The Pokemon Parable

Lucifer-san

Lucifer-san

[i]Recently Revived Zombie[/i]
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    A rather simple, but long reaching project I wanted to start. A sort of CYOA for Pokemon where I'll provide the base and players then will be able to guide the main character onto whatever path that may be, whether it be champion or forming a cult dedicated to your Pokemon God. Well, let's get on with this.
    Index
    Spoiler:

    The Pokemon Parable
    Beginning 1.1
    Day: 1
    Tuesday June 2nd, 2015
    Time: Morning
    Weather: Sunny

    Today was your 15th birthday, and more importantly the day you would set out on your Pokémon journey!

    You found yourself standing in the Pokemon lab with your rival Arthur, and in front of you is the local Pokemon professor, Prof. Oak.

    "So you two are the only ones that decided to come today. I suppose that parents nowadays just aren't as supportive of their children going out in the world after the Team Rocket Incident a few years ago." Letting out a sigh he smiled grandfatherly at you and Arthur.

    "Well, I suppose this is better than anything. So let me explain what I wish for you two to do in exchange for your own Pokemon and Pokedex. Usually the goal would be two to ultimately complete the Pokedex, but as my own experiences have shown me, there always seem to be more Pokemon when you think you've found them all." He chuckled sheepishly just as Arthur chose to interrupt.

    "Uh huh, can you get to the point Oak?" He was your age and had been your best friend and sort of rival since you had moved to Pallet Town 10 years ago. Arthur had always been a rather athletic and outdoors type guy which was the reason for his constant tan. He was always sort of oddly impatient too, now that you thought about it.

    "Yes, yes... What I want for you both to do is simple. I want you to simply go as far as you can. Our world is a large and vast place, with many Pokemon and many people alike. Go out into the world and make a name for yourself and become someone of renown!" His voice carried a certain weight to it that made you feel determined.

    "Well, with that little bit out of the way I suppose we've come to the main event then. You," Oak pointed his finger in your direction as he spoke. "Pick out which Pokemon you want out of the seven we have here. We have the general starters from Kanto and Johto along with an extra Pokemon for trainers that don't want any of the others."

    That was a lot of choices to pick from, but you already knew what you wanted.

    The entrance/exit was south along with two aides.

    To the east of you is your rival Arthur along with the desk that has the Pokemon on it. You note there are are a few posters here and there as well.

    To the west of you are some bookshelves along with some machines. An aide is working on one of them.

    Directly north of you is Oak, who's waiting for your decision. Behind him is a slightly old computer with what appears to be an open message, and a screen door that leads into his yard.

    Decision Time!

    [ ] I want Charmander, lizards are awesome and it being a fire lizard only makes it more awesome!
    [ ] I pick Bulbasaur, my mom told me how strong they are and how useful they can be in battle. Toxic plus Leech Seed equals win!
    [ ] I choose Squirtle. We'll be the best of buddies!
    [ ] Chikorita of course! I'll show people that it's the strongest starter.
    [ ] Uh, Cyndaquil...I guess. No specific reason.
    [ ] Totodile! He is the dancing king of the sea!
    [ ] I guess I'll go with the mystery Pokemon. It could be really good or something.
    [ ] Write your own suggestions!

    Whatever is picked the most will be, of course, the decision chosen and wrote about.
     
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    [x] I want Charmander, lizards are awesome and it being a fire lizard only makes it more awesome!

    I hope that's the form you want responses in. I think Charmander being Charmander is enough of a reason to pick it.

    I like the idea of a CYOA story, so I'm interested in seeing where you take this!
     
    [X] I will ask Arthur what he wants to pick.

    Yep, I will write in my own answer every time, because why not :D
     
    Saw that people finally responded and was elated. I then quickly started writing this up, you can also see how you affected the main character with your conflicting decisions.​
    ​
    Beginning 1.2
    Day: 1
    Tuesday June 2nd, 2015
    Time: Morning
    Weather: Sunny

    Their was a sort of odd dissonance in your head as you got somewhat confused on what you were going to do. Perhaps you didn't know exactly what you wanted to do. More importantly the most recent thought that shot through your head was one that actually seemed kind of important.

    [X] I will ask Arthur what he wants to pick.

    "Hey Arthur." You look over to where he is, standing off to the side, and decide to ask him a question. "What Pokemon do you want buddy?"

    His eyes sort of light up as he speaks. "I want Charmander of course, it's an awesome fire lizard dude! My mom let me ride her Charizard last year after I convinced her and it was super cool. I guess a Cyndaquil would be cool too, but it's not a Charmander!" Arthur seemed genuinely excited as he spoke, maybe it'd be a good idea to pick something that wasn't Charmander?

