Kanto My Pokemon Stories FIRST POKEMON Chris Ketchum sat beside his brother, Ash Ketchum. Chris’s brown hair bristled against Ash’s black hair and both Chris’s blue eyes and Ash’s brown eyes were glued to the television screen where a Gengar v.s. Onix League Match was taking place. It was nine o’clock and the battle had started at eight forty five. * Chris was 13 years old and Ash was 11. They were both mental about Pokemon. They knew all the types and weaknesses to them, but, unfortunately, not the all the Pokemon. Chris is the main character of my story. Ash and Chris’s best friends are characters in this story as well. What Chris didn’t know was that one day, his friends would be his lifeline… * The T.V buzzed: “Onix uses rock tomb! But Gengar uses minimize, and escapes it!” “SHADOW BALL!!” screamed Gengar’s trainer. “DIG!!” yelled Onix’s trainer. Neither Chris or Ash knew what happened next. Because Mrs. Ketchum had switched it from the battle channel to the info channel. “MUM!!” Ash and Chris yelled together. “Be quiet!” Snapped their mother, “It’s collection day tomorrow and that means you’ll start you’re Pokemon journey. You’ll need to find out about the beginner Pokemon. And Chris,” she looked at him, “Last year you stayed so you could go with Gordon and Ash this year. I won’t let you stay another year again!” she walked out of the room. “Mum can be such a nuisance.” Ash said. “ I know.” Chris replied. On the T.V screen, Prof. Oak appeared. He gave his annual speech on Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. The three Kanto region beginners. “And remember,” Oak concluded, “Choose wisely!” “Boring.” Chris said. They trooped up to their bunk beds and fell asleep instantly. That night, without knowing it, Chris made himself levitate off his bed with his very mind… * “BRIIINNNGGG!” something went in the distance…… “DIE! DIE KETCHUM! DIE!” cried a terrible voice. “DIE IN PAIN! OR…. WATCH THE ONE YOU LOVE DIE!” There was a female scream, a rushing sound, and Chris woke up, cold and sweaty, to his blaring alarm clock. “Oh no!” he gasped, seeing the time. “We’re half an hour late! ASH!” and without switching off his alarm, ( “BRIIINNNGGG!” ) he ran out of his room. * On their way to Prof. Oak’s Lab, Chris and Ash ran into Chris’s arch rival, Gary. He had long brown hair, dark green eyes and a personality that made Chris want to punch his lights out. He smirked. “A bit late, aren’t you?” “Oh, shuddap!” Chris spat. “Just saying…” Gary looked at them. “Sure you’re ready for the world of Pokemon?” “Yeah…” Ash replied, “..Why?” “It’s just,” Gary seemed to want to laugh. “You look more ready for bed than Pokemon! HA HA HA!” Confused, Chris and Ash looked down and saw, to their up most horror, they were still in their pyjamas! “Aiya!” Chris yelped, as Ash tried to cover himself. * Chris and Ash walked up the Poke-Lab driveway, miserable. Apparently, Gary was Oak’s grandson, so, instead of getting one of the registered starter Pokemon, he got an Eevee, a rare and, when trained well, powerful partner. “We’re losers.” Ash mumbled. “We’re so late we can’t even go back to change.” “I know.” Chris replied angrily, “I knew my clock was bloody well dodgy!” They walked through the front door of the lab and looked around. It was bright and well cleaned, but only one thing was missing… “Where’s the professor?” Ash asked. * They went out to the field outside the lab where they saw different kinds of Pokemon grazing and sleeping. Chris looked around and saw some sort of commotion down at the other side of the field. They both ran towards it and what they saw took their breath away. Prof. Oak was sitting inside a circle of Pokemon, with a camera, and taking pictures of the sky. Looking up, they saw a red dragon flying around in joy. It was carrying an egg. Oak saw them. “Hi!” he yelled, “You’re a bitty late!” “S-sorry.” Ash replied, but Chris didn’t say anything. He was staring in awe at the Dragon. It’s power, it’s strength….. Oak walked up to them. “That,” he said, pointing at the dragon, “Is Charizard. A fire dragon. The final evolution of the starter Pokemon Charmander, actually. It’s flying around like that because it’s just had a baby boy Charmander egg.” “If it hasn’t