BZRich64
The Mustachioed Machamp
- 146
- Posts
- 12
- Years
- Gresham, Oregon, U.S.A.
- Seen Jun 8, 2021
This is a story I started writing a few months ago to work on my writing skills and that is available in few places so far and I figured I might as well add it here too. I'm quite a long way into this story so far, so I think I'll probably just post a chapter a day or so until I get caught up here so as to not overwhelm anyone new to it. Anyway, here we go.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Spoiler:
"My name is Samuel Oak, but most of you probably know me as the 'Pokémon Professor'. 'What is a Pokémon?' some of you may be asking. Well to some people, Pokémon are pets. Some use them for the purposes of battle. Some see them as friends, and to others they are family. No matter what Pokémon are to you, there is no questioning the importance of meeting your first Pokémon.
It was roughly thirty-six years ago that I was given my Charmander and I began my journey across the region, learning everything I could about Pokémon. And now, almost four decades later I can still remember that day as if it just happened.
In ancient times children were sent into the wilderness to tame their first Pokémon as a rite of passage, an initiation of adulthood. In modern times the connotation of ascension into adulthood remains, but now they are given out to those who have graduated from a learning facility approved by the Pokémon League. Here in Pallet Town, I have been approved as a licensed instructor and children are taught under my supervision. This year there are four students who I have deemed worthy of this great honor.
And so, without further ado, it is my proud honor to bestow onto these four promising trainers their first Pokémon as well as official Pokémon Trainer licenses and Pokédexes of my own design. First up we have Ash Ketchum."
Prof. Oak looked over to his right where the Trainers-to-be were sitting. A wave of hushed muttering passed through the auditorium as the audience noticed that there were only three chairs filled. Noticing the unease filling the room, the professor tried lightening up the mood.
"Well, either I can't count, or Ash is late like always. I swear, the day he shows up to something on time will be the day I die." His attempt at a joke didn't seem to go over well with the crowd, so he decided to move on. "Well, I guess we'll just save him for last and hope he shows up. Next up is my granddaughter, Daisy Oak."
The only girl among the three stood up and walked over to her grandfather who picked up her license and a Pokédex from the table to his left. As Daisy reached the podium, the Professor handed them to her and shook her hand while people in the audience took pictures, then told her to stand behind the table, where four Pokéballs were resting.
"And now my grandson, Gary Oak."
One of the boys stood up and walked over to the professor who handed him his license and Pokédex, shook his hand, and asked him to stand by his sister.
"And last, but certainly not least, Samuel Redwood."
The other boy, informally known as Red, got up and did as the others. He got his license and Pokédex, shook the professor's hand and stood next to Gary.
"Is Ash here yet? No? Then I guess we'll move on." Professor Oak looked over to the three standing behind the table. "Now that you each have your licenses, you are officially able to have your own Pokémon. Before you are four Pokéballs, each one contains a Pokémon that will become a lifelong friend and companion. Choose among yourselves who will take which one."
Each of the children picked up one the Pokéballs and held it up proudly in front of them.
"Good, now release them from their Pokéballs and say hello to your new Pokémon!"
The three did as the professor told them and as they did he introduced each of them to their new companions.
"Daisy, you have chosen the Grass-type Bulbasaur; Gary, you have chosen the Water-type Squirtle; and Samuel, you have chosen the Fire-type Charmander. Your very own Pokémon legends are about to unfold. A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits you!"
* * *
As Daisy, Gary and Red set out on their Pokémon journeys, Ash Ketchum fell out of bed.
"Huh? What?" It took him a moment to fully wake up. "Oh no! What time is it?" He looked over to his alarm clock and saw that it was broken. "How did…" Ash gazed out the window, seeing that the sun was already up higher than it should be. "It doesn't matter, I'm late."
Ash got dressed and ran out the door as fast as he could, almost forgetting to put on pants. His mother must have left early that morning for work and went straight to the ceremony without him, assuming that he would get up on his own, as he usually did.
He ran to Professor Oak's Laboratory where the graduation meeting he should be at was being held, or to be more precise, the building next to the lab that was used as a school. He slowed to a walk as he approached it, however, when he saw the large crowd leaving the building. His heart sunk as he realized that he missed his own graduation and getting his first Pokémon. Even worse, practically the entire town was there and saw that he missed it. Despite the embarrassment he walked past the crowd, saying hello to some of the people he knew. He made his way to the auditorium. Professor Oak was still on the stage, packing up his things. He looked up and saw Ash walking up to him.