    [X] I want Charmander, lizards are awesome and it being a fire lizard only makes it more awesome!
    [X] I guess I'll go with the mystery Pokemon. It could be really good or something.

    Two conflicting thoughts shot through your head, but only one of them rung the loudest. Looking over to Arthur and then back at the table, you walk over to the table and look at the assorted Pokeballs. Each of them have a little sticker on them and are put into a sort of circle formation. In the middle is a Pokeball that lacks a sticker, but instead is a weird black color. Your hand hovers over it for a moment before ultimately grabbing the one that had a sticker of Charmander.

    "Professor Oak, I'll pick this one." You say as you walk back from the table. Arthur shoots you a dirty glance as you go by, but you only smile in response. Perhaps if you had not known what Pokemon he wanted you'd have felt bad, but now you could only feel a pleasure in messing with him. He'd live.

    "Oh, Charmander! That's a rather fiery Pokemon, but one that is very much worth raising. That's a good choice! Now Arthur, choose your Pokemon."

    Arthur glares at you for a minute and you swear you hear a low muttering of "Douche" as he goes by you. He quickly grabs the Pokeball with a Mudkip sticker and walks back over to you and Oak.

    "Oh, you chose Mudkip, Arthur? That's a very strong Pokemon, it suits you." Coughing into his fist he continues. "Now that that's out of the way, here have this." Pulling two Pokedex from his pocket he hands one to you and to Arthur.

    "While I don't need you to record any Pokemon, this device is still very helpful for young trainers like you. Now before I allow you two leave and go on your journey I would like to ask you two to answer one more question of mine." His face becomes very severe as he speaks again.

    "What do you wish to accomplish by going on your Journey with Pokemon?"

    What exactly do you want?

    Decision Time!

    [ ] I want to make new friends!
    [ ] I wish too see new things that have never been seen before.
    [ ] I don't really know.
    [ ] I want to become the strongest trainer ever!
    [ ] Write in your own suggestions.​
     
    I honestly love the quick responses, though sometimes I'm a bit slow in how fast I can get a subsequent post out.
    Beginning 1.3
    Day: 1
    Tuesday June 2nd, 2015
    Time: Morning
    Weather: Sunny

    As Oak asked his question to you and Arthur, you stood there in deep thought as many thoughts ran through your head all at once. You were actually starting to get a bit of a headache, but it vanished almost as soon as it came. You decided to let Arthur speak first, so that you could gather your thoughts.

    "I want to defeat Team Rocket." Arthur gained a serious edge to his voice as he spoke. "I have someone I need to find, and Team Rocket are my best shot at finding them."

    You seem to remember Arthur talking about this to you a few years ago. If you remembered correctly, his elder sister went missing shortly before his ninth birthday. You had been the one to lift his spirits up then, though you don't really remember how.

    "Hmm, while your ambition is one that I can understand I hope that you know the risks that may follow you on your journey. Team Rocket have never been a peaceful organization and they've only become worse due to the new leader." There is a notable inflection in his voice as he says new leader, but before you can think about it anymore Oak turns to you.

    "So how about you then? Do you have an idea of what you want out of your journey then?" He looks at you with a patient look in his eye.

    What did you want out of this? Being a trainer had kinda seemed like the only choice for you since it was talked about pretty much everywhere. Yeah sure, you could get a normal job or something, but for some reason you just felt like it wouldn't be right for you. It'd just be too...normal.

    [X] I want to make new friends!

    Did you want to make new friends or something? Not really, despite what you just did to Arthur you doubt that he'd hold it over you forever. Even then, you had a few other friends in Pallet Town besides Arthur anyways. Besides making friends would come naturally, at least that's what you thought.

    [X] I don't really know.
    [X] I want to become the strongest trainer ever!
    [X] I want to see new things.

    "I..." Those three things bounced around your heads, pinging back and forth. It just ended up confusing you as you tried to articulate your thoughts into words. After a minute or so you finally decided on what you would say.

    "I don't really know honestly. Maybe I'll go and discover new things or maybe I'll go and become the strongest trainer, I honestly can't decide." The confusion in your voice must've been evident as Oak pats you on the head comfortingly and then speaks.

    "I suppose it's to be expected, not everyone has a clear cut goal right from the start. I recommend that you journey around for awhile, you'll see that the world has a lot to offer. Though," His tone became serious as he looked at you with a weird look. "I'd recommend being careful about what you wish for. Some things aren't meant to be known by us, it's why even us Pokemon Professor's are careful about what we research. So be careful, else you'll have a bad time."

