[Pokémon] Life is what you make it.

[jasonresno]

So, hey. I finally decided to sort of brush off the fanfiction writing dust that's been coating my laptop lately and start writing. This is a story that I've had ruminating for quite awhile. The chapters, at first, may seem short but that's only because I plan to have quite a few of them and, besides, who doesn't like bite sized chapters?

1
Staring down at the white and red ball between my parents and myself, I felt ready to puke. I didn't know quite for what reason, at least not yet. Today was my thirteenth birthday and I was supposed to, if I were to follow a Pokemon career, go to Professor Oaks laboratory and pick my first Pokemon.

My Pokemon was not supposed to be waiting for me when I woke up and certainly my parents were not supposed to pick it for me. How would they know who I felt a bond with? How would they even know what Pokemon I wanted? Would they know that I always wanted my own Charmander or, if there weren't any, that a Scyther would be pretty darn sweet as well?

"Darling, let your new partner out. I'm sure it's anxious to meet you." My mother chimed in sweetly. My father just nodded from her side.

Oh, I definitely wanted to see what it was. But at the same time I didn't want to be faced with disappointment... Especially realizing how much money this had to have cost my parents. That coupled with our own financial woes...I knew I'd have to make do with whatever they gave me and I didn't want to hurt their feelings.

I picked the ball up and felt the pleasant weight in my hands. It felt good. I raised my eyes to my mother, "What is it?"

She smiled a patient smile as she sipped from her mug of coffee. It was still early in the morning.

"You're just going to have to see!" My dad replied with a grin.

I grinned back, feeling a bit green, though I couldn't quite hide the sickly tinge to it.

'Well, time to confront destiny.' I pressed the button on the front of the Pokeball and watched as a beam of energy exploded in front of me.

"Meowr?"

I contemplated turning and running and maybe never showing my face again but the idea quickly fled my brain. It wasn't all bad. It could have been a Magikarp or an Igglybuff... It could have been much worse. Right?

"Meooowwttth."

With giant eyes the little cream creature stared up at me and absentmindedly licked it's forearm. Those dreams of being filmed on TV obliterating the Elite 4 quickly vanished. I glanced up at my mother and forced a grin, "Perfect."

She smiled back at me and inside I groaned.


"I see you've already got your Pokemon. That's nice though sometimes I don't advise that as, often, new trainers will receive a gift Pokemon that is far beyond their training lev--oh, it's a Meowth? You'll be fine then."

Professor Oak seemed in fine spirits as he walked back and forth across his small office. He seemed to be looking for something. A Pokedex, I think.

In any event, Randall, have you decided what your goal is going to be once you leave the gentle confines of Pallet? Ah, here it is."

The kind and older man stooped down, groaning, and picked up a small backpack. He unzipped it and glanced at the contents. A handful of Pokeballs, a couple potions and antidotes, and a Pokedex. He withdrew this last item and strode over to where I sat, feet dangling, in a chair.

"Well, I had been wanting to be a Trainer and go on the gym circuit but..."

"But what?" He replied absentmindedly as he fiddled with a few buttons.

"You know, Professor. My Meowth is no Blastoise, that's for sure. I'll probably never get past the first gym.."

He stopped abruptly with his fiddling and raised his bushy eyebrows to meet my eyes, "You know, Randall, all Pokemon are valuable and you should treat them so. And besides who says you can't supplement your Meowth with strong Pokemon? In the context of a team every member can be valuable."

He paused as he watched me digest the info and then added, "Meowth is a normal type, you know. Outside of their weakness to fighting they have no real weaknesses. Sure, you probably won't one hit KO anybody but you don't have to worry about anyone doing that to you either, you know."

I perked up in my chair the slightest bit. Now that was interesting.

"Ah, and here you are my boy. Your Pokedex is calibrated." He reached over and handed me the slim machine. "Take good care of that device, Randall. It will act as a phone, an identification device, and proof that you are a certified trainer. If you lose it it will cost quite a penny to replace and, I'm afraid, any data you collect will be lost."