"Ah, hello Ash, I was wondering when you'd get here." The Professor stood up and picked up Ash's Pokémon license and the final Pokédex from the table. "I'm sorry you missed the ceremony, but if you want we can call your mother back here and we can still get a picture of you receiving your license."
"No thanks." Ash held his head low as he took the license and Pokédex from the professor. "Do I still get a Pokémon?"
"Of course you do." The professor picked up the last remaining Pokéball and held out to Ash. "Unfortunately, there's only one left so you don't get to choose."
A huge smile crept over Ash's face as he grabbed the Pokéball from Prof. Oak's hand. "Thank you." He held out the Pokéball and pushed the button to release the Pokémon inside. A trail of red light poured from it and reached the ground where a small, yellow Pokémon materialized.
"That's Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon." The professor explained. "Unfortunately, I only recently caught that one, so-"
Ash reached out to pet his new Pikachu and was met with an electric shock throughout his system.
"-you might have a little trouble with him at first."
* * *
With his new Pikachu in tow, Ash made his way back home. While passing by the Oak family residence he saw Gary riding off with an entourage of women in a red convertible.
"What?" Ash wasn't really sure what to make of that. Before he had time to question it further, Daisy walked up to him.
"Hi, Ash."
"Uh, hi Daisy. Who were those women with your brother?"
"Oh, just some girls that work for our dad. He said something about Gary 'not being mature enough' to go on his own. If you ask me, I think it would be good for him to be on his own for once, but oh well. Oh, before I forget, I had something I wanted to give you."
Daisy reached into her bag and shuffled around a bit before pulling out a large, folded piece of paper and handing it to Ash.
"What's this?" Ash said as he took the paper.
"It's a map. I figured that since you seem to get lost all the time just in this small town, you're bound to need one if you plan on traveling the region."
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." Ash said sarcastically.
"I didn't mean that as a bad thing, directions just aren't your strong suit. Well, I should be going. It's a long walk to Viridian and I want to get there before dark. Goodbye, Ash."
"Bye, Daisy." They waved at each other as Daisy walked off on the first steps of her journey. Ash felt a bit of sting as he realized that he had no idea when he'd ever see Daisy, one of his closest friends, again. After a moment he started on his way again before stopping in front of the Pallet House.
Pallet Town was a pretty small town, so they didn't have any hotels or inns. There weren't enough people that visited to warrant any. What they did have was the Pallet House, a small bed & breakfast that had been started up by Ash's grandparents long ago. Currently, it was owned by his mother, Delia Ketchum, who had expanded the Pallet House into a large chain with Pallet Houses in almost every major city in the country. The key to its success was that every Pallet House strives to give the cozy, small-town feel of the original, no matter where they were. People from rural areas love staying at them for a sense of familiarity in large urban environments, while people from the big cities love them for the exotic, rural environment that they can't experience anywhere else.
Or so Ash had always been told, anyway. His mother has always been somewhat overprotective of him and had never let him go with her whenever she had to go out of town for business meetings or to open new Pallet Houses. All he knew was that the original one here only enjoyed mild success.
Ash walked inside and found his mom in her office. Despite owning the entire chain, Delia preferred to leave the business aspects of the company to others while she managed this Pallet House on her own. She was still involved in big decisions, but she spent most of her time here.
"Ash!" When Delia looked up and saw her son she immediately put down the paperwork she was doing and ran over to him. "How did it go? Did you get your Pokémon? Oh! That Pikachu must be him!"
"Wait, mom, don't pet him he'll…" Ash trailed off as his mother put her hand under Pikachu's chin, expecting it to shock her like it had him. And to his surprise, it didn't. In fact, the yellow mouse Pokémon seemed to enjoy it. "Hey! When I tried that he shocked me."
"You must have done it too hard, you need to be gentle." Delia looked up at Ash while still stroking Pikachu's chin and then suddenly pulled him into a hug and started crying. "I can't believe you're going. My baby boy is going away on his Pokémon journey all on his own." She continued going on but her sobbing made it almost impossible to tell what she was saying after that. But then she stopped crying and stood up. "Wait a minute. You don't have to go alone. Carmine! Carmine, get in here!"
