CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION (Part 2)
  I energetically trained Charai in my large backyard. It was never well-kept 
and shrubs and bushes and various trees resided there, making great homes for 
wild Pokemon.
  “Charai, use Ember on that Rattata!” I commanded, pointing at the wild 
Rattata who had been running across the yard.
  “Char!” Charai answered in return, leaping into action and shooting small 
beams of flame onto the Rattata’s tail.
  “Tata!” The poor Pokemon cried out in pain, tripping on its burnt tail and 
running off into the wild.
  “Good job, Charai!” I said, patting her head.
  She looked up at me and smiled. She seemed stronger and more confident, as 
though she had gained a few levels. This made me very happy. I was finally 
becoming a successful Pokemon trainer.
  After Charai and I had done a few more rounds of training, we headed inside 
for lunch. It had been a week since I received my Charmander from Professor 
Maple, and we were best friends already.
  I walked in and my dad handed me a Pokeball.
  “What’s this?” I asked.
  “Well,” he started, “I was in town, picking up Pokemon food and there was a 
Pokemon for sale, who had been maltreated ever since it was hatched from the 
egg.”
  My face lit up.
  “Sweet! This will be my second Pokemon! What Pokemon is it?!!”
  “Let it out of the Pokeball and see!” Dad said.
  Charmander looked up at me with excited eyes.
  “Alright, come on out!” I cried, throwing the ball out.
  A Pokemon that was a little shorter than Charai came out. It was a 
Squirtle. I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy.
  “Wow! A Squirtle!” I exclaimed, “These Pokemon are rare! Thanks, Dad!”
  “You’re welcome, son. I knew you would need another Pokemon so you could 
start your journey. That Squirtle’s previous trainer called her Shelzar. The 
owner of the PokeMart said that this little Squirtle had been beaten because 
it wasn’t strong enough for its original master.”
  I crouched down to be level with Shelzar.
  “Hi, there.” I said.
  She backed up, frightened.
  “Squirr…” She murmured, scared of everything around her.
  “Aww come on, little girl. I’m your new owner. I won’t hurt you like the 
other guy did.” I then beckoned to Charai, “Here’s my friend, Charai. She is 
another one of my Pokemon. You two can train together!”
  Charai smiled and put a hand out for Shelzar to shake. Shelzar took it 
reluctantly, but Charai’s natural warmth eased her troubles. Shelzar laughed 
and hugged me.
  “Aww,” I said, “She likes me now!”
  “Char, char!” Charai said. She seemed happy that there was another Pokemon 
on our team.
  “Once again, thanks Dad.” I said, looking up at him, “This is so great! I 
have another one of the starter Pokemon! This never happens!”
  “Haha I knew you would like it.” Dad smiled.

  The young and inexperienced Adrien crouched low in the tall grass, the 
stolen Master Ball clenched in his right hand. He had heard the rustling of a 
wild Pokemon somewhere in the woods, and he hoped it was a Pidgey. He heard 
another deep, loud rustling in the patch of bushes a few meters ahead of him. 
He crouched lower, licking his lips in excitement.
  All of a sudden, the Pokemon stood up on its two legs, sharp talons tearing 
into the dirt. It had been eating from shrubbery. It was quite large, much 
taller than a grown man, and it had red and white feathers that were like 
rainbows, so shining.
  It was a wild Ho-oh.
  “Wow,” Adrien whispered, “That sure is a big Pidgey!! I gotta catch it with 
this cool blue Pokeball!”
  The Ho-oh had sensed the young boy’s presence but it was too late. Adrien 
had already chucked the Pokeball into the air, landing on the Ho-oh and 
trapping it inside.
  Adrien jumped into the air, running to the Master Ball on the ground.
  “I caught a Pidgey!! I caught a really big Pidgey!!”
  Adrien had no idea of what he had just done.

