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Faith (Take 2)

Maybe Wednesday

~green~
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This is a pretty safe fanfic, but there may be a bit of violence later on, and some characters may well become more than friends, and some mild language, so I rated it PG-13 just to be safe. This is mostly Original, with cameos from canon characters later on. I welcome constructive criticism, comments and questions, whether they are posted here, PMed, or left on my user profile. Without further ado, here we go!

Well guys, I decided to go back to this and rewrite it, then actually finish it! So here's the prologue. This wasn't in the original, but rest assured, it's the same story.

~~~~~

Prologue

This is truly a place of beauty.

As I stand upon the brow of this lush, green hill, I can but marvel at the magnificence of the scene before me.

As far as the eye can see, it is a riot of colour. Green grass forms a verdant carpet, rolling gently like the sea on a calm day. Flowers grow in abundance, blooming innocently with all the colours of the rainbow; ocean blue, fiery orange, sunny yellow, pearly white, beauteous shades of pink and purple, along with every other colour you could possibly name and some you couldn’t.

But it is empty. There is nobody here but me. Me, the grass, the flowers and the sun. A light breeze races across the expanse before me, rippling the grass and causing the flowers to bend their heads in acknowledgement of its strength.

Yet still, I am alone. No Pidgey fly in the sky; no Rattata creep among the flowerbeds. Nothing walks these fields, man or Pokémon.

It should not be this way. This paradise, clean, pure and unspoilt, should be filled with life. It should be free for all to come and marvel at its beauty, and to be happy. The very air in this place makes you pleasantly dizzy and light-headed.

I breathe in slowly, savouring the taste of the air. It is pure, with just the slightest touch of sweetness, the kind that makes you want to close your eyes and stay here forever, just breathing.

But I should not be the only one enjoying this utopia. It should be filled with others, happy and carefree, just as I was. I cannot be happy until I share this beautiful place with the rest of the world!

Regretfully, I turn my back on Paradise, resolving that I will bring this place to the world, and the world to this place.

~~~~~

Yes, it's short. The actual chapters will be longer. R&R, please!
 
I suppose you could say that. This is a story element that I had planned to put into the original, but I hadn't actually written it in yet.
 
Episode 1

This, I was fairly happy with. All I changed was a little bit of phrasing and some typos. Enjoy!

~~~~~

Episode 1: Where to start?

Hi guys! I’m Kenji Sasaki, and this is the story of how I became the great Pokémon Trainer that I am today.

~~~~~

Many pairs of feet drummed the bricks of Prosperity Square that fateful day in Mizu City. I had spent almost the whole morning here, sitting on the rim of the famous Fountain of Prosperity, and I was getting annoyed. As I sat with my laptop, waiting for him to arrive, I contemplated my surroundings for about the fiftieth time that morning.

The Fountain of Prosperity itself stood in the centre of Prosperity Square, a bustling marketplace all year round. The square was pedestrians-only, except on special occasions, like the annual Parade Day, where multicoloured floats entered one side of the square, orbited slowly around the fountain, and exited on the other side, amid many cheers and much celebration; Parade Day was the biggest non-traditional festival in Mizu City.

The Fountain of Prosperity was a work of magnificent architecture in its own right; it was a beautiful structure, with sweeping curves, like the ocean, being the dominant motif. Around the base was carved a sleeping stone Milotic, incredibly lifelike, almost seeming as if it would awaken at any moment. Ironically, however, the Fountain of Prosperity was one of the least prosperous things in the city at the moment; there was a water shortage, the worst drought in living memory, so the city’s board of governors had elected to put the fountain out of order indefinitely.

Ironic, really, I thought, considering that Mizu was a port city. But the governors had come up with some feeble excuse involving salt water versus fresh water, and pipes damaging Water Pokémon habitats, et cetera, ad nauseum.

I was distracted by the arrival of my contact, a slim, bookish man with heavy glasses, bleach-blond hair that stuck out at odd angles, and a white lab coat with what looked like coffee spilled down the front. All this, combined with the confused, slightly vacant expression on his face, was gaining him many funny looks from passers-by. I snapped shut my laptop, slid it into my bag, and walked over to him.

“Good morning,” I said politely. “Dr Jonah, I presume?”

“Oh, hello,” he said, blinking owlishly. “Yes, that’s me. I take it you have not been waiting long?” I laughed hollowly.