After a moment a man ran into the room. He was tall, with dark red, shoulder-length hair. He had huge bags under his dark brown eyes and overall and had a disheveled look about him.
"There you are." Looking at Delia now, you would never guess that she had been bawling her eyes out less than a minute ago. "Carmine, I want you to go with Ash on his journey."
Ash and Carmine both looked at each other. A loud "What?!" was both of their responses.
It was roughly thirty-six years ago that I was given my Charmander and I began my journey across the region, learning everything I could about Pokémon. And now, almost four decades later I can still remember that day as if it just happened.
In ancient times children were sent into the wilderness to tame their first Pokémon as a rite of passage, an initiation of adulthood. In modern times the connotation of ascension into adulthood remains, but now they are given out to those who have graduated from a learning facility approved by the Pokémon League. Here in Pallet Town, I have been approved as a licensed instructor and children are taught under my supervision. This year there are four students who I have deemed worthy of this great honor.
And so, without further ado, it is my proud honor to bestow onto these four promising trainers their first Pokémon as well as official Pokémon Trainer licenses and Pokédexes of my own design. First up we have Ash Ketchum."
Prof. Oak looked over to his right where the Trainers-to-be were sitting. A wave of hushed muttering passed through the auditorium as the audience noticed that there were only three chairs filled. Noticing the unease filling the room, the professor tried lightening up the mood.
"Well, either I can't count, or Ash is late like always. I swear, the day he shows up to something on time will be the day I die." His attempt at a joke didn't seem to go over well with the crowd, so he decided to move on. "Well, I guess we'll just save him for last and hope he shows up. Next up is my granddaughter, Daisy Oak."
The only girl among the three stood up and walked over to her grandfather who picked up her license and a Pokédex from the table to his left. As Daisy reached the podium, the Professor handed them to her and shook her hand while people in the audience took pictures, then told her to stand behind the table, where four Pokéballs were resting.
"And now my grandson, Gary Oak."
One of the boys stood up and walked over to the professor who handed him his license and Pokédex, shook his hand, and asked him to stand by his sister.
"And last, but certainly not least, Samuel Redwood."
The other boy, informally known as Red, got up and did as the others. He got his license and Pokédex, shook the professor's hand and stood next to Gary.
"Is Ash here yet? No? Then I guess we'll move on." Professor Oak looked over to the three standing behind the table. "Now that you each have your licenses, you are officially able to have your own Pokémon. Before you are four Pokéballs, each one contains a Pokémon that will become a lifelong friend and companion. Choose among yourselves who will take which one."
Each of the children picked up one the Pokéballs and held it up proudly in front of them.
"Good, now release them from their Pokéballs and say hello to your new Pokémon!"
The three did as the professor told them and as they did he introduced each of them to their new companions.
"Daisy, you have chosen the Grass-type Bulbasaur; Gary, you have chosen the Water-type Squirtle; and Samuel, you have chosen the Fire-type Charmander. Your very own Pokémon legends are about to unfold. A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits you!"
* * *
As Daisy, Gary and Red set out on their Pokémon journeys, Ash Ketchum fell out of bed.
"Huh? What?" It took him a moment to fully wake up. "Oh no! What time is it?" He looked over to his alarm clock and saw that it was broken. "How did…" Ash gazed out the window, seeing that the sun was already up higher than it should be. "It doesn't matter, I'm late."
Ash got dressed and ran out the door as fast as he could, almost forgetting to put on pants. His mother must have left early that morning for work and went straight to the ceremony without him, assuming that he would get up on his own, as he usually did.
He ran to Professor Oak's Laboratory where the graduation meeting he should be at was being held, or to be more precise, the building next to the lab that was used as a school. He slowed to a walk as he approached it, however, when he saw the large crowd leaving the building. His heart sunk as he realized that he missed his own graduation and getting his first Pokémon. Even worse, practically the entire town was there and saw that he missed it. Despite the embarrassment he walked past the crowd, saying hello to some of the people he knew. He made his way to the auditorium. Professor Oak was still on the stage, packing up his things. He looked up and saw Ash walking up to him.
"Ah, hello Ash, I was wondering when you'd get here." The Professor stood up and picked up Ash's Pokémon license and the final Pokédex from the table. "I'm sorry you missed the ceremony, but if you want we can call your mother back here and we can still get a picture of you receiving your license."
