this will take you! You could DIE!
I weighed both parts of the argument in my head before making my decision. I stepped away as I said to myself, “I’m not jumping in that thing. Who knows where it will take me?”
I turned around to leave and nearly bumped into myself. Seriously. As I turned back around to leave the park and go home, I saw Rocky Cliffs staring at me, Rocky Cliffs. My mouth fell open. The other Rocky grinned.
“It’ll be okay, Rocky.”
Before I could say anything, or respond in any way, I felt something tugging at my shirt. I turned back, but saw nothing. Nothing, that is, if you don’t count the multi-colored strand of light emerging from the oval towards me. I screamed and turned back to Rocky, a look of pure horror on my face.
“Help me, whoever you are!”
But he only grabbed my shoulders. “I can’t, Rocky. Listen to me.”
By this time, the strand was pulling me back. I fought against it, but I slowly slid towards the oval.
He gripped my shoulders tighter. “Listen to me, Rocky. Don’t let him leave. You can’t let him leave.”
“Who?! What?!” I shouted back.
But it was too late. He released my shoulders and I went flying back, into the oval. The last thing I saw was Rocky Cliffs, his hair blowing in the wind, shouting, “It’ll be okay, Rocky.”
The next thing I saw was a face. A very surprised face. It became even more surprised when my body, filled with momentum, ejected from the glowing oval and into his body, causing us to both fall on the ground. I looked down at the man I was lying on, and screamed. He did too, which did nothing to assuage my already pounding heart. I quickly jumped off him and stumbled back a few feet into a wall, making a dull thud. I caught a quick glimpse of the room. It was a wooden room, filled with shelves of books and strange looking machines. The man I had previously lain upon had gotten up by this time. He immediately started towards me. “Hey you!” he shouted.
Despite his warm invitation of a nice chat, I decided not to stay any longer. I bolted out of the room and down a long hall, which led to other equally strange rooms. Coming to the end of the hall, I threw open a door to reveal…a hall closet. I contemplated running in and hiding amongst the clothes, but I figured the man would find me before very long. I swung back around and saw the man giving chase. “Wait!” he cried.
“No!” I cried back and promptly fled in the other direction.
I turned left and threw open another door, showing a screened porch. “Yes!” I said. “I’m outta here!” I ran to the screen door and fumbled with the latch before finally exiting the wooden cottage. The man who I had barged in on stopped at the screen door, but kept yelling.
“Wait! Stop! Come back, will you!” But I paid no attention as I ran into the forest surrounding the cottage.
When I had gotten far enough away from that strange hut, I sat down to think. Thoughts were blazing through my head, with no answers to accompany them.
Who was that guy who looked like me? If he was me, then who am I? Who was that other guy? Where am I? What the hell is going on?!
I pondered while I sat down on a mossy rock. “Well, at least it looks like I’m still on Earth. This stinks.” I said aloud. “I unwillingly get sucked into the weird oval thingie, I’m still here on Earth, and I’m not in any sort of adventure or exciting danger right now. I would think that if I had to be inconvenienced by a glowing oval thingie, it would at least transport me to another world, or in some cool adventure. But no! I’m lost in these stupid woods on this stupid old planet and now I can’t even get back home!” I shouted aloud. “And HOW did I see myself?! Rrgh! I’m so confused!”
Just then, a strange noise sounded from behind me. I swung around and saw a strange green caterpillar thing crawling towards me. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was crawling with sucker-type pads and it had some sort of twig-like appendage on its head. It stopped, reared up and screeched. “Eeeee!”
“Great, as if things weren’t confusing enough already. What are you?”
The thing responded by squealing, “Irpie!” and squirting a stringy substance at me, coating my entire face and hair.
“Yeargh!”
I sure as heck wasn’t gonna stick around any longer to find out if it was deadly or not. I jumped up and took off.
I ran through the forest, dodging bushes and logs as I pulled at the stringy stuff. Luckily, it was easy to pull off. After relieving its hold on most of my face (unfortunately, my hair was a different matter), I looked back to see if that green caterpillar was following me, then felt my foot connect with something hard. I flew forward and fell face down into the dirt. “Ouch.” I coughed.
I heard a strange scuffling sound above me and slowly lifted my head to peer into the face of another weird creature I’d never seen before nor imagined in my most wildest dreams. This one was radically different from the other. It was a round creature, with two stubby arms and 3 short fingers on each hand. It was the color of dust, and it would’ve looked like a short, fat monkey had it not had a pig-like nose. Its long tail whipped back and forth. I’m not sorry to say that I say screamed out of fear. The strange piggish monkey jumped back, crying, “Mankey!”
“Mankey?” I said, out of total confusion.
The monkey slit its eyes and lowered its head. “Key!” it cried. Not taking any chances, I jumped up and ran for my life again. Sure, you might look at it as cowardice, but would there’ve really been a point to being brave, standing my ground, and getting mercilessly slaughtered by a pig-monkey? I didn’t think so. So I ran.
I could hear the monkey racing after me. I stole a peek and saw it catching up with me, its eyes glowing red. Apparently it wasn’t too happy. I kept running for some time, getting scratched by the thorny underbrush and whipped by tree branches. After a while, I couldn’t hear the creature behind me anymore, so I slowed down. By this time I was almost of out of the forest. The trees were slowly diminishing, and grassy plains were taking their places. I walked forward another hundred feet or so, until finally I collapsed onto the ground. “This is just too weird.” I told myself. “Am I even still on Earth? I thought I was and it looks like I still am, but I’ve never seen those…those….things before! First, a large green caterpillar that screams! And then an angry monkey with the nose of a pig. What next?” My question was soon answered as I sat up and noticed a bird staring at me fixedly from a few yards away. It would’ve looked like a normal bird, yet it had a ruffled crest and was a little larger than most other birds.
“Row?” It walked a little closer on two short legs.
“Wait, stop right there.” I warned. “You could be another menace like your friends, Mr. Monkey and Mr. Squealie Caterpiller.” It still came closer. “I’m warning you.” I said as I picked up a small rock nearby and tossed it a few times in my hand.
“Spear?” it uttered before taking another few steps. I hurled the rock. It connected with the bird and produced a sizeable lump on its head. Of course, that didn’t make it happy, but I expected it to fly away, not scream for its friends.
As I looked skyward at the oncoming flock of birds that were quickly surrounding me, I knew running wasn’t gonna help a bit. Needless to say, I tried it anyway. It got me nowhere fast. So I did the first thing that came to my mind: whimper for my mommy and roll up into a ball. And just in the nick of time, too. I could feel the wind the birds kicked up as they began to peck furiously at me, but I didn’t do anything. I had no intentions of angering them even more. I was pecked over and over, continuously. I couldn’t help but scream from the pain. I was about to pass out from the torture when I heard a voice shout, “Water Gun!” from behind me. I felt water splash over me as the birds flew away. “Good job! Return!” the voice yelled again. I unfurled myself exhaustedly and looked over in the direction of the voice. It belonged to a very pretty girl. She looked about the same age as me. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, which protruded from her white baseball cap. She was wearing a tight t-shirt that was tucked into her jean shorts. She started running towards me. “Are you all right?” she called out to me. I was about to respond but before I could, my brain decided to shut off for a period of time and the world went black.
“Wake up!” Slap.
I woke up. The face of my rescuer swam into view. I stared into the face of the kneeling girl who had nearly saved my life. My cheek stung. I wondered why. The girl was leaning over me, a locket hanging from her neck into my face. I couldn’t think of anything to say. She spoke up. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” I managed to get out. “I’m just peachy keen. Thanks for saving me.”
“I’m just glad you’re all right. But,” she said as she pulled me to a sitting position, “why were all those Spearows pecking at you?”
“Spearows? Is that what they’re called?” I asked.
“Yeah…” she said, looking at me strangely. “Are you sure you’re all right? Did you get pecked on the head too hard?” She felt my skull for any wounds. I winced in a few spots.
“Ouch!” I cried.
“You’ve got some major cuts.” She said after inspecting me. That came as no surprise, seeing as I had been attacked by a pack of ferocious Sbeadhows or whatever they were called. “We need to get you somewhere so we can fix you up.” She continued. “Where you live?”
I grimaced. “Nowhere near here, that’s for sure.”
“C’mon, I’ll take you to my brother’s house. It’s not far from here. But we need to hurry. I’d hate to have to carry you there after you pass out from loss of blood.” She grinned. I guess it was a joke. I couldn’t be sure, since my brain wasn’t properly functioning. In any case, she started pulling me to my feet.
“Whoa, hold on.” I said, stopping her. “I don’t even know you. How do I know you’re not tricking me or something?”
She stared at me. “Right. Like I’m some sicko kidnapper who’s gonna kill you.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t had a very good day so far.”
“Save your story for later. Come on.” She sighed, dragging me along.
We walked back through the forest, giving me another chance to peer around. As we trekked through the forest, I saw some more of those green things hanging onto branches overhead. “Hey,” I whispered to my comrade softly so as not to disturb those scary green things, “what are those? Are they native to this land?” I asked, pointing at one crawling up a tree.
“Very funny. Those are Caterpies, dummy.”
“Caterpies? Never heard of them.”
She glanced over at me. “Are you all right?”
I shrugged.
As we kept walking, I noticed the log I had tripped over and my body print in the dirt. I also noticed the broken brush I had run through. But I was too dense to notice where we were actually going until we got there. “We’re here.” The girl announced as we came to the cabin I had recently departed from.
“I can’t go back in there!” I shouted.
“Why not?” she asked, startled.
“Because that’s where I came from!” I nearly shouted.
“What?” she said, then corrected herself. “No, never mind. You’re going in there and that’s that, do you understand? You’re hurt and I’ve got to tend to you.” She spoke firmly enough to make me give up.
“Fine.” I grumbled. “But don’t be startled if your brother has already met me.”
The girl looked at me, rolled her eyes, and pulled me into the house.
“Ah, Sandy, you’re back. Did you happen to…” the man trailed off as I peeked in the door. “Welcome back. I’m afraid I didn’t properly introduce myself last time we met. I think you’ll agree that under the circumstances, I was a little flustered.” He outstretched his hand. “I’m Bill.”
“Uh…nice to meet you, Bill. I’m Rocky.” I said, shaking his hand. I was relieved that he wasn’t upset over what had happened earlier.
Sandy, who had been standing back with a puzzled look on her face, now spoke up. “Care to fill me in?”
Bill nodded. “Yes, you don’t know what happened earlier.”
Sandy looked confused. I turned to try to explain it to her, but fainted dead away.
When I awoke, I was lying in a bed. Groggily blinking my eyes a few times, I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, leaning my head against the backboard of the bed. It was a pretty boring room. Shelves, with some books, lined the walls. Little plushies of unknown creatures were lying in one corner of the room, and there was a TV directly in front of me. Other than that, nothing. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but I was already awake. I had just opened my eyes again when the door opened. Sandy’s head popped in and her eyes rested on me.
“Oh, you’re awake. May I come in?”
“By all means. Sorry to just pass out like that. It’s not usually my style. How long was I out for?”
Sandy came in and sat down on the bed next to me. “All night, and it’s all right about the passing out thing. I can understand.”
I nodded. A few seconds of awkward silence ensued.
“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, Bill told me what happened to you.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Sandy shrugged. “Well, not much, actually. He fired up a machine, a weird portal-like thing appeared, and you came flying through shortly afterwards.”
“Did he also tell you that he pursued me throughout the house, trying to catch me?”
Sandy blinked. “What?”
“Never mind.”
She looked at me. “So exactly what did happen to you? Do you mind my asking?”
“Pfft! Not at all.” I sat up some more and stretched my arms. “You seem friendly enough, and if you were intending to do bad things upon me, they probably would’ve been done by now.”
Having said that, I did a five second body-feel to see if anything bad had happened. Nothing. Sandy was not amused. I kept speaking as if nothing was wrong or weird about that.
“Anyways, holding back information from you two won’t help me get home. Plus, I’m just a normally friendly guy. So! What was the question again?”
Sandy tried not to smile, but failed. Her whole face beamed, making her look even prettier than she usually did.
“What happened to you yesterday?”
“Well, up until the whole portal thing, it was a normal day. Woke up, went to school, came home, and then decided to go throw a Frisbee in the park. As I turned to leave, I, uh…” Here I broke off, not wanting to tell her about my encounter with “myself”, which I wasn’t sure if it was real or not.
“You what?”
“Well, I…uh, I ran into this portal and here I am.”
Sandy looked at me suspiciously, almost as if she suspected I wasn’t telling her something. She was about to speak, when Bill poked his head in.
“Are you awake? Oh, good. Can we talk?”
“Sure,” I said, patting a spot on the bed. “The more the merrier.”
“Thanks.” Bill said as he came in and sat down. “First of all, how are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling fine.” I said. “I just want to know what’s going on.”
Bill looked at me. “Yes, well…I can only tell you part of it, Rocky.”
He stood up and began to walk back and forth. “See, I’m a Pokémon Scientist, as well as an inventor. I’ve created several things that have aided the world in one way or another. In my teens, I created the Pokémon Storage System, which trainers across the world rely on. My inventions and discoveries have been lauded by newspapers from all the major continents.”
He sat back down on the bed, his hands in his lap. “For the past three years, I’ve been working on a secret project that may change the very world as we know it. I’ve been hiding my work away here in this cottage, because if people only knew what I was working on, and if this technology fell into the wrong hands…”
Here he broke off, his face twisted with fear. He quickly regained his composure, and looked up at me again. “I can’t tell you what I doing, but I can tell you that I wasn’t far from being wrong.”
I looked at him, mystified. “You mean you intentionally brought me here?”
“No no no! Not at all! You misunderstand me. I had no intention whatsoever of bringing you here.” He stood up and began pacing again. “I have been studying myths and legends for quite a while now, and I was in the process of discovering a lost realm, one not spoken about anymore. But more than that I cannot tell you.”
Sandy avoided my eye sight when I tried to look at her.
“I’m deeply sorry for causing you any pain, or discomfort. Such was not my intention. I can assure you, I can send you home within a matter of minutes. It’s just a simple matter of reversing the process. You do wish to go home, correct? I’m sure your parents must be very worried.” He looked at me.
I shrugged. “They’re gone for a week and I have the house to myself. However, I do need to get back. But I have a question. What are these Pokémon things you two keep mentioning?”
Bill stared at me. “You mean to tell me you don’t know what Pokémon are?”
“I haven’t even the slightest clue. Do they have anything to do with those creatures I ran into outside?”
Bill had stopped his pacing. He now looked at me as if I had sprouted wings and flown around the room. Without another word, he dashed out of the room. Seconds later, furious sounds of machinery sounded from down the hall.