“Well, Doctor,” I said, “The Professor said you would be here ‘this morning’. Only after he had left did I realise he had not specified when exactly you intended to be here. I therefore had no option but to arrive here at eight’ o’clock this morning. Trust me, Doctor, the last three and a half hours of my life were most enjoyable indeed,” I said this last through gritted teeth, trying to hide my frustration.”

“Oh? Well, that’s all right then!” he said happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Let’s be off, then! Don’t want to keep the Professor waiting, eh?” I rolled my eyes in despair and followed him and his coffee stain to the other side of Mizu City.

Fifteen minutes’ walk later, we came to the lab, an unassuming red-brick building on the outskirts of the city. I entered cautiously; several bird Pokémon were flapping around the rafters, squawking and twittering loudly.

“Ah, here’s the man himself!” boomed a jovial voice. I turned to look. The speaker was a short, squat, balding man with a neatly clipped white beard, fighting his way through a cloud of Starly and Pidgey to get to us. “Blasted birds!” he muttered under his breath as he reached us. “Well, m’boy, here y’are. I do hope you’re familiar with the, er, uh...” he appeared to be having trouble finding the right word.

“Procedure, Professor?” I suggested quietly.

“By Tom, Dick’n Harry! You’re right, m’boy!” Professor Kauri, no matter how absent or playful he may seem, was a respected Pokémon researcher of worldwide renown, often described as being in the league of such famous names as Oak, Ivy, Elm, Birch, and Rowan, among others. He was also a good friend of my mother’s, and he had kindly agreed to start me off as a Pokémon Trainer.

“And yes, Professor, I am quite familiar with the procedure.” I was. Here in the Hakaito region, people could become Trainers only after their thirteenth birthday. I had heard that, in other parts of the world, you could become a Trainer aged ten, but that was preposterous. Kids that young weren’t even allowed to own Pokémon here, let alone battle with them. Aspiring Trainers here had to pass a knowledge, skills and personality test, to prove that they were responsible enough to own Pokémon.

I won’t go into all the details of the test, but it took nearly an hour of being grilled by Professor Kauri to finish. There were questions on topics such as habitats of common Pokémon, types of PokéBalls, descriptions of commonly used moves, and other such boring stuff. Finally, Professor Kauri declared that I had an excellent knowledge of Pokémon, and he would have no qualms in signing my Trainer’s license.

“Now, m’boy!” Why did he always have to call me that? “It’s time for you to choose a Pokémon to begin your adventure with!” I said nothing. I didn’t need to. Kauri pulled out a tray with several PokéBalls on it, and began describing the first one, something called a Squirtle, but I stopped him, passing my hand slowly over the tray, closing my eyes as I did so. I passed over several PokéBalls silently, but one in particular caused me to pause. I clamped my hand down on it firmly. Yes, it felt...right.

“I’ll take this one,” I told the Professor, my eyes still closed.

“A wise choice, m’boy, albeit an unusual way of choosing it,” said the Professor’s voice from my left elbow.

“Hm,” I smiled, preferring not to comment. I couldn’t really say what attracted me to this particular PokéBall, but there was no doubt in my mind that this was the right one for me. I simply thanked the Professor, received the standard equipment (Bag, PokéBalls, PokéDex, PokéNav, TM Case, Berry Bag, Town Map etc), listened patiently to his lecture on being a responsible Trainer, and took my leave. I decided that I was going to drop by home, touch base with my mum, and then leave in the morning on my great adventure. I was getting excited in spite of myself!

***

My mum, Sakura, was very much overwhelmed by the whole affair. She was very impressed by my new Pokémon, (“It’s so cute!”) but seemed to be trying not to cry. On the contrary, my little brother, Tomasu, was pleased to see me go!

The next morning, I gave my mum my PokéNav number, told her not to cry, told Tomasu to be good, and hit the road without further ado. It was a very emotional farewell on my mum’s part, and even I felt a strange sensation in my gut as I headed off. No matter how many times I told her I would stay out of trouble, she was still reluctant to let me go. I wasn’t sure when I would see them in person again, but I knew it would not be for a long time indeed. Once I was out of sight of home, I paused and looked back, my gut churning. This was the place where I had grown up, where I had learned everything I knew. So many happy memories; at that moment, I vowed to treasure those happy memories forever.

