Pokemon, Strange isn't it?
Midorikawa thought back of the seven years of adventure he had had with his friends. Those times had been the best in his life. A journey together with those you liked, with those you trusted. He had never been left alone. Of course the journey had had its bad days as well, but over all it had been very fun. There had always been something to do, something new to find. A lot of challenges, but they had gone through it together. It was sad now, that all of it was gone . . .
Welcome to the World of Pokemon. My name is Orchid-Hakase and I am a Pokemon Professor. Pocket Monsters, or Pokemon for short, are the various creatures found in this world. Pokemon and humans live together by supporeting each others. Some people become Pokemon Trainers. Is this the day for you to become a Trainer? Then I suppose many battles together with your Pokemon friends await, before you reach the Pokemon League! You don't have a Pokemon yet? Why not stop by at my lab and get one? Will it be Fushigidane, Hitokage or Zenigame?
”Time to get up, Midori! It's the day to get your first Pokemon today!”
The young boy, who had watched Orchid-Hakase on TV last night, woke up in his bed, almost falling asleep again, but then he suddenly remembered. It's his tenth birthday today! Which meant . . .
He rushed out of bed, put on his green T-shirt, shorts and cap, and then lightning speed down the stairs.
”Not so fast, Midori.” His mother just stopped him before he could rush outdoors. ”You forgot your breakfast.”
His mother always made sure he ate properly. She must be worried today when he was going so far from home, but most boys and girls his age went away on journies with Pokemon. Especially if they had this dream of becoming strong Trainers.
”I don't want to see you sick when this day has finally arrived for you,” she said as her son started eating his sandwiches. ”Don't eat so fast, you'll don't have time to swallow . . .”
At last he could go outside, but his mother stopped him again.
”Leaving without saying good bye? Anyway, I haven't given you your birthday present yet. Happy birthday, Midori!” She handed him a package.
”Thanks, mum. Bye.”
Finally, he was outside his house and Masara Town lay before him. The town was very small, but all of Midori's friends lived here. They greeted him and quickly left the town. They were already ready for their journey. Midori had to hurry if he wanted to keep up.
”You haven't gotten your Pokemon yet?” a voice said, and a boy in red clothes and a red cap walked up to him. ”I already got mine, ha, ha.”
Midori was not sure what to say. This was Aka, his rival. Both the boys had dreamed of becoming Pokemon Trainers, had even pretended they had Pokemon of their own and had Pokemon battles. Now, Aka had already gotten his real Pokemon, but it always felt as if Midori's rival was a step ahead. Midori did not care much. He had something that Aka did not have. Midori had friends, and that was what was most important. He did not know how he would have been able to live without them. Aka, however, did not seem to need them at all, as long as he was better than everyone else.
Now, the other boy set off to get to the neighbour town before anyone else did. It felt much better when his rival had left. The tension disappeared and Midori could continue his way to the Pokemon lab, where he would get his first Pocket Monster. He passed Aka's house and walked south. The laboratory was the largest building in Masara Town. No Trainers-to-be there right now. Better hurry, not to be left behind.
The house was empty except for an old man who was putting his things together as if he was going to leave. As he turned around he spotted Midori in the doorway.
”Oh, hello, young one. I thought there were no more kids coming here today, so I thought of going home again. But now I see that is not the case.” He smiled friendly. Orchid-Hakase was a friendly man, as long as no one messed around with his Pokemon collection and interrupted his researches. He himself had been a Pokemon Trainer in his earlier days. ”So, come on in . . . eh, Midori is it?”
Midori nodded and approached the professor through the large room. He had no need of being shy. He had talked to Orchid-Hakase before. He was glad the professor was nicer than his grandson, Aka, was.
”I have three Pokemon left,” Orchid-Hakase explained. ”You can choose which of them you like.”
He went off and returned with some Monster Balls, red-white orbs that contained the Pokemon. ”Oh, I'm sorry. The third one was taken by Aka a while ago. But you can choose anyone of these.” He let the Pokemon out so that Midori could have a look at them. ”The green one with the seed on its back is Fushigidane, and the blue pond turtle is Zenigame.”
Midori lowered himself in front of the two Pokemon. They both looked back his way, as if they were begging to be chosen. Midori had already made up his mind.
Yes, Midori had chosen the Grass-Type Pokemon, Fushigidane. The seed Pokemon had liked Midori, had played with him. Almost always kept outside its Monster Ball, the little dinosaur looking Pokemon had kept up with the boy on their journey together. He smiled at the memory of finding his best friend. It also brought tears to his eyes, because he knew that maybe he would never see the friendly Pokemon again.