Sandy got up and shut the door. I really couldn’t interpret the expression on her face. “Sorry about that.”
“What was that about?”
“I have no idea.” Sandy brushed the hair out of her face and came and sat down by me again. I had some idea that she knew something about what had happened, but I didn’t question her further.
“Well, Bill has gone to work on sending you back home, so why don’t I explain a little bit about Pokémon to you?”
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all.” Sandy smiled at me. “What do you want to know first?”
“What are Pokémon? Are they those creatures I saw outside?”
“Yes.”
I checked off the ones I had seen with my fingers. “Well, I’ve seen a few Couchties, a Mikey and a flock of Smeatows.”
She didn’t bother to correct me. “You’ve already seen 3 Pokémon? That’s a good start.”
I puffed out my chest. “Thank you. It was easy.”
Sandy nodded. “Yeah, roughly only 550 more.”
My mouth fell open. “You mean there’s 553 Pokémon total?!” I exclaimed. “That’s a lot!”
“I said roughly. Nobody knows how many Pokémon there are. We’ve discovered close to 500. And to become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time, you must capture one of every kind.”
“Evidently not an easy task.” I said. “Uh, what’s a Pokémon Master?”
“Trainers at the age of 13, when they’ve finished their schooling, can do one of two things. They can either become a Pokémon Trainer or they can finish their schooling and go on to a million other professions.”
“Why would anyone become a Pokémon Trainer?”
“Pokémon are the only other species on this earth besides us. We live in harmony with them. We help them and they help us. Many people catch and train Pokémon to have as pets, or even friends, while others catch and train them to battle against other trainer’s Pokémon with, or even wild Pokémon.”
“You make them fight?!”
“Pokémon are strange creatures, possessing unique abilities and talents. They all can attack using a variety of moves. It’s perfectly normal for Pokémon to battle. It’s what makes them stronger. Some Pokémon love to battle, while others don’t. But it’s perfectly acceptable. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“So a Pokémon Trainer catches and trains wild Pokémon, making them fight to become stronger so he can…?”
“Become a Pokémon Master.” She finished my sentence.
“Isn’t there any other profession geared around Pokémon?”
“Of course! Like I said, our whole world is geared towards Pokémon. There are a few major professions, however. I’ll name them. There’s Pokémon Trainer, Pokémon Master, Watcher, Breeder, and Scientist. Those are the really major ones.”
“Okay, so that’s all well and good, but how does a trainer capture Pokémon so he can use them?”
“Easy.” She said. “They must first weaken the wild Pokémon with one of their own Pokémon, then capture it in a type of Poké Ball.”
She interpreted the quizzical look on my face and continued. “Poké Balls are devices Pokémon Trainers use to capture Pokémon. There are many different types of Poké Balls. The normal ones you can buy in Poké Marts are Poké Balls, Great Balls, Super Balls, and Ultra Balls. Great Balls are better than Poké Balls, Super Balls are better than Great Balls, and Ultra Balls are better than Super Balls. Then there’s a special type of Poké Ball, called the Master Ball. It captures any Pokémon, no matter what. But there’s only a few of those in the whole world.”
“Why would I need any of those extra Balls if I can just buy Poké Balls?”
“Stronger Pokémon require stronger Balls. They’re not all easy to capture.”
“Okay, I’m starting to get it now.” I said. “But to catch all 450-odd Pokémon, you must need a lot of Poké Balls!”
“But you don’t need to capture every single kind of Pokémon.” She explained. “Most Pokémon evolve into different Pokémon when they gain enough experience points from battling or when certain conditions are met.”
“Oh, got it!” I said excitedly. “So I could capture a Pokémon with a Poké Ball, then it could evolve into another type when it’s ready.”
“Right. Some Pokémon even evolve twice. Then again, some don’t evolve at all. But no family of Pokémon has more than three evolutionary stages.”
I stopped her. “Wait, wait. I don’t get the evolution thing. Define ‘evolve.’”
She struggled to find words. “Well, they kinda….I dunno, they kinda turn all whitish and then swirl around some…colored orbs go flying, and then they’re another Pokémon.”
I blinked. “Uh, no, that’s not what I meant at all. I meant how long does this process take? Back where I come from, evolution takes several hundred million years.”
Sandy gasped. “Oh, no, nothing like that! It takes all of ten to twenty seconds.”
“Incredible.” I uttered.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you about the other kinds of Poké Balls.”
“Uh, okay, go ahead.”
“Aside from the Poké Balls, Great Balls, Super Balls, Ultra Balls, and Master Balls, there are 7 other types of Poké Balls that are made by a man from Johto. Kurt, the Poké Ball maker, will make you a custom Poké Ball from an Apricorn you bring him. There are seven types of Apricorns, and they yield the following Poké Balls.” She counted them off on her fingers. “Lure Ball, Level Ball, Love Ball, Moon Ball, Fast Ball, Heavy Ball and Friend Ball. They all have different purposes. The Lure Ball is great for catching Pokémon that you fish up with a Fishing Rod. The Level Ball catches Pokémon that are much weaker than the Pokémon currently battling against them. The Love Ball’s great at catching Pokémon of a different gender than the one currently fighting for you. The Moon Ball is pretty good for catching Normal-type Pokémon, especially if they evolve by the Moon Stone. The Fast Ball is used to catch Pokémon with a high Speed rating, while the Heavy Ball captures Pokémon that weigh a lot. And if you catch a Pokémon with a Friend Ball, it’ll start out liking you more than if you had caught it with another type of Ball.”
“Wow.”
“I’m not finished yet.” She grinned. “There are a few other special types of Poké Balls that aren’t usually found in this region. There’s the Dive Ball, which works better on Pokémon found deep underwater. Then there’s the Luxury Ball, which works just like Kurt’s Friend Ball. The Nest Ball works better on weaker Pokémon, whereas the Net Ball works best on Water and Bug type Pokémon. Then of course you’ve got the Premier Ball, which is just a fancy Poké Ball. The Repeat Ball works better on Pokémon you’ve already caught before-” Sandy raised her hands before I could speak, saying, “I don’t know how it works either. But probably the most useful out of the bunch is the Timer Ball, which somehow is more effective the longer a battle goes on.
“Then there are two other types of Poké Balls, the Safari Ball and the Park Ball. But those are only used if you’re going to a Safari Zone anywhere, or the National Park in Johto.”
“Johto?”
“Johto is the sister region of Kanto and home to the 3rd Pokémon League, the Johto League.”
“What’s a Pokémon League?”
“Pokémon Leagues are the ultimate test for trainers. To become a Pokémon Master, you must get enough badges from certified Pokémon Gyms across the land to be eligible to compete in the Leagues. A Pokémon Gym is basically a building housing a certified Pokémon Trainer strong enough to present a challenge to all those wishing to become a Pokémon Master. They have to go through rigorous applications to be given to right to open a Gym. Anyways, there are 100 badges and 10 Leagues in all. There’s the Indigo League, which is right here in Kanto. The Orange League is found on the Orange Archipelago, while the Ivy League is in Johto. Then there’s the Hydro League in Hoenn, and then the Aqua League in the Aqua Ocean. After that, the Sky League, which is located on the Airborne Islands, which float mysteriously in the sky. I’m not joking! After that, you go to the Gem League in the land of Seito, and then the Training League, which is in the Sandia Desert and outlying area. Ninth is the Free-For-All League situated in the lands of the Rocky Mountains. Finally, there’s the Elite League, in the Elite Lands. After getting all 100 badges, and beating all the Leagues, you must travel to Elite Mountain to challenge the four greatest trainers of all: A.J. Morrison, Richie Green, Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum.”
“Wow, it’s like right out of the brochure!” I joked. “Okay, I’m getting most of this, but I have a few questions. One, can you tell me the different ways Pokémon evolve?”
“Sure.” She said. “Most Pokémon evolve when they gain enough experience points from battling. But there are other ways to evolve too. Other types of Pokémon evolve when they are exposed to radiation from different Elemental Stones, the Stones being Fire, Leaf, Thunder, Water, Moon and Sun. Still others evolve when traded to another person.”
“How?”
“Don’t ask me! Most evolve when traded normally, but others evolve when they are traded with a special object attached. There are so many ways Pokémon evolve, and this is just a few. I couldn’t possibly name them all.”
“Understandable. Question two.”
“Yes?” Sandy asked.
“How many different Pokémon types are there? I was wondering ‘cuz I heard you mention something about Normal. What are they?”
“Well, we categorize Pokémon according to types. We’ve found out that there are nineteen types of Pokémon, meaning they have attacks and characteristics similar to their types. Like if a Pokémon uses the attack Toxic, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
“Uh….poisoning?”
“Exactly! We’ve found nineteen types, and they are Normal, Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel, Solar and Magic. Pokémon are either mono or dual-type. No Pokémon can have three of the types I mentioned.”
“Whew. This is a lot to learn. But I can handle it.” I paused and grinned. “You might not like this next question….”
“What is it?”
“Can you name all the different Pokémon for me?”
Sandy stared at me for a moment, a look of pure disbelief on her face. “Are you nuts? You think I’ve memorized all of them in proper PokéDex order? No way.”
“C’mon, please!” I begged.
“Yeah, right. Nice try.”
After another ten or twenty minutes, I knew pretty much all there was to know about Pokémon in general (or so I thought). Although Sandy told me nothing about any individual Pokémon ("What?! Are you crazy?!"), I did learn about all the basics, including Poké Balls, Pokémon fights, Pokémon Centers and Marts, the different Leagues, and, of course, the famous Professor Oak and his findings.
Then arose a momentary lapse of silence. Sandy, during our conversation, had leaned against the backboard along with me. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, Sandy resting and me digesting.
These Pokémon creatures sounded fascinating. The way they battled intrigued me to no extent. For a second, I almost wished that my animals at home could do that. "Rusty, attack that other dog! Use a special attack!"
What I also found interesting was the fact that there were no other animals on this other planet, or dimension, or whatever/wherever it was I was in/on. The way that these people and Pokémon lived together was almost unbelievable. These Pokémon sounded (and looked, from my personal experience) to be very smart. I wanted to see more of them. And this Professor Oak dude, from what Sandy had told me, couldn't be too bad either. A 65-year old man that's made more discoveries regarding Pokémon than any Professor before him? Yeah. Can we say "really cool?"
I spoke my thoughts out loud. "Professor Oak sounds so cool. I wish I could meet him."
"I thought you wanted to go home." Sandy mumbled.
"Oh c'mon, I can go see him before I go back home, can't I?"
Sandy glanced down at the watch strapped onto her left wrist, then looked back up at me. "Well, it's only 10 AM right now. If we leave now, we could get there in a half-hour or less. Say about an hour or two there, then a half hour back. I wouldn't be opposed to going, but won't your parents miss you?"
"Naw. They're away on a week-long business trip, remember? I could stay here for a full week if I wanted to. Of course, the school would miss me, but I wouldn't mind! And it's too late to get to school today."
Sandy slowly made her way off the bed, crawling over me during the process. "Well, if you're up to the walk, I'm sure Bill would let us. You sure you're okay?"
"Other than you clambering all over my legs, I'm fine. I don't know why you guys went to all this trouble over me." I got all heroic then. I leapt out of the bed heroically and heroically shouted, "A couple of…of…Smearos?"
"Spearow, Rocky."
"Heh. I knew that." I said meekly, getting back into the bed. I tried again. "A couple of Spearow pecks can't hurt me!" I cried as I heroically leapt out of the bed once more. I had meant to impress Sandy. However, tripping on one's bedcovers, falling out of bed, and landing in a tangled heap in front of the person you're trying to impress usually doesn't. It did make her laugh though, which was better than nothing.
"I meant to do that." I remarked.
After untangling myself from the sheets, we ventured to Bill's room and peeked in. Bill was half-hidden underneath a huge machine. I assumed it to be the one that had brought me here in the first place. To my surprise, it looked something like a large washing machine. Dials and knobs were all over the front of it.
Sandy called to Bill over the noise of the whirring and clanking in the room, but he didn't respond, so she went over and tugged him out. Bill's top half reappeared and he looked up at us, the proverbial grease smudge on his nose. "Oh, hi there, Sandy." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, with which he used to wipe his forehead. I noticed that the white shirt he had been wearing earlier had been exchanged for a dirty gray t-shirt. The pants, however, were ruined. "Whatcha need?"
"Rocky and I were wondering if we could go down and visit Professor Oak, if that's not too much trouble."
"You might as well." Bill sighed and hit the machine with the wrench he was holding. "This is going to take me longer than I had originally thought. I have to completely reverse what I had set. In theory, it shouldn't be too difficult. All I have to do is recalibrate the-"
"Okay, okay, I get it." Sandy interrupted Bill with a wave of her hand. "You know I don't understand any of that technical mumbo-jumbo stuff. Just tell me how long it's going to take."
Bill shrugged and dusted off his pants. "It could be another couple of hours before it's back up again."
"Take your time." I said. "I'm in no hurry. I have a whole week."
"Rocky, I assure you it will be done before then." Bill tried to explain.
"I know, I was joking. So it's cool with you if we go?"
"It's perfectly fine. Just be back before nightfall, all right? No later than 9 pm. I don't want you two getting lost or anything."
"We'll be fine, Bill. It's only 10 and we're just-" Sandy began, but was cut off by the machine Bill had been previously working on.
Something inside of it exploded with a loud BANG! and a few parts Bill had left on the top of the machine flew everywhere as a bluish-green smoke emitted itself and began to fill the room. Sandy shrieked, grabbed me, and practically flew out the door. While being dragged down the hall, I could hear Bill shout, "Damnation!" as he dove back under the contraption.
"It's definitely going to take him longer than a few hours to fix that." I said to myself as I stood up and followed Sandy out of the cottage.
For the next ten minutes after that, I half expected to hear a loud BOOM from behind us and seeing Bill and the house flying towards kingdom come, along with my chances of ever getting back home. But after we had gotten out of the forest surrounding the old cabin and hadn't heard one single peep from Bill's direction, I began to relax. I put my hands in my pockets and started whistling. It was a nice day. The sun was out, and it was that nice temperature, in between hot and cold, and the autumn leaves were brilliant, showing their colors of red, orange and even gold.
We kept walking towards Pallet Town. As we did, Sandy pointed out any Pokémon she could see along the way, which were few. However, they were all Caterpies. No new ones.
As we continued on our course, the town on the horizon got closer and closer. Along our path to the small community of Pallet, I noticed a small sign on the side of the road we were on. Peering down upon it, I read the words:
Pallet Town
Shades of Your Journey Await!