    "Hurry it up Oak, I'm all fired up!" Arthur seemed to have an excited look as he stared at you. Intensely. You think you know what exactly he wants to do.

    "Alright then I've kept you two long enough and said my piece. I wish you two both the best of luck." With that Oak goes over to the computer and sits down, he's probably reading that message you made note of earlier.

    "Heh, we have Pokemon now, don't we?" Arthur has a determined look in his eye as he turns to you. "I guess you know what I'm gonna say don't you? Call me spiteful, but I kind of want to get back at you for picking Charmander. I'll be waiting out front." He walks and exits the building via the south exit.

    It looks like he wants to battle you. What should you do?

    [ ] Go and face your destiny. Arthur is a worthy opponent.
    [ ] Inspect the area more. Their might be some spare items lying around or something.
    [ ] Go and talk some more to Oak. He might have some words of wisdom for you.
    [ ] Look at the books on the bookshelves. They might have some useful information for you or something.
    [ ] Sneak out the back. No need to battle Arthur right now, not when there's a chance you might lose.
    *[ ] Try and steal an extra Pokemon. Prof. Oak won't mind, right? (Due to certain events the ability to do this has triggered)
    [ ] Write in your own suggestions.​
     
    face destiny head-on! BATTLE START!

    [x] Go and face your destiny. Arthur is a worthy opponent.
     
    [x] Go and face your destiny. Arthur is a worthy opponent.
    Besides, he called you a douche and picked the opposite type. Better let him know that you won't be defeated just because of a little type advantage. Also this might be some good practice for these kinds of battles later on.
     
    Next post is battle time, it might be good.
    Beginning 1.4
    Day: 1
    Tuesday June 2nd, 2015
    Time: Morning
    Weather: Sunny

    [X] Try and steal an extra Pokemon. Prof. Oak won't mind, right?

    You stand there in the lab, just looking back at the table that held the Pokemon. Having an extra Pokemon from the start would be very helpful, and Oak wouldn't mind too much. Probably. You look between the table and Oak slowly, Oak is very focused on the message on the screen of his PC. It would be so easy to just pluck another Pokeball off the table, maybe you could get a Totodile or a Squirtle or maybe even a Bulbasaur. Each of them would be a good addition to your team.

    As you begin to creep over to the table suddenly one thought blares in your head, it was as if you had finally been able to focus on one thing. You smile and turn away from the table, your mind became clear and focused. You knew exactly what must be done, if Arthur wanted a battle then he was was going to get one because it was time to go and face your destiny...

    [x] Go and face your destiny. Arthur is a worthy opponent.
    [x] Go and face your destiny. Arthur is a worthy opponent.
    [x] Go and face your destiny. Arthur is a worthy opponent.

    In anticipation of the great battle ahead, you were filled with determination. Going South and exiting the building you see Arthur waiting there for you. The look in his eyes is just as intense as the one that you have. He starts walking off to the open field in front of Oak's building, it looked like he wanted you to follow. Well, you would oblige to that request you had to let him know that even if he picked the opposite type as you, you wouldn't allow yourself to be beaten that easy. Both of you walk onto the field and take a spot far away from each other, and then Arthur speaks up.

    "You know, I'm kind of over you picking Charmander, so let's just call this a test of our strength. Ya know?" Grabbing the Pokeball from his pocket it quickly expanded as he gave it a hefty throw. "Go Mudkip! Take the spotlight!" The red beam from the Pokeball is the signal that preludes Mudkip coming out onto the field. It looks surprisingly determined for a Pokemon that was only just acquired.

    Grabbing the Pokeball that you had clipped to your belt unconsciously, it expands in your hand. It feels heavy, but...it's a good weight. "Let's go, Charmander." You toss the ball with a confident throw, and in mid-air Charmander appears with a jet of fire spewing from its mouth before landing in front of you. Perhaps, because your mind is a bit more focused you bend down and pat it on the head.

    "This is our first battle, we're going to win it." Despite it being a Pokemon, Charmander nods to you as if it actually understood your words.

    "You done with the heart-to-heart session with your Pokemon or should I give you a little more private time?" Arthur snarks at you from across the field, but it was not effective. "Alright then, let's get this battle underway then! I'll let you start off, you'll need all of the advantage that you could possibly get."

    You felt certain of your win, but the question was how you were going to go about this battle?

    Decision Time!

