NOTE: Contrary to popular belief, "Tepig" does not mean "Teh pig," rather, it's a portmanteau of "Tepid" (meaning "lukewarm") and "pig." Also, Snivy is not a portmanteau of "Snide" and "Ivy," but rather "Snake" and "Ivy."

Quick edit (10/15/2013): Changed the distinct Japanese name of "Tohya" to the more western "Thomas" to fit in with the rest of the story's cast. Will edit later chapters to reflect this. Also did some minor edits.

Today was the day Bianca, Cheren and I got our Pokemon. I was going back to my mom's place after a nice visit with my dad when I saw Professor Juniper coming out of my mom's house. Awesome, they're here! I thought as I changed my course to Bianca's house. When I got there I flung the door open.

"Guys, they're at my place," I shouted at my two friends, the only two kids in the village that were my age, who happened to be playing Modern Warfare 3 online multiplayer.

"We'll be right there." Bianca said, keeping her eyes glued to the screen.

I shrugged and walked back home, a short walk in our tiny village. I went up to my room, where a big green present with a red ribbon atop it sat waiting for someone to open it. I was tempted to open it without my friends, but decided against it. They'd wait for me, so I should do the same.

I had heard stories of trainers from Professor Juniper, who in turn, had heard stories from her grandfather, who happened to be Professor Oak of Pallet Town in the Kanto region. The main story she would tell was of Red, the boy who not only beat Team Rocket, but also the Elite Four, as well as catch all 151 Pokemon found at the time. Like him, I wanted to go down in history as the boy who caught all 646 Pokemon. Since Red beat the Elite Four, strange things had gone on in the different regions - some sort of odd mutations, and it created 495 new species, about 151 new species per decade. But I was determined. Yes, I would catch them all.

It wasn't until after this thought that Cheren walked in.

"Ooh, look at that," he said, finding the box I was looking at eye-to-bow. "Bianca said she would be here soon. I'm just here because I ran out of lives." I looked at him, wondering what kind of lives he was talking about. "It's a new mode," he said, seeing my reaction. "There's a life mode. Once you run out, you're kicked out of the game. However, it's only per person, not per console, so Bianca can still play until she runs out."

"Oh. Sounds cool. Well, aside from the fact that Bianca isn't here yet."

We sat in silence for a few seconds, when Cheren spoke up.

"You know, I've been thinking..."

"That's dangerous," I said before he could finish.

"Yeah, whatever - shut up. Anyway...I wanna be there very best...you know, like no one ever was. Catching them - Pokemon - that's my real test, but training them is my cause. But to catch them all I'm gonna have to travel across the land - searching far and wide. But you know what? I'm gonna do it. Do you know why? Cause I wanna go down in history as the one who catches all 464 Pokemon that have been found so far."

I stiffened when he said this.

"But of course, my Pokemon are going to have to be strong. So Thomas...I'm going to pick the Pokemon that is strong against yours. Of course, I already know Bianca is going to pick the Pokemon that yours is going to be strong against, so I'll let her pick before me, but just remember that."

I looked at him.

"Jerk..." I said silently.

"Yep, that's me," he said pushing his glasses back a more comfortable position, and smiling. Bianca chose that moment to enter.

"Bianca, how could you be late to getting your first Pokemon?" Cheren asked.

Modern Warfare 3 is amazing! I couldn't just pause it..."

"Yes, but you'll get to battle with real Pokemon in a few minutes!"

"Pff, whatever. FPS's are cooler."

"Guys," I said, butting in. "Pokemon?"

Cheren looked at Bianca.

"Okay, Thomas. It's your house, you get first pick." I dipped my head in thanks and walked over to the box.

Opening it, I saw 3 Pokeballs sitting at certain intervals on a circle. Next to the red and white balls were scraps of paper with a picture and the name of the Pokemon contained in the small sphere. The paper nearest to me had a red and black pig, which looked like it was smiling. Underneath, a black font said "Tepig." It looked cool, but I wanted to see all of my options, so I looked at the paper of the right Pokeball.

This paper had a blue and white otter, which looked like it had serious business and didn't want to play around. "Oshawatt" was the name under the picture. It looked okay, and I sorta wanted it, but I looked at the final Pokemon.

The picture showed a smug green and white two-legged lizard-ish thing. It held its nose in the air in a snobbish fashion. Underneath the picture the letters spelled out "Snivy." I didn't feel like I wanted this Pokemon...

'I was turned off by Snivy, and Tepig was cute, but I felt that Oshawatt was better. I picked up Oshawatt's Pokeball and turned to the others.