"Interesting." I commented. Not more than a minute later, I spotted another sign. This one read:
Pallet Town
A Tranquil Setting of Peace & Purity
"I liked the first sign better." I said aloud to Sandy.
"I agree." She said. "That other sign is relatively new. I guess they're trying to make Pallet Town sound more inviting, I guess. I wouldn't know."
"Why? Don't you live here?"
"Nope." She replied, brushing back a loose strand of hair. "I live in Cerulean City."
"Where's that?"
She smirked. "Yeah, like you'll recognize it if I tell you. It's only a few cities away. Not too far though. I just like coming down here with Bill. It's so nice and peaceful." She closed her eyes and started imagining, no doubt about peace and quietness. Me, being the prankster that I am, stopped in my tracks and stuck my foot out to the side. Sandy sauntered forward, eyes closed, and fell onto her face. I started cracking up. Big mistake. Sandy looked up, an evil tint in her eyes. It reminded me somewhat of the Mrankee that had accosted me the day before.
"Sorry." I hastily said, as I tried to straighten up and look serious. "It was an accident, really."
"Oh, really? Then this will be one too!" Sandy yelled as she jumped up and lunged for me, but I was already gone. Sandy gave chase.
I entered Pallet in no time flat. I flew down Rattata Road and turned left at Abra Avenue. There weren't too many houses, but then again, Pallet Town didn't seem all that big. I ran past a few more houses and seemed to run right out of Pallet Town. I looked around (while running, of course) and wondered, Where the heck does this road lead? After a few more seconds, it became clear. The road led to the top of a hill, where I could see a huge laboratory of some kind.
All of a sudden, I was jolted forward as Sandy caught up and tackled me from behind. We both fell to the ground, breathing heavily.
"You're a jerk." Was all Sandy could say.
"I know. Get off me."
We both sat up and took in deep gulps of air. I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. I waited another minute before getting up, and noticed a sign a few feet in front of me. I took a look.
"To Professor Oak's Laboratory." I read. "Hmm. Obviously I ran the right way. How fortunate."
Sandy had already recovered and was walking towards the lab. "C'mon, you Slowpoke! We don't have all day!" she spoke over her shoulder.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Hold your horses!” And then, half to myself, “Oh wait….you don't know what horses are, do you? Aw, never mind.” I shouted back. I patted the sign. "Uh…keep up the good work." I said, for lack of something better to say. Looking up, I saw Sandy getting further and further away from me. "Hey, wait up!" I shouted as I raced after her.
I caught up with Sandy as she reached the front door of the Professor’s lab. I watched as she took the brass knocker in one hand and swung it against the large oak door a number of times before letting go and waiting along with me. We waited patiently until sounds were heard from behind the door and it slowly creaked open. It revealed a tall, black-haired teenager. He was wearing a long green shirt, untucked. It hung over his black baggy pants. A purple headband completed the ensemble. The young man grinned down on us. “Hey there, Sandy.” He said, speaking with a slightly wispy and quiet voice. “We haven’t seen you in a while. What’s up?”
“Not much, Tracey.”
Tracey? What about Professor Oak? I wanna see Professor Oak! I grumbled mentally.
“So, who’s your friend?” Tracey nodded in my direction.
Sandy took me by the shoulders. “Tracey, this is-”
“Cliffs. Rocky Cliffs.” I said, doing my best Bond imitation. They didn’t notice/care.
Tracey started staring at me intently. He looked me up and down. He walked all around me, inspecting me from every angle. I wasn’t about to ask what he was doing, but I felt like I was on display or something. But I stood still until Tracey had finished making his observation of me. “Well, he looks all right to me.” He confessed to Sandy. “But I think you’re a little young for a boyfriend.”
I sighed. And so it begins…
Sandy’s cheeks turned noticeably red, as did mine. “Tracey, are you ever gonna grow up?” She sighed.
"Not if I can help it,” He joked. “I’m only 19. I’ve still got years ahead of me!” He turned his attention to me. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Tracey Sketchit. I work here as Professor Oak’s lab assistant.”
“Nice to meet you, Tracey.” I accepted his handshake as we walked inside. Tracey shut the door behind us.
“So Rocky, you from Pallet Town?”
“Er…” I began. “Well, you see…”
“It’s a long story.” Sandy jumped in. “We’ll tell you later.”
We walked out into a large open area, like a living room. It was complete with bookshelves, TV, a computer, and a couch, occupied at the moment.
An old, gray-haired man wearing a long white lab coat was sitting down. He had a bowl of popcorn on his lap, and was staring intently at a TV screen. “Um, Professor?” Tracey ventured.
“Sshh! This is the end! Be quiet!” the Professor answered with a brisk wave of the hand.
Wondering what was so exciting, I stepped further into the room and peered at the TV. Sandy and Tracey followed. A young teen and a huge blue turtle (or what looked like one) with cannons protruding from its shell were standing on a beach, looking at each other.
“I’m gonna miss you, Blastoise,” the kid said, a lump in his throat. “But I understand why you have to go.”
“Blas.” The turtle rumbled in a deep voice.
“Just promise you’ll come back someday, okay?”
“Toise.” The Maskoise (or whatever) said, and nodded. They stared at each other for a minute more. Words weren’t needed. The Fatboys then turned and walked into the ocean, and started swimming away.
“Good…bye…Blastoise.”
I felt a shiver go down my spine, but shrugged it off. Crazy soaps. The ending credits began playing. Professor Oak finally tore his eyes away from the screen and turned it off with the remote. “Sorry about that!” Oak said to us, an embarrassed smile on his face. “I was just watching the season premiere of my favorite soap.”
“That’s okay, Professor, we understand.” Tracey said with a silly grin on his face. “Professor, Sandy’s here to visit, along with a new uh…friend of hers, Rocky.” I caught his eye, and he grinned mischievously.
The good Professor placed the popcorn bowl on a nearby table and walked over to me. “Well, well, well, what have we here? Welcome, Rocky. I’m Professor Oak. Pleased to meet you!” He wiped his hands on his lab coat before shaking my proffered hand.
“Same here.” I replied. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Sandy.”
“Well, I’m probably not as great as she makes me out to be.” Professor Oak chuckled. “Oh, I’m sorry, I haven’t even invited you inside. Please, make yourself at home!”
“That’s gonna be kinda hard to do.” I muttered under my breath. Sandy elbowed me.
We all stepped into the living room. Sandy and I nestled down on the couch, while Professor Oak took a seat in a chair nearby. Tracey preferred standing. “So Rocky, you’re not from around here, are you? I don’t recognize you, and I know most everyone in Pallet Town.”
“Nope, I’m an out-of-towner.” I said.
“Where do you live?” he asked.
I took a deep breath and crossed my fingers. “Ohio.”
“Where’s that?” Tracey asked. “I’ve never heard of an Ohio.”
Sandy and I exchanged looks. “Professor, Rocky….well, Rocky has a strange story to tell you.”
I glared at Sandy, but it was too late. Professor Oak sat back and smiled. “All right then.”
“It’s a long and harrowing tale, Professor…” I warned, but at the Professor’s urging, I went on with my story. Halfway through though, Sandy decided to take over so she could recall, step by step, her amazing rescue. She exaggerated a little, if you ask me. But I let her have her fifteen minutes of fame. ‘Twas only fair.
All during the tale, Tracey dropped in comments such as, “You’re kidding me!” and “Oh my!” He was quite the captive audience. Oak, however, remained strangely quiet, a glimmer of a smile on his face.
“So, I thought we’d drop in so you could show Rocky around and maybe explain Pokémon a little better. Would that be too much to ask of you?” Sandy finished up.
Professor Oak didn’t answer right away. Then, he suddenly looked up as if he hadn’t been paying attention, but his eyes were twinkling. “I would be absolutely delighted to show you around, Rocky. Come with me!”
I followed alongside the Professor as he walked to the lab part of his house. He opened a double-door and we walk through. I was instantly mesmerized. Machines of all shapes and kinds were all over. It was huge. And a whole wall of his lab (which was long and tall) was filled with nothing but shelves of Poké Balls!
I listened with fascination as Oak described his daily routine (get up, release the Pokémon, feed the Pokémon breakfast, feed the Pokémon lunch, continue his scientific experiments, feed the Pokémon dinner, return the Pokémon, go to sleep) and the machines that helped him do it. He also showed me some discoveries he had recently made (none of which I understood, but one had to do with a bug with mushrooms on its back). What was really nice was that Oak seemed to go out of his way to show me everything he could. I felt like he really wanted me to learn, which was very kind of him. He didn’t have to do that.
Finally, after we were almost done, I got to take a peek at my very first PokéDex. At first I didn’t know what it was for.
“And this,” Professor Oak displayed, “is a PokéDex. This portable machine is an invaluable thing to have with you.”
“Wait, Professor Oak, I’m confused. What’s a PokéDex?”
Oak glared down at Sandy sternly. “You mean you didn’t even tell him what a PokéDex was, Sandy?”
Sandy ducked her head. “Sorry.”
Tracey laughed, while Oak just sighed and shook his head. “Rocky, the PokéDex is the greatest tool for a Pokémon trainer, if I do say so myself.” (“And he does!” Tracey said.) “Just point it at a Pokémon and it will tell you all about it. Professor Westwood and I programmed it.”
I didn’t know who Westwood was, but this PokéDex sounded amazing. “All 550-odd Pokémon?” I asked.
“All of them!” Tracey proudly said. “And if you come across a Pokémon that hasn’t been discovered yet, it will analyze that Pokémon to the best of its ability and give you any info it can about it!”
“Tracey programmed that part.” Oak patted Tracey on the shoulder. Tracey beamed.
I started looking around the lab some more until I came to the wall covered with shelves full of Poké Balls. A gleam twinkled in Oak’s eyes as he noticed me staring in awe. “I see you’ve noticed my Poké Ball storage area.”
“How could anyone miss it?” I said, still staring at the wall. “How on earth did you get so many Pokémon?”
Oak chuckled. “Oh, they’re not mine, Rocky. Trainers who get their first Pokémon from me have me store their extra Pokémon here, since you can only carry six Pokémon with you at a time. I let about a third of them out every day. Oh! I completely forgot! I still haven’t shown you the corral for the trainers’ Pokémon I have out back. Would you like to see it?"
“Would I ever!” I exclaimed.
“Then follow me.”
“You’re in for a treat.” Sandy whispered to me as we followed behind Oak. “Prof. Oak’s corral is the greatest in the world.”
“Can’t wait to see it.” I whispered back.
Oak led me to the back door. “Ready?” Tracey asked.
“Ready!”
Tracey opened the back door and I stepped out onto the steps. I was instantly overwhelmed. Everywhere I looked, Pokémon were flying, swimming, running, playing and just naturally having a good time. I saw so many different kinds of Pokémon. There were horses with fire for manes, birds with two or even three heads, rats, bulls, and so many others I couldn’t even begin to describe. Of course, I thought, those are just descriptions I’m familiar with. Who knows what they’re called here.
While taking in the whole scene ahead of me, I heard Tracey speak. “And this isn’t all! Look over there.” He beckoned.
I looked in the direction of his outstretched finger and saw a rock formation several hundred yards away. There were Pokémon having a good time there as well. Huge snake-like rocks, rolling boulders and bats of some kind were just a few I could see. Professor Oak and Tracey also showed me the section where Pokémon of an icy nature live. They showed me how they have to continually check the temperature to make sure it’s always cold enough for the Pokémon. Professor Oak was even so gracious as to let me pet a Ponyta and feed a Hoothoot from my hand. I was so caught up in what I was doing I didn’t even realize the time flying by. Of course, the setting sun and colder air should’ve tipped me off, but I was too busy helping Professor Oak return all the Pokémon to their respective Poké Balls. Suddenly, Sandy looked at her watch. “Aw geez! It’s 7:30 already, Rocky! We’re going to have to start heading back.”
“Wow! The whole day flew by! I guess we better be going.”
“I hate to see you leave, Rocky.” Oak smiled at me. “It was very fun showing you around today.” He then paused, smiling liked he had earlier. “Do me a favor and stay for another few minutes. I must show you something important.”
Sandy and I exchanged glances. I could tell she had no idea what he was talking about either.
“Uh, sure. I can spare a few minutes. Be right back, Sandy.”
I followed Professor Oak to a room he hadn’t shown me to yet.
We walked in and he shut the big gray door.
Oak motioned towards a circular table in the middle of the room. I walked over to it. Oak pushed a button on a side panel. I watched as 3 Poké Balls came up through the bottom of the table and took their positions in a triangle.
“The Pokémon in these Poké Balls are Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Do you know anything about these?”
“Er…not really. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. You’re still relatively new at this.” He chuckled. “Let’s see. Bulbasaur,” he picked up the Poké Ball that was the crux of the triangle (from where I was sitting), “is a grass type. It has a leafy bulb on its back, which unfolds gradually into a flower as it evolves into Ivysaur and Venusaur. A good Pokémon for the beginning trainer. It can be very stubborn, however. Many Bulbasaur refuse to evolve. And when they do evolve, they like to evolve at a festival that happens once a year, held in a different place each time. It’s very tough making a Bulbasaur evolve, but it’s usually worth it.
“The second Pokémon is Charmander.” He picked up the second Poké Ball, “who is drastically different. It’s a fire type. The end of its tail is made purely of fire, which will grow weak when he’s wounded. This is a good Pokémon to have if you like Fire types. It evolves into Charmeleon and Charizard. There are two problems with this Pokémon, however. One, it may become unruly and not obey you if it evolves prematurely. Two, if the flame on its tail goes out, it will die. But with proper training, this Pokémon can become a powerful opponent indeed.
"The last Pokémon,” Prof. Oak picked up the last Poké Ball, “is Squirtle, a Water type. This blue Pokémon is a good Water type to have. It can learn a variety of attacks and becomes the powerful Blastoise,” (“So it evolves into a Bashnoise, like I saw on TV!” I squealed excitedly.) “but not before evolving into Wartortle first. The only trouble with this Pokémon is that it can tend to be a little mischievous. It will play tricks on its trainer until it knows it better. Even then, you must still be careful.” He finished with a chuckle.
Oak replaced the Poké Balls into their respective places on the round table. “So which one would you like, Rocky? Take your time before you choose. This is an important decision.”
I had stopped listening after he said ‘which one do you want?’
“Wait a second. You’re giving me a Pokémon?”
“Yes.”
“Me, Rocky Cliffs? The guy who’s about to go back to his world where Pokémon do not exist?”
Oak’s face was dead serious. “Rocky, I intend to give you a Pokémon. You will be needing it shortly.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I cannot tell you, Rocky.”
