OK, so I re-wrote the whole thing according to my discussion above with Miz En Scene. Hope you guys enjoy!
The Great Dane
A fourteen year old male crept along a dingy alley wall. Merely yards ahead of him was the Town Market, and directly in front of him was a vendor making and selling souvlaki. He could smell the grilled meats and vegetables on the grill. The boy named Dane salivated from the smell just out of sight of the portly man wrapping his completed merchandise in tin foil to keep it warm. Dane wiped a grimy hand on a torn a tattered red shirt that was just as filthy as the rest of him. He'd just wandered to this quiet little town from Pewter City and he was very, very hungry.
The vendor whistled merrily as he worked tapping his foot to the rhythm and bouncing along to his own tune. But Dane's thoughts were effectively only about how to ruin this man's day. The boy had a dingy plastic orange back pack on his back that, like his black and blue shoes, was loosely held together by nylon cord and duct tape. From this beat up old child's back pack, complete with a faded picture of a Growlithe on it, he drew a rusty old crowbar. As he prepared to spring into his attack, his grip around the blunt tool tightened, bursting with nervous energy, and sweat beads appeared upon his grease-covered brow.
His stomach growled viciously, and it twisted in severe hunger pangs…It had been four days since he'd had a meal that was worth anything. He felt the fabric of his two-sizes-to-small-pants tighten around his knees as his muscles tensed, and with a quick few hyper ventilated breaths to shake off the nervousness, he was off. For being a starving wanderer, Dane's little lunge was quite impressive and he racked the side of the vendor's head with the crow bar like a baseball hall of famer. The Vendor fell to the floor dazed, and not able to comprehend what had just happened to him. Dane swiped his arm across the Vendor's table, knocking as much food, and other various items, as he could into his back pack.
The boy also saw a small black plastic bag from a nearby store hanging from one of the legs of the steel table and he snatched it as well. With that he leapt over the Vendor's stand and into the dusty street of the small town and Dane took off like a Zubat out of Mt Moon just as the Vendor started to stumble back to his feet. The boy could hear several shouts for the Police come from behind him, but he didn't look back. He just slipped down an alleyway and disappeared into the sewer system.
The sewer gave off an unwholesome effluvia from the morose decay within it. But Dane simply covered his nose with his grungy shirt and thought, It's better than handcuffs. After walking for about a half an hour he found himself out of the sewers and on the outskirts of the small town. He found a large boulder basking in the sun and he leaned up against it as he slid to the ground. His joints ached from malnutrition and his stomach writhed in hunger pangs.
He tore into his back pack, ripping tin foil off of the now lukewarm food and devouring as much of it as his shrunken stomach would allow. As he finished his meal, his attention turned to his back pack. He set aside the few tin foil wrapped pieces of souvlaki and looked to see what few other random things he had managed to score. Mostly it was little trinkets like wooden food skewers, thin cotton cord, short lengths of tin foil, and a half-full Nalgene water bottle, but he also found a seven inch santoku knife.
He chugged the water bottle, and tossed it back into his bag empty. As he packed everything back into his pack he was reminded of the black mystery bag. He grabbed the bag hoping there was something that he could sell. Maybe he could buy a new pair of pants, or a good meal and a hot shower.
Maybe I can feel normal for a few short moments. He thought. Inside the black plastic bag was a box wrapped in glittery pink and purple paper with a large yellow bow that was now smashed and battered. On it was a My Little Pony tag that read, "For my future Pokémon Trainer! Happy birthday Ashley!"
I guess this is the closest I'll ever come to having a birthday celebration of my own. Wasn't my birthday two weeks ago? Well, better late than never, I guess. He rationalized to himself as he tore through the packaging. But as he saw the unopened, still-wrapped-in-cellophane-box that lay under the paper he paused from shock. He had expected a stupid plush toy or an action figure or something girly like a make-up set, but it was a four pack of brand new Pokeballs.
A huge toothy smile seemed to rip his face in two as he ripped open the box to verify his fortune.
I'll be able to buy a whole new set of clothes, a new back pack, and a full meal and shower! He thought with excitement. His face started to hurt from the exaggerated smile, but he was so happy that he had to physically push the smile to a frown with his fingers to relieve the burning sensation. It had been a long, long time since he'd smiled at all.