hatched yet, how do you know it’s a boy?” Chris asked puzzled. “The egg of a Pokemon has different patterns to every species.” Oak explained, “this shows us what sex it is.” Chris stared up. “What happens to the baby?” he asked. Oak smiled. “If you want, one of you can have him for your starter!” Ash shook his head. “Na.” he said, “I want a Bulbasaur.” Chris was beside himself with joy. “Oh, MEEE! Please, ME!” Oak grinned. “Sure!” He took them both by the arm and led them back to the lab. “But you’ll have to come back tomorrow. The egg will have hatched by then, and I’ll have a favour to ask, too.” Chris and Ash were fine about the situation, but, as they left, they realised that Mrs. Ketchum wouldn’t approve at all. They decided to skip dinner that night and starve, safe in their rooms…. For the time being! NEW POKEMON Chris and Ash went back to Prof. Oak’s lab the next day. Oak greeted them at the gate. “Now, I told you you could take up an errand for me.” He said to them in his lab. “It’s just that, well, there’s a Pikachu and Pichu who are brothers. They need some maturing, so I want them to go on a journey with trainers, so, I thought, if you will?” Ash and Chris looked at each other and shrugged. “Why not?” Ash replied. Prof. Oak gave them strange silver poke balls. “I think Ash should get Pikachu and Chris Pichu. I’m sure they’ll like you.” Chris examined the Pokeballs. “What’s with the balls?” he asked. “Ahh,” Prof. Oak replied. “They are to keep them inside. You see, they are ‘Duds’, Pokemon who don’t like normal Poke Balls.” Suddenly, flame and electricity flew from the Poke Balls. They opened up to reveal a little, dazed Pichu, an angry looking Pikachu and a magnificent Charmander. Chris stared in awe at it’s perfectly structured body. Apart from the small Pichu, (which Chris now owned) the Pokemon were very fit and well cared for. “OI!” Oak shouted. “WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU HUNDREDS OF TIMES ALREADY!? NO BLASTING OUT OF THESE BALLS! THEY’RE UNBELIEVABLY EXPENSIVE AND DELICATE WHEN EXPOSED TO A FULL FORCED ATTACK!!” Oak then took Pikachu’s ball and saw the latch on the front was broken. It could no longer hold a Pokemon. “Damn Ebay!!” the Prof uttered under his breath. He looked at the brothers. “Pichu’s and Charmander’s Poke Balls are okay. And that’s lucky for Charmander.” He came up close to Chris a whispered quickly to him: “If, at any point in time, Charmander is about to be exposed to water, put him in his Poke Ball. Because if the flame at the tip of his tail goes out, he will never be able to battle again! Remember that!” “Don’t worry!” Chris replied, who wasn’t really listening. He had a Charmander! Fantastic! NOT A GREAT BEGINNING After saying goodbye to their mum, Chris and Ash left Pallet Town to begin their journey. They were making their way towards Viridian City, so, with their Pokedexes that prof. Oak had given them, they could officially register as trainers. “I’m going to try and register for the League Tournament.” Chris said grinning, “What about you? “I’ll just register for the National Contests.” Ash replied. He was not in a good mood. With no Poke Ball to keep Pikachu in, Pikachu roamed free. But unfortunately for Ash, Pikachu wasn’t exactly overjoyed with it’s new trainer. On the contrary, Pikachu had made such a fuss, Ash had been forced to wear rubber gloves to resist the electric shocks from his little ‘pal’, and pull him along with a washing line. “Pika!” Pikachu screeched. “ALRIGHT!” Ash yelled, “I know you’re uncomfortable! If you’d just behaved…” Pikachu’s answer was an electric shock. “WHY YOU LITTLE-!” Ash threw himself at Pikachu, as Pikachu threw himself at Ash. Just in time, Chris grabbed them in mid-air. “Quit it!” he snapped. Now, after that little incident, Pikachu sat beside Pichu who had been on Chris’s shoulder, and, whenever he could, Pikachu threw dirty looks at Ash. Now Pichu had taken to Chris quite well, but Charmander kept his distance from Chris, suspiciously eyeing him occasionally. Chris tried his best to make friends with his first ever Pokemon, but Charmander didn’t care. So, even though Charmander was his favourite Pokemon, Chris didn’t like this particular one. Suddenly, the