  I departed from my house. I had decided on heading for Viridian City, in 
search of meeting new trainers, and bushwhacking through the notorious 
Viridian Forest. My Pokeball belt was on, with six Pokeballs on it. Four of 
them were empty, of course.
  I paced on, eyeing the urban scenery that I probably wouldn’t see for a 
while. It was kind of nostalgic, never really noticing the pretty countryside 
that was Pallet Town, and now examining every inch of it as I departed on my 
Pokemon journey.
  Suddenly, I heard a loud ‘CRASH’ and the cracking of wood. I looked ahead 
and saw that one of my neighbor’s houses had been destroyed and the remains 
were now burning. I looked into the sky and saw a huge bird Pokemon whirring 
overhead. Then there was Adrien, running toward me with arms outstretched and 
tears gushing out of his eyes.
  “Adrien!” I called, “what the hell is going on?!!?”
  When he reached me, he caught his breath and looked up at me with 
desperate, guilty eyes.
  “I took… a blue Pokeball with an ‘A’ on it, instead of the regular Pokeball 
that Professor Maple gave me.” He explained, “I caught that great, big Pidgey 
with it!”
  I looked down at him. He was such an idiot.
  “Adrien, first of all, that was an ‘M’ and not an ‘A’. And that was a 
Master Ball. You can catch any Pokemon with that Pokeball with no struggle or 
work, and you caught the legendary, powerful Ho-oh and not a Pidgey!! You 
just killed us all! It’s gonna destroy Pallet Town!”
  Adrien broke into shameless tears and I sprung into action.
  “Go, Shelzar!” I threw the Pokeball into the air and Shelzar the Squirtle 
popped out.
  “Squir?” She asked, ready for a command.
  “Use Water Gun on that destroyed house! Put the fire out!” I yelled.
  Shelzar ran over the remains of the house and started using Water Gun on 
it, periodically putting the fire out.
  I looked solemnly up at the Ho-oh in the sky. It seemed as though it was 
debating on what it should wreck next. I had to stop it.
  “I can’t beat it with my Pokemon…” I muttered, “But I have to try!”
  I let Charai out and the moment it saw the Ho-oh it cowered behind me.
  “No time for being scared now, Charai! Use Ember as high as you can and hit 
that Ho-oh with it!”
  Charai reluctantly brought up courage and blasted a few fruitful rounds of 
Ember. They floated into the air until the were just wisps of smoke. They 
reached the Ho-oh in the sky. The legendary bird was merely annoyed by their 
scent, and dived down at Adrien and me with a tremendous Drill Peck.
  “Hoooohhhh!!!!” it called.
  Shelzar finished putting the fire out and ran over, but could do nothing. 
Both of my Pokemon, Adrien, and I were going to die.
  “Shadow Ball!!!” I suddenly heard a deep, wise voice call.
  Just as the Ho-oh would have drilled my friends and me to death, a brown 
whirr of speed jumped in front of us and blasted a giant black ball from its 
hands, knocking the Ho-oh back with great strength.
  The attacker was a Furret. I turned around and saw Professor Maple. The Ho-
oh circled in the sky, dazed and hurt.
  Maple ran over and looked down at Adrien with a disappointed visage.
  He held out his Pokeball, “Good job, Furret.”
  The Furret went into the Pokeball.
  “I’m sorry I couldn’t help, Professor Maple,” I said apologetically, “My 
Pokemon weren’t strong enough.”
  Charai and Shelzar seemed sorry as well.
  “I can take care of this easily,” Maple replied, “My team and I have been 
investigating the sightings of this Ho-oh for a while and I’m kind of happy 
that Adrien stole from me and caught this Pokemon.”
  Adrien whimpered.
  “Withdraw your Pokemon,” Maple said, “I don’t want them to get hurt. This 
is a job for the first Pokemon I ever caught and trained.”
  Charai and Shelzar obeyed and went into their Pokeballs.
  The Professor held out another Pokeball and exclaimed, “Go, Xatu!”
  The green Psychic/Flying type came out.
  “Go! Fly up there and use Protect!” Maple commanded, admirable in his 
stance and order.
  “Tu!!” The Pokemon cried, whizzing into the sky in front of its enemy.
  Ho-oh charged immediately but with a motion of its wings, Xatu drew out a 
golden wall that blocked Ho-oh’s attacks.
  “Now let’s take it out quick! Use Hyper Beam!” Professor Maple yelled from 
the ground.
  Xatu reared back and blasted a great attack from its mouth. Its light 
engulfed the sky and Ho-oh as well. After the attack was over, Ho-oh lie on 
the ground, fainted.
  “Withdraw it, Adrien.” Maple said solemnly.
  “Yes sir.” Adrien muttered, his face still drenched from the tears.
  He held out the stolen Master Ball and Ho-oh returned to the Pokeball.
  “Good boy.” Maple said, “Do you understand now that it was wrong to steal?”
  “Yes sir.” Adrien repeated.
  “Good.”
  I looked up at Professor Maple. He seemed so grandfatherly; stern but kind.
  “Well sir I have a Pokemon journey to start,” I said, “So I’ll leave you to 
Adrien and the Ho-oh.”
  The Professor laughed.
  “Alright, m’boy. I’ll see you on another day in time!”
  As I walked down the road away from them, the noon sun high in the sky, 
they waved.

  In a nearby try, a trainer with short, dark brown hair watched me. He 
looked down with evil eyes. He was about my age, wearing dirty and untidy 
clothes.
  “Interesting…” he said slyly “It seems a rookie trainer has started his 
journey in this unfamiliar country. I must investigate.”

TO BE CONTINUED…