BEGINNERS CAMP – PART 1

By: Falcon

 

** means what Dex is talking.

 

          A lone figure sighs as the morning wind whips through his hair.  This 
is John.  A 12 year old boy who will soon be in a camp to start his journey as a 
Pokémon trainer.  His white hair is gelled back (like Robin’s in Teen Titans), 
his red long sleeved shirt and black vest are blown by the cold spring wind, and 
his eyes, as blue as the sea, stay fixed on a certain spot.

          John is looking at the camp he is going to across the lake.  He and 
his grandparents live by that lake.  He lives with his grandparents because two 
years ago, his parents were killed in a plane crash after coming back from a 
vacation.  His grandparents were more than eager to take the child in as their 
own.  Ever since that day he lived in their wonderful home.

          John puts his black head band on and starts to tear up.  You see, at 
this certain camp, you have to get your own Pokémon to be your first and poor 
John did not have one.  His Grandmother had a Sunflora to help her in the 
gardens, but he did not want a grass one.  His grandfather had a Sandslash to 
help him with digging, but he did not want a fighting kind.  John wanted a fire 
Pokémon.  He particularly wanted a Houndhour.  He though of them as his 
favorite.  But in his heart, he though it would never be that he would get one.

          “John!  John!  Come and pack your things for the camp!” his Grandma 
called from the doorway.

“Coming, Grandma!” John called as he walked up the path.  Something under the 
bushes caught his eye.  It was blood.  To John’s luck, the blood came from a 
Houndhour.  The Pokémon was injured badly on its side.  The fire dog saw him and 
growled.  John stopped and pulled a cookie from his pocket.

“Nice boy.  I’m not going to hurt you.  Good boy.  I just want to help you,” 
John said as he tossed the dog the cookie.  The dog sniffed it and ate it.  When 
he was done he saw that John was very close to him.  The Pokémon did nothing 
except stare at the boy.  John took out a Super Potion and told the dog it would 
sting.  He sprayed the wound and the dog howled.  The wound quickly healed and 
the dog stood up.  He wagged his tail and leapt on John and started to lick him.

“NO!  STOP!  PLEASE!  HAHAHAHAHA!” John cried out as the dog licked him, pinning 
him to the ground.

“JOHN!  GET AWAY FROM THAT BEAST!  I’M GOING TO SHOOT IT!” Grandpa yelled as he 
aimed his rifle.

“NO, GRANDPA!  DON’T!  THIS IS GOING TO BE MY FIRST!  I SAVED HIM!” John cried 
as he told his guardian what happened.

The Grandfather smiled and gave John a Pokéball and the boy caught the 
Houndhour.  He called him back out and told the hound he wanted to give him a 
name.

“Let’s see…how about Spitefire?” John asked.  The dog barked happily as he ran 
around his master.  John and Spitefire went into John’s room and packed 
everything they needed for their journey.  The bus came and John said good-bye 
to his g-parents (I’m tired of writing it the long way).  His g-ma gave his a 
box full of freshly baked cookies and his g-pa gave his a cell phone so that 
they could call them any time.  John thanked and hugged them good-bye.  John and 
his loyal companion climbed on the bus and rode away.

On the bus, John made some friends and they showed each other their Pokémon.  
When, they got to the camp as the trainers-to-be jumped off the bus ready to go 
to their cabins.  John was showed to his cabin and he realized he was the first 
there.  He picked the top bunk and he laid down.  Spitefire whined as he tried 
to get up there with his master.  John returned him and called him out on the 
bed.  The dog laid by his master and soon drifted off to sleep.  John fell 
asleep, too, but was soon awaken by a door slamming.  He opened his eyes and he 
saw a boy with black hair and green eyes.  The other boy’s hair was long and was 
put into a pony-tail.

“Hi…I’m John.  What’s your name?” John asked as he sat up.

“I’m Austin.  Sorry to have waken you up.  The wind is really strong today,” the 
boy remarked as he set up his things on the bottom bunk.

“What Pokémon do you have, Austin?”

“A Growlithe.  My mother has an Arcanine and my pup happened to be the runt.  My 
father was about to sell it when I grabbed the puppy and begged to have it.  
Father agreed and the dog has followed me around ever since.  What do you have, 
John?”

“A Houndhour, but I named him Spitefire.  He was wounded and I healed him.  I 
just got him today.  My wish came true.”

“What wish?”

“I wished I’d have a Houndhour as my first Pokémon.”

“Attention please,” the loud speaker boomed loudly, causing the boys to jump.  
“Will all trainers come to the main lobby?  Thank you,” the speaker crackled 
off.

“That’s us, Austin!  Come on!” John shouted as he jumped off the bunk and ran to 
the lobby with Houndhour following him.

When the boys got to the lobby, the place was filled with trainers and John and 
Austin had to squeeze in and get to their table.  They talked with other 
trainers until two consolers came to the stage to speak.

“Hello everyone and welcome to Beginners Camp.  My name is Steve and this is 
Brice,” a tall, red haired man said as he pointed to his partner who was a 
little shorter and had blond hair.

“For those of you who signed in late…” Brice said.  They talked more about the 
camp and soon let the trainers go back to their cabins.  When the boys got to 
their cabin, a sign said on their door “Flame Boys”.

“That must be what we’re going to be called,” Austin smirked as he walked 
inside.  John followed and they saw a Pokémon Healing Machine in their cabin and 
on their bunks, they received 5 Potions, 5 Pokéballs, and many berries and 
antidotes.

