All I can think of now is that pokemon sitting right there in front of me. Yeah. That pokemon and the stinging rain. Me? I'm Trey LaJaunie. An official Pokemon League Pokemon Master. Here I am on top of a hill, just outside of Fuscia City, in the stinging rain staring down a pokemon I've been after for at least eight years. Eight whole years.
"Raichu?" Raichu, my number one pokemon standing ever at my side.
"No Raichu... not this time." I say.
Man, when was the last time I stood in the rain trying to catch a pokemon? I know the answer. It was two years ago when I caught Seaking. Yeah. That pokemon gave Raichu a run for his money.
"I know exactly who I'm gonna choose for this battle." I say. Then I reach onto my belt and pull off a pokeball that has the letter "M" engraved on it.
It was eight years ago that I got my licence to be a pokemon trainer from Professor Oak. My family has always been close to the Oak family. Although I've never lived in Pallet town or studied under Professor Oak, I got my license from him anyway.
Raichu and I know each other better than I know my own parents. We've been on the road for eight years. Well except for the winter time when I went to school. Yeah. I'm eighteen years old now and I'm still catching pokemon. Kids make fun of me because I train pokemon. I get them back by saying "Enjoy the spring semester while I'm on the road." Heh heh, it gets them so mad. I remember when I got my first pokemon. It was a Pikachu. I live in Lavender so ghosts and electric pokemon are abundant. My dad always said I would wait until I passed my first pokemon exam before I got my license. Well I never did pass that exam because I caught a pokemon before I got my license. Well I didn't catch it. It more or less followed me home.
I was sitting on a rock just outside of town. I loved to watch the pokemon run around. Sometimes they would run away from me. But this day was a bit different from the rest. I was just sitting there looking to see if I could see a pidgey or two when it happened.
"PIKAAAAAA" a sound from not far away!
A pikachu ran out of the grass, looked at me then collapsed. I picked the poor thing up, it tried to shock me but it was just too weak. It looked as though it was just beaten pretty badly. I heard some sounds coming from the direction the pikachu came from so I hid the pikachu in some tall grass behind the rock I was sitting on.
"Did we lose it?" A man's voice said.
"Chuuuuu." A pokemon's voice answered.
"If it's gone you're gonna get it!" The man said.
A large brown pokemon jumped out of the grass.
"Raiiiiichu!" It said. It was a Raichu!
It looked around as if looking for something. Then a man dressed in army fatigues came out behind the raichu.
"Hey kid." the man said "Did you see a little yellow pokemon come by here?"
"Who... who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Lieutenant Surge. I just built a pokemon gym in Vermillion city. I'm looking for that pikachu so I can train it and make it into a raichu like this one here." He pointed to the raichu.
This guy didn't sound like he was in his right mind. Plus that pikachu looked badly hurt so I lied. "I saw it run that way into the tall grass." I pointed away from the rock.
"Thanks kid." He said and they ran off.
I turned around half expecting the pikachu to have run off but it was still there. Only now it had fainted. I guess I felt sorry for the thing so I took it to the pokemon center.
"How can you train a pokemon until it faints like this?" Nurse Joy was scolding me.
"It's not exactly mine." I said under my breath. She put the pikachu in the rejuvinator, which kinda looked like a microwave with holes in it, and in a moment the Pikachu was revived.
"This pikachu is at a very low level of development. You'd better be careful with it." She said.
"A low level?" I asked.
"Yes. Pokemon at higher levels of development take more time to revive than those at lower levels. I'd say this pokemon is at his first level." She said as she handed me the pikachu.
"Pikachu." The pikachu was smiling.
"Uhh. Thanks." I said as I took the pikachu and left the pokemon center. "Wow, a level one pikachu."
I had always read in biology books that if you capture an animal or pokemon, you must release it in the place where you captured it. I took the Pikachu back to the rock and put him on the ground.
"I guess you can go now." I said.
"Pika?"
"Go. Look I'm no trainer. I can't even pass the pokemon exam." I said. I turned to walk away.
"Chu!" The pokemon had grabbed the pants leg of my jeans.
I bent down to look at him. "What is it?" I asked, not expecting a real answer.
"Pipikachu!" It jumped on me and I fell back. It stood on my chest looking at me with a smile on its face.
"Pikapikachu!" It said.
"You want to come home with me? Is that what your trying to say?"
Pikachu nodded.
"My dad is gonna kill me." I said, but I took the pokemon home with me anyway.
CHAPTER 2 -- A free Pokemon
"I think he wants to keep me." - Trey
I came home and told my parents what had happened.
"YOU WHAT?" my dad yelled.
My dad was always a big man. He studied pokemon but never went on a journey. My parents had always felt nervous when I spoke of going away to catch pokemon.
"It just followed me home." I said.
"So take it back!" he said.
"I can't." I answered.
"Why not?"
