Rocky was playing Pokemon on their Gameboy. Rocky had a tendency to yell out things while playing Pokemon.
"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" the kid shouted at their game.
"Shhh!" a large boy with messy dark hair named Vince hissed.
"Sorry..." Rocky smiled sheepishly before returning to the game, "Man, I bet I'd make a GREAT Pokemon trainer." they said in wonder.
"YOU LOST!" a loud voice emitted from the Gameboy. Rocky realised they hadn't been concentrating and had lost the battle!
"Dangit!" Rocky facepalmed. Vince leaned over to Rocky.
"Rocky, don't be so loud of you'll get caught!" he whispered in a worried tone.
"Sorry." said Rocky, "I just love Pokemon, that's all."
"N-no offense, but I don't think you'd make a very good trainer. You're too...hyper." Vince said, "Sorry."
"I wish Pokemon were real..." said Rocky.
"If they were, they probably would find you too strange." Vince shrugged, "Good thing they're not, I guess."
"Sorry I'm late!" a girl suddenly walked into class. Vince and Rocky looked up to see a girl with long blonde hair walk into the room, before dropping her books all over the floor.
"This is no time for jokes, Roxette." the teacher said sternly, "Pick up those books this instant!"
"She didn't mean to drop those books, miss!" Vince called out, his cheeks burning.
"Shouldn't you be working, Vince?" the teacher turned to the large boy. Vince began to panic.
"Um, Rocky's playing videogames in class!" he quickly buried his face in a book.
"Huh?" Rocky was suddenly face to face with the middle aged woman snatching away their Gameboy.
"Sorry Rocky," said Vince as soon as the teacher walked into the storage room, "You can play my Gameboy if you want." He handed his Gameboy to Rocky.
"Thanks!" Rocky beamed.
"Hey guys. What's up?" they suddenly realised that Roxette was right behind them.
"We're just, uh…please don't tell miss!" Vince panicked again.
"Are you guys playing Pokemon? That's so cool!" Roxette said excitedly, "Maybe we should battle sometime!"
"Um…who are you talking to?" Vince asked, "There's three of us, and you can only have two or four people in a battle y'know. I—I bet you knew that though! Not trying to say you're dumb, because you're not! But even if you didn't know that, you're still smart! I just meant-!"
Roxette giggled, "I actually meant in real life."
"Real life!?" Rocky piped up, "Are there actually Pokemon in real life?"
"Yup!" Roxette said, "Over in Sam Kelley Town, there have been reports of Pokemon discoveries!"
"Where's Sam Kelley Town, then?" Rocky jumped out of their seat, only to fall over onto the ground.
"Rocky, Vince and Roxette! You three return to your work or you all stay in at recess!" the teacher suddenly was back in the room.
"Sorry miss." Rocky rubbed the back of their head sheepishly as they stood up.
"I swear I had nothing to do with this!" Vince became nervous.
"Sorry miss," said Roxette, "I distracted them from their work."
"Alright," the teacher said, "I appreciate honesty. You're all off the hook."
"I'll tell you more at recess." Roxette whispered before walking over to her usual seat.
Recess rolled around and Rocky and Vince were taking turns on Vince's Gameboy.
"At least we're not breaking the rules now." Vince said randomly.
"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Rocky clearly wasn't listening.
"Hey, what do you think of Roxette?" Vince suddenly said.
"Oh yeah! She was supposed to tell us about those REAL LIFE POKEMON!" Rocky accidentally dropped the GameBoy.
"Careful with that!" Vince picked it up, "I got that for my birthday!"
"I'd like a Pokemon for my birthday." Rocky said, going into a daze. Vince shook his head. Typical Rocky, always so obsessed with Pokemon.
'At least I have a healthy level of interest in Pokemon. Jeez.' Vince thought to himself. Suddenly, Roxette dashed over to them, holding three school bags.
"Guys, I have an idea!" the kids jumped at suddenly hearing her voice. Roxette tripped over and dropped the bags on the ground.
"A-are you ok?" Vince asked, "You need help?"
"I'm fine, thanks." Roxette smiled, getting up, "You're gonna need your bags for this. I hope you two have enough supplies in there." She checked inside one of the bags.
"Why do you have lipstick in here?" she asked.
"Um…" Vince blushed, "My grandma must've put it in by mistake. I mean, that's Rocky's bag. Their grandma must've put it in by mistake."
"Wha?" Rocky snapped out of their daydream, "Pokemon! You were gonna tell us about where this 'Sam Kelley Town' is located!"
"You clearly don't pay attention in Geography." Roxette giggled, "Don't worry, I don't either. Sam Kelley Town is the neighbouring town. It's just a small trek down the road from here."
"But how do we get there from our houses?" asked Vince, "Also, we have to ask our parents' permission to leave this town."