His mother stopped him on his way out of town. Being the only parent she had done a great job in raising Midori, but she was a little bit too worried sometimes. The new Trainer went to his mother, Fushigidane following behind on its four, short legs.
”You forgot your backpack.” She held it out to him and he put his birthday present in it. ”And . . . you forgot your shoes.”
Midori looked down at his bare feet and as he looked up again he couldn't stop himself from smiling, almost laughing. With his shoes on he could finally set off with Fushigidane. His mother waved good bye as he followed the road leading to Tokiwa City.
In the package from his mother he found medicine for his Pokemon and five Monster Balls. There was also some money she had sent with him. All that he needed for a start.
Fushigidane caught his attention as a yellow Pokemon rushed by. Midori and his friend followed the yellow mouse with the pointy black-tipped ears and the Trainer had always wanted to catch a Pokemon on his own. As the battle started he realised that his Fushigidane was much slower than the other Pokemon, but he hoped that would not cause his Pokemon to lose. The wild Pokemon's quick attacks did little damage anyway.
What turned the battle was the sudden attack from the yellow mouse. Midori had no idea that it was an electric Pokemon and the electric shock it released, though being not very effective against Grass-Type Pokemon, caught Fushigidane off guard. Could they still be able to win this battle, when Fushigidane had been so much weakened?
Midori had no other choice. He tossed a Monster Ball at the mouse Pokemon with the lightning shaped tail and it was sucked inside. The ball began to shake . . . once . . . twice . . .
The boy hoped that the Pokemon would run away when it broke free. He did not want Fushigidane to get hurt again.
Ding!
The ball stopped shaking.
”Yes! Fushigidane, we got it!” Midori took the ball and hurried over to his friend. Together they had caught a wild Pocket Monster.
Pikachuu. Mouse Pokemon. Height: 0.4m. Weight: 6.0kg. Carries small sacks of electricity in both cheeks. Discharges in times of crisis.
Midori listened as his Zukan, Pokemon Guide, described the newly caught Pokemon. Then, it was time to go on again. He gave Fushigidane some medicine in case something unexpected would happen on the way. He did not want his friend to get hurt in case they met another wild Pokemon.
"Look, that must be Tokiwa City," Midori said cheerfully and pointed. They had made it all the way alone. Midori's friends must be over there, resting at a Pokemon Center. He could hardly wait to talk with them about the trip to Tokiwa.
"Dane." Fushigidane seemed eager to continue up the hill. The Pokemon must be curious what was over there, probably not having been in any other town before.
"Let's go." Midori walked on, but spotted a group of small bird Pokemon on the road. They all took to the skies when the Trainer and his Pokemon approached, except one, smaller, brown and white bird. Why not try to catch another one, before going on? Midori thought. "Ok! Go Monster Ball! Let's get Pokemon!"
Did Midori catch the small Poppo? To be continued . . .
Aka and Hitokage
The confident boy remembered the days when he had dreamed of becoming the strongest Pokemon Trainer ever. He still dreamed of it, but things were different now. Should he resume his life as a Trainer? Would he be able to do that now, after what had happened to him . . .?
After fetching Hitokage, the fire lizard, from the lab, Aka met Midori on his way out of town. Has he not gotten his Pokemon yet?! It was as if he would laugh at the other boy, but he was reminded that he himself was a little too late as well. After talking to his rival the tough boy with the black, spiky hair left Midori and walked out of town. Let Midori stand there if he wanted, while he himself reached the other town. Aka had no need of Midori, had no need of anyone except if they wanted to battle.
It was not far to Tokiwa City, but many things could happen when you walked into the wild. There was a road here, where many beginner Trainers have passed, and on both sides the tall grass grew. Many wild Pokemon sometimes crossed the road, but they were mostly weak and harmless ones. Still, crossing the first route without an own tame Pokemon could be risky. At least if you were just a kid.
Aka felt proud of having a Pocket Monster of his own. He sent out Hitokage to get a better look at the lizard. Its tail had a burning flame at the end. The Pokemon looked pretty all right, but it was somewhat small. Aka did not worry; he knew that Pokemon evolved and grew stronger. To get stronger they needed to train and that was done through battles. There were no other Trainers around, but there had to be some wild Pokemon. He could barely wait to test his Hitokage.
Some movements in a bush attracted Aka's attention.
”Hitokage! Fire Sparks at it!” he pointed the way of the movements, giving his Pokemon the command to attack.
