Part One: Morris Stride; a Pokémon Whisperer
I was only 4 when it first happened. My friend Mikey came over, excited as all get-out. There was a young Buizel following behind him, a bow tied around her tails.
"Morris!" He shouted happily as he ran up to me; he pointed to his Buizel proudly. "This is Breezy! My Buizel egg finally hatched!"
"I can see that." I giggled, smiling at Breezy. She put up one paw and spoke to me. I couldn't tell what she said, but I gave her a high five, and she squeaked happily. She gave me a hug, wagging her tails.
"Aw, she likes you, Morris!" Mikey told me, and I smiled.
"Hey, my mom made us a lunch if you guys are hungry." Mikey nodded eagerly while Breezy went back to his side. They helped me roll out a picnic blanket and I placed a basket on top of it. The newborn Buizel eyed an apple nervously, not wanting to just take it. Mikey passed it into her paws and she squeaked happily again.
"Yay!" I heard just before she bit into the apple hungrily. I blinked and rubbed my ear.
"Uh, did you hear something?" I asked Mikey. He shook his head, pulling a sandwich from the basket. I glanced at Breezy, who placed the apple core on the blanket and tugged my shirt sleeve for another apple. When I handed her a second apple, she squealed joyfully, hugging my arm as she took the apple. We all continued eating as a small group of Butterfree flew overhead.
Suddenly we heard rustling from the bushes. Breezy must have been in training, because she was quick to take a battle stance. We all watched the bushes nervously, almost afraid to move. A group of Rattata sprung from the bushes, screeching at us. We jumped back fearfully, and their leader smirked at us. The head Rattata moved toward our picnic basket, but Breezy had none of it. She called out to the Mouse Pokémon, and it snarled at her, jumping at her with Hyper Fang. She ran out of the way, spinning and launching a SonicBoom attack. Rattata was hit, but barely took any damage. It glared at her and screeched, its body getting engulfed in flames; it rolled at her with Flame Wheel, chasing her as she ran away. She just barely managed to dodge and turned around to land a Tail Slap on the mouse, knocking it back toward the other Rattata. They all glared at us angrily, and all of them started charging Flame Wheels and Wild Charges.
"D-Dad?!" I shouted. "Daddy!" There really was no hope though. The Rattata came at us with everything they had. Mikey ended up burned from a Flame Wheel and Breezy and I were hit by Wild Charges. I was paralyzed and weak and scared. I just barely heard my dad as he and his Hariyama came running from his workshop behind the house, scaring away the Rattata and picking us all up to tend to our wounds. I've been afraid of wild and new Pokémon ever since…
Six years later, I help my dad in his workshop/laboratory. It's like a Daycare center, but a special one. I ran out the back door of the house and into the workshop, then out the lab's back door into the fenced area where my dad keeps all the Pokémon he works with. Now, I suppose that to the average person, my dad's Pokémon would be strange. Very strange, I think.
"C'mere, Poochy." I called out to my little sister's Poochyena. He ran over to me, standing up on his hind legs in front of me like a begging puppy. I reached into the small bag I was carrying and pulled out one of my dad's famous Pokéchops. I know it's a weird name, but they're like a cross between Pokéblock, Poffins, and some kind of rice and cornmeal dough. Personally, I think they taste okay, and the Pokémon; well, they can't get enough of them.
I should probably explain what's so weird about my dad's Pokémon. The first thing you need to know is that my dad is one of the smartest people I know, and he's a Pokémon Breeder. I remember back when I was little, before I became afraid of Pokémon: my dad was telling me one day about how he wanted to find a way to breed Pokémon that were totally unique from others. He had all these crazy ideas, too: Like a Geodude with some Flying-type attacks, or a Charmander that could use some Special Electric attacks to protect itself better from Water-types. It wasn't a bad idea, sure; it was just crazy and next to impossible. And the craziest thing about it: he did it. Just last here, he came into the house from his lab one morning after working out there for two days straight, his hair a mess but his face alight with happiness. He kissed my mom and hugged me and my little sister.
"I've done it! I've really done it!" he kept shouting; he held out his hands to reveal a Caterpie with deep blue coloring instead of the normal green. We all watched as it looked at each of us before using Bubble, which as anyone knows, is genetically impossible for a Caterpie. Within a month, he was famous just about anywhere you went, and he was able to crossbreed just about any types and Pokémon, with the most amazing results. He was smart though, like I said, and knew that with fame came a bit of danger. He would give other scientists one or more of his crossbred specimens to study, but would never share his own research. He would also release his creations into the wild, and according to some sources, wild Pokémon with unusual abilities have been appearing all over. They usually differ in color from their normal counterparts. But recently, my dad's been very nervous about his experiments. It's no secret that his research is a breakthrough in Pokémon science, and we know that psychos like Team Galactic and Team Plasma would probably do some pretty bad damage with that kind of research…
But enough about the negatives for now. Poochy here is an example of my dad's most recent work. His fur was bright red where the average Poochyena would have black fur, and he could learn most of the same moves as a Flareon as well as his natural Dark type moves. I tossed him one of the Pokéchops, and he burned it with Incinerate before catching it and eating it. He's always enjoyed lightly burning his food before eating it. I guess he just likes crunchy food. He wagged his tail, smiling at me. I went around the area, feeding all the Pokémon that were there. The fence around the area is fairly low, so Pokémon come and go as they please. I'm still nervous around wild Pokémon, but both my parents love them and tell me never to turn down a guest.
"Hey, there, Morris!" my dad called, walking up to me from the lab as I finished feeding everyone.
"Hi dad!" I smiled, running over. He chuckled, looking around.
"You're getting pretty good at handling this little menagerie, huh?"
"Yeah… I feel comfortable out here."
"Does that mean you'd be willing to help me train two of my more recent creations?" I had a feeling he'd pull that card. He does that every time I say I feel happy out here with the Pokémon. I always backed out of it, but that day-I don't know why- I felt like I should help my dad out.
"Okay, dad." I smiled, and he beamed at me, handing me two Pokéballs. I pressed the buttons, releasing a Shiny Eevee and a Pachirisu that had a purple stripe instead of blue and orange cheeks instead of yellow. Both of them yawned and stretched, the Pachirisu climbing onto the Eevee's back and wagging his tail. I admit I was still a little jumpy as I watched them.
"Morris, I'd like to introduce you to Chip, the Pachirisu, and Evan, the Eevee." Dad told me, a bright grin on his face. "Just like I gave Poochy to your sister, I'm giving these two to you."
Author's Note: The start of a strange concept of Pokémon. Cross-breeding and an ability that will allow seemingly normal people to go much farther into the secrets of Pokémon minds than ever before.
Ai