"We can leave right now if we wanted to!" Roxette said, "That's why I brought our bags."
"What?" Vince asked, "Um…isn't that kinda breaking the rules? And the law? I mean, playing Pokemon in class is one thing, but…"
"I think it's a great idea! No more school, AND we get to train Pokemon! It's a win-win!" Rocky exclaimed excitedly.
"Come on, Vince, you're not gonna learn anything from school!" Roxette tried to persuade him.
"Yeah! Besides, Pokemon training is a wonderful experience for everyone! School only benefits teachers, cause they get paid. But you get money every time you win a battle!" Rocky said, "Plus you get to befriend cute little critters!"
"Sounds awesome, doesn't it?" Roxette asked. Vince realised she was talking to him.
"Oh! Uh…yeah, of course." Vince smiled nervously, "Alright, I'm in."
"Great!" Roxette looked around to make sure nobody was watching them. She pointed to the gate blocking the exit, "I know the secret passcode to that gate. Follow me."
They all scurried over to the gate, Vince looking around nervously and Rocky was pumped up; ready for adventure.
Rocky actually got to the gate before Roxette.
"Come on, Roxette, what's the passcode? What is it!?" they exclaimed impatiently.
"Sorry, jeez." Roxette said, cracking the code on the lock within seconds, "Ok, so we all know there's three starter Pokemon, right? But they're actually different Pokemon from the videogames; ones you've probably never heard of. The three starters are Trumpus, a Music type, Scarecus, a Flying type, and Asher, a pure Fire type. We should each decide one which one we want. Personally, I'm cool with anything. What do you guys think?"
"Different ones? Man, that sounds cool! I thought I knew everything about Pokemon, but I guess everyone always has something new to learn. I don't really mind which one I start with, I know I'll catch 'em all!"
"Um, shouldn't we wait until we're safely out of the school grounds before stopping to discuss things?" Vince asked nervously.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps running towards them.
"THAT AREA IS OUT OF BOUNDS! GET BACK INTO THE PLAYGROUND!" it was a man's voice.
"Oh no!" Roxette panicked and tripped over.
"You two go ahead! I'll catch up later!" she said as she tried to stand up, but her legs twisted and she fell again, this time into the mud.
"I'll help you up!" Vince tried to pull her up, but she was stuck in the mud.
"Go on, Rocky!" Roxette exclaimed, "We'll catch up later!"
"Pokemon, here I come!" Rocky ran down the footpath and out into the street.
It took almost 10 minutes of running before Rocky realised they had no idea where they were going!
"Wait, where's Sam Kelley Town? And where do I get my starter Pokemon? Hey! Can I get directions, anyone!?"
"You're so stupid!" a man yelled at Rocky from across the street, "Pokemon are just fictional creatures from a child's computer game!"
"Don't mind my son. He's a little rough around the edges." An elderly woman with a pram walked over, "Shouldn't you be in school, dear?"
"I don't go to school." Rocky lied, "I'm looking for Sam Kelley Town."
"Here's a map," the woman gave them a scroll of parchment, "My brother Professor Pokey runs a Pokemon Lab there. He'll give you a starter Pokemon."
"My mother's insane! Don't listen to her!" the man yelled.
"Thanks, lady!" Rocky said, ignoring the man and shaking the old woman's hand before running off.
After half an hour of checking the map several times, Rocky finally made it to a shady looking town, complete with gloomy atmosphere, fog in the air, and creepy looking people with hoodies roaming the streets.
"This place looks…interesting…" Rocky took a step, only to be stopped by an old woman. This one looked a lot less friendly than the other elderly lady.
"Hello, deary. Would you like a candy apple?" she cackled softly.
"No time! Need to find the Professor!" Rocky began to dash off, only to be stopped by the old woman.
"Oh, the Professor would be happy to see you," her dark eyes glistened as she smiled a toothless smile.
"Really!?" Rocky exclaimed excitedly, "Which way is he?"
Before the old woman could answer, an old man with grey hair and a bushy grey moustache shuffled over towards them.
"What seems to be the trouble?" he smiled at the woman, who gasped, "Pokey!" and quickly scurried off.
"Are you the Professor?" Rocky asked. The old man looked surprised that Rocky knew that.
"How did you know?" he asked, "Am I really that well known around these parts of the city? Nevermind, what's a kid like you doing here? And out of school, at that?"
"Um…I wanted to come here to Sam Kelley Town to get a starter Po—"
"This isn't Sam Kelley Town! This is…well, the name of this place shouldn't be heard by young ears." The Professor looked straight at Rocky, "Anyway, I see persistence and determination in your eyes. Skipping school just to get a Pokemon. Some might say it's typical of a schoolkid to do so. But I say different!" he stood up straight, "I know you were probably just lost. I, too, have a tendency to read maps upside down, so don't worry about it."