My little hands clutched the Pokedex tightly and I had stopped listening after he said "certified trainer". My heart started to beat faster and then I suddenly overcame my initial distress at training a Meowth.

I was a Pokemon Trainer.

 

[Krystallyn]

Short and sweet... I like it. Write more please!

 

[jasonresno]

2

It was a perfect day or at least as close as it was likely to get. The sun was reaching the middle of the sky, I was on a high from receiving my first Pokemon, and I had just gotten done saying goodbye to my parents. It was a weird feeling setting off on my own without anyone there to tell me what to do. I was truly free.

My grin faltered the slightest bit as I remembered the Meowth at my side but I quickly wiped it away. Professor Oak had made good points and I'll be damned if I turn my nose up to any Pokemon. I would prove my skills to the world by training any Pokemon to the point of complete awesomeness!

But first I had to get to Viridian City.

***

And it turned out that that wouldn't be too much of a problem. The only route there, Route 1, was fairly direct and there were no trainers on it that would battle my new Meowth and take all of my money (or what little I had). For that I was pretty grateful. Along the mostly pruned route I saw a few wild Rattata and Mankey but nothing that really made me want to stop and try to catch them.

It was a short hour later that I made it into the outskirts of the city. Looming before me, as only a 'city' of fifteen or so buildings could, was the first town on my map. I grinned quietly to myself, happy to have accomplished something, and continued on down the road. I wouldn't be here long. There was no gym that I could challenge and there weren't many diversions for a newbie trainer like myself. But one day I'd come back.

I dawdled around for maybe an hour as I attended an impromptu class where an old man taught me the proper methods of capturing Pokemon. It was pretty self explanatory but I humored him. After his lesson concluded I turned to continue on, aiming to head into Viridian Forest, when I felt a small hand clap my shoulder. I turned quickly in alarm. I had heard of new trainers being kidnapped but this was ridiculous...

"Whoa, easy there." It was no kidnapper at least as far as I could tell. Instead it was a girl. She looked my age, maybe a little bit older, and I'd peg her at about 14. She had long red hair and deep blue eyes. She had on a black jacket and a pair of jeans and a baseball shirt.

I was suddenly embarrassed and scratched the back of my head, "Oh, uh, hi."

She grinned as she used her innate female abilities to sense my discomfort, "You're a new trainer eh?"

I nodded.

She glanced down at my waist, "Annnnd I'm betting that is your only AND first Pokemon."

Again I nodded.

"This is too perfect. We just have to battle."

And before I knew it, and not for the first time, a female would push me into doing something I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to do.

 

[DGexe]

While your chapters are short (or at least, shorter than what I'm used to reading/doing) you still have a very nice style of writing. Your story flows along well enough, and there's no dawdling on useless details, which I love. All in all, this is a very good fic to read and I hope to see more of it in the future. However, you did have a couple of mistakes...

My grin faltered the slightest bit as I remembered the Meowth at my side but I quickly wiped it away. Professor Oak had made good points and I'll be damned if I turn my nose up to any Pokemon.

These two sentences need a comma after "side" and "points", due to the fact that the phrases before and after each and happen to be complete sentences on their own (thus making them compound sentences).

It was pretty self explanatory but I humored him.

The same can be said for this sentence as well. A comma is need after "but".
I think that's all the mistakes I see, and fortunately they aren't anything major to worry about. Good job.

I like your mentioning of the old man who teaches trainers about capturing Pokemon, and the upcoming battle.... oooh I can't wait. Really, you have a very nice style of writing, and it really does make me want to read more of this fanfic despite how short the first two chapters are. Keep up the good work.

 

[jasonresno]

Thank you very much for replying and letting me know your opinion. The reason the chapters are so short is that they are for my blog which I update pretty much daily. It keeps me interested in writing without making it feel like work. I'll update this post shortly with a new post :).

 

[jasonresno]

3
I watched her in a sort of daze as she rolled up her sleeves and threw forward a Pokeball. In the splotchy grass between us a blur of energy erupted and I had to shield my eyes. When I blinked the afterimage away I saw a small Pokemon appear. I quickly pulled my Pokedex out of my backpack and aimed it at the creature. The creature appeared on the screen accompanied by small and italicized writing:

Poochyena, the dark type Pokemon.​

I glanced over its vitals and was surprised to learn that the Pokemon wasn't even from this region. I looked up at the bored female across from me and mentioned that to her. She grinned.

