A trainer!
I look up, watching the human come into view, brandishing my small poisonous horn.
"A male nidoran!" the trainer shouts, "I wanna catch it!"
The fight was on.
"I choose you, Burner!"
"Char!"
A red lizard towered over me; a charmander. Certainly a worthy opponent.
"Burner, use scratch!"
The charmander ran up, claws outstretched. It was fast, much faster than me, and every other wild pokemon I sparred against. I tried running, but to no avail.
It's claws raked across my body, leaving three parallel red gashes.
"Follow up with ember!"
"Man... Der!"
The flames shot towards me, and I jumped out of their path as fast as I could; not fast enough, and they seared my side. I charged at my opponent with my horn seeping with the venom from my skin. I hit the resting pokemon straight on.
"Burner are you ok?" The trainer questioned, adjusting a red hat and pulling out a strange device.
"Oh no! The pokedex says you're poisoned! Don't worry buddy, I'll get you an antidote!"
Ha! My attack succeeded, despite my weakened state. It was time to put ourselves on even footing.
I charged at the fire type with a peck attack while its trainer was giving it a bottle of medicine.
"Ouch, can you hold in there, Burner? I'm gonna throw a pokeball!"
I look up to see a red and white sphere hurdling towards my face.
Suddenly my surroundings dim away, I feel trapped, like a force is pulling me to the center of this strange place.
I struggle, pushing against the invisible sides, rocking this strange place back and forth.
My mother used to tell me about ships in the ocean that would rock back and forth, but never tip over, never stop sailing through water.
I always wondered what the sea would look like.
Maybe with a trainer, I could see the ocean, travel the world, face opponents stronger than I could imagine.
My limbs were growing heavier, like there were weights pulling them down; I was tired enough from my battle wounds against the charmander.
I stop struggling against the pull of the ball; I'm not sure whether I'm stopping purely from exhaustion, but I tell myself that I am.
I hear the chime of a bell, a pure note, suddenly the ball's pull on me relaxes, and the inside becomes...
Comfortable.
From outside, I hear voices, fainter but still audible.
"Oh yeah Burner! We caught a male nidoran!"
"Charmander char!"
"Hm, what should I name it? This is the first pokemon we caught, buddy!"
I couldn't see very well out of the ball, but I could make out the dim surroundings of my old home. The face of my new trainer. The charmander with whom I battled, who would now be my friend.
"How does 'Toxo' sound, Burner? Let's see what the pokedex has to say about our new friend!"
"Nidoran-Male. The poison pin pokemon. It stiffens its ears to sense danger. The larger its horns, the more powerful its secreted venom."
Another voice came, this time from inside the pokeball. It sounded like it was coming from all sides, and yet, it was calming.
"Toxo. Level 7. Pokedex number: thirty-two. Species: Nidoran-Male. Type: poison. Original Trainer: Red."
"Neat! C'mon Burner, let's go back to Pewter City to rest up, and then we'll get some time to play with our new friend!"
"Char!"
Time became an alien thing inside the ball. As long as I was paying attention to the outside world, time passed normally, just as it should, but as soon as I let my mind wander, seconds became hours.
"Thank you for waiting," Came from a soft feminine voice. I was feeling wonderful, all of my battle wounds having completely disappeared. When I was a pokemon in the wild, it took days for even the smallest of injuries to heal.
"We've restored your pokemon to full health. We hope to see you again!"
"Alright, thanks Nurse Joy!"
Red started running. I could feel the rocking ups and downs from my spot on his belt.
"Come out Burner, Toxo!"
Light.
"Get to know each other guys, you're going to be partners moving forward. C'mon Toxo, Burner, don't be shy."
Burner stepped forward and reached out his hand.
"I'm Burner, nice to meet you."
Despite being such a strong and fierce pokemon in battle, the charmander's voice was surprisingly soft and timid.
"I'm a Nidoran." I replied, pointing my horn into the air to signal strength, like I always did when I met another wild pokemon.
"No silly," Burner shook its head. "You're Toxo."
Toxo...
I never had my own name before, yet somehow, it fit, and it gave me a sense of pride I had never felt as a wild pokemon, a sense of identity and purpose.
I had a name.
"You're right," I nodded, "My name is Toxo. Nice to meet you."
Red got down on one knee.
"I'm so glad you two are getting along! Hey Toxo, my name's Red. I'm going to be the very best, like no one ever was, and I'm your new trainer! I hope we can be friends on this journey together!"
Red's smile reached ear to ear, glowing with contagious happiness.
Friends...
I nodded enthusiastically.
"Nido-Nido!"
"Then let's head out to conquer Mt. Moon!"
What could go wrong with such a pure trainer, with such good friends?"
A/N: All right I'm sorry if that felt a little fluffy, it will get deeper later on. This won't be super long (Like my other fic is) and it'll all make sense at the end. So if you liked the quality of writing or just want to see where this will go, don't forget to drop a follow/favorite.
As always reviews are welcome but understand that Red is intentionally Gary Sueish for now (again, in progress)