I slumped back in my seat. “Oh, of course. I understand. You know something I don’t. How you could know whatever it is you know I have no idea, but that’s not for me to question, is it? Of course not. I’ve had the strangest two days in my life and I’m can’t go around asking questions now. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to tell me anyways. You’re just going to give me a Pokémon because obviously I’ll be needing it soon, even though I’m about to go back to my world. Fine.”
Oak smiled that weird smile again. It was starting to unnerve me. He removed his lab coat as he said, “I’m sorry I cannot tell you anything.”
I sighed. “It’s all right. I just….never mind. So I get to choose a Pokémon now?
The Professor nodded.
I thought hard. Which one should I choose? Bulbasaur the stubborn grass Pokémon, Charmander the unruly fire Pokémon or Squirtle the mischievous water Pokémon?
I weighed it out in my head before deciding. “I’ll take Charmander, the fiery lizard!” I shouted, grabbing the Poké Ball. Oak smiled at my excitement. “Sorry.” I ducked my head. “I didn’t mean to shout or anyth…Um, hey, Professor Oak? How do you work this thing, anyways?”
Oak sighed, chuckled and then started instructing me on how to release a Pokémon. After about three minutes, I caught on.
I gripped the Poké Ball firmly, held it at arm’s length and aimed it away from any people or sharp objects. I then said in a commanding voice, “Charmander, I choose you!” Another option would have been, “Charmander, go!” Just as Oak had predicted, the Poké Ball opened just enough to let a beam of red energy slip through. I held my ground as taught by Oak and watched as the red light took the form of my new Pokémon. It finally stopped and the Poké Ball closed again. I stared at it. “It’s like magic!” I then turned my attention to my new Pokémon: a green thing with specks all over it and a bulb on its back.
I began to inspect my new Pokémon. “Wow. What a weird Pokémon. Where’s its flaming tail, Professor?”
“Uh, Rocky…”
“Hm…” I said ignoring him. “Do they grow their tail after a while?” I said prodding my new Pokémon. “And I thought it was red, not green.”
“Rocky, that’s not a Charmander, that’s a-”
“Bulbasaur!” it interrupted as it started pelting me with vines.
“Ouch! Hey!”
After Oak had set me straight with kind words and Bulbasaur with its evil vines, I tried again.
I gripped the new Poké Ball firmly, held it at arm’s length and aimed it away from any people or sharp objects. I then said in a commanding voice, “Charmander, I choose you!” Another option would have been, “Charmander, go!” Just as Oak had predicted, the Poké Ball opened just enough to let a beam of red energy slip through. I held my ground as instructed and watched as the red light took the form of my new Pokémon. It finally stopped and the Poké Ball closed again. This time, a red lizard with a fiery tail appeared. It was standing on two legs, and had a goofy grin on its face. I stared at it. “This is Charmander?” I finally uttered.
“Charmander!” it yelled angrily, before dropping its jaw and spitting fire at my feet. Shouting insanely, I managed to avoid burnt feet, but my semi-new white sneakers were singed. I looked down at my shoes, and then over at Charmander.
“Nice to meet you.”
Oak shut the door behind us as we walked back out into the main room. Tracey and Sandy were sitting on the couch, watching the news. The news anchor’s face filled nearly the whole screen. “Experts are still scouring the area where the figure has been said to be seen, but nothing has come up so far.”
Sandy noticed me and my new comrade walking out along with Oak, and she hastily hopped off the couch. She made her way over to me. “You got a Pokémon?!” she squealed excitedly before kneeling down and petting Charmander’s head.
Charmander smiled and tilted its head to get the full treatment. I was about to comment, when a dark figure was shown on the news. I sat down beside Tracey, watching. In the background, I could hear Oak saying something to Sandy.
The news anchor quickly flipped to another subject, something about the local Poké Mart, so Tracey flipped off the TV and I stood up.
“Well, we should get going.” Sandy looked over at me.
I glanced out the window. “Yeah, it is getting dark out.”
I stood up and shook Professor Oak’s hand. “Thanks for everything, Professor Oak. Especially the Pokémon! I promise to take very good care of it. You can count on me.”
“I’m glad you could drop by, Rocky.”
“Me too!” Tracey called from his lying position on the couch. “Did you enjoy seeing all the Pokémon?”
“Yeah! It was a real treat!”
“If Bill doesn’t get that machine fixed by tomorrow, maybe we’ll come back over, if that’s all right with you, of course.” Sandy added.
“That would be wonderful, Sandy.”
“Yeah! I’ll be able to show you some of my sketches!” Tracey called out excitedly.
As we left Professor Oak’s lab, I noticed how dark and cold it had gotten. “C’mon, we better hurry or we’ll freeze to death.” I said. We quickened our pace.
I didn’t see any Pokémon on the way back to Bill’s cabin, probably because of the cold wind blowing through the forest. I had recalled Charmander back into the Poké Ball after Sandy had suggested so (and then shown me how to do it). We made the trip back to the cabin quicker than expected, and it was a good thing we did. As we stepped into the small clearing where the cabin lay hidden away, we could see the cabin’s screen door laying a few feet away from the cabin. At a closer inspection, Sandy and I noticed it had been wrenched off its hinges. “Oh my gosh!” Sandy cried. “Bill’s in trouble!”
We raced through the screened porch and down the hall. An evil and sinister voice was speaking from the direction of Bill’s room. I stopped dead in my tracks and held my hand out to stop Sandy. “Ssh!” I quickly whispered.
“Sneasel!” The voice was saying. “Finish him off with Ice Beam!”
I had no idea what Ice Beam or Sneasel was, but I could tell that Bill was in huge danger. Without thinking, I raced forward, burst into the room with the Poké Ball already in my hand. “What the?!” the woman dressed in black shouted as I threw the Poké Ball towards the strange creature looming over Bill. He was slumped against the wall, blood streaming down his face, unconscious.
“Charmander, Ember!” I cried. Charmander materialized from the Poké Ball and swung his tail immediately towards the creature. The fiery tail connected with the Pokémon, who was getting ready to use its sharp white claws. It cried out in pain and started attacking Charmander. I ran towards it and yanked it off of Charmander. I heard a voice behind me.
“Say goodbye, kid.” Click.
Still struggling with the black weasel, I turned around and stared up the barrel of a gun. The red “R” on her shirt gleamed as the woman slowly squeezed the trigger. But something behind her knocked her away. It was Sandy. She had saved my life again!
The intruder’s intended death shot fired, and the bullet shot out of the gun and hit one of the many machines. The contraption began a series of mini-explosions. The woman leapt forward, away from the machine. “Sneasel, let’s go! We’ve gotten what we came for!” she cried as she returned it to its Poké Ball. The villain made a grand exit by jumping through the nearest window, sending glass shards everywhere.
“Oh no you don’t!” I yelled as I jumped after her. Sandy shouted for me to stop, but it was too late.
I landed awkwardly, sprawling across the grass. Dimly, I could see the female’s black form disappear into the shrubs in front of me. I hurriedly gave chase.
I jumped over some bushes and saw the woman just up ahead. She didn’t know I was coming, so I put on an extra burst of speed and tackled her from behind. The woman gasped, and struggled to beat me off. There was a small pouch on her belt, and I grabbed for it, believing it to be whatever it was she had stolen.
The woman threw me off her and landed a solid punch to my jaw. She tried to run again, but I tripped her by falling to the ground and sliding my legs underneath hers. She fell hard.
Emitting an unearthly scream, she turned around and grabbed me, hauling me to my feet. I flailed around, reaching for anything, and managed to get two handfuls of long hair. She started to move, but I firmly held on. My grip released, however, when she took my head with both hands, and smacked it into a tree. I fell down, the world spinning. I could hear her evil laugh as I struggled to remain awake.
I woke up in the same bed I’d woken up in previously. I inwardly cursed myself for being a fool and chasing the strange woman. But at the same time, I couldn’t have just sat by and done nothing. I was upset for not stopping the woman, but I was glad I tried and very glad that I had saved Bill.
A lengthy twenty minutes went by before the door opened. It was Bill. He took one look at me and left. Nice chap. His reason for leaving was soon clarified, however, when he brought in Charmander, which he placed on the bed beside me.
“How are you feeling, Rocky? You took a terrible clout on the head, I hear.”
I felt the side of my head and my fingers hit onto an enormous goose egg. I groaned. “Yeah, I did. But it looks like you got the worst end of it.” I said, staring at Bill’s blood-stained bandage wrapped around his head.
“It’s just a lot of blood, that’s all. I’m fine.”
“So, what happened? Who was that woman?” I asked nervously as I stroked Charmander’s head.
Bill didn’t answer for a moment. When he did, he was surprisingly quiet. “Rocky, Team Rocket is a group of evil-doers bent on ruling the world through their tyrannical use of Pokémon. They’ll do anything they can to reach their goal. They steal Pokémon from young trainers and use them for evil. They will stop at nothing to reach world domination. Their founder was a sinister man named Giovanni, though no one knows who the current leader is.”
I listened with rapt attention, wondering where he was leading with all this. Suddenly I remembered the gleaming red “R” on the intruder’s shirt. I began to worry.
Bill caught the look on my face. “Yes, Rocky, it was a Team Rocket member that broke in here. They intended to kill me but luckily you and Sandy arrived in time. However, this was not the first time a member of Team Rocket has broken into my house. They knew what I was working on and--”
“How did they find out?” I asked.
Bill sighed and leaned against the wall. “While I’m no Professor Oak, I’m not exactly an unknown either. After I created the Poké Ball storage system for the PC, I was a star. I’ve never really left the limelight, and people are constantly writing up about my latest projects. So it would’ve been relatively easy for Team Rocket to find out about I was doing something spectacular, something completely secret.” He shook his head and paused for a moment, then came and sat down on the edge of the bed. “But that isn’t what I wanted to tell you.”
Charmander and I exchanged nervous glances. “What did you want to tell me?” I asked.
“Well, when I came to, the first thing I did was inspect my secret project.”
Bill saw the look on my face. “Yes, the machine you came out of. Well, I found a piece missing. It was a very essential piece.”
My insides turned to stone. “What are you saying?”
Charmander looked at me, scared. “Char?”
Bill opened his mouth a few times but no words came out. He stuttered a few times, and then spoke in a rush, cramming all the words together. “They took the matter discharger from the machine and now you can’t get back home.” He looked up at me.
It took a second for the words to sink in. As soon as they did, my stony insides fell out and I felt an emptiness inside me. I fell back; exhaling what little air I had in me. Bill looked into my eyes, his face conveying how sad he truly was for me. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that it wasn’t his fault and not to worry. But I couldn’t speak. It was as if a great weight had been placed on my body, not allowing me to speak or hear or even breathe. I slipped into a mindless stupor. I barely heard Charmander and Bill leave.
I felt very alone and scared. A chill ran down my body as I thought, I have no one now. It was an utterly terrifying realization.
I re-lived all my past memories, cherishing them all, even the time I dented the car. I would have gladly given up everything I could if only I could have gone back….but it was too late. I was stuck here forever.
But then, a small voice stuck out in my brain. Rocky. It called. You can’t give up. You haven’t even begun! Your only chance of getting back home is getting that matter thing back. If you lose all faith without even trying, you’ll never get home. You’ll never see your family again, or go to school with your friends. Never again will you play ball in your backyard, or feel your dog’s rough tongue against your cheek. You’ll never experience the rest of your life until you get that machinery back.
I opened my eyes. I was right. I had a mission to do and nothing was going to stray me from it. I needed to get going immediately. Who knows how long the journey would take?
I threw back the covers of the bed and jumped out. I left the room and walked down the hall to Bill’s workroom. He wasn’t there, so I turned around and headed back the way I came. I tried another door and found Sandy and Bill sitting on another bed, talking. Charmander was with them, getting his head scratched by Sandy. Bill took his eyes off of Sandy and straightened up when he saw me open the door. He saw the look on my face and instantly paled.
Sandy noticed Bill look up, so she turned around and saw me. “Rocky!” she cried out in alarm. “What are you doing out of bed?”
I looked at them squarely, set my jaw and only replied, “I’m leaving."
Unexpected Journey
-----------------------------------------
Here's the deal. I love reviews, but I have two requests:
1. Don't comment about its length. I am comfortable with how long this story is, and I don't want to hear, "It's too long!" If you feel that it's too long, please go read something else.
2. If you're going to voice a comment/compliment/complaint/concern, please make sure you do so in a polite manner. While I'm sure you all will, I've had enough bad experiences to feel the need to state this.
I am really looking forward to writing this story once again. For those of you out there who've read this before (you know who you are, Kurai and Seadra!), thank you for being patient!
One quick note: Since tabbing doesn't work here, double spacing is consider a new paragraph. Triple spacing means there's an actual break.
I'd like to dedicate this story to Seadra Reef.
And now, without further ado, Unexpected Journey.
-----------------------------------------
Unexpected Journey
Prologue
I stepped down from the bus and turned around, watching it drive off down the street, stopping to let other kids off. I sighed and started walking up the drive to my house. It had been another long day.
Pulling the key out from its hiding place underneath our brown welcome mat, I slipped it into the lock and slowly opened our front door. “I’m home.” I wearily announced before remembering that I was the only one present. Mom and Dad had left for their week-long business seminar in Chicago, and I was home alone for that period of time. I had reassured them numerous times that I was going to be fine, but now, I wasn’t so sure. I trudged up the stairs that were on my left, trailing my hands along the wall on the way. I came to my room and walked in, tossing my heavy backpack onto the bed. Retreating back downstairs and into the kitchen, I poured myself a bowl of Cheerios and dug in, recalling the day’s events. Horrible teachers, horrible kids, and a horrible school. I was not looking forward to high school.
I swirled the leftover bits of cereal around in the bowl before rinsing it out in the sink. “You know what?” I told myself, “You need to go outside and run around some. It should help you feel better.”
I agreed with myself and went upstairs to my room. It took me a few minutes to locate a Frisbee in that chaos, but after finding one, I went back downstairs and through the kitchen to the back door. After exiting the house, I walked across the back yard, walking through the leaves and enjoying the crinkly sounds they were making. Just for fun, I ran to a big pile of leaves that my father and I had raked up the previous night and leapt in. I spread my arms and legs open and shut a few times, then carefully stepped out and inspected my leaf angel. I deemed it ‘crappy’ and walked over to my bike, which was still leaning against the tree I had set it against a few days earlier. I kicked up the kickstand and swung my leg over, nestling comfortably on the seat. I gave myself a push and began my short journey to the neighborhood park where I had played for many years. Still clutching the Frisbee in one hand, I rode down the street, waving to anyone I knew. I inhaled deeply of the new autumn air and smiled. Fall was my favorite season, and even though it was still technically summer, it still looked and felt like autumn. “See?” I talked to myself once again. “You’re feeling better already.”
