Pallet Town was very, very small. It was so small that it barely even qualified as a town with its population of one thousand people. The houses were all bungalows with thick stone walls and quaint thatched roves. It was an isolated community separated from the rest of civilization by a two day trek along faint, mazy trails through a never-ending grassy plain.
Not many people bothered travelling here and even less people bothered leaving. Yet people who lived there were happy with their down to earth, backwards lifestyle. They revelled in it. All except one smothered, lonely teenager in house No. 134.
There weren't many children in Pallet Town. Most of the residents were elderly, their children grown up and carrying on the family tradition. In fact fourteen year old Jack Lovata was the only child in Pallet Town. Five years ago his parents moved from the huge, bustling Saffron City with their nine year old son to get away from all the fuss and noise that came with life in the city.
Five years later and they were still known as the New Couple. Five years later and their son was starting rebel