The loyal Pokemon obeyed without question, readying itself to breathe flames at the bush. However, only grey smoke escaped its mouth.
”Is that all you can do?” Aka asked surprised. What Pokemon had his grandpa given him? A Fire-Type that could not even breathe fire? What a disappointment.
Hitokage looked somewhat disappointed, too, not being able to do as the Trainer had asked. Whatever Pokemon had been in the bush it was gone by now. There was no need to linger here anymore, so they went on.
Aka's eyes caught a little bird from a short distance. He picked up his Zukan, a Pokemon guide he had gotten from Orchid-Hakase. The little, red, hand held computer spoke:
Onisuzume. Busily flits around here and there. Though physically weak, it can be tough and use Parrot Mimicry.*
”Ah, an Onisuzume!” Aka decided to make use of one of the five empty Monster Ball he had with him. ”Let's go, Hitokage! Weaken the Onisuzume so that I can catch it!”
The fire lizard approached the bird with the red short wings. The wild Pokemon was busy by looking for food on the road, but now it turned its crooked beak toward the lizard. It knew at once that a battle would break out and went to attack. Aka's Pokemon was hit by a peck attack, but returned a scratch attack. The short, but sharp, claws slashed the feathers from Onisuzume.
Aka would not let his Pokemon give up. With the Monster Ball in his hand, he watched the battle. When the time was right, he threw the ball and the bird went in as a cloud of energy. It tried to break free, but the battle had made it too weary.
Aka, seven years later, smiled at the memory of that, but the smile did not last very long. Onisuzume had been his first Pokemon caught in the wild. The next one he had encountered was a male Nidoran just outside Tokiwa City.
"Scratch!"
Hitokage went to attack, clawing at the purple rodent. The poison pin Pokemon used a body blow in return, but that was not enough to defeat Aka and his Pokemon.
This is easy! the confident Trainer thought. "Sparks**!"
Hitokage seemed confident as well, as the lizard Pokemon released a breath of fire sparks at the wild monster. The fire burned the Nidoran, making it very easy for Aka to catch.
"Got you, Nidoran!" he said and held the Monster Ball, now with a new Pokemon within, in his hand. "Let's go, Hitokage." Aka was grinning and felt proud of himself as he went on toward Tokiwa.
"Hey, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"
"Huh?" Aka turned around and over there was . . . a Pokemon Trainer! Now was the time. He had waited for this, to fight another Trainer. His newly caught Pokemon was weak, though, but Hitokage was enough. There was no way he would lose this battle.
"Go, Koratta!" The Trainer started with his small, purple, rat Pokemon. The rodent curled its tail and bared its fangs.
What an easy match this will be, Aka thought as he saw the opponent's Pokemon that was very common in most areas. "Go, Hitokage! Sparks!"
"Lightning Speed***!"
Koratta used a first strike attack, hitting Hitokage before being struck by the sparks.
"Its, weak now," Aka said." Finish it!"
"Kage . . ." His Pokemon sounded very unwell.
"What's wrong with you?" Aka said, both annoyed and worried. "Sparks!"
"Lightning Speed!"
The fire lizard couldn't take it any more, and fainted from the opponent's attack.
No, it can't be. Was Hitokage . . . was Hitokage poisoned from the last battle. How could I've been so ignorant. The Nidoran's poison must have been released as Hitokage had scratched it!
Aka was furious. He recalled his Hitokage, I'm not going to give up! and sent out his Onisuzume. "Peck!"
The bird Pokemon had been much weakened from Hitokage's attacks the battle it was caught, and fainted from one Lightning Speed.
Argh! At least I can poison his Pokemon! "Go, Nidoran!"
The male Nidoran took the bird's place, but did not have time to move before being knocked out by one of Koratta's fast attacks.
"Aaargh! I hope it poisoned your Pokemon!" Aka said, before taking his Pokemon to the Tokiwa City Pokemon Center. He couldn't believe it. His first battle against an actual Trainer a loss? He would pay back if he ever met the Trainer again, but he never did.
Meanwhile, Midori was trying to catch a Poppo. The small bird Pokemon disappeared into the Monster Ball, but not having been weakened through battle it still had chances of escaping. This Poppo, however, was much smaller and less tough than the others. At last it let itself get caught, and Midori once more let out a shout of joy. He had been very lucky so far.
And so he and Fushigidane went on to the next city, to a Pokemon Center where he hoped to unite with his other friends.
Did he meet his rival there? To be continued . . .
*("Oumuu ga Eshi" in Japanese)
**("Hinoko" in Japanese)
***("Denkousekka" in Japanese)
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