"Because it just follows me where ever I go." I looked at pikachu. He was munching on an apple I gave him earlier.
"Pipikachu!" he said with his mouth full.
"I think it's cute." My mom said. She was always the understanding type.
My dad sighed. "Well... lets see what Prof. Oak has to say about this." My dad dialed Prof. Oak on the phone.
"So do you want to keep it?" my mom asked.
"Pikapikachu." pikachu said.
"I think he wants to keep me." I said.
"From what it sounds like is that you saved his life. He seems dedicated to you now." She said.
"Saved his life?" I asked.
"From what people tell me Lt. Surge is a brutal trainer."
"Brutal." I thought of how bad pikachu looked when I found him.
"Pikachu..." pikachu said.
My dad hung up the phone. "Well it seems you've just caught your first pokemon son." He seemed a bit defeated but I could sense the pride in his voice.
"Professor Oak wants to see you right away." he said.
It was about an hour's drive to pallet town. My dad knew a short cut. He was mad because pikachu's electricity shorted out the radio.
"You're gonna have to learn to control that thing you know!" he said.
Pikachu jumped into the back seat of the car, mostly in fear for his life, and started to mess around with the clothes I had packed.
"Hey get out of those!" I yelled.
"Pi?" Pikachu said.
I tossed him an apple and he kept quiet for a while then fell asleep. I woke him up as we reached Pallet.
We were let into the lab of Professor Oak. There were many computers around. On many of the screens were several different types of pokemon. I recognized a few from my studies. Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgey, and Rattata. There was one that I couldn't put a name too. My dad saw which one I was looking at.
"That's a Dratini, son. No one has ever seen one of those in a long time. If someone were to find it, that person would become a great pokemon master." he said.
"Yes, indeed." Professor Oak had walked into the room. "Sorry for the delay but I had a phone call from Pokemon League."
"Was it something serious?" my dad asked.
"No. It just seems that we have a new gym in the league." Professor Oak said.
Professor Oak stood about five feet tall. He had large probing eyes and a generous mouth. He had brown hair and was an active pokemon trainer at that time. He always wore a lab coat.
"Let me see this pikachu you have here." He said.
"Pika!" Pikachu seemed a little excited.
Prof. Oak looked pikachu over.
"Yes. It seems you have a rare pokemon here."
"Rare?" both me and my dad said.
"Yes. It is a rarity to find a pokemon at such a low level of development. If you were to train this pokemon it would become a very powerful pokemon in the future." Prof. Oak explained.
"Wow. How powerful can it get?" I asked.
"A pokemon's level of development ends at one hundred. This pokemon will make a fine example of a level one hundred pokemon." Prof. Oak said.
"Pikaaaa." pikachu said.
"But I can't let you go on a pokemon journey with a level one pikachu, oh no. I'm going to give you another pokemon to help pikachu raise his level." Prof. Oak said.
"Now hold on a sec, Professor. I thought all trainers only get one pokemon to start with." my dad said.
"Well yes, but this is a very special case." Prof. Oak said. "Trey, you may have a choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle."
"Ummm. Pikachu? What do you think." I asked.
"Pika." Pikachu pointed to the picture of Bulbasaur.
"Hmmm. Bulbasaur. Good choice." Prof. Oak said. He handed me a pokeball that held a bulbasaur. Professor Oak then instructed me on how to catch a pokemon, using pikachu as an example. Pikachu didn't mind being caught. I let him out of the ball afterwards. Prof. Oak handed me five pokeballs and a pokedex.
"Pokemon marts sell pokeballs and other items you will need on your journey. By rules and regulations of pokemon league, if you defeat another trainer, her or she must give you some money as a prize. Or you can ask your mom and dad for cash. If the trainer has no cash, you must collect an IOU. It's the rules. All the rules are explained in the pokedex. The pokedex is also known as Dexter." Prof. Oak explained.
My dad led me to the path to Virmillion city. "Well this is where you go out on your own. Don't forget the boxing lessons I gave you." he said.
"Yes dad." I said.
"Don't forget that you're a brown belt in Tae Qwon Do. Just in case you get into a real fight." He said.
"Okay dad." I said.
"And..." he started.
"Dad! You're starting to sound like mom!" I said.
"Sorry. Just be careful and call home when you reach Vermillion." he said.
"Ok dad. Come on pikachu." I said.
"Pipikachu!" Pikachu said.
We went on down the road into the tall grass, and soon we found ourselves at a crossroads : One path seemed beaten down, the other seemed not used so much. I looked down at pikachu. We were on the same track. We both took the road that seemed unused.
