Episode 001. It Begins?
At sunrise, Charlie Jade Whitmore awoke from her few hours rest with a start.
BBRRINNNG! BBRRINNNG!
?What the devil are you doing?? bawled her mother.
Charlie soon got used to this. Her mother was terrible in the morning, but this time, Charlie didn?t blame her. Imagine how you?d feel, woken at 6:00am by your daughter?s alarm clock, ringing at full volume. Not nice.
But how could Charlie resist? Her first day as a Pokemon trainer was going to be enjoyable. That meant getting up early so she would be the first to get a Pokemon. Not like last year. Last year, she had overslept, and all the Pokemon were taken. The year before that was the same. Today, she would finally fulfill her dream of becoming a Pokemon Trainer!
?You know mum,? Charlie said calmly. She knew better than to make her mother angry, especially on a Monday morning. ?I?m going today.?
?Yes, I know you?re going today, but don?t wake everyone in town up!? her mother yelled.
?Sorry,? said Charlie quietly. ?I didn?t realize it was so loud.?
Her mother walked out of Charlie?s bedroom, slamming the door.
Charlie looked her bedroom up and down. It was difficult to believe that she would never see this room for at least a year after today.
She looked at her walls, pained cobalt blue. Her cream coloured carpet. The calendar on her wall; the 1st of September, the day she had been waiting so long for, had finally arrived.
Quickly and quietly, she dressed in her bright red football shirt, khaki jeans and her white-turned-brown trainers. They were brand-new a month ago; it was hard to believe. Her long, light brown hair was tied in a black band. Charlie washed in the bathroom in front of the mirror. Her ghostly grey eyes and near-white skin stared back at her. Maybe she looked pale because she was nervous, but Charlie always seemed to look pale compared to anyone else, but that was probably because she was an English person, living in the tropics.
Finally, she plucked up the courage to walk downstairs and face her mum. She found her mum sitting at the kitchen table with Charlie?s younger brother, Ben, who was 9. Neither of them seemed to have acknowledged the fact that Charlie had walked into the room; they were silently devouring their soggy cereal, their messy, light brown hair sticking up in all directions.
Charlie grabbed a bowl of cereal, but found she was too nervous to eat. She looked at her right wrist; her black wristwatch told her that it was 6:25.
Then Ben said it. ?Mum, why?s Charlie in such a rush to get to school??
Both Ben and Charlie attended Pallet Town Training Academy, and their mother helped out at the school.
Their mother suddenly dropped her spoon, and announced, in an unnaturally calm voice, ?Charlie?s not going to school today.?
?Why?? demanded Ben in an outrage.
?She?s going to be a Pokemon Trainer.?
?Can I go mum? Please, please can I go with her? PLEAASSSE!?
?No.?
?Why??
?You know very well Ben. You have to be over 10, and you?re only 9. Charlie?ll be 12 in three weeks; she should have gone two years ago! That?s it!?
And no more was said about the issue all morning.
Eventually, at 7:00, Charlie grabbed her black rucksack and left the house after saying a lengthy goodbye to her mum, and a short, ?Bye,? to her brother, not that she felt like talking to him at all. Nervously, she shut the front door behind her and took one last look at the rows of detached houses that was Pallet Town.
On the edge of town, Professor Oak, a Pokemon researcher, worked in his laboratory. Charlie?s quest would begin with him.
She uneasily jogged along the tarmac path to his white laboratory. She found, however, that the wrought-iron gates were locked up tight. Then she heard voices. Voices that were coming towards her along the tarmac path, speaking freely, not a worry in the world. She fled.
Behind the scientist?s rubbish bin she hid. She watched. She waited.
?Sam you idiot!? screamed a young man. ?You messed up our plans in Viridian! You?ve blown our cover! Now we?re in trouble!?
?Sorry,? whimpered Sam, a flame-haired young man.
?No worries,? spoke the other man in a calm, content, but sly voice. ?It just so happens that I, the brains of us two, I have a plan.?
?What-
?Quiet!? bellowed the man. ?Isn?t it obvious? That all we?ve got to do is break into the lab and get us a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle? No, Mr. Dumb-dumb here didn?t think did he??
?I?m-
?Shut up,? ordered the man, ?and follow me.?
Behind the rubbish disposal, Charlie gasped. Her first day of training? They were planning to ruin it? Who are these people? Thieves! Naughty, filthy, rotten thieves! She had to tell someone, and fast!
At 7:15, the professor finally strolled around the corner, humming a happy tune, briefcase in hand. Then he saw Charlie behind his dustbin.
?Good morning. What?s you?re name?? he smiled.
?I?m Charlie. Charlie Whitmore,? she replied.
?I see, and why are you sitting behind my bin??
?Sir, professor, I saw these men and they were? they were? Well, it?s hard to explain,? she stuttered.
?Well, let?s come inside.?
The pair of them walked up the gentle hill to Professor Oak?s Pokemon laboratory in quiet conversation.
As they stepped through the large metal and glass front door, Charlie was lost for words. The place was amazing. Shelves stacked up high with Pokeballs lined the lemon walled corridor.
?Hey, professor, can I get my Pokemon?? she asked, excitedly.
The professor silently walked to a small room containing a single metal table and there were nine Pokemon posters stuck to the futuristic silver walls.
Though the room looked very space-age, Charlie, however, was drawn to the single table in the centre of the room. A clear plastic dome covered it, and underneath the dome, on the table were? Pokeballs! Actual Pokeballs! Sitting in front of her, waiting to be taken by her and the other new trainers, she assumed, were three red and white Pokeballs. She turned to face the professor. He smiled, nodded his head and pressed a red button on the table. The dome opened. Charlie nervously stretched out her arm and pressed the buttons in the centre of the balls. They all flashed brightly and sprang open, releasing three Pokemon onto the table.
Bulbasaur! Charmander Squirtle! Wow! Pokemon, actual Pokemon!
?Well Charlie, I know you?re eager, but you can?t take them all,? the professor said.
?Sorry sir,? Charlie responded. ?I?ll take Charmander please sir.?
?Charmander it is,? smiled the professor, returning Bulbasaur and Squirtle to their Pokeballs. ?Well Charlie Jade Whitmore, are you ready to begin your Pokemon adventure??
Charlie felt like she was ready to burst! ?Yes!? she shouted.
?Excellent!? beamed Professor Oak. ?You will journey far and wide in search of Pokemon. Take these. Your Pokedex and five Pokeballs,? he continued, holding out his hand, which contained a little red device and five small Pokeballs. ?Goodbye. Your journey awaits you.?
Charlie was awestruck. She handled the little red device. It said, ?Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. It is born with a strange seed on its back, which grows with the Pokemon. Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokemon. After birth, its shell swells and hardens. It is small, but has a powerful Bubble technique. Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. If Charmander?s tail flame ever goes out, Charmander is ready to die.?
Charlie put her Pokedex in her back pocket as she walked out of the lab, warmed by the morning sun, feeling more excited that she had ever done before. She was now officially a Pokemon Trainer!
KABOOM!