Ike Ketchum: A New Journey Begins Part 3 Ike stood there with his eyes closed for about three seconds. Then he heard someone shout, “Go Fast Ball!” Then there was the sound of a Pokémon being captured in a Pokeball, then there was silence. After a moment, Ike heard a voice say, “Are ya gonna stand there all day kid?” Ike opened his eyes. Standing there was someone he had met several times in his life before, and someone he actually respected. It was Gary Oak. “What in the world is going on here? Why are you out here alone with no Pokémon?” Gary demanded. “I have Pokémon. That Raticate defeated all of them. I couldn’t do anything without them, so I was preparing to die.” Ike explained. Gary started. He was extremely taken aback by Ike’s response. It was a very weird thing to say. He eyed the little boy standing here with him. He was wearing a necklace with a Gyrados face on it, a T-shirt with short sleeves over a long sleeved shirt, and a pair of cargo pants. He had a black chili bowl hair style, and a familiar face. Gary stared at the boy’s features. He had mean little eyes….and two weird little dash lines on his cheeks. That’s when Gary knew. “You’re Ike, aren’t you? You’re Ashy boy’s son! Tell me why that Raticate attacked you!” “Ashy boy?” Ike said. Then, “I have no idea. It just came out, in a rage, and it came after me!” “No it didn’t. You’re lying to me,” Gary said. Then he surveyed the scene around him. He saw the two pink Rattata, now waking up from their unfortunate encounter with Sasha. Then he realized what happened, and he didn’t like it at all. “You provoked that Raticate, didn’t you? You hurt her babies, and she was protecting them. Then you got your Pokémon knocked out because you have no idea what you’re doing. Idiot!” Ike was incredulous. Why was Gary attacking him? He was the one who got attacked and nearly killed! “Look, Sasha is tired and hurt…and so are my other two Pokémon. Are you gonna help me, or are you going to yell at me all day?” he complained. Gary opened his mouth to say something, but then a girl’s voice said, “He’s right, Uncle Gary. We have to help his Pokémon!” Oh, no, Ike thought. He knew that voice. It was that know-it-all Amelia Oak. What was she doing here? She came skipping up, her hair all bows and her face all sweet concern. Her brown eyes were shining with little tears, and her mouth was drawn in a straight line. It made Ike sick just to look at her. “Look at these little Pokémon! I’ve never seen a pink Rattata before! Can we take them home Uncle Gary?” Amelia stared at Gary with the most disgusting, pitiful face Ike had ever seen in his life. Gary fell for it, and he caught them both with Level Balls immediately. “Grandpa needs to take care of them now anyway” he said as an excuse. “Now, let’s go. We need to hurry. We’ve dawdled long enough” Gary said after he was done with the Rattata. Then he let out a low whistle, and Ike heard a big crashing sound in the grass. Suddenly, there was a giant orange and black striped Pokémon standing before them. It was magnificent. It had a gold-white mane, and a thick flowing tail. All this beautiful hair seemed to blow in the breeze always, even when there was no wind. This Pokémon appeared to be an amazing dog, but its bright fur looked like that of a tiger. Its eyes were strong and wise, making it lovely and frightening at the same time. It was the Pokémon Arcanine, an almost legendary looking fire type. Gary smiled at Ike’s awe, and he said to the Pokémon, “We’re ready to go.” Arcanine heard, and it lowered itself to the ground so that Gary could climb aboard. He did so, and then he said, “What are you waiting for?” “We’re going to ride on that?” Ike asked. “What do you think? We aren’t going to walk! That would take us another day and a half!” Gary replied. Amelia was already climbing up. “Yay! I love riding on Arcy.” Not wanting to be outdone, Ike attempted to climb aboard the majestic Pokémon. And he fell on his butt. Amelia giggled, but then she held out her hand for Ike to grab. Grudgingly, Ike took the offered hand and climbed up, but not without a struggle. Once he was on, Gary asked, “Are you holding on to Amelia?” Ike scowled. He didn’t want to “hold on to Amelia”. He’d rather fall off Arcanine, break his legs, have his eyes poked out by Spearow while he was still alive, then die, then get eaten by a carnivorous Pokémon, realize he wasn’t dead, then die again, than “hold on to Amelia”. Then, a few moments later when he was whizzing along on Arcanine at incredible speed, he realized that he liked his legs and eyes very much, and he grabbed Amelia and squeezed her for dear life. Arcanine required no rest on the way to Pallet Town. The trip only took the party a few hours, and they were in Oak’s lab by the end of the day. When they arrived, one of Oak’s aides told them to wait while he informed Oak that they had gotten there. A few moments later, Professor Oak appeared, looking quite happy. “What a pleasant surprise!” he exclaimed. “Gary is here, and so is Amelia! And who is this you’ve brought along?” Gary shook his head. “Grandpa, you knew I was