I arrived at the neighborhood park and, after chaining my bike to the bike rack, wandered around. I walked slowly, taking the time to look around and notice the beautiful colors of fall that were proudly displayed by the trees. Birds chirping in the background added nicely to the overall effect. I headed straight to my favorite spot in the park, the perfect place for a nice Frisbee toss or two. There weren’t too many trees, just enough to provide a challenge. I gripped the Frisbee, aimed, and shot the Frisbee through two adjacent trees. “Bull’s-eye!” I shouted. The other good thing about this part of the park was that almost no one came through here, leaving me free to do things that other people might find just a tad weird. After a half-hour or so of Frisbee throwing and retrieving, I was ready to go. I decided to toss the Frisbee just once more, and then go back home to do the dreaded homework. I still couldn’t believe it was only the first day of school, yet every teacher had assigned homework. The 9th grade would have to take some getting used to. I cranked up for my final Frisbee shot, shot the Frisbee out, then ran looking for it. I ran out of the tree section and found it in a bare field. I ran over and flopped down beside the Frisbee, breathing heavily. I picked up the Frisbee and slowly got to my feet. I turned to leave and shouted out of surprise, dropping the Frisbee. “What the..?”
Something had just appeared. I looked about five feet in front of me and saw a huge shimmering oval. “Boy Rocky, you need to get some more sleep.” I blinked. It was still there, floating 6 inches or so above the ground. I rubbed my eyes. It still didn’t disappear. It had to be real. Being the curious type, I carefully walked over and examined it. It was about 6 feet high and 3 feet wide, big enough for a human to walk or jump through. I touched it and immediately pulled my hand back just in case it was hot or deadly, but nothing happened. I touched it a little longer this time and felt a minor charge go through my body. The weirdest part about this whole thing was the center of the oval. It was a mixture of different colors swirling around, never staying the same. Once second it was teal blue, the next, lime green. Then tye-dye. It was intriguing, yet scary. I took a deep breath and put my fingers in. Nothing major happened, although my fingers disappeared. I don’t know what came over me, but I had a sudden idea to jump in. C’mon! A voice inside me urged. This is what you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? You’ve always wanted to have a wild adventure, to go where people haven’t before! Just do it! But another voice spoke up. But is it actually worth leaving your home and maybe never returning? You could be stranded on some alien planet! Heck, you don’t know where this will take you! You could DIE!
I weighed both parts of the argument in my head before making my decision. I stepped away as I said to myself, “I’m not jumping in that thing. Who knows where it will take me?”
I turned around to leave and nearly bumped into myself. Seriously. As I turned back around to leave the park and go home, I saw Rocky Cliffs staring at me, Rocky Cliffs. My mouth fell open. The other Rocky grinned.
“It’ll be okay, Rocky.”
Before I could say anything, or respond in any way, I felt something tugging at my shirt. I turned back, but saw nothing. Nothing, that is, if you don’t count the multi-colored strand of light emerging from the oval towards me. I screamed and turned back to Rocky, a look of pure horror on my face.
“Help me, whoever you are!”
But he only grabbed my shoulders. “I can’t, Rocky. Listen to me.”
By this time, the strand was pulling me back. I fought against it, but I slowly slid towards the oval.
He gripped my shoulders tighter. “Listen to me, Rocky. Don’t let him leave. You can’t let him leave.”
“Who?! What?!” I shouted back.
But it was too late. He released my shoulders and I went flying back, into the oval. The last thing I saw was Rocky Cliffs, his hair blowing in the wind, shouting, “It’ll be okay, Rocky.”
The next thing I saw was a face. A very surprised face. It became even more surprised when my body, filled with momentum, ejected from the glowing oval and into his body, causing us to both fall on the ground. I looked down at the man I was lying on, and screamed. He did too, which did nothing to assuage my already pounding heart. I quickly jumped off him and stumbled back a few feet into a wall, making a dull thud. I caught a quick glimpse of the room. It was a wooden room, filled with shelves of books and strange looking machines. The man I had previously lain upon had gotten up by this time. He immediately started towards me. “Hey you!” he shouted.
Despite his warm invitation of a nice chat, I decided not to stay any longer. I bolted out of the room and down a long hall, which led to other equally strange rooms. Coming to the end of the hall, I threw open a door to reveal…a hall closet. I contemplated running in and hiding amongst the clothes, but I figured the man would find me before very long. I swung back around and saw the man giving chase. “Wait!” he cried.
“No!” I cried back and promptly fled in the other direction.
I turned left and threw open another door, showing a screened porch. “Yes!” I said. “I’m outta here!” I ran to the screen door and fumbled with the latch before finally exiting the wooden cottage. The man who I had barged in on stopped at the screen door, but kept yelling.
“Wait! Stop! Come back, will you!” But I paid no attention as I ran into the forest surrounding the cottage.
When I had gotten far enough away from that strange hut, I sat down to think. Thoughts were blazing through my head, with no answers to accompany them.
Who was that guy who looked like me? If he was me, then who am I? Who was that other guy? Where am I? What the hell is going on?!
I pondered while I sat down on a mossy rock. “Well, at least it looks like I’m still on Earth. This stinks.” I said aloud. “I unwillingly get sucked into the weird oval thingie, I’m still here on Earth, and I’m not in any sort of adventure or exciting danger right now. I would think that if I had to be inconvenienced by a glowing oval thingie, it would at least transport me to another world, or in some cool adventure. But no! I’m lost in these stupid woods on this stupid old planet and now I can’t even get back home!” I shouted aloud. “And HOW did I see myself?! Rrgh! I’m so confused!”
Just then, a strange noise sounded from behind me. I swung around and saw a strange green caterpillar thing crawling towards me. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was crawling with sucker-type pads and it had some sort of twig-like appendage on its head. It stopped, reared up and screeched. “Eeeee!”
“Great, as if things weren’t confusing enough already. What are you?”
The thing responded by squealing, “Irpie!” and squirting a stringy substance at me, coating my entire face and hair.
“Yeargh!”
I sure as heck wasn’t gonna stick around any longer to find out if it was deadly or not. I jumped up and took off.
I ran through the forest, dodging bushes and logs as I pulled at the stringy stuff. Luckily, it was easy to pull off. After relieving its hold on most of my face (unfortunately, my hair was a different matter), I looked back to see if that green caterpillar was following me, then felt my foot connect with something hard. I flew forward and fell face down into the dirt. “Ouch.” I coughed.
I heard a strange scuffling sound above me and slowly lifted my head to peer into the face of another weird creature I’d never seen before nor imagined in my most wildest dreams. This one was radically different from the other. It was a round creature, with two stubby arms and 3 short fingers on each hand. It was the color of dust, and it would’ve looked like a short, fat monkey had it not had a pig-like nose. Its long tail whipped back and forth. I’m not sorry to say that I say screamed out of fear. The strange piggish monkey jumped back, crying, “Mankey!”
“Mankey?” I said, out of total confusion.
The monkey slit its eyes and lowered its head. “Key!” it cried. Not taking any chances, I jumped up and ran for my life again. Sure, you might look at it as cowardice, but would there’ve really been a point to being brave, standing my ground, and getting mercilessly slaughtered by a pig-monkey? I didn’t think so. So I ran.
I could hear the monkey racing after me. I stole a peek and saw it catching up with me, its eyes glowing red. Apparently it wasn’t too happy. I kept running for some time, getting scratched by the thorny underbrush and whipped by tree branches. After a while, I couldn’t hear the creature behind me anymore, so I slowed down. By this time I was almost of out of the forest. The trees were slowly diminishing, and grassy plains were taking their places. I walked forward another hundred feet or so, until finally I collapsed onto the ground. “This is just too weird.” I told myself. “Am I even still on Earth? I thought I was and it looks like I still am, but I’ve never seen those…those….things before! First, a large green caterpillar that screams! And then an angry monkey with the nose of a pig. What next?” My question was soon answered as I sat up and noticed a bird staring at me fixedly from a few yards away. It would’ve looked like a normal bird, yet it had a ruffled crest and was a little larger than most other birds.
“Row?” It walked a little closer on two short legs.
“Wait, stop right there.” I warned. “You could be another menace like your friends, Mr. Monkey and Mr. Squealie Caterpiller.” It still came closer. “I’m warning you.” I said as I picked up a small rock nearby and tossed it a few times in my hand.
“Spear?” it uttered before taking another few steps. I hurled the rock. It connected with the bird and produced a sizeable lump on its head. Of course, that didn’t make it happy, but I expected it to fly away, not scream for its friends.
As I looked skyward at the oncoming flock of birds that were quickly surrounding me, I knew running wasn’t gonna help a bit. Needless to say, I tried it anyway. It got me nowhere fast. So I did the first thing that came to my mind: whimper for my mommy and roll up into a ball. And just in the nick of time, too. I could feel the wind the birds kicked up as they began to peck furiously at me, but I didn’t do anything. I had no intentions of angering them even more. I was pecked over and over, continuously. I couldn’t help but scream from the pain. I was about to pass out from the torture when I heard a voice shout, “Water Gun!” from behind me. I felt water splash over me as the birds flew away. “Good job! Return!” the voice yelled again. I unfurled myself exhaustedly and looked over in the direction of the voice. It belonged to a very pretty girl. She looked about the same age as me. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, which protruded from her white baseball cap. She was wearing a tight t-shirt that was tucked into her jean shorts. She started running towards me. “Are you all right?” she called out to me. I was about to respond but before I could, my brain decided to shut off for a period of time and the world went black.
“Wake up!” Slap.
I woke up. The face of my rescuer swam into view. I stared into the face of the kneeling girl who had nearly saved my life. My cheek stung. I wondered why. The girl was leaning over me, a locket hanging from her neck into my face. I couldn’t think of anything to say. She spoke up. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” I managed to get out. “I’m just peachy keen. Thanks for saving me.”
“I’m just glad you’re all right. But,” she said as she pulled me to a sitting position, “why were all those Spearows pecking at you?”
“Spearows? Is that what they’re called?” I asked.
“Yeah…” she said, looking at me strangely. “Are you sure you’re all right? Did you get pecked on the head too hard?” She felt my skull for any wounds. I winced in a few spots.
“Ouch!” I cried.
“You’ve got some major cuts.” She said after inspecting me. That came as no surprise, seeing as I had been attacked by a pack of ferocious Sbeadhows or whatever they were called. “We need to get you somewhere so we can fix you up.” She continued. “Where you live?”
I grimaced. “Nowhere near here, that’s for sure.”
“C’mon, I’ll take you to my brother’s house. It’s not far from here. But we need to hurry. I’d hate to have to carry you there after you pass out from loss of blood.” She grinned. I guess it was a joke. I couldn’t be sure, since my brain wasn’t properly functioning. In any case, she started pulling me to my feet.
“Whoa, hold on.” I said, stopping her. “I don’t even know you. How do I know you’re not tricking me or something?”
She stared at me. “Right. Like I’m some sicko kidnapper who’s gonna kill you.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t had a very good day so far.”
“Save your story for later. Come on.” She sighed, dragging me along.
We walked back through the forest, giving me another chance to peer around. As we trekked through the forest, I saw some more of those green things hanging onto branches overhead. “Hey,” I whispered to my comrade softly so as not to disturb those scary green things, “what are those? Are they native to this land?” I asked, pointing at one crawling up a tree.
“Very funny. Those are Caterpies, dummy.”
“Caterpies? Never heard of them.”
She glanced over at me. “Are you all right?”
I shrugged.
As we kept walking, I noticed the log I had tripped over and my body print in the dirt. I also noticed the broken brush I had run through. But I was too dense to notice where we were actually going until we got there. “We’re here.” The girl announced as we came to the cabin I had recently departed from.
“I can’t go back in there!” I shouted.
“Why not?” she asked, startled.
“Because that’s where I came from!” I nearly shouted.
“What?” she said, then corrected herself. “No, never mind. You’re going in there and that’s that, do you understand? You’re hurt and I’ve got to tend to you.” She spoke firmly enough to make me give up.
“Fine.” I grumbled. “But don’t be startled if your brother has already met me.”
The girl looked at me, rolled her eyes, and pulled me into the house.
“Ah, Sandy, you’re back. Did you happen to…” the man trailed off as I peeked in the door. “Welcome back. I’m afraid I didn’t properly introduce myself last time we met. I think you’ll agree that under the circumstances, I was a little flustered.” He outstretched his hand. “I’m Bill.”
“Uh…nice to meet you, Bill. I’m Rocky.” I said, shaking his hand. I was relieved that he wasn’t upset over what had happened earlier.
Sandy, who had been standing back with a puzzled look on her face, now spoke up. “Care to fill me in?”
Bill nodded. “Yes, you don’t know what happened earlier.”
Sandy looked confused. I turned to try to explain it to her, but fainted dead away.
When I awoke, I was lying in a bed. Groggily blinking my eyes a few times, I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, leaning my head against the backboard of the bed. It was a pretty boring room. Shelves, with some books, lined the walls. Little plushies of unknown creatures were lying in one corner of the room, and there was a TV directly in front of me. Other than that, nothing. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but I was already awake. I had just opened my eyes again when the door opened. Sandy’s head popped in and her eyes rested on me.
“Oh, you’re awake. May I come in?”
“By all means. Sorry to just pass out like that. It’s not usually my style. How long was I out for?”
Sandy came in and sat down on the bed next to me. “All night, and it’s all right about the passing out thing. I can understand.”
I nodded. A few seconds of awkward silence ensued.
“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, Bill told me what happened to you.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Sandy shrugged. “Well, not much, actually. He fired up a machine, a weird portal-like thing appeared, and you came flying through shortly afterwards.”
“Did he also tell you that he pursued me throughout the house, trying to catch me?”
Sandy blinked. “What?”
“Never mind.”
She looked at me. “So exactly what did happen to you? Do you mind my asking?”
“Pfft! Not at all.” I sat up some more and stretched my arms. “You seem friendly enough, and if you were intending to do bad things upon me, they probably would’ve been done by now.”
Having said that, I did a five second body-feel to see if anything bad had happened. Nothing. Sandy was not amused. I kept speaking as if nothing was wrong or weird about that.
“Anyways, holding back information from you two won’t help me get home. Plus, I’m just a normally friendly guy. So! What was the question again?”
Sandy tried not to smile, but failed. Her whole face beamed, making her look even prettier than she usually did.
“What happened to you yesterday?”