"No thanks." Ash held his head low as he took the license and Pokédex from the professor. "Do I still get a Pokémon?"
"Of course you do." The professor picked up the last remaining Pokéball and held out to Ash. "Unfortunately, there's only one left so you don't get to choose."
A huge smile crept over Ash's face as he grabbed the Pokéball from Prof. Oak's hand. "Thank you." He held out the Pokéball and pushed the button to release the Pokémon inside. A trail of red light poured from it and reached the ground where a small, yellow Pokémon materialized.
"That's Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon." The professor explained. "Unfortunately, I only recently caught that one, so-"
Ash reached out to pet his new Pikachu and was met with an electric shock throughout his system.
"-you might have a little trouble with him at first."
* * *
With his new Pikachu in tow, Ash made his way back home. While passing by the Oak family residence he saw Gary riding off with an entourage of women in a red convertible.
"What?" Ash wasn't really sure what to make of that. Before he had time to question it further, Daisy walked up to him.
"Hi, Ash."
"Uh, hi Daisy. Who were those women with your brother?"
"Oh, just some girls that work for our dad. He said something about Gary 'not being mature enough' to go on his own. If you ask me, I think it would be good for him to be on his own for once, but oh well. Oh, before I forget, I had something I wanted to give you."
Daisy reached into her bag and shuffled around a bit before pulling out a large, folded piece of paper and handing it to Ash.
"What's this?" Ash said as he took the paper.
"It's a map. I figured that since you seem to get lost all the time just in this small town, you're bound to need one if you plan on traveling the region."
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." Ash said sarcastically.
"I didn't mean that as a bad thing, directions just aren't your strong suit. Well, I should be going. It's a long walk to Viridian and I want to get there before dark. Goodbye, Ash."
"Bye, Daisy." They waved at each other as Daisy walked off on the first steps of her journey. Ash felt a bit of sting as he realized that he had no idea when he'd ever see Daisy, one of his closest friends, again. After a moment he started on his way again before stopping in front of the Pallet House.
Pallet Town was a pretty small town, so they didn't have any hotels or inns. There weren't enough people that visited to warrant any. What they did have was the Pallet House, a small bed & breakfast that had been started up by Ash's grandparents long ago. Currently, it was owned by his mother, Delia Ketchum, who had expanded the Pallet House into a large chain with Pallet Houses in almost every major city in the country. The key to its success was that every Pallet House strives to give the cozy, small-town feel of the original, no matter where they were. People from rural areas love staying at them for a sense of familiarity in large urban environments, while people from the big cities love them for the exotic, rural environment that they can't experience anywhere else.
Or so Ash had always been told, anyway. His mother has always been somewhat overprotective of him and had never let him go with her whenever she had to go out of town for business meetings or to open new Pallet Houses. All he knew was that the original one here only enjoyed mild success.
Ash walked inside and found his mom in her office. Despite owning the entire chain, Delia preferred to leave the business aspects of the company to others while she managed this Pallet House on her own. She was still involved in big decisions, but she spent most of her time here.
"Ash!" When Delia looked up and saw her son she immediately put down the paperwork she was doing and ran over to him. "How did it go? Did you get your Pokémon? Oh! That Pikachu must be him!"
"Wait, mom, don't pet him he'll…" Ash trailed off as his mother put her hand under Pikachu's chin, expecting it to shock her like it had him. And to his surprise, it didn't. In fact, the yellow mouse Pokémon seemed to enjoy it. "Hey! When I tried that he shocked me."
"You must have done it too hard, you need to be gentle." Delia looked up at Ash while still stroking Pikachu's chin and then suddenly pulled him into a hug and started crying. "I can't believe you're going. My baby boy is going away on his Pokémon journey all on his own." She continued going on but her sobbing made it almost impossible to tell what she was saying after that. But then she stopped crying and stood up. "Wait a minute. You don't have to go alone. Carmine! Carmine, get in here!"
After a moment a man ran into the room. He was tall, with dark red, shoulder-length hair. He had huge bags under his dark brown eyes and overall and had a disheveled look about him.
"There you are." Looking at Delia now, you would never guess that she had been bawling her eyes out less than a minute ago. "Carmine, I want you to go with Ash on his journey."
Ash and Carmine both looked at each other. A loud "What?!" was both of their responses.
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