    [ ] Go full throttle from the start. The best defence is overwhelming offence!
    [ ] Play it safe. You have a type disadvantage so it might be better to use your brains to win.
    [ ] Believe in Charmander and try to work as one. Watching all those shows when you were younger has taught you that trusting your partner Pokemon helps you win.
    [ ] Make a plan as you battle and execute it. Simple, but it might be hard to think of a good plan during battle.
    [ ] Taunt Arthur during the battle to throw him off his game. Not being in the right mindset can be very detrimental to a battler, or so you've heard.
    [ ] Write in your own suggestions.​
     
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    Now, whatever will happen?
    Beginning 1.5
    Day: 1
    Tuesday June 2nd, 2015
    Time: Morning
    Weather: Sunny

    The amount of ways you could go about this were rather vast, but it seemed as if you could only think of 3. It was kind of odd, but you decided to not think about it much, you had a battle to win. While you didn't know exactly what moves the Charmander had, you at least remembered that it had Scratch and Growl for sure. It'd be odd otherwise.

    [X] Go full throttle from the start. The best defense is overwhelming offence!

    "Alright then let's go full throttle with some hyper offense!" Your voice was loud and filled with a focused determination to win. "Charmander run at Mudkip and use Scratch!"

    With a small noise of acquiescence, Charmander ran forward as fast as it legs would allow it too with its rather stubby hand reared back ready to strike.

    "Hah! Too easy, Mudkip counter by using Mud-Slap!" With a quick swipe of its forelegs against the ground, balls of mud shot forward towards your Charmander. Due to your strategy of hyper offence it was almost guaranteed you'd have to take this hit, however you were notably surprised when Charmander used Scratch to slash through both of the balls of mud.

    "Good job Charmander! Alright follow that up by using Smokescreen." You assumed if Mudkip had a move that was weird for it supposedly being a new Pokemon, your Charmander should too.

    "Char!" Spitting out a thick and inky black smoke from its mouth the area was soon covered by it, blocking both Arthur and you from seeing what was happening. You felt this was the perfect time to implement that other strategy that had been floating around in your head.

    [X] Taunt Arthur during the battle to throw him off his game. Not being in the right mindset can be very detrimental to a battler, or so you've heard.

    "Hah! Even though you picked Mudkip to counter my Charmander your strategy has been useless. I have a potentially awesome fire-breathing dragon and you have a swamp fish thing!" Your voice easily covered the distance and you could almost feel the irritation that started radiating off of Arthur.

    "It doesn't matter what you have! I'll still beat you! Now Mudkip start shooting Water Gun randomly, you'll have to hit his Charmander eventually!" Streams of water began to pierce the thick smoke in random intervals and it was only a matter of time until your Charmander was hit.

    "You're getting desperate, Arthur. Random attacks just show how bad of a trainer you are, I guess I'll have to end this now." As you continued to taunt him mercilessly, your brain raced to figure out how you were going to win this. You could tell Charmander to come out of the smoke, but then it'd be an open target, so what would you do? It seemed like there was only one option left...

    [X] Believe in Charmander and try to work as one! Watching all those shows when you were younger has taught you that trusting your partner Pokemon helps you win.

    It was a kind voice that suggested this, you recognized it as one that had suggested that you try and make new friends because of your previous actions to Arthur. You didn't listen that time, but you would this time.

    "Charmander! Listen to me! I believe that me and you can win this so, wait until the right moment and then fire an Ember straight forward!" You had made notice of where the Water Guns had been fired from, but you weren't sure if this would work. 5, 4, 3, 2..."Now!"

    A stream of hot embers burst from out of the now diminishing Smokescreen and with it came a now scorched Mudkip. It seems trusting your gut had been the right idea, your briefly thanked whatever had given you that earlier idea.

    "Now Charmander, finish it off with a Scratch!" Rushing forth with a single-minded goal, your Charmander's claws glowed with a determination to strike with all of its might.

    "Come on, Mudkip! We can't lose our first battle, get up now!" The rage in Arthur's voice was evident as he commanded his Mudkip to get up and fight. It struggled up to its feet with a weak noise, only to be then hit by a Scratch that sent it flying back...somehow. Your Charmander must be really strong physically.

    Looking at the Mudkip, you could see the little swirls in its eyes that signified that it was unconscious. This was something that you had studied awhile back, apparently it had something to do with a strange mutation in Pokemon's eyes. More importantly however, you won!

    "Dammit!" Arthur returned his Mudkip to its Pokeball and ran away from you. You thought you saw tears, now that you've won somehow, what should you do?