“Well, up until the whole portal thing, it was a normal day. Woke up, went to school, came home, and then decided to go throw a Frisbee in the park. As I turned to leave, I, uh…” Here I broke off, not wanting to tell her about my encounter with “myself”, which I wasn’t sure if it was real or not.
“You what?”
“Well, I…uh, I ran into this portal and here I am.”
Sandy looked at me suspiciously, almost as if she suspected I wasn’t telling her something. She was about to speak, when Bill poked his head in.
“Are you awake? Oh, good. Can we talk?”
“Sure,” I said, patting a spot on the bed. “The more the merrier.”
“Thanks.” Bill said as he came in and sat down. “First of all, how are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling fine.” I said. “I just want to know what’s going on.”
Bill looked at me. “Yes, well…I can only tell you part of it, Rocky.”
He stood up and began to walk back and forth. “See, I’m a Pokémon Scientist, as well as an inventor. I’ve created several things that have aided the world in one way or another. In my teens, I created the Pokémon Storage System, which trainers across the world rely on. My inventions and discoveries have been lauded by newspapers from all the major continents.”
He sat back down on the bed, his hands in his lap. “For the past three years, I’ve been working on a secret project that may change the very world as we know it. I’ve been hiding my work away here in this cottage, because if people only knew what I was working on, and if this technology fell into the wrong hands…”
Here he broke off, his face twisted with fear. He quickly regained his composure, and looked up at me again. “I can’t tell you what I doing, but I can tell you that I wasn’t far from being wrong.”
I looked at him, mystified. “You mean you intentionally brought me here?”
“No no no! Not at all! You misunderstand me. I had no intention whatsoever of bringing you here.” He stood up and began pacing again. “I have been studying myths and legends for quite a while now, and I was in the process of discovering a lost realm, one not spoken about anymore. But more than that I cannot tell you.”
Sandy avoided my eye sight when I tried to look at her.
“I’m deeply sorry for causing you any pain, or discomfort. Such was not my intention. I can assure you, I can send you home within a matter of minutes. It’s just a simple matter of reversing the process. You do wish to go home, correct? I’m sure your parents must be very worried.” He looked at me.
I shrugged. “They’re gone for a week and I have the house to myself. However, I do need to get back. But I have a question. What are these Pokémon things you two keep mentioning?”
Bill stared at me. “You mean to tell me you don’t know what Pokémon are?”
“I haven’t even the slightest clue. Do they have anything to do with those creatures I ran into outside?”
Bill had stopped his pacing. He now looked at me as if I had sprouted wings and flown around the room. Without another word, he dashed out of the room. Seconds later, furious sounds of machinery sounded from down the hall.
Sandy got up and shut the door. I really couldn’t interpret the expression on her face. “Sorry about that.”
“What was that about?”
“I have no idea.” Sandy brushed the hair out of her face and came and sat down by me again. I had some idea that she knew something about what had happened, but I didn’t question her further.
“Well, Bill has gone to work on sending you back home, so why don’t I explain a little bit about Pokémon to you?”
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all.” Sandy smiled at me. “What do you want to know first?”
“What are Pokémon? Are they those creatures I saw outside?”
“Yes.”
I checked off the ones I had seen with my fingers. “Well, I’ve seen a few Couchties, a Mikey and a flock of Smeatows.”
She didn’t bother to correct me. “You’ve already seen 3 Pokémon? That’s a good start.”
I puffed out my chest. “Thank you. It was easy.”
Sandy nodded. “Yeah, roughly only 550 more.”
My mouth fell open. “You mean there’s 553 Pokémon total?!” I exclaimed. “That’s a lot!”
“I said roughly. Nobody knows how many Pokémon there are. We’ve discovered close to 500. And to become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time, you must capture one of every kind.”
“Evidently not an easy task.” I said. “Uh, what’s a Pokémon Master?”
“Trainers at the age of 13, when they’ve finished their schooling, can do one of two things. They can either become a Pokémon Trainer or they can finish their schooling and go on to a million other professions.”
“Why would anyone become a Pokémon Trainer?”
“Pokémon are the only other species on this earth besides us. We live in harmony with them. We help them and they help us. Many people catch and train Pokémon to have as pets, or even friends, while others catch and train them to battle against other trainer’s Pokémon with, or even wild Pokémon.”
“You make them fight?!”
“Pokémon are strange creatures, possessing unique abilities and talents. They all can attack using a variety of moves. It’s perfectly normal for Pokémon to battle. It’s what makes them stronger. Some Pokémon love to battle, while others don’t. But it’s perfectly acceptable. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“So a Pokémon Trainer catches and trains wild Pokémon, making them fight to become stronger so he can…?”
“Become a Pokémon Master.” She finished my sentence.
“Isn’t there any other profession geared around Pokémon?”
“Of course! Like I said, our whole world is geared towards Pokémon. There are a few major professions, however. I’ll name them. There’s Pokémon Trainer, Pokémon Master, Watcher, Breeder, and Scientist. Those are the really major ones.”
“Okay, so that’s all well and good, but how does a trainer capture Pokémon so he can use them?”
“Easy.” She said. “They must first weaken the wild Pokémon with one of their own Pokémon, then capture it in a type of Poké Ball.”
She interpreted the quizzical look on my face and continued. “Poké Balls are devices Pokémon Trainers use to capture Pokémon. There are many different types of Poké Balls. The normal ones you can buy in Poké Marts are Poké Balls, Great Balls, Super Balls, and Ultra Balls. Great Balls are better than Poké Balls, Super Balls are better than Great Balls, and Ultra Balls are better than Super Balls. Then there’s a special type of Poké Ball, called the Master Ball. It captures any Pokémon, no matter what. But there’s only a few of those in the whole world.”
“Why would I need any of those extra Balls if I can just buy Poké Balls?”
“Stronger Pokémon require stronger Balls. They’re not all easy to capture.”
“Okay, I’m starting to get it now.” I said. “But to catch all 450-odd Pokémon, you must need a lot of Poké Balls!”
“But you don’t need to capture every single kind of Pokémon.” She explained. “Most Pokémon evolve into different Pokémon when they gain enough experience points from battling or when certain conditions are met.”
“Oh, got it!” I said excitedly. “So I could capture a Pokémon with a Poké Ball, then it could evolve into another type when it’s ready.”
“Right. Some Pokémon even evolve twice. Then again, some don’t evolve at all. But no family of Pokémon has more than three evolutionary stages.”
I stopped her. “Wait, wait. I don’t get the evolution thing. Define ‘evolve.’”
She struggled to find words. “Well, they kinda….I dunno, they kinda turn all whitish and then swirl around some…colored orbs go flying, and then they’re another Pokémon.”
I blinked. “Uh, no, that’s not what I meant at all. I meant how long does this process take? Back where I come from, evolution takes several hundred million years.”
Sandy gasped. “Oh, no, nothing like that! It takes all of ten to twenty seconds.”
“Incredible.” I uttered.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you about the other kinds of Poké Balls.”
“Uh, okay, go ahead.”
“Aside from the Poké Balls, Great Balls, Super Balls, Ultra Balls, and Master Balls, there are 7 other types of Poké Balls that are made by a man from Johto. Kurt, the Poké Ball maker, will make you a custom Poké Ball from an Apricorn you bring him. There are seven types of Apricorns, and they yield the following Poké Balls.” She counted them off on her fingers. “Lure Ball, Level Ball, Love Ball, Moon Ball, Fast Ball, Heavy Ball and Friend Ball. They all have different purposes. The Lure Ball is great for catching Pokémon that you fish up with a Fishing Rod. The Level Ball catches Pokémon that are much weaker than the Pokémon currently battling against them. The Love Ball’s great at catching Pokémon of a different gender than the one currently fighting for you. The Moon Ball is pretty good for catching Normal-type Pokémon, especially if they evolve by the Moon Stone. The Fast Ball is used to catch Pokémon with a high Speed rating, while the Heavy Ball captures Pokémon that weigh a lot. And if you catch a Pokémon with a Friend Ball, it’ll start out liking you more than if you had caught it with another type of Ball.”
“Wow.”
“I’m not finished yet.” She grinned. “There are a few other special types of Poké Balls that aren’t usually found in this region. There’s the Dive Ball, which works better on Pokémon found deep underwater. Then there’s the Luxury Ball, which works just like Kurt’s Friend Ball. The Nest Ball works better on weaker Pokémon, whereas the Net Ball works best on Water and Bug type Pokémon. Then of course you’ve got the Premier Ball, which is just a fancy Poké Ball. The Repeat Ball works better on Pokémon you’ve already caught before-” Sandy raised her hands before I could speak, saying, “I don’t know how it works either. But probably the most useful out of the bunch is the Timer Ball, which somehow is more effective the longer a battle goes on.
“Then there are two other types of Poké Balls, the Safari Ball and the Park Ball. But those are only used if you’re going to a Safari Zone anywhere, or the National Park in Johto.”
“Johto?”
“Johto is the sister region of Kanto and home to the 3rd Pokémon League, the Johto League.”
“What’s a Pokémon League?”
“Pokémon Leagues are the ultimate test for trainers. To become a Pokémon Master, you must get enough badges from certified Pokémon Gyms across the land to be eligible to compete in the Leagues. A Pokémon Gym is basically a building housing a certified Pokémon Trainer strong enough to present a challenge to all those wishing to become a Pokémon Master. They have to go through rigorous applications to be given to right to open a Gym. Anyways, there are 100 badges and 10 Leagues in all. There’s the Indigo League, which is right here in Kanto. The Orange League is found on the Orange Archipelago, while the Ivy League is in Johto. Then there’s the Hydro League in Hoenn, and then the Aqua League in the Aqua Ocean. After that, the Sky League, which is located on the Airborne Islands, which float mysteriously in the sky. I’m not joking! After that, you go to the Gem League in the land of Seito, and then the Training League, which is in the Sandia Desert and outlying area. Ninth is the Free-For-All League situated in the lands of the Rocky Mountains. Finally, there’s the Elite League, in the Elite Lands. After getting all 100 badges, and beating all the Leagues, you must travel to Elite Mountain to challenge the four greatest trainers of all: A.J. Morrison, Richie Green, Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum.”
“Wow, it’s like right out of the brochure!” I joked. “Okay, I’m getting most of this, but I have a few questions. One, can you tell me the different ways Pokémon evolve?”
“Sure.” She said. “Most Pokémon evolve when they gain enough experience points from battling. But there are other ways to evolve too. Other types of Pokémon evolve when they are exposed to radiation from different Elemental Stones, the Stones being Fire, Leaf, Thunder, Water, Moon and Sun. Still others evolve when traded to another person.”
“How?”
“Don’t ask me! Most evolve when traded normally, but others evolve when they are traded with a special object attached. There are so many ways Pokémon evolve, and this is just a few. I couldn’t possibly name them all.”
“Understandable. Question two.”
“Yes?” Sandy asked.
“How many different Pokémon types are there? I was wondering ‘cuz I heard you mention something about Normal. What are they?”
“Well, we categorize Pokémon according to types. We’ve found out that there are nineteen types of Pokémon, meaning they have attacks and characteristics similar to their types. Like if a Pokémon uses the attack Toxic, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
“Uh….poisoning?”
“Exactly! We’ve found nineteen types, and they are Normal, Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel, Solar and Magic. Pokémon are either mono or dual-type. No Pokémon can have three of the types I mentioned.”
“Whew. This is a lot to learn. But I can handle it.” I paused and grinned. “You might not like this next question….”
“What is it?”
“Can you name all the different Pokémon for me?”
Sandy stared at me for a moment, a look of pure disbelief on her face. “Are you nuts? You think I’ve memorized all of them in proper PokéDex order? No way.”
“C’mon, please!” I begged.
“Yeah, right. Nice try.”
After another ten or twenty minutes, I knew pretty much all there was to know about Pokémon in general (or so I thought). Although Sandy told me nothing about any individual Pokémon ("What?! Are you crazy?!"), I did learn about all the basics, including Poké Balls, Pokémon fights, Pokémon Centers and Marts, the different Leagues, and, of course, the famous Professor Oak and his findings.
Then arose a momentary lapse of silence. Sandy, during our conversation, had leaned against the backboard along with me. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, Sandy resting and me digesting.
These Pokémon creatures sounded fascinating. The way they battled intrigued me to no extent. For a second, I almost wished that my animals at home could do that. "Rusty, attack that other dog! Use a special attack!"
What I also found interesting was the fact that there were no other animals on this other planet, or dimension, or whatever/wherever it was I was in/on. The way that these people and Pokémon lived together was almost unbelievable. These Pokémon sounded (and looked, from my personal experience) to be very smart. I wanted to see more of them. And this Professor Oak dude, from what Sandy had told me, couldn't be too bad either. A 65-year old man that's made more discoveries regarding Pokémon than any Professor before him? Yeah. Can we say "really cool?"
I spoke my thoughts out loud. "Professor Oak sounds so cool. I wish I could meet him."
"I thought you wanted to go home." Sandy mumbled.
"Oh c'mon, I can go see him before I go back home, can't I?"
Sandy glanced down at the watch strapped onto her left wrist, then looked back up at me. "Well, it's only 10 AM right now. If we leave now, we could get there in a half-hour or less. Say about an hour or two there, then a half hour back. I wouldn't be opposed to going, but won't your parents miss you?"
"Naw. They're away on a week-long business trip, remember? I could stay here for a full week if I wanted to. Of course, the school would miss me, but I wouldn't mind! And it's too late to get to school today."
Sandy slowly made her way off the bed, crawling over me during the process. "Well, if you're up to the walk, I'm sure Bill would let us. You sure you're okay?"
"Other than you clambering all over my legs, I'm fine. I don't know why you guys went to all this trouble over me." I got all heroic then. I leapt out of the bed heroically and heroically shouted, "A couple of…of…Smearos?"
"Spearow, Rocky."
"Heh. I knew that." I said meekly, getting back into the bed. I tried again. "A couple of Spearow pecks can't hurt me!" I cried as I heroically leapt out of the bed once more. I had meant to impress Sandy. However, tripping on one's bedcovers, falling out of bed, and landing in a tangled heap in front of the person you're trying to impress usually doesn't. It did make her laugh though, which was better than nothing.
"I meant to do that." I remarked.
After untangling myself from the sheets, we ventured to Bill's room and peeked in. Bill was half-hidden underneath a huge machine. I assumed it to be the one that had brought me here in the first place. To my surprise, it looked something like a large washing machine. Dials and knobs were all over the front of it.