I pulled out my Town Map, and scanned it through blurred eyes. It even had the Gyms marked on it, six in total, scattered throughout the Hakaito region. There was one here in Mizu Town, I already knew, but I was nowhere strong enough for a Gym challenge yet. I decided to hit the east road, and come back to Mizu Gym later. Slipping on my favourite sunglasses, I walked off, into the sunrise.
 
OK...here's the first major change-the battle scene at the end of this chapter. It sucked. It might still suck. What do you think?

~~~~~

Episode 2-All that glitters is not gold

By the end of that first day, I had come a long way. Looking back, I could not even see Mizu City. I stood silently on the road, looking back towards home and the sunset. I suddenly had to fight the urge to run all the way home, and forget about becoming a Pokémon Trainer. I was distracted, however, by my new Pokémon releasing itself from its PokéBall. I wondered briefly at this, but I was tired, so I decided to come back to it later.

“What do you think, Eevee? Have we come far enough for today?” Eevee, a small, brown, fox-like Pokémon with a large ruff around her neck, squeaked her agreement, then promptly lay down in the middle of the road and pretended to fall asleep. I laughed and picked her up. “Come on, Eevee, you can’t sleep there! Let’s find somewhere better,” I suggested. In a few minutes, Eevee spotted a sheltered spot underneath a large oak. It was a clear night, so I didn’t bother with the tent, sleeping under the stars in my sleeping bag.

The next morning, I woke very suddenly for no apparent reason. I looked around, trying to figure out what had caused this. I didn’t have to look far; not far from my bag, Eevee was facing off with a little black bird Pokémon. The strange Pokémon had a selection of small, shiny items from my pack scattered around its feet, and it was watching Eevee warily.

“Eevee!” I said in surprise, “Looks to me like you’ve caught a thief!” I examined the Pokémon carefully; I didn’t recognize it immediately. I was struck by a sudden thought. The PokéDex! I pointed the red box at the strange Pokémon, and an LED on the top flashed, the device bleeped, and it said,

“Murkrow – the Darkness Pokémon. It is believed that seeing this Pokémon at night will bring about ominous occurrences.” I blinked.

“Sounds interesting!” I said. “Go get ‘em, Eevee! Use Tackle!” Eevee shot toward the Murkrow, but she wasn’t fast enough. The Murkrow squawked and took off, flapping around us, beating its wings against my head and being a general nuisance. “Again, Eevee!” I cried. Eevee leapt into the air, slamming into the Murkrow, sending it flying into a tree.

The Darkness Pokémon recovered quickly. Circling around, its beak glowed a brilliant white. It then flew at Eevee like a bullet. The PokéDex bleeped in my pocket.

“Peck,” it said, “A basic Flying-type attack.”

“Shut up,” I told it. I really didn’t need distractions right now. “Eevee, get out of the way!” Eevee turned tail and ran. Murkrow’s beak stopped glowing, but the little black bird was suddenly surrounded by an eerie purple aura; it then flew after Eevee at double the speed it had been going before. It slammed into Eevee, sending her tumbling head over tail.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed. “What was that?” Again, the PokéDex supplied the answer.

“Pursuit,” it said, somewhat loftily, I imagined, “A basic Dark-type attack that inflicts double damage on a fleeing opponent.” Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realised that I was in the middle of my first ever battle.

“So that’s why Eevee was hit so hard! That is such a cool move!” It was then that I decided that I had to have this Pokémon. I pulled a PokéBall from my bag, and tossed it at the Murkrow. It turned to red light and was sucked inside. The PokéBall fell to the ground. “Yes!” I shouted, punching the sky.

But it was not going to be that easy, it seemed. The ball rocked a few times, before bursting open and returning to me, leaving me with an empty PokéBall and a very irritated Murkrow. What was it I had learned from Professor Kauri? A wild Pokémon must be weakened before capture, or else it will probably break out of its PokéBall. That was it! I cursed my forgetfulness.

“The amnesia must be coming on early,” I muttered, then realised that I still had a Pokémon to catch, or at the very least, a battle to win. “Eevee, use Tackle again!” It was risky, as it was so predictable, but it was worth a shot.