coming here today. Remember? I was doing field research, and I had something to show you.” “Oh yes, that’s right! I’m so forgetful in my old age. And who are you, son?” When Oak said the latter, he turned to Ike. “I’m Ike Ketchum. I’ve come to get a Pokedex from you,” Ike replied. “Oh, I didn’t expect you!” Oak said, surprised. “Or did I?” Amelia shook her head at him, confirming that Oak in fact, did not know Ike would be here today. “Yeah, and tell him your OTHER news,” Gary sneered. “I got my Pokémon hurt by accident. They really need to be looked at,” Ike said. Oak started at this. “They? But didn’t you only have the one Pokémon? A Pikachu if I recall correctly.” “I did when I left home. But I caught two more on my way here,” Ike said, swelling a bit. “But I haven’t given you your Pokedex yet! You don’t have a trainer’s license. Pikachu was only with you for protection. You aren’t supposed to have any others yet!” Ike frowned even deeper than he usually did. “I didn’t know that.” Professor Oak shook his head. “It can’t be helped. Let me see your Pokémon.” Ike obeyed, and Oak took Ike’s three Pokeballs. “It’ll only take a moment,” Oak said, and with that, he placed the Pokeballs inside a little machine. Oak pushed a few buttons, and the machine started to make a quiet humming noise. “Your Pokémon aren’t damaged too badly. I can treat them with this machine. You’re lucky they don’t need to be sent to a Pokémon Center,” Oak said. Then, after only about five minutes, Oak removed the Pokeballs. “Never let this happen again,” he said sternly as he gave Ike back his Pokémon. “I am curious though. What did you catch?” Ike smiled a little. “I caught a Spearow and a Mankey,” he replied. Ike knew that both of these Pokémon were hard for beginning trainers to manage. He knew that for someone with little experience to use them successfully was an impressive feat. Oak confirmed this with the surprised look on his face. “They listened to you? Without a badge or even a LICENSE?” Ike thought that Oak was far too old to get so excited. It was wonderful. “Don’t forget he managed to get all three of his Pokémon injured on his way here,” Gary commented. Shut up, Ike thought. “Even so, this boy shows potential. I am glad to give him one of my little encyclopedias. Give me a second,” Oak said, turning. He went into another room, and then he came out with one of those little red devices he had invented many years ago; the Pokedex. It was an amazing piece of technology. It could record and store information about every Pokémon that existed. It was also Ike’s ID, and it gave him license to be a real Pokémon trainer. Oak gave Ike the device, and then he said, “So, Ike Ketchum, son of Ash Ketchum, what will you do now?” Ike knew exactly what he wanted to do. He had been thinking about it since he had seen Gary in Viridian Field. Gary Oak was a researcher, but he was also a well-known Pokémon trainer. He had been his father’s rival for years, and when the Viridian City Gym Leader went missing, Gary agreed to take it over. Now that Ike was an official trainer, and he had three Pokémon, he was able to challenge any gym leader. Ike turned around and faced Gary. “I challenge you to a gym battle!” he declared. Gary stared at Ike squarely in his eyes. Then he laughed in his face. “Who do you think you are? I will not battle you! You’re a nobody.” “What? I’m an official trainer, and I have challenged you to a gym battle. You have to battle me!” Ike whined. Gary shook his head. “I know for a fact that you know better than that. You know you could never beat me in a million years!” Ike didn’t really think he could ever beat Gary, but he wanted to battle someone who was really good. He wanted to see how an amazing trainer could battle. He didn’t really care if he lost; he wanted to battle somebody he looked up to. But he didn’t want to admit that. It would make him look like a star-struck loser. So he said, “I bet I could! I’m better than you realize.” Gary raised his eyebrows. “Oh-ho-ho! Really now?” He looked thoughtful, and then he looked downright devious. “I tell you what,” he said, “if you can beat my niece in a Pokémon battle at my gym, I’ll give you a badge.” Ike was furious. This was an insult. “You can’t do that! She isn’t the gym leader! This is not how it works!” Ike shouted. “It’s my gym. I’m allowed to make whatever rules I want to. So you have to battle Amelia.” “What? Don’t I have any say in this whatsoever?” Amelia broke in. “Yes, you do,” Gary said simply. Amelia smiled. “Okay then, I’ll do it. It’ll be fun!” “There’s my sweet niece!” Gary cooed. “There is no way I’ll agree to this!” Ike complained. “Then no badge,” Gary shrugged. “I don’t care.” Ike seethed. “Then I guess I have no choice. I will battle Amelia. But you better believe that I won’t lose. I’ll bring the pain to your little niece’s Pokémon, and you’ll be sorry you made me do this!” Then he turned to Amelia and said, “I’ll see you in a few days, Ms. Priss.” Then he turned away from all three of the Oaks, and stormed off. Ike stormed out of Oak’s lab, and that was the end of that conversation.