Sandy called to Bill over the noise of the whirring and clanking in the room, but he didn't respond, so she went over and tugged him out. Bill's top half reappeared and he looked up at us, the proverbial grease smudge on his nose. "Oh, hi there, Sandy." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, with which he used to wipe his forehead. I noticed that the white shirt he had been wearing earlier had been exchanged for a dirty gray t-shirt. The pants, however, were ruined. "Whatcha need?"
"Rocky and I were wondering if we could go down and visit Professor Oak, if that's not too much trouble."
"You might as well." Bill sighed and hit the machine with the wrench he was holding. "This is going to take me longer than I had originally thought. I have to completely reverse what I had set. In theory, it shouldn't be too difficult. All I have to do is recalibrate the-"
"Okay, okay, I get it." Sandy interrupted Bill with a wave of her hand. "You know I don't understand any of that technical mumbo-jumbo stuff. Just tell me how long it's going to take."
Bill shrugged and dusted off his pants. "It could be another couple of hours before it's back up again."
"Take your time." I said. "I'm in no hurry. I have a whole week."
"Rocky, I assure you it will be done before then." Bill tried to explain.
"I know, I was joking. So it's cool with you if we go?"
"It's perfectly fine. Just be back before nightfall, all right? No later than 9 pm. I don't want you two getting lost or anything."
"We'll be fine, Bill. It's only 10 and we're just-" Sandy began, but was cut off by the machine Bill had been previously working on.
Something inside of it exploded with a loud BANG! and a few parts Bill had left on the top of the machine flew everywhere as a bluish-green smoke emitted itself and began to fill the room. Sandy shrieked, grabbed me, and practically flew out the door. While being dragged down the hall, I could hear Bill shout, "Damnation!" as he dove back under the contraption.
"It's definitely going to take him longer than a few hours to fix that." I said to myself as I stood up and followed Sandy out of the cottage.
For the next ten minutes after that, I half expected to hear a loud BOOM from behind us and seeing Bill and the house flying towards kingdom come, along with my chances of ever getting back home. But after we had gotten out of the forest surrounding the old cabin and hadn't heard one single peep from Bill's direction, I began to relax. I put my hands in my pockets and started whistling. It was a nice day. The sun was out, and it was that nice temperature, in between hot and cold, and the autumn leaves were brilliant, showing their colors of red, orange and even gold.
We kept walking towards Pallet Town. As we did, Sandy pointed out any Pokémon she could see along the way, which were few. However, they were all Caterpies. No new ones.
As we continued on our course, the town on the horizon got closer and closer. Along our path to the small community of Pallet, I noticed a small sign on the side of the road we were on. Peering down upon it, I read the words:
Pallet Town
Shades of Your Journey Await!
"Interesting." I commented. Not more than a minute later, I spotted another sign. This one read:
Pallet Town
A Tranquil Setting of Peace & Purity
"I liked the first sign better." I said aloud to Sandy.
"I agree." She said. "That other sign is relatively new. I guess they're trying to make Pallet Town sound more inviting, I guess. I wouldn't know."
"Why? Don't you live here?"
"Nope." She replied, brushing back a loose strand of hair. "I live in Cerulean City."
"Where's that?"
She smirked. "Yeah, like you'll recognize it if I tell you. It's only a few cities away. Not too far though. I just like coming down here with Bill. It's so nice and peaceful." She closed her eyes and started imagining, no doubt about peace and quietness. Me, being the prankster that I am, stopped in my tracks and stuck my foot out to the side. Sandy sauntered forward, eyes closed, and fell onto her face. I started cracking up. Big mistake. Sandy looked up, an evil tint in her eyes. It reminded me somewhat of the Mrankee that had accosted me the day before.
"Sorry." I hastily said, as I tried to straighten up and look serious. "It was an accident, really."
"Oh, really? Then this will be one too!" Sandy yelled as she jumped up and lunged for me, but I was already gone. Sandy gave chase.
I entered Pallet in no time flat. I flew down Rattata Road and turned left at Abra Avenue. There weren't too many houses, but then again, Pallet Town didn't seem all that big. I ran past a few more houses and seemed to run right out of Pallet Town. I looked around (while running, of course) and wondered, Where the heck does this road lead? After a few more seconds, it became clear. The road led to the top of a hill, where I could see a huge laboratory of some kind.
All of a sudden, I was jolted forward as Sandy caught up and tackled me from behind. We both fell to the ground, breathing heavily.
"You're a jerk." Was all Sandy could say.
"I know. Get off me."
We both sat up and took in deep gulps of air. I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. I waited another minute before getting up, and noticed a sign a few feet in front of me. I took a look.
"To Professor Oak's Laboratory." I read. "Hmm. Obviously I ran the right way. How fortunate."
Sandy had already recovered and was walking towards the lab. "C'mon, you Slowpoke! We don't have all day!" she spoke over her shoulder.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Hold your horses!” And then, half to myself, “Oh wait….you don't know what horses are, do you? Aw, never mind.” I shouted back. I patted the sign. "Uh…keep up the good work." I said, for lack of something better to say. Looking up, I saw Sandy getting further and further away from me. "Hey, wait up!" I shouted as I raced after her.
I caught up with Sandy as she reached the front door of the Professor’s lab. I watched as she took the brass knocker in one hand and swung it against the large oak door a number of times before letting go and waiting along with me. We waited patiently until sounds were heard from behind the door and it slowly creaked open. It revealed a tall, black-haired teenager. He was wearing a long green shirt, untucked. It hung over his black baggy pants. A purple headband completed the ensemble. The young man grinned down on us. “Hey there, Sandy.” He said, speaking with a slightly wispy and quiet voice. “We haven’t seen you in a while. What’s up?”
“Not much, Tracey.”
Tracey? What about Professor Oak? I wanna see Professor Oak! I grumbled mentally.
“So, who’s your friend?” Tracey nodded in my direction.
Sandy took me by the shoulders. “Tracey, this is-”
“Cliffs. Rocky Cliffs.” I said, doing my best Bond imitation. They didn’t notice/care.
Tracey started staring at me intently. He looked me up and down. He walked all around me, inspecting me from every angle. I wasn’t about to ask what he was doing, but I felt like I was on display or something. But I stood still until Tracey had finished making his observation of me. “Well, he looks all right to me.” He confessed to Sandy. “But I think you’re a little young for a boyfriend.”
I sighed. And so it begins…
Sandy’s cheeks turned noticeably red, as did mine. “Tracey, are you ever gonna grow up?” She sighed.
"Not if I can help it,” He joked. “I’m only 19. I’ve still got years ahead of me!” He turned his attention to me. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Tracey Sketchit. I work here as Professor Oak’s lab assistant.”
“Nice to meet you, Tracey.” I accepted his handshake as we walked inside. Tracey shut the door behind us.
“So Rocky, you from Pallet Town?”
“Er…” I began. “Well, you see…”
“It’s a long story.” Sandy jumped in. “We’ll tell you later.”
We walked out into a large open area, like a living room. It was complete with bookshelves, TV, a computer, and a couch, occupied at the moment.
An old, gray-haired man wearing a long white lab coat was sitting down. He had a bowl of popcorn on his lap, and was staring intently at a TV screen. “Um, Professor?” Tracey ventured.
“Sshh! This is the end! Be quiet!” the Professor answered with a brisk wave of the hand.
Wondering what was so exciting, I stepped further into the room and peered at the TV. Sandy and Tracey followed. A young teen and a huge blue turtle (or what looked like one) with cannons protruding from its shell were standing on a beach, looking at each other.
“I’m gonna miss you, Blastoise,” the kid said, a lump in his throat. “But I understand why you have to go.”
“Blas.” The turtle rumbled in a deep voice.
“Just promise you’ll come back someday, okay?”
“Toise.” The Maskoise (or whatever) said, and nodded. They stared at each other for a minute more. Words weren’t needed. The Fatboys then turned and walked into the ocean, and started swimming away.
“Good…bye…Blastoise.”
I felt a shiver go down my spine, but shrugged it off. Crazy soaps. The ending credits began playing. Professor Oak finally tore his eyes away from the screen and turned it off with the remote. “Sorry about that!” Oak said to us, an embarrassed smile on his face. “I was just watching the season premiere of my favorite soap.”
“That’s okay, Professor, we understand.” Tracey said with a silly grin on his face. “Professor, Sandy’s here to visit, along with a new uh…friend of hers, Rocky.” I caught his eye, and he grinned mischievously.
The good Professor placed the popcorn bowl on a nearby table and walked over to me. “Well, well, well, what have we here? Welcome, Rocky. I’m Professor Oak. Pleased to meet you!” He wiped his hands on his lab coat before shaking my proffered hand.
“Same here.” I replied. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Sandy.”
“Well, I’m probably not as great as she makes me out to be.” Professor Oak chuckled. “Oh, I’m sorry, I haven’t even invited you inside. Please, make yourself at home!”
“That’s gonna be kinda hard to do.” I muttered under my breath. Sandy elbowed me.
We all stepped into the living room. Sandy and I nestled down on the couch, while Professor Oak took a seat in a chair nearby. Tracey preferred standing. “So Rocky, you’re not from around here, are you? I don’t recognize you, and I know most everyone in Pallet Town.”
“Nope, I’m an out-of-towner.” I said.
“Where do you live?” he asked.
I took a deep breath and crossed my fingers. “Ohio.”
“Where’s that?” Tracey asked. “I’ve never heard of an Ohio.”
Sandy and I exchanged looks. “Professor, Rocky….well, Rocky has a strange story to tell you.”
I glared at Sandy, but it was too late. Professor Oak sat back and smiled. “All right then.”
“It’s a long and harrowing tale, Professor…” I warned, but at the Professor’s urging, I went on with my story. Halfway through though, Sandy decided to take over so she could recall, step by step, her amazing rescue. She exaggerated a little, if you ask me. But I let her have her fifteen minutes of fame. ‘Twas only fair.
All during the tale, Tracey dropped in comments such as, “You’re kidding me!” and “Oh my!” He was quite the captive audience. Oak, however, remained strangely quiet, a glimmer of a smile on his face.
“So, I thought we’d drop in so you could show Rocky around and maybe explain Pokémon a little better. Would that be too much to ask of you?” Sandy finished up.
Professor Oak didn’t answer right away. Then, he suddenly looked up as if he hadn’t been paying attention, but his eyes were twinkling. “I would be absolutely delighted to show you around, Rocky. Come with me!”
I followed alongside the Professor as he walked to the lab part of his house. He opened a double-door and we walk through. I was instantly mesmerized. Machines of all shapes and kinds were all over. It was huge. And a whole wall of his lab (which was long and tall) was filled with nothing but shelves of Poké Balls!
I listened with fascination as Oak described his daily routine (get up, release the Pokémon, feed the Pokémon breakfast, feed the Pokémon lunch, continue his scientific experiments, feed the Pokémon dinner, return the Pokémon, go to sleep) and the machines that helped him do it. He also showed me some discoveries he had recently made (none of which I understood, but one had to do with a bug with mushrooms on its back). What was really nice was that Oak seemed to go out of his way to show me everything he could. I felt like he really wanted me to learn, which was very kind of him. He didn’t have to do that.
Finally, after we were almost done, I got to take a peek at my very first PokéDex. At first I didn’t know what it was for.
“And this,” Professor Oak displayed, “is a PokéDex. This portable machine is an invaluable thing to have with you.”
“Wait, Professor Oak, I’m confused. What’s a PokéDex?”
Oak glared down at Sandy sternly. “You mean you didn’t even tell him what a PokéDex was, Sandy?”
Sandy ducked her head. “Sorry.”
Tracey laughed, while Oak just sighed and shook his head. “Rocky, the PokéDex is the greatest tool for a Pokémon trainer, if I do say so myself.” (“And he does!” Tracey said.) “Just point it at a Pokémon and it will tell you all about it. Professor Westwood and I programmed it.”
I didn’t know who Westwood was, but this PokéDex sounded amazing. “All 550-odd Pokémon?” I asked.
“All of them!” Tracey proudly said. “And if you come across a Pokémon that hasn’t been discovered yet, it will analyze that Pokémon to the best of its ability and give you any info it can about it!”
“Tracey programmed that part.” Oak patted Tracey on the shoulder. Tracey beamed.
I started looking around the lab some more until I came to the wall covered with shelves full of Poké Balls. A gleam twinkled in Oak’s eyes as he noticed me staring in awe. “I see you’ve noticed my Poké Ball storage area.”
“How could anyone miss it?” I said, still staring at the wall. “How on earth did you get so many Pokémon?”
Oak chuckled. “Oh, they’re not mine, Rocky. Trainers who get their first Pokémon from me have me store their extra Pokémon here, since you can only carry six Pokémon with you at a time. I let about a third of them out every day. Oh! I completely forgot! I still haven’t shown you the corral for the trainers’ Pokémon I have out back. Would you like to see it?"
“Would I ever!” I exclaimed.
“Then follow me.”
“You’re in for a treat.” Sandy whispered to me as we followed behind Oak. “Prof. Oak’s corral is the greatest in the world.”
“Can’t wait to see it.” I whispered back.
Oak led me to the back door. “Ready?” Tracey asked.
“Ready!”
Tracey opened the back door and I stepped out onto the steps. I was instantly overwhelmed. Everywhere I looked, Pokémon were flying, swimming, running, playing and just naturally having a good time. I saw so many different kinds of Pokémon. There were horses with fire for manes, birds with two or even three heads, rats, bulls, and so many others I couldn’t even begin to describe. Of course, I thought, those are just descriptions I’m familiar with. Who knows what they’re called here.
While taking in the whole scene ahead of me, I heard Tracey speak. “And this isn’t all! Look over there.” He beckoned.
I looked in the direction of his outstretched finger and saw a rock formation several hundred yards away. There were Pokémon having a good time there as well. Huge snake-like rocks, rolling boulders and bats of some kind were just a few I could see. Professor Oak and Tracey also showed me the section where Pokémon of an icy nature live. They showed me how they have to continually check the temperature to make sure it’s always cold enough for the Pokémon. Professor Oak was even so gracious as to let me pet a Ponyta and feed a Hoothoot from my hand. I was so caught up in what I was doing I didn’t even realize the time flying by. Of course, the setting sun and colder air should’ve tipped me off, but I was too busy helping Professor Oak return all the Pokémon to their respective Poké Balls. Suddenly, Sandy looked at her watch. “Aw geez! It’s 7:30 already, Rocky! We’re going to have to start heading back.”
“Wow! The whole day flew by! I guess we better be going.”
“I hate to see you leave, Rocky.” Oak smiled at me. “It was very fun showing you around today.” He then paused, smiling liked he had earlier. “Do me a favor and stay for another few minutes. I must show you something important.”
Sandy and I exchanged glances. I could tell she had no idea what he was talking about either.