    [ ] Follow after Arthur. He's still your friend after all, and you did kind of taunt of him a lot...
    [ ] Bask in the glory of sweet victory and praise your respective PokeGod! (Readers can specify said PokeGod.)
    [ ] Go home. Your Mother is sort of waiting for you at home for the good news.
    [ ] Call your Mom and tell her that your about to start your adventure. She wouldn't mind, after all kids have to leave home eventually. (Choosing this ends the Beginning Section and begins the Carefree Days Section)
    [ ] Write in your own suggestions.​
     
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    [X] Follow after Arthur. He's still your friend after all, and you did kind of taunt of him a lot...

    You can't just leave your friend upset. Mum can wait, and religion is dumb.
     
    Sorry for the late posting, I'm trying to do daily but things happen I guess. Though, this was very fun to write.
    Beginning 1.6
    Day: 1
    Tuesday June 2nd, 2015
    Time: Morning
    Weather: Eerie

    [X] Bask in the glory of sweet victory and praise Lord Helix!

    [X] Go home. Your Mother is sort of waiting for you at home for the good news.

    You stand there in the field with these thoughts running through your head. You didn't necessarily know who this Lord Helix was, but the voice that had suggested this seemed to be the one who had told you to taunt Arthur before so you knew that apparently you subconsciously knew what it was. But, this didn't seem like a good time to bask in the glory of your surprising victory, there'd be time for that later.

    The second thought that voiced itself to you was one that you thought was a good idea, though you noted that your subconscious had a distinctly feminine tone this time. Well, your Mom was waiting at home for you, but you felt as if you had something more important to deal with right now. Your Mom would understand after you told her, for now though…

    [X] Follow after Arthur. He's still your friend after all, and you did kind of taunt of him a lot...
    [X] Follow after Arthur. He's still your friend after all, and you did kind of taunt of him a lot...

    You needed to follow after your friend! It was rather obvious to you that you had hurt him with your taunts, but you had doubted that you would have won that match if you hadn't done so. There was only one way that you could fix this, you had to apologize.

    "Come on Charmander let's go! We need to find Arthur, fast." With small sound of acceptance Charmander hopped up onto your shoulder and you started running the way that Arthur had went. You briefly noted that this was the way onto Route 1, but you had a Pokemon so it would be fine. As you run, you can see Arthur standing there.

    "Arthur!" You yell as you run towards him, but a strange feeling overcomes you as you come closer, it makes you stop a short distance away from him. A sudden chill runs down your spine, but you manage to overcome it with your force of will.

    "Arthur?" Your voice was questioning, something seemed to be wrong with Arthur. He was hunched forward not facing anything in particular, but you could just barely make out him seemingly muttering something.

    "…voices in his head…no longer who I knew…I must…destroy him…to use this power."

    What the hell? It almost seemed like he was talking about you. But that was wrong; you didn't really have voices in your head. You did have these random bursts of thought, but they didn't seem like voices or anything. You had been able to ignore them before so they must've been your own thoughts, so why the hell did Arthur look at you with those glazed eyes that radiated wrongness.

    "Oh hello there…I didn't see you buddy." His body still seemed limp, but he had turned his neck to look at you. It was just a tad unnerving, and it was all of the more reason for you to keep the bit of distance between you.

    "Arthur…I'm sorry for taunting you earlier. I didn't really mean anything by it, it was just heat of battle banter." You said sincerely hoping that maybe your words would be enough to fix whatever was wrong with Arthur. However, the grin that lit up on his face was one that sincerely made you doubt that your words had fixed anything at all.

    "Oh, it's fiiiine. Because of you, I have power now. Power enough to eradicate Team Rocket, but to use this power I have one little thing to do first." The feeling of evilness that radiated off of him was enough to give you the hint to move fast. The spot where you just were had been blasted apart by high pressured water. You briefly noted the dark colored Swampert that was now behind him and decided you needed to do something fast.

    [ ] Try and reason with Arthur. Whatever happened to him doesn't seem normal, but you're his best friend. If anyone could get him to snap out of it you could.
    [ ] Run away. You only have a Charmander right now and no sort of weapon or anything so a tactical retreat seems like a good idea.
    [ ] Hide. There's a reasonably vast forest on each side of this route that you could use to lose him. While risky, you have an okay knowledge of the forest so maybe you'll be successful.
    [ ] Try and fight. You doubt you can get out of this situation normally, and despite the vast gap in power right now you might be able to use tactics to try and beat that Swampert.
    [ ] Write in your own suggestions.​
     
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