He slouched a little more against the rock, juggling a couple of the balls. As he juggled them, he accidentally pressed the button on one on them and it shrunk to the size of a golf ball. Dane lost his concentration and the other two balls, still the size of soft balls, fell clumsily from his hands and smacked him in the face, leaving him with a black eye and a bloody lip.
"Damnit all to Hell!" He exclaimed. But his frustration subsided quickly and was replaced with curiosity.
He picked up the now shrunken ball to examine it. After looking at it for a moment he pressed the button again and it expanded to its larger size again. He looked in the box again and found a white card that said in large red print on one size, "A User's Manual to the Improved Pokeball by Tome!" He flipped the card over to read the back.
"About Tome: Tome is a small company from Cinnabar Island that
manufactures hand crafted Pokeballs that are familiar and
provide ease of use to the trainer, but are more comfortable
for your Pokémon than traditional Pokeballs. Our balls include
improved ergonomics, increased battery life,
an increased Catch rate, a more comfortable storage
experience for your Pokémon, and a less
intrusive process for catching and housing your
beloved Pokémon! We hope you and your Pokémon
enjoy our product as much as we do!"
"Instructions for use:
>One Press of the button will shrink the ball
For easy storage. Press it again and it
Expand again so that you can use it for
Battle or capture!
>2 presses of the button will tell the
Pokeball that you are releasing a Pokémon
For battle, or if the ball is empty, returning
Pokémon after battle.
>3 Presses will tell the Pokeball
That you are attempting to catch a Pokémon.
>4 presses will release a Pokémon back into the wild."
Dane looked at the balls again. He was unexpectedly reminded of a memory that had been long repressed in his mind. It was of his mother and something she had said, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and will feed himself for life." It was a common saying, he knew. But it had stuck with him throughout his life ever since he ran away. Tears came to his eyes as he remembered the painful memories. He should have been there; he should have been home instead of skateboarding with his friends. He could have done something to stop his father from beating his mother to death.
It was still beyond him how his dead beat father had managed to call it self-defense and had completely gotten away with the murder. All of New Bark knew he was guilty. This only made it worse in Dane's mind. But the incident told him that his father would never change. He was a violent drunk, and would have killed Dane if the boy had stayed. He made the tough choice to run away, and to never ever turn into his father, no matter the cost.
He wiped the tears from his face and pushed the memories away. It was true he would never become his father. But he had become something just as bad. A homeless street rat stealing to survive and wanted by no one but the Law. It was clear to him now what the fates had in mind. His Mother's adage had never seemed so pertinent to him than right now. But insecure doubt still played at his mind.
Is there a way that I can use these Pokeballs to better my situation? I know literally nothing about Pokémon, how could I become a trainer? But then he remembered, 3 presses to catch a Pokémon.
Is it really that simple? It might have taken him four years to catch a break, but he would finally do right by his mother's memory.
On the left side of the road there was a thicket. He'd heard trainers in the town saying that it was teeming with Pokémon. He put everything of his away, except for a single Pokeball, and he charged the thicket with tenacity unlike he had ever shown before. The grass in some places was as high as his chin and offered him excellent cover as he low crawled through it. It wasn't long before he came to a clearing and, as promised by the other trainers, there were three Pokémon. One was a green sort of worm, one looked like a purple rat, and the last was a bird with a short beak.
With one click he expanded the poke ball, and another three clicks of the button before he sent it soaring. It landed right in the middle of the three Pokémon and did nothing but startle and scatter them. Perplexed, he stood and went to pick up the ball. He again took to his low crawl and came across Pokémon several more times. He tried his luck at tossing the ball, rolling the ball, pretending the Pokeball was a basketball, and many different poses and what not to get the ball to work.
As he came upon a male Nidoran, and being particularly frustrated at this point, he pitched a perfect curve ball directly at the Pokémon's face. Bullseye! The ball activated and in a burst of red light sucked the Pokémon inside.
So you have to actually hit the Pokemon with it!But the ball burst open and that same flash of red light shot the enraged Nidoran back out. The ball flew through the air and landed back in Dane's hand. The Nidoran charged Dane with his horn and the boy was barely able to jump out of the way.