tall grass surrounding them showed movement. Chris and Ash quickly stopped, crouching down to Charmander’s level. Suddenly, a small bird like Pokemon flew out from the grass onto the path in front of them. “Whoa!” Chris and Ash quickly brought out their Pokedexes. (Pokemon Encyclopedias) From their Pokedexes, a robotic voice said: “Pidgey, the small bird Pokemon. Pidgey is a wild Pokemon commonly found in the Wild and very easy to catch and train. Perfect for Beginners.” Chris and Ash looked at each other. “Let me try to catch it!” Chris pleaded. “I’m the one who’s trying to take the League challenge!” Ash sighed, “Oh all right. But I try for the next one we meet!” “Deal!” Chris looked at Charmander. “Okay, Charmander! Go!” Usually, the custom for Pokemon trainers is to catch a wild Pokemon, they had to prove themselves to it by battling them. Once the wild Pokemon is weakened, the trainer can try to catch it for his or her own. But Charmander wasn’t interested. He just looked away, small arms crossed defiantly. Sighing, Chris looked to Pichu on his shoulder, who shook it’s head simply. Fuming, Chris grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and threw it at the Pidgey, yelling “Pokeball-GO!” The Pokeball is the Trainer’s Pokemon catching tool to catch the Pokemon and become the Trainer’s Pokemon. Chris’s Pokeball hit the Pidgey and enveloped it with red light. The Pidgey disappeared inside the Pokeball. The ball fell to the ground, and swayed from side to side, the latch glowing red. “YEAH!!” Chris punched the air. “I CAUGHT MY FIRST POK-” The Pokeball opened up and the Pidgey flew out, flying into the air and away from Chris. He hadn’t caught it. The reason for this was because Pidgey hadn’t been weakened at all, so it used all it’s strength and broke free. Ash had to stop Chris from tearing Charmander and Pichu apart. As the two struggled, Pikachu shocked them. Smoking from the attack, Ash growled, “All right! Let’s get `em Chris!” Coming to his senses, Chris grabbed Ash and said, “No! Be sensible. We’ve just got them. We have to get to know them.” But Ash stormed off towards Viridian City, cursing. Sighing, Chris glared at the Pokemon around him. “That was your fault!” he said, angrily. Pikachu stuck out his tongue and continued down the path. Chris picked up Pichu and rested him on his shoulder. He then looked at Charmander. “You gonna behave?” he asked him. Charmander eyed Chris slightly, then, swelling it’s chest with pride, nodded. “Thank you.” Chris said, silently relieved. Then he continued on after Pikachu. * After about an hour, Chris stopped dead in his tracks and peered into the long grass. Pikachu and Charmander stopped, interested, and Pichu jumped down from his shoulder. Chris saw a bird Pokemon. “A Pidgey!” he exclaimed, “Well, I’m not gonna fail this time! And since my Pokemon won’t fight, I’ll just have to improvise!” He picked up a nearby stone and lobbed it at the Pokemon. It met it’s target. “Yes!” Chris said triumphantly. There was an angry squawk, and the Pokemon flew up into the air. “Wait a minute,” Chris said, puzzled, “That’s not a Pidgey!” He took out his Pokedex. “Spearow,” it began, “A bird Pokemon which has a short temper.” “Oh boy.” Chris muttered. Five minutes later, Chris, Pikachu, Pichu and Charmander were running from a huge flock of Spearow. The evolved form, Fearow, had even joined the chase, sending gusts of wind down on their victims. Eventually, they reached a rock cliff. Chris looked from the bottom of the cliff (swirling water and pointy rocks) and behind him (blood-thirsty Pokemon), and decided in an instant (trying to block out some possible consequences). Grabbing Pikachu, Pichu and Charmander, he jumped. He hit the water in five seconds flat, and he was pulled away with the current, narrowly missing the rocks. Choking, Chris kicked with his legs and held the Pokemon above the water as much as he could. When the a clearing came into view, Chris roared in concentration and threw the Pokemon out of the water. Then the water dragged him to it’s depths. He tried to fight, but all it got him was a bump on his head from hitting a rock. He was going to die. Damn it, he thought. Suddenly, he felt a tugging at his jacket sleeve. It was a fishing-hook. He was pulled clear of the water and thrown onto the riverbank. Gasping for breath, he heard a girl’s voice exclaim, “What the- you’re not a Pokemon! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Spluttering indignantly, Chris looked up at the girl to give a angry reply, but ended up just staring. A girl of 13 years old stood glaring at him. She had orange hair with a ponytail at the side of her head. She wore a short sleeved yellow top, a small red sack on her back and a pair of blue denim shorts. To most people, she wouldn’t have been looked twice at. To Chris, when he first saw her, his heart skipped a beat. “Who are you?” the girl demanded. “Uhhh, I’m Chris. Chris Ketchum.” The girl eyed him for a second, then said, in a lighter tone, “I’m Misty Waterflower. Are you allright?” “I think so…. The Pokemon…… Damn it, where are they? They should be in that clearing over there.” “I didn’t see any Pok- Oh! There they are!” Chris looked up and saw Charmander, Pichu and Pikachu stagger towards him. They looked at him for a second, then fell over, unconscious. “No!” Chris yelled. He crawled over to them, and picked them all up, being careful to avoid Charmander’s tail. At that moment Chris was furious at Ash going off in a huff like that. If any of the Pokemon died, especially his own, he would hold Ash personally responsible. “You got to get them to a Pokemon Center!” Misty exclaimed, “The nearest on is in Viridian City. Get going!” Nodding, Chris saw a bike lying on the ground beside Misty. Grabbing it, he placed the three Pokemon into the basket at the front and made to cycle away, but Misty grabbed his shoulder. “What do you think you’re doing? Get off my bike, now!” she roared. Chris looked round at her, tears in his eyes and a determined look on his face. “If I don’t hurry,” he began shakily, “My Pokemon and my brother’s Pokemon could die on the first day we got them. And I’ll be damned if that’s gonna happen! Now please, let me borrow you’re bike.” Misty looked at him for a minute, then, eventually, let go of his shoulder. “Get going before I change my mind.” She muttered. Nodding, Chris took off at the fastest speed he could. When he was out of sight of the river, Chris shouted, “I’m going to get you to Viridian, I promise!” Charmander’s eyelid flickered. Suddenly, Chris heard the flapping of hundreds of wings. “Oh no!” he groaned. He looked over his shoulder and saw the same flock of Spearow and Fearow that had been chasing them before. While he looked at them, the bike went over a very sharp stone. The front wheel was punctured, and Chris and the Pokemon flew over the handlebars, Chris getting his leg cut into by the bike chain, and landed in the mud. Rain began to fall. Chris looked at Pichu, pikachu and Charmander. The others were groaning quietly, while Charmander lay looking at Chris, a strange fire in his eyes. While Chris looked at Charmander, his love for his Pokemon exploded inside of him. He had just had him for a day, but Chris already loved Charmander as a brother, and it seemed Charmander felt the same about Chris. Chris heard the Spearow and Fearow getting closer. “They will never touch you!” he spat, and he got up off the ground, covered in mud, and turned to face the bird Pokemon. Holding his arms stretched out, covering Charmander, Chris roared at the birds, “HEAR ME! I AM CHRIS KETCHUM! I WILL BECOME THE GREATEST POKEMON MASTER, AND DEFEAT YOU ALL! YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY POKEMON!!!” Chris closed his eyes, waiting for the beaks and claws to rip him apart. But Charmander had other ideas. With the loudest roar it could muster, it let loose a torrent of flames that hit every Spearow and Fearow in the air. Opening his eyes, Chris saw all of the Spearow and Fearows flying away, squawking in a distressed manner. Looking down, he saw Charmander fall back to the ground, it’s energy totally drained. Chris quickly picked him and the other two up in his arms. He saw Misty’s bike, now a melting pile of metal and rubber, and knew he was going to have to run to Viridian, and fast. The Pokemon were in a bad way, and there was no way he was going to let them die. Especially not Charmander. So he ran.