“What do you want do first, John?” Austin asked as he called out his pup.

“Let’s got catch some Pokémon!” John answered as they ran out the door.  Many 
trainers had the same idea and the boys had to find a different spot.

“What way do you want to catch the Pokémon?” asked Austin.

“Whoever sees it first, gets it,” replied John as he searched the area.  
“Austin!  Look!  A Snubbull!”  John said as a dog like Pokémon was drinking out 
of a stream.

“WOW!  But you saw it first…”

“No…you take it.  I don’t like them anyway.”

“Thanks John!  I owe you.  GO GROWLITHE!”

John wandered away from the fight looking for more Pokémon.  He soon came to a 
clearing and there were many horses grazing.  A different pony, that was unlike 
the others, was trying to get to its mother, but was rejected.

“Spitefire…see that pony?  Try and drive it away from the others.  Understand?” 
John commanded.  Spitefire understood and barked as fierce as he could.  The 
herd got scared and ran away.  The pony heard the barks also and started to run.  
Unfortunately, it did not see the loose rocks ahead.  The pony fell and injured 
its leg.  It tried to get up, but it was too injured to move.  John ran to the 
pony and knelt by it.  The pony made no effort to escape.  John caught the 
Pokémon easily and started toward the cabin.  On his way, he saw a Lavitar 
minding its own business.  “Spitefire!  Bite!” John called as the dog obeyed.  
The hell hound bit the Pokémon and threw it to the ground.  The Lavitar grabbed 
a rock and threw it at the hound.  The dog yelped as he balanced on his hind 
legs.  “Spitefire, Ember!”  The hound’s eyes became red as he cocked his head 
back and threw it forward while flames came from its mouth.  The wild Pokémon 
soon gave up and was caught.  John remembered to pony and he ran to his cabin, 
where Austin waited.

“Hey!  Where were you, Bud?  I was getting worried.  Are you ok?” asked Austin 
as John ran to the machine and put in the pony.  A few minutes later there was a 
ping from the machine.  John grabbed the Pokéball and called out the pony.  The 
pony looked around and saw John.  The pony went over to John and placed her 
forehead against hid and nickered as he stroked her neck.  John told Austin what 
happened as he put Lavitar through the machine.  Austin then told John how he 
caught Snubbull.  He also explained how he caught a baby Ponyta.

“After I caught Snubbull, I went looking for you.  I didn’t get far when a herd 
of horses galloped toward me.  I climbed a tree with Growlithe in my arms and 
watched as the herd ran away.  When the dust cleared, I saw a Pokéball like one 
of mine one the ground.  Turns out that a ball fell from my belt and caught a 
baby.  Cool huh?”

“Yeah!  Good job, Austin!” John said as he headed out the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to ask a consoler what this Pokémon is.”

John walked down the trail to the main lobby where the cooks where getting the 
tables ready for lunch.  John walked over to Steve and asked him if he could 
borrow his Pokédex.  Steve was glad to and handed over his Dex to John.  John 
took the Dex and pointed it at his pony.

**Thundrio   Gender: Female      Type: Lightning Pony

          This lightning pony, unlike Ponyta and Artico, is smaller and faster.  
It is capable of jumping several feet.  When this pony uses its thunder, the 
ground shakes from the power.**

John gave Steve back the Pokédex and left to feed his Pokémon.  When he got to 
the cabin, Austin was just starting to feed his.  John took out some Pokémon 
food and poured it in bowls.  Spitefire ate his happily, Lavitar munched gladly 
and the pony was chewed thoughtfully.

“Thundrio…a little too long of a name.  How about…Spark?  No…I know!  I’ll call 
you Lightning!” John said as he stroked his pony’s neck.

“Hey!  I think I’ll name my Ponyta, Flame,” Austin said as the Ponyta nickered 
happily at the name.

“LUNCH!!!” the loud speaker shouted.  The boys called back their Pokémon and 
rushed to eat lunch.

As the boys started to eat their sandwiches, Steve and Brice came onto the stage 
to talk about what will happen later on in the camp.

“Hey kids!  Listen up good, because this will help you later on this week.  Now, 
tomorrow we’ll see how capable you are in battles and in running.  Wednesday, 
you will do an obstacle course to see if you have what it takes to start your 
journey.  Thursday, we’ll see if you are kind and gentle to your Pokémon.  
Finally, Friday we will test how strong you are and on Saturday, you will begin 
your journey as a trainer,” Brice said.

After lunch, John and Austin went and trained their Pokémon and themselves.  
Austin proved that he had the ability to maneuver through obstacles easier and 
John proved to be the faster runner.  They soon took a break and allowed their 
Pokémon to take a swim.  Lavitar stayed clear of the water and so did Ponyta.

“John…did you notice how big your Houndhour is compared to the other wild ones?” 
Austin asked as he watched Spitefire climb out of the water and jump back in.  
John suddenly did realize that Spitefire was huge.  They talked a little more 
and they soon realized it was dinner time.  They called their Pokémon back and 
ran to the food court.  They were the first there so they grabbed their food and 
extra for their Pokémon and they started to eat.  Soon the place was filled.  
The boys finished first and they left to catch more Pokémon.  They first fed to 
food to their Pokémon and they started to look for wild ones.  Austin caught a 
lost Artico, an ice version of Ponyta, and John caught a Spinark.  It was soon 
dark and they went to their cabin for some sleep.