The Nidoran skid to a halt and turned to charge Dane again. Dane clicked the button three quick times and launched it like he pitched a fast ball in Little League Baseball at the charging Pokémon, again, bashing it in the head and inducing the same flash of red light to suck the Pokémon in. But he wasn't taking any chances this time and Dane drew the crowbar. The Nidoran didn't escape as quickly this time, but it still flew from the Pokeball in the same brilliant crimson display and it leapt horn first at Dane. Dane cracked it squarely on the Pokémon's side with the crowbar.
But this was barely enough damage to deflect the Nidoran away from him. The Nidoran landed in a skid as Dane barely managed to compose himself enough to catch the returning Pokeball. Dane turned to face the Nidoran with his crowbar again, but it wasn't charging. Dane noticed that it was favoring its front left leg.
"Time to give into the Pokeball." Dane said and he pitched the ball at the weakened Nidoran. The same flash of light engulfed Nidoran. The ball containing the Nidoran fell to the floor and the button glowed red. The ball wiggled once as the Pokémon attempted to escape. It wiggled again, but the ball held tight. Then it wiggled a third and last time and the red light disappeared. An audible click signified that the Pokémon was captured.
Dane leapt into the air with excitement. He ran like a maniac to collect his new Pokemon. But then he looked at the ball.
What now? He asked himself.
"Are you Mad!" He heard a girl yell. He turned and a pretty blonde with a horrified expression on her ran up to him. "How dare you hit an innocent Pokemon with a freaking crowbar!"
"Um…it attacked me?!?!" Dane answered sheepishly.
"And that justifies anything!!!! And do you no know how to take a shower? Disgusting!!!!" She screamed at him.
"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Dane replied. Another male trainer ran up to him.
"Dude, that was intense. Are you ok?" He asked.
"Why would you ask this nitwit if he's ok? What about that poor Nidoran?" The girl screamed with exasperation.
"I thought it was clear that the Nidoran attacked him. Isn't he allowed to defend himself?" the male trainer replied.
"What's a Nidoran?" Dane asked, innocently. Both of the other trainers looked at him in disbelief.
"A Nidoran is the Pokémon you just captured. It's obvious it was hurt, why haven't you used a potion on it yet?" The male trainer asked.
"Potion, what???" Dane replied. The male trainer was obviously annoyed at this point.
"You mean you don't have a single potion on you? That's irresponsible!" the girl yelled, "What kind of a Pokémon Trainer are you!?!?" She yelled.
"Um, well, uh, I guess I'm not one just yet. You see, I just bought some pokeballs and decided to just give it a try…I guess." Dane answered.
"You mean you have no training or knowledge in Pokémon what so ever?" the male asked.
"Uh, no." Dane replied. The girl opened her mouth to yell again, but the male covered it.
"Jersey, I can't listen to you yelling anymore. Let me handle this." He said. Jersey, the girl, crossed her arms in a cute little pout and looked away. "Look kid, you can't just go busting around like this. There are rules and things you need to consider. What you just did is completely against the rules of Pokémon training. You need to use Pokémon to weaken the Pokémon you want to capture. Here, Take these."
The male trainer handed him a bag of fruit and a blue spray bottle.
"You need to take that Pokémon to a Pokecenter and have it healed. Cerulean city is the closest one, but that will take you all night to get there. Give it some Razzberries and spray some potion on its wounds. That will get it feeling better before you get there. While you are there, you can find all sorts of information on Pokémon Training and how to properly care for them. Also, look up Professor Gary Oak and contact him. He's the region's Pokémon Professor, and he can help you get off to a better start than where you are currently at. Now go, Get to that Pokecenter as quick as you can. And for goodness sake, take a shower while you are there."
Jersey and the other trainer left Dane there. He clicked the ball twice and gave it a half-hearted toss. The Nidoran exploded forward in that mysterious red light. The poor thing tried to stand, but almost immediately collapsed. He sprayed the potion on Nidoran as instructed and he forced three berries into its mouth. The Pokémon spit them out, however.
"Come on Nidoran. You need to eat something to keep your strength up. He picked up the small creature. It was at that moment that he realized this creature was essentially his pet. This creature was his sole companion in life now, and Dane's attachment and sense of responsibility was instantly solidified.
"Please Nidoran, eat the berries, I don't want to lose you. Not so soon." A tear fell from his eye and hit Nidoran's horn. The Nidoran looked at this new owner and slowly nodded. Dane smiled as he handed the Nidoran a few more Razzberries. After the Nidoran was finished eating Dane returned it to its Pokeball and began running towards Cerulean City.