“Uh, sure. I can spare a few minutes. Be right back, Sandy.”
I followed Professor Oak to a room he hadn’t shown me to yet.
We walked in and he shut the big gray door.
Oak motioned towards a circular table in the middle of the room. I walked over to it. Oak pushed a button on a side panel. I watched as 3 Poké Balls came up through the bottom of the table and took their positions in a triangle.
“The Pokémon in these Poké Balls are Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Do you know anything about these?”
“Er…not really. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. You’re still relatively new at this.” He chuckled. “Let’s see. Bulbasaur,” he picked up the Poké Ball that was the crux of the triangle (from where I was sitting), “is a grass type. It has a leafy bulb on its back, which unfolds gradually into a flower as it evolves into Ivysaur and Venusaur. A good Pokémon for the beginning trainer. It can be very stubborn, however. Many Bulbasaur refuse to evolve. And when they do evolve, they like to evolve at a festival that happens once a year, held in a different place each time. It’s very tough making a Bulbasaur evolve, but it’s usually worth it.
“The second Pokémon is Charmander.” He picked up the second Poké Ball, “who is drastically different. It’s a fire type. The end of its tail is made purely of fire, which will grow weak when he’s wounded. This is a good Pokémon to have if you like Fire types. It evolves into Charmeleon and Charizard. There are two problems with this Pokémon, however. One, it may become unruly and not obey you if it evolves prematurely. Two, if the flame on its tail goes out, it will die. But with proper training, this Pokémon can become a powerful opponent indeed.
"The last Pokémon,” Prof. Oak picked up the last Poké Ball, “is Squirtle, a Water type. This blue Pokémon is a good Water type to have. It can learn a variety of attacks and becomes the powerful Blastoise,” (“So it evolves into a Bashnoise, like I saw on TV!” I squealed excitedly.) “but not before evolving into Wartortle first. The only trouble with this Pokémon is that it can tend to be a little mischievous. It will play tricks on its trainer until it knows it better. Even then, you must still be careful.” He finished with a chuckle.
Oak replaced the Poké Balls into their respective places on the round table. “So which one would you like, Rocky? Take your time before you choose. This is an important decision.”
I had stopped listening after he said ‘which one do you want?’
“Wait a second. You’re giving me a Pokémon?”
“Yes.”
“Me, Rocky Cliffs? The guy who’s about to go back to his world where Pokémon do not exist?”
Oak’s face was dead serious. “Rocky, I intend to give you a Pokémon. You will be needing it shortly.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I cannot tell you, Rocky.”
I slumped back in my seat. “Oh, of course. I understand. You know something I don’t. How you could know whatever it is you know I have no idea, but that’s not for me to question, is it? Of course not. I’ve had the strangest two days in my life and I’m can’t go around asking questions now. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to tell me anyways. You’re just going to give me a Pokémon because obviously I’ll be needing it soon, even though I’m about to go back to my world. Fine.”
Oak smiled that weird smile again. It was starting to unnerve me. He removed his lab coat as he said, “I’m sorry I cannot tell you anything.”
I sighed. “It’s all right. I just….never mind. So I get to choose a Pokémon now?
The Professor nodded.
I thought hard. Which one should I choose? Bulbasaur the stubborn grass Pokémon, Charmander the unruly fire Pokémon or Squirtle the mischievous water Pokémon?
I weighed it out in my head before deciding. “I’ll take Charmander, the fiery lizard!” I shouted, grabbing the Poké Ball. Oak smiled at my excitement. “Sorry.” I ducked my head. “I didn’t mean to shout or anyth…Um, hey, Professor Oak? How do you work this thing, anyways?”
Oak sighed, chuckled and then started instructing me on how to release a Pokémon. After about three minutes, I caught on.
I gripped the Poké Ball firmly, held it at arm’s length and aimed it away from any people or sharp objects. I then said in a commanding voice, “Charmander, I choose you!” Another option would have been, “Charmander, go!” Just as Oak had predicted, the Poké Ball opened just enough to let a beam of red energy slip through. I held my ground as taught by Oak and watched as the red light took the form of my new Pokémon. It finally stopped and the Poké Ball closed again. I stared at it. “It’s like magic!” I then turned my attention to my new Pokémon: a green thing with specks all over it and a bulb on its back.
I began to inspect my new Pokémon. “Wow. What a weird Pokémon. Where’s its flaming tail, Professor?”
“Uh, Rocky…”
“Hm…” I said ignoring him. “Do they grow their tail after a while?” I said prodding my new Pokémon. “And I thought it was red, not green.”
“Rocky, that’s not a Charmander, that’s a-”
“Bulbasaur!” it interrupted as it started pelting me with vines.
“Ouch! Hey!”
After Oak had set me straight with kind words and Bulbasaur with its evil vines, I tried again.
I gripped the new Poké Ball firmly, held it at arm’s length and aimed it away from any people or sharp objects. I then said in a commanding voice, “Charmander, I choose you!” Another option would have been, “Charmander, go!” Just as Oak had predicted, the Poké Ball opened just enough to let a beam of red energy slip through. I held my ground as instructed and watched as the red light took the form of my new Pokémon. It finally stopped and the Poké Ball closed again. This time, a red lizard with a fiery tail appeared. It was standing on two legs, and had a goofy grin on its face. I stared at it. “This is Charmander?” I finally uttered.
“Charmander!” it yelled angrily, before dropping its jaw and spitting fire at my feet. Shouting insanely, I managed to avoid burnt feet, but my semi-new white sneakers were singed. I looked down at my shoes, and then over at Charmander.
“Nice to meet you.”
Oak shut the door behind us as we walked back out into the main room. Tracey and Sandy were sitting on the couch, watching the news. The news anchor’s face filled nearly the whole screen. “Experts are still scouring the area where the figure has been said to be seen, but nothing has come up so far.”
Sandy noticed me and my new comrade walking out along with Oak, and she hastily hopped off the couch. She made her way over to me. “You got a Pokémon?!” she squealed excitedly before kneeling down and petting Charmander’s head.
Charmander smiled and tilted its head to get the full treatment. I was about to comment, when a dark figure was shown on the news. I sat down beside Tracey, watching. In the background, I could hear Oak saying something to Sandy.
The news anchor quickly flipped to another subject, something about the local Poké Mart, so Tracey flipped off the TV and I stood up.
“Well, we should get going.” Sandy looked over at me.
I glanced out the window. “Yeah, it is getting dark out.”
I stood up and shook Professor Oak’s hand. “Thanks for everything, Professor Oak. Especially the Pokémon! I promise to take very good care of it. You can count on me.”
“I’m glad you could drop by, Rocky.”
“Me too!” Tracey called from his lying position on the couch. “Did you enjoy seeing all the Pokémon?”
“Yeah! It was a real treat!”
“If Bill doesn’t get that machine fixed by tomorrow, maybe we’ll come back over, if that’s all right with you, of course.” Sandy added.
“That would be wonderful, Sandy.”
“Yeah! I’ll be able to show you some of my sketches!” Tracey called out excitedly.
As we left Professor Oak’s lab, I noticed how dark and cold it had gotten. “C’mon, we better hurry or we’ll freeze to death.” I said. We quickened our pace.
I didn’t see any Pokémon on the way back to Bill’s cabin, probably because of the cold wind blowing through the forest. I had recalled Charmander back into the Poké Ball after Sandy had suggested so (and then shown me how to do it). We made the trip back to the cabin quicker than expected, and it was a good thing we did. As we stepped into the small clearing where the cabin lay hidden away, we could see the cabin’s screen door laying a few feet away from the cabin. At a closer inspection, Sandy and I noticed it had been wrenched off its hinges. “Oh my gosh!” Sandy cried. “Bill’s in trouble!”
We raced through the screened porch and down the hall. An evil and sinister voice was speaking from the direction of Bill’s room. I stopped dead in my tracks and held my hand out to stop Sandy. “Ssh!” I quickly whispered.
“Sneasel!” The voice was saying. “Finish him off with Ice Beam!”
I had no idea what Ice Beam or Sneasel was, but I could tell that Bill was in huge danger. Without thinking, I raced forward, burst into the room with the Poké Ball already in my hand. “What the?!” the woman dressed in black shouted as I threw the Poké Ball towards the strange creature looming over Bill. He was slumped against the wall, blood streaming down his face, unconscious.
“Charmander, Ember!” I cried. Charmander materialized from the Poké Ball and swung his tail immediately towards the creature. The fiery tail connected with the Pokémon, who was getting ready to use its sharp white claws. It cried out in pain and started attacking Charmander. I ran towards it and yanked it off of Charmander. I heard a voice behind me.
“Say goodbye, kid.” Click.
Still struggling with the black weasel, I turned around and stared up the barrel of a gun. The red “R” on her shirt gleamed as the woman slowly squeezed the trigger. But something behind her knocked her away. It was Sandy. She had saved my life again!
The intruder’s intended death shot fired, and the bullet shot out of the gun and hit one of the many machines. The contraption began a series of mini-explosions. The woman leapt forward, away from the machine. “Sneasel, let’s go! We’ve gotten what we came for!” she cried as she returned it to its Poké Ball. The villain made a grand exit by jumping through the nearest window, sending glass shards everywhere.
“Oh no you don’t!” I yelled as I jumped after her. Sandy shouted for me to stop, but it was too late.
I landed awkwardly, sprawling across the grass. Dimly, I could see the female’s black form disappear into the shrubs in front of me. I hurriedly gave chase.
I jumped over some bushes and saw the woman just up ahead. She didn’t know I was coming, so I put on an extra burst of speed and tackled her from behind. The woman gasped, and struggled to beat me off. There was a small pouch on her belt, and I grabbed for it, believing it to be whatever it was she had stolen.
The woman threw me off her and landed a solid punch to my jaw. She tried to run again, but I tripped her by falling to the ground and sliding my legs underneath hers. She fell hard.
Emitting an unearthly scream, she turned around and grabbed me, hauling me to my feet. I flailed around, reaching for anything, and managed to get two handfuls of long hair. She started to move, but I firmly held on. My grip released, however, when she took my head with both hands, and smacked it into a tree. I fell down, the world spinning. I could hear her evil laugh as I struggled to remain awake.
I woke up in the same bed I’d woken up in previously. I inwardly cursed myself for being a fool and chasing the strange woman. But at the same time, I couldn’t have just sat by and done nothing. I was upset for not stopping the woman, but I was glad I tried and very glad that I had saved Bill.
A lengthy twenty minutes went by before the door opened. It was Bill. He took one look at me and left. Nice chap. His reason for leaving was soon clarified, however, when he brought in Charmander, which he placed on the bed beside me.
“How are you feeling, Rocky? You took a terrible clout on the head, I hear.”
I felt the side of my head and my fingers hit onto an enormous goose egg. I groaned. “Yeah, I did. But it looks like you got the worst end of it.” I said, staring at Bill’s blood-stained bandage wrapped around his head.
“It’s just a lot of blood, that’s all. I’m fine.”
“So, what happened? Who was that woman?” I asked nervously as I stroked Charmander’s head.
Bill didn’t answer for a moment. When he did, he was surprisingly quiet. “Rocky, Team Rocket is a group of evil-doers bent on ruling the world through their tyrannical use of Pokémon. They’ll do anything they can to reach their goal. They steal Pokémon from young trainers and use them for evil. They will stop at nothing to reach world domination. Their founder was a sinister man named Giovanni, though no one knows who the current leader is.”
I listened with rapt attention, wondering where he was leading with all this. Suddenly I remembered the gleaming red “R” on the intruder’s shirt. I began to worry.
Bill caught the look on my face. “Yes, Rocky, it was a Team Rocket member that broke in here. They intended to kill me but luckily you and Sandy arrived in time. However, this was not the first time a member of Team Rocket has broken into my house. They knew what I was working on and--”
“How did they find out?” I asked.
Bill sighed and leaned against the wall. “While I’m no Professor Oak, I’m not exactly an unknown either. After I created the Poké Ball storage system for the PC, I was a star. I’ve never really left the limelight, and people are constantly writing up about my latest projects. So it would’ve been relatively easy for Team Rocket to find out about I was doing something spectacular, something completely secret.” He shook his head and paused for a moment, then came and sat down on the edge of the bed. “But that isn’t what I wanted to tell you.”
Charmander and I exchanged nervous glances. “What did you want to tell me?” I asked.
“Well, when I came to, the first thing I did was inspect my secret project.”
Bill saw the look on my face. “Yes, the machine you came out of. Well, I found a piece missing. It was a very essential piece.”
My insides turned to stone. “What are you saying?”
Charmander looked at me, scared. “Char?”
Bill opened his mouth a few times but no words came out. He stuttered a few times, and then spoke in a rush, cramming all the words together. “They took the matter discharger from the machine and now you can’t get back home.” He looked up at me.
It took a second for the words to sink in. As soon as they did, my stony insides fell out and I felt an emptiness inside me. I fell back; exhaling what little air I had in me. Bill looked into my eyes, his face conveying how sad he truly was for me. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that it wasn’t his fault and not to worry. But I couldn’t speak. It was as if a great weight had been placed on my body, not allowing me to speak or hear or even breathe. I slipped into a mindless stupor. I barely heard Charmander and Bill leave.
I felt very alone and scared. A chill ran down my body as I thought, I have no one now. It was an utterly terrifying realization.
I re-lived all my past memories, cherishing them all, even the time I dented the car. I would have gladly given up everything I could if only I could have gone back….but it was too late. I was stuck here forever.
But then, a small voice stuck out in my brain. Rocky. It called. You can’t give up. You haven’t even begun! Your only chance of getting back home is getting that matter thing back. If you lose all faith without even trying, you’ll never get home. You’ll never see your family again, or go to school with your friends. Never again will you play ball in your backyard, or feel your dog’s rough tongue against your cheek. You’ll never experience the rest of your life until you get that machinery back.
I opened my eyes. I was right. I had a mission to do and nothing was going to stray me from it. I needed to get going immediately. Who knows how long the journey would take?
I threw back the covers of the bed and jumped out. I left the room and walked down the hall to Bill’s workroom. He wasn’t there, so I turned around and headed back the way I came. I tried another door and found Sandy and Bill sitting on another bed, talking. Charmander was with them, getting his head scratched by Sandy. Bill took his eyes off of Sandy and straightened up when he saw me open the door. He saw the look on my face and instantly paled.
Sandy noticed Bill look up, so she turned around and saw me. “Rocky!” she cried out in alarm. “What are you doing out of bed?”
I looked at them squarely, set my jaw and only replied, “I’m leaving."
Unexpected Journey
-----------------------------------------
