Hey! This is Ace Pika. How do you like the story so far? I know I'm not the most active writer at the tower - but I will definitely finish the story. E-mail me with comments! ************************************* I approached the lab, Randall following close behind. I looked up at the great stone walls of the building, then walked up to the door. "Huh. It's locked," I said, attempting to open the door. I knocked on it, hoping to get an answer, but instead, a TV screen opened up on the side of the door. "Hello?" said the Professor, who had appeared on the screen. "Uh, hi, I'm Jetton Satamo. I'm here to get my pokemon." Birch looked at me for a moment, then recognized me from the picture. "Ah, yes! Jetton! Come on in." The door swung open and Jetton and Randall walked inside the lab. There were many pieces of equipment there, and computers lined the desks along the walls. "So, Jetton, have you decided which pokemon you wanted?" He pointed to a desk with three pokeballs on it. I glanced at them. I would have to find a way to explain this to the professor. I took a deep breath. "Well, you see, as a young boy I always wanted to explore the world, but I was confined to my Slateport home. The only other place I went to up until now was Dewford Town to visit my cousins. When I heard that there were two other continents with pokemon that couldn't be found here, I was so excited to become a trainer so I could explore all the lands. But then I found out that the only way to get to those lands was by a special plane that wasn't open to the public. So I figured that if I couldn't go to those lands, having a pokemon from it would be just as good. So, maybe you could give me a pokemon for Johto or Kanto?" I gulped. I tried to sound convincing, but I knew that he probably wouldn't have any of the pokemon I had in mind. He thought for a moment. I had almost lost all hope when a surprized expression appeared on his face. "I... I understand now..." "Huh? Um..." I looked at his odd face. "Jetton, you definitely are a special person. I think I may have a pokemon that you'll love," he said, beckoning for me to follow him. Randall came too. Birch led us to a room with a couple of pokeballs. He selected one of them and picked it up. I stared at it as he gave it to me to hold. "Well, release it." I clutched it in my hands and enlarged it by pushing the button on the front. "Go, pokemon!" I said, releasing it out onto the ground. A small red puppy with a black striped back and sea blue eyes looked up at me, wagging its tail. "Growlithe growl!" The pokemon jumped up and licked my face. I laughed and petted her on the head. Randall, who was inspecting some pokemon things, whirled around at the pokemon's voice. "A... a Growlithe!" He said , speechless. "But they're so rare, even in Kanto! How did you get it, Birch?" The professor sat down at a nearby table and began typing on the computer. "Well, I have a colleague in Kanto by the name of Professor Oak who has a grandson named Gary. About ten years ago, he and his rival Ash became Pokemon trainers. Along the way, Gary caught a Growlithe and trained it to be in his team. After it had evolved into Arcanine and he had become a gym leader in the Pokemon Indigo League, he began to breed it. Just last week it laid some eggs, and Gary tended to them and watched them hatch. He gave one to his Grandfather, Professor Oak, to give it to me. It arrived yesterday, and I was saving it to study, but you can have it. Would you like to give her a nickname?" Hmm. I think I liked Growlithe just as it was, so I decided not to. Meanwhile, on the computer, Birch had finished with whatever it was he was doing, and began downloading information onto a little red contraption. "Here you go," he said handing it to me. Randall looked at it. "A pokedex. It's basically an encyclopedia that records the details on pokemon you've seen or caught. However, it provides much more information on the pokemon that you've actually caught than the ones that you've seen in the wild. Typical," said Randall. I looked at the pokedex in my hands. Growlithe jumped onto the table and wanted to see what it was. I opened up the cover on it and a picture of me appeared. It began spewing out information about me in a robotic voice. "Name: Jetton Satamo. Age: 10. Gender: Male. Pokemon owned: 1. Pokemon seen: 1. Pokemon in party: 1." Growlithe looked at it, cocking her head. I pointed the pokedex in the direction of Growlithe and let it evaluate her. "Growlithe, the puppy Pokemon. This Pokemon will bark and bite to fend off intruders from its territory. A highly loyal pokemon, it will protect its trainer at all costs. Gender: Female. Level: 5. Condition: Excellent. Height: 2'3. Weight: 37 lbs. Hit Points: 15/15. Attack: 9. Defense: 8. Special Attack: 12. Special Defense: 10. Speed: 13. Moves: Tackle, Growl. Power Points: 35/35, 40/40. Pokedex Entry: #58. End of evaluation." I was relieved at those last words; it seemed like the evaluation would last forever. Growlithe had already lost interest after the Stat Readings and had began to play tug of war with my shoe laces. In the process, she had untied them, so I picked her up and placed her on my lap while I retied them. I stroked her red fur, smiling. "So, Jetton, do you know how to catch a pokemon? I can show you," Randall offered. Birch smiled. "That's a great idea! Why don't you go out and try to catch that huge Poochyena you were talking about?" I looked down at Growlithe; she seemed up to it. I smiled as Professor Birch handed me 5 pokeballs to catch pokemon on my own sometime. "Okay, that would be awesome! Let's go!" I set Growlithe on the ground and followed Randall out of the lab. I waved goodbye to Professor Birch and Growlithe barked happily as we went outside. ************************************* "Randall, are you sure it's here? We've been searching for 15 minutes now." I sat down on a rock eating a tuna sandwich. Growlithe stared up at it longingly, so I gave her a half. She only ate the tuna, though, because she didn't like bread. "Fifteen minutes? It took me two hours to find my Skitty. Besides, he has to be here. They always come back." I sighed and looked over at Growlithe, who was busy sniffing a rock. I finished my sandwich, so I helped Randall search for the Poochyena. Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the bushes. "He's back. He can sense our smell," Randall said, turning around. I watched as he drew a pokeball from his pocket. But it wasn't a regular pokeball; it was more of yellowish-black one. "An ultraball is the most accurate pokeball besides the masterball," he said. "Normally, one would have to weaken the pokemon, but since Delcatty's too strong, an ultra ball should do the trick." The Poochyena approached him, growling. He stood his ground, ready to attack at any moment. Growlithe glared at it. "Grrrowwlithe..." "Quiet, girl," I said, restraining her from jumping in the grass to tackle it. Randall winked at me, then drew back his arm. "GO, ULTRABALL!" He yelled, bringing his arm around and launching the ball at the startled pokemon. Taking the Poochyena by surprise, the ultraball bopped him on the head and turned him in to a solid red flare. I was at the edge of my... rock... when the ball started shaking. A sweat drop ran down Randall's cheek as the ball twitched and then stopped. A smile appeared on his face. "Yes... I caught the huge Poochyena! Woohoo! Yeah! I definitely have to show this to Norman when I get back to the gym." I was beaming so much that my face hurt. We did sort of a little victory dance, and then I decided to train Growlithe. After a few battles with Zigzagoons and Wurmples, I ran into a Wingull. It looked like a perfect addition to my team. Growlithe, who was now level 7, had learned a new attack, Ember. But that wouldn't work against a water-type pokemon like Wingull, so I decided to use normal attacks. "Go, Growlithe!" I said, hurling the pokeball towards the grass. Growlithe jumped out of her pokeball, ready to attack. "Growlithe growl!" she said, wagging her tail. "Use tackle, Growlithe!" Growlithe crouched, leapt into the air, then crashed into Wingull at full speed. The Wingull let out a cry, but came back with a growl. "Gull!" it said, letting out a high-pitched growl audible only to pokemon. Growlithe winced and her attack lowered. I thought of a plan to catch Wingull, but I knew that at any second it would use a water attack. "Growlithe, use Ember now!" She cocked his head at me, not knowing why I was ordering him to do a fire attack against a water pokemon, but nonetheless, she carried it out. "Lithe!" She said as fire sprayed out of her mouth. She slightly burned Wingull's wings, but the bird didn't look hurt much. "Wiiiingull!" Wingull opened its mouth and shot a stream of water, a water gun. Growlithe saw the attack coming and she tried to duck, but it was too late. "Growww..." Growlithe said, taken aback by the water gun. She was weak from it and had almost fainted. I knew this would happen, but I was determined to catch the Wingull. If she had used another tackle, she would have knocked Wingull out, so that ember did the trick of weakening it. I fingered the pokeball in my hands. Drawing it back like Randall did, I whipped it across the grass towards Wingull in an attempt to make my first capture. It hovered above the Wingull for a second and sucked him into the ball. I stared as it shook violently in the field, then suddenly stopped. I had caught my first pokemon! A feeling of triumph fell over me like a bucket of cold water. I cheered and Randall congratulated me. Growlithe managed a happy bark even in her weak state. I remembered how weak she was and proposed that we went to the Pokemon Center in Oldale. "That's a great idea," said Randall. "I should heal my new Poochyena, too, and have him evaluated." I remembered the long list of Growlithe's stats my pokedex read out in the lab, then I took out Wingull and pointed the pokedex towards it. "Wingull, the seagull pokemon. This pokemon rides updrafts rising from the sea by extending its long and narrow wings to glide. Wingull's long beak is useful for catching prey. Gender: Male. Level: 3. Condition: Weakened. Height: 2'0. Weight: 22 lbs. Hit Points: 2/13. Attack: 8. Defense: 6. Speed: 9. Special Attack: 9. Special Defense: 7. Moves: Growl, Water Gun. Power Points: 39/40, 24/25. Pokedex entry: #277. End of evalution." Wingull shuffled his feathers and looked up at me. He seemed satisfied with me and I gave him a hug. Growlithe spoke to him in their little language, and Wingull flew up to perch on my shoulder. "Great catch," said Randall, congratulating me. Anyway, off to the pokemon center in Oldale." I grabbed my things and Randall and I walked towards the town in the distance. ************************************* Squee! I've finally finished the first part. There may be a delay in the writing of the Part 2, because I am moving, and consequently, I won't have the same e-mail. I'm figuring things out with The Jolt Master, but fear not, as I will eventually write the rest of the story.