"Yeah, so? When you're talented you get to travel all over the world." She paused to gesture histrionically at her lapel, which happened to house several small pins, which I assumed were gym badges. "So what am I doing here you may ask? Well, as endearing as it is to travel the world with super high level Pokemon I sometimes like to go back to the beginning and really get a fresh start."

I blinked. She had gotten rather talkative.

"And seeing as how I'm back to the beginning, this time in this region, you will be my first trainer battle." She stamped her foot, "Well, do you got a Pokemon?"

I felt blood rush to my face as I realized that other people were watching us. I snagged my Pokeball roughly from it's belt, paused briefly to wonder if my Meowth was rolling around in the ball, and threw it angrily forward. The Poochyena had to jump to the side. It growled.

In a flash of light my Pokemon too emerged. I was suddenly very nervous and it had just dawned on me that I had not even properly introduced myself to my Pokemon. Not since I had acquired it from my parents anyways. Trial by fire? Right?

"Meoowwrr." The cream colored Pokemon glanced up at the dark doggish Pokemon and then it quickly scurried on all fours back towards me. His big eyes, my Meowth was a he, were even wider and he looked at me like I was insane for asking him to fight with a Poochyena.

The woman across from me stifled a giggle and then pointed forwards and commanded calmly, "Poochyena, let's get this going. Tackle it!"

Remembering all of the battles I had watched on TV I quickly channeled my inner trainer, "Meowth! Roll out of it's way and prep yourself!"

And with little more than that the battle was on it's way.

The match, by most standards, was pretty boring. Neither of our Pokemon knew any advanced moves and I could tell the girl was taking it easy for me. All the same my blood was pumping. Oh yeah. Back to the action.

Meowth playfully rolled to the side, apparently mocking the Poochyenas battle readiness, and almost managed to dodge the attack. Instead the Poochyena landed a half tackle against the lower body of my Pokemon. Instantly the cat-types claws were out and his eyes were large and, frankly, pissed off.

How dare a Pooch touch him?

"Alright! Now, Meowth, I want you to---"

But even before I could get the words out my Meowth was already in action. It had jumped forward, it's claws completely out, and had begun to swing at the other Pokemon. I winced as I realize my partner was in a blind rage. Poochyena easily dodged the attacks.

"Meowth, you gotta listen to me! Take it easy and--"

"Meowrr!" The reply was truncated and obviously not polite.

The girl across from me grinned easily. Her hair moved effortlessly as she cheered on her Pokemon. I swear she enjoyed watching me futilely try to control my Meowth.

"Alright Zane let's put an end to this. Stop dodging and attack the cat with a bite! And don't hold back. I'm hungry.."

I blinked as I momentarily forgot the battle, "Zane??"

She nodded abruptly, "You didn't name your Pokemon?"

I felt like burying my head. Of course my Meowth wouldn't listen. We had made no connection.

Back on the battlefield Zane, who I was now convinced was no regular beginner Pokemon, had nodded curtly and switched on a dime to tackle my Meowth and pin him. Meowth, bless him, tried valiantly to kick the Poochyena off with his lower legs but it was to no avail. The dark type Pokemon quickly closed it's strong jaws on the throat of my Meowth and I had seen enough.

"Return!" I shouted, holding back tears, as a red beam of light engulfed my downed Pokemon.

I had lost. With my Meowth back in my hands I turned and was about to run off to the Pokecenter when I heard the girl yell from behind me.

"Wait!"

I sniffed and wiped my face. I didn't want her to see me cry, "Why? So you can make fun of me? I know that was horrible."

I didn't know if it was my brute negativity that caved something between us or if she was naturally decent and I had never realized it. Instead she jogged over and put another hand on my shoulder. I didn't shrug it off.

"I'm going to help you."

 

[Krystallyn]

Hey. I like this. Does the girl get a name? Can't wait to hear it. :)