"Next."

Bianca came forward and looked.

"Ooh, I want Tepig!" she exclaimed, shooting her arm in the box and snatching up Tepig's Pokeball. She turned around.

"'Kay, Cheren, you're next. You get the last one!"

"Fine, I wanted Snivy anyway..." He said grabbing Snivy's red and white spherical cell.

Bianca bounced up and down.

"Let's battle now, let's battle now!"

"That's not really the best idea..." Cheren told her cautiously.

"Whatever. What damage could these small Pokemon do, anyway?"

I nodded, then lifted my Pokeball, poised to throw it.

"Oshawatt, come on out!" I yelled, throwing the Pokeball.

The baseball sized sphere flew out of my hand faster than what I wanted it to. It bounced off of the wall and hit a lamp on my bedside table, sending it falling to the floor. The ball itself bounced on the floor, where a beam of red light snaked out, a small form appearing. The ball rolled back to me as if it had a mind of its own. Oshawatt stood where he had been released, looking around.

"Osha-osha," he said.

Bianca looked at Oshawatt.

"Awesome! Now it's my turn." She cocked her arm back, and threw. Her throw was extremely off target and the ball flew into my flat panel TV and bounced to the far wall. The TV started to tip.

'"No!" I yelled at the TV, hoping maybe it would hear me and start un-tipping. Cheren moved quickly and stopped it, then set it gently face down on the floor - possibly the safest place at the moment. Meanwhile the ball bounced off of the wall and hit a picture of my dad and I playing baseball, knocking it off balance. The last bounce on the ground in front of Bianca's feet released Tepig.

"Tepig," it said, looking at its surroundings.

"Oshawatt," said Oshawatt

I looked at Bianca.

"Be more careful next time!"

"Sorry."

"Okay, are we ready?"

"Yep."

Tepig and Oshawatt joined with their respective calls.

"Okay guys, begin," Cheren said, starting us off.

"Oshawatt, use Tackle!" I yelled.

"Oshawatt!" Said the already charging Oshawatt.

Bianca seemed to be taken by surprise.

"Tepig, dodge the attack," she yelled, a little too late. Oshawatt tackled Tepig, slamming them both into a wall, straightening the picture of my dad and I.

"Oshawatt, retreat." I said, going for the guerrilla warfare style. Oshawatt backed up from Tepig, who was slowly getting up. I smiled. Good, that shook 'em up a little. I knelt down to talk with Oshawatt.

"I want you to flank him." I said to him quietly. "I'll have you move to the side, then tackle when I tell you, okay?"

"Watt." He said back, quietly.

"Okay, go." He started running as I got up.

"Okay, Oshawatt, Tackle!"

Oshawatt turned and ran directly at Tepig.

"Tepig, dodge," Bianca said again, and this time, Tepig had enough time to dodge.

"Okay, now tackle." Bianca commanded, and Tepig hit Oshawatt in the side. Oshawatt was slammed into my bedside table, where he slid down so that only his head was leaning against it.

"Osha-" he said.

"Come on Oshawatt!" I yelled. "Let's keep on going!"

Oshawatt got up, and looked at me for its next orders. I got an idea.

"Oshawatt, come here!"

Oshawatt started moving towards me, and got about halfway when I decided to put my plan into action.

"Use Tackle!" I yelled, seemingly out of the blue. My little otter turned mid-stride, aiming straight for Tepig. The attack happened so fast, neither Pokemon nor Trainer had time to react. Oshawatt slammed into Tepig, sending the pig into the side of my bed. It worked itself back up, only to fall back down.

"Come on, Tepig! Get up!" Bianca pleaded. This gave the small pig a small boost of energy, and it got up again. Hope regenerated in Bianca. "Tepig, tackle Oshawatt!" The little pig burst from the bed.

"Oshawatt, dodge!"

The gap between the two Pokemon was microscopic, but by the result you could see that Tepig had missed, if only by a little. I was relieved, but I had to finish this.

"Oshawatt, finish this with tackle!" I yelled before Tepig could recover from his missed attack. Oshawatt slammed into Tepig for the last time, and the pig flew onto my desk, knocking everything off of it. The Pokeball in Bianca's hand shuddered and a red beam of light snaked out, engulfing Tepig, then retracted, leaving my desk empty. Oshawatt retracted too, weary from the battle.

"Here, I'll heal them," Cheren said, his hands out. Bianca and I handed him our red and white spheres. He turned around for a second, then handed the balls back. He looked at me. "Now it's my turn." He looked around the room. "But I'll try to not make the room any messier."