It worked like a charm. Murkrow had been swooping around, preparing itself for another Peck, by the looks of it, when it was hit full force by Eevee’s attack. For the second time that morning, the Darkness Pokémon collided headfirst with a tree. I winced. That had to hurt. The Murkrow was now stumbling around on the ground.

“Now! Go, PokéBall!” came a voice. A PokéBall flew in from the side, capturing the Murkrow. I looked up in shock, my own PokéBall in my hand; I had been about to throw it. A boy not much older than me with a shock of blond hair was standing there, smirking.

“Looks like I got me a Murkrow,” he sneered aggressively, “Oh, and thanks for doing all the work for me!” He swaggered over, picked up the PokéBall and clipped it to his belt.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” I said incredulously. The boy, who had been about to leave, tossed his head arrogantly and said,

“I just did.” I glared at him. Now that the disbelief was over, I was beginning to get angry, and believe me, I don’t get angry easily.

“Now look here, moron! I fought that battle; I did all the work-”

“Terribly considerate of you, it was, too,” he snickered, interrupting me rudely.

“So I should get the Pokémon!” I steamrollered over the top of him. “Battle time!” I said, pulling Eevee’s PokéBall from my belt. She was weak after her battle with Murkrow, but I had no choice. The kid grinned, and his eyes lit up maliciously.

“You’re on!” he said, throwing a PokéBall. “Go, Machop!” I winced. Now Eevee had a type disadvantage, as well as being weakened. But still, I had no choice. I called her out. When Eevee saw who her opponent was, she looked round at me uncertainly. I nodded reassuringly.

“I have faith in you, Eevee,” I told her. The kid laughed.

“Faith, schmaith! That won’t do you any good in a battle! Machop, pound that little runt with a Karate Chop!” Machop leapt into the air, coming down at Eevee with great force.

“Dodge it, Eevee!” I called. Eevee leapt to one side, causing Machop to hit the ground. She was fast, but Machop kept raining down Karate Chops, and I was sure that one of them would hit eventually if I didn’t do something fast. “Eevee, use Tackle!” Eevee hit Machop with a Tackle, knocking it down, but not doing much damage.

It was then that Eevee did something odd. Turning around, she used her back paws to kick up copious amounts of dust into Machop’s face. She then turned back and used Tackle of her own volition. Machop went down hard, spitting dust and rubbing its eyes.

“Huh? What was that?” Right on cue, the PokéDex in my pocket bleeped again.

“Sand-Attack, a basic Ground-type attack. It blinds the opponent, making it difficult for it to see.”

“Stupid thing,” I muttered, but I was glad I knew now. Eevee squeaked happily. “Well done! Now finish this off with another Tackle!” Eevee gladly obliged, sending Machop skidding along the ground. It wasn’t over, however. Machop stood up, rubbing the dust out of its eyes angrily. Its Trainer looked equally mad.

“Low Kick!” he ordered sharply, and Machop shot towards Eevee, attempting to sweep her legs out from under her. I thought desperately.

“Jump!” I cried hopefully. Eevee understood. Springing up, she narrowly avoided the Low Kick. Machop lost its balance slightly, and stumbled. Eevee took the opportunity to land on its shoulders. The extra weight sent it tumbling to the ground, and Eevee hopped off deftly. We both watched warily as the Machop stood up shakily. I knew what I had to do.

“Tackle,” I said simply. Eevee had only been waiting for me to speak. She shot forward with a vengeance, powering into Machop and knocking it out for the count.

The rude kid appeared to be in a state of shock. He returned his Pokémon and walked over to me as if in a daze. He took Murkrow’s PokéBall from his belt, and with sudden vehemence, threw it on the ground at my feet, spitting after it.

“Keep it!” he said angrily. “And if we ever meet again, the name’s Bert.” He turned and stormed off.

“I’m Kenji!” I called after him casually. “I can’t say it was nice to meet you, because it wasn’t, but see you round anyhow!” He half-turned and made a rude hand gesture before carrying on out of sight.

I turned and walked back to the road, letting both my Pokémon out and crouching down to their level.

“He was such a loser, eh guys?” Eevee squeaked agreement, and Murkrow squawked and flapped its wings, which I took to mean yes. “Welcome to the gang, Murkrow!” I said, standing up and pointing east along the road. “Next stop, Asu City!”

~~~~~

Oh, and if you like it I'll put you on the PM list. Just tell me and I'll add you, then send you one whenever there's a new chapter.
 
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