"I read the map upside down!?" Rocky shouted so loud that a bunch of crows flew away.
"Let's get away from these shady parts of town. Back to the Pokemon lab we go, and you shall choose your starter Pokemon!" the Professor gestured towards a battered up white ute parked on the street.
"I get to ride in the Professor's ute? Alright!"
As Rocky and the Professor rode down the road and back into the sunlight, the Professor said to himself, "This is why I prefer using a GPS. They're more reliable than maps!"
"Professor?" asked Rocky.
"Oh please, call me Pokey," he smiled in a friendly fashion.
"Professor, I don't know which starter Pokemon to choose. I've always been so good at the Pokemon games, but I know nothing about these new Pokemon." Rocky stopped to think for a minute, "Well, I guess I'll find a way! After all, raising Pokemon is a great learning experience, isn't it?"
"That's the spirit!" Professor Pokey cheered, "Say, what's your name, youngster?"
"I'm Rocky Stone, and I'm gonna be the world's number 1 champion!" Rocky exclaimed with gusto. The professor's eyes studied the kid carefully.
"Are you a boy or a girl?" he finally asked, "Y'know what, it doesn't really matter. Alright Serie, which way is Sam Kelley Town?"
"I'm afraid I do not understand. Let me do a PokeNet search for "which way is Sam Kelley Town"." said the little machine.
"I guess I have to do things the easy way…" muttered Professor Pokey, "Serie. Teleport to Sam Kelley Town."
They suddenly crashed down on top of a large building!
"My Lab!" shouted the Professor, "Serie, why!?"
A monotone "Ha. Ha. Ha." was heard from inside the ute.
"Wh-what just happened?" asked Rocky, unsure of how to react. Professor Pokey ran into the half destroyed building and picked up a briefcase, before running back outside.
"It's just lucky I transported most of my Pokemon to my daughter in another town," he panted upon opening the briefcase, "I just hope the starters are ok."
His eyes bulged out of the sockets when he looked inside the case.
"They're gone!" he wailed, "Someone must've broken in and stolen them!"
"I'll get them back for you!" Rocky said with determination.
"How? You have to battle people like that to get them to listen to you. And you don't have any Pokemon!"
"Then gimme a starter! I can beat em with only one!"
"Youngster, you do realise I'm out of Pokemon, right?" said the Professor, "It's no use. Some creeps have taken what's mine and I can't do anything to stop them. I have no Pokemon, and my daughter is on vacation, so I can't ask her to give my other Pokemon back. I'm a disgrace as a Pokemon Professor. I knew I should've just been a mailman."
"You're not a disgrace!" Rocky called after him as he walked away. Rocky's eyes narrowed.
"Nobody steals Pokemon and gets away with it! I'm going to stop you, hooligans!" Rocky shouted into the air.
"Who are you talking to?" a bratty teenager on a skateboard rode past.
"Why do YOU care!?" Rocky shouted at him but he was out of sight. Rocky sighed.
"Alright, I can do this! I can just fight them head on! But what if they're big tough guys!?" Rocky cowered at the thought, before noticing something on the ground. Pokeballs. Six of them to be exact.
"He totally forgot about these Pokemon!" Rocky picked up one of them and threw it. Nothing happened. Rocky tried the other five, but still nothing.
"I know! I'll use these to catch a wild Pokemon! No need for battles, right? As long as it's low levelled!"
Rocky put the Pokeballs on their belt and started walking, but then stopped.
"Wait a minute, isn't this stealing?" they began to worry, "Nah, I'll give them back. I'm only using these Pokeballs to do the right thing! Yeah!"
Rocky didn't realise that there was a patch of tall grass they were about to walk into! Suddenly, a large, light green snake chased Rocky away!
Once they were safely away from the snake, Rocky said, "The Professor lives in such a dangerous place, filled with snakes…or Pokemon?" they wondered, "I've got an idea!"
Rocky "sneaked" up on the snake, but tripped over, dropping the Pokeball they had been holding. The snake leapt out of the grass to attack, but suddenly, it was stopped by another, smaller snake. It had a dark green head and a light body.
The smaller snake hissed calmly at the larger snake. The larger snake hissed angrily, but slithered away.
"Thank you, little snake." Rocky said, standing up and dusting themself off, "Would you like to be my Pokemon?" they held up the Pokeball. The snake recoiled before slithering back into the grass.
"Um, sorry?" Rocky said in confusion before sighing.
"I wish Vince and Roxette were here. Being a Pokemon trainer is no fun without them. Wait, what am I saying? I'm no trainer! I don't even have any Pokemon!"
Rocky checked their watch. It was 2:00pm.
"Just one more hour and they'll be on their way here to help me!" Rocky said with optimism, "I can deal with that!"