CHAPTER 3 -- From Pallet to Viridian
"YEAH! Kentucky fried spearow!" - Trey
Pikachu and I walked onto the path unchallenged. Pikachu kept a diligent watch as we walked. He seemed to want to prove himself to me or maybe to himself. The day pressed on and I thought maybe we had taken the wrong path. My watch beeped noon time. We sat down to lunch. As we were eating a spearow floated down. I tossed it a piece of bread. While it was distracted I tapped pikachu on the head and motioned towards the spearow. Pikachu nodded and stepped in front of the spearow.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said. The spearow just stared at him, head cocked to the side. Since this was my first battle I pulled out my pokedex.
"Spearow. A tiny bird pokemon. Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its short wings at high speeds to stay airborne." Dexter said in its digital voice.
"That's all fine and good but what do I use on it?" I asked.
"A birds weakness is electricity and rock types." Dexter said.
"Good. Pikachu! Thundershock!" I yelled. Pikachu looked at me and nodded. He crouched over and began to charge his cheeks with electricity.
"PIIIIIKAAAACHHHHUUUUU!!!!!" A bolt of electricity came from pikachu and smashed into spearow.
"YEAH! Kentucky fried spearow!" I yelled as the spearow fainted.
"Pipikachu!" Pikachu gave the peace sign. I pulled a pokeball from my belt and threw it at the spearow. The spearow gave no resistance as it was pulled into the ball. The ball shook for a moment, the button was red. But after a few shakes the button turned gray and the ball remained still.
"I caught a spearow!" I yelled! How did I end up here? I followed this pokemon until I could no longer run with it. So I pulled out fearow and flew after it. Yeah. Flying with a fearow is the only way to use Fly.
"You think that just because you can fry a spearow that you're really something special huh?" A voice from behind me. I whirled on my heals and came face to face with a young trainer. He wore a grey beret on his head, a black shirt and jeans with white tennis shoes. He was sporting a boulder badge on the beret. "Heh. I'm more than a match for you. See this?" He pointed to the badge. "This means I'm you're senior as a trainer."
"Who are you?" I asked. Pikachu took up position next to me.
"You don't need to know my name. I am a trainer like you but I'm at a higher level than you. I've been waiting here to attack new trainers from Pallet." He said.
"I'm not from Pallet. I'm from Lavender." I said.
"Oh so you've got a ghost then?" He asked but I remained silent. "All trainers from Lavender have at least a gastly." He said. "But I see you only have a pikachu and a fried spearow." The things this guy didn't know. I smiled. "What are you smiling for? My rock pokemon are too much of a match for your pikachu." he said.
"You just made your second mistake." I said, trying to sound like Caleb from Blood 2. "You stuck around."
"Oh and what was my first mistake?" Apparently this guy played Blood 2 as well.
"You told me what type of pokemon you have." I said with a grin. "That's a fatal mistake. Everyone knows that."
"Do you have fifty bucks?" He asked. "Yeah." I said
"Good. Then that will be the prize for our battle." He said. He reached into his pocket and produced a small pokeball which grew to normal size when he hit the button. "Geodude! Go!" He then threw the ball towards me. I jumped back to give the pokemon some room. Pikachu jumped back with me. Geodude materialized in front of me.
"Stay back pikachu." I said as I grabbed for bulbasaur's ball. I threw the ball. "Bulbasaur! Go!" Bulbasaur materialized in front of the geodude. The trainer's jaw dropped.
"Hey that's no fair! You didn't tell me you had a grass type!" He yelled.
"I didn't have to." I said.
"Geodude! Tackle attack!" He yelled. Geodude launched itself at bulbasaur. The attack sent bulbasaur rolling. But bulbasaur picked himself up. This bulbasaur was a good bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur! Vine whip attack!" I yelled.
"Bulbasauuur!" Bulbasaur yelled as two vines shot out from the bulb on his back. The vines hit dead on and great precision. The geodude spun like a top. The trainer stalled. I smiled.
"Bulbasaur! Tackle attack!" I yelled quickly. Bulbasaur lowered his head and charged the spinning geodude and made contact. The fight was over. Geodude was a wreck. The trainer called back geodude, gave me the fifty bucks, and walked away without saying a word. I bent down and patted bulbasaur on the head. "Good work bulbasaur." I said. Pikachu came up and patted bulbasaur too. I called bulbasaur back into his ball. We then walked down the path towards Viridian city. We went unchallenged for the rest of the day. We arrived in the city just after night fall. Nurse Joy put bulbasaur and spearow into the rejuvinator. I looked at Nurse Joy with a confused look on my face.
"I know. I look just like the Nurse Joy in Lavender Town don't I?" She asked. I nodded. "She's my second cousin." She said with a smile. Pikachu and I laid down in the sleeping chambers of the Poke Center and fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from our expedition. But before I fell asleep I made a mental note to call home in the morning.
Review: Mega cool!! The adventures of the young Pokemon triner, his Pikachu Bulbasaur and Kentucky Fried Spearow will keep you on your toes the whole way through. BANANNA SLAMMA!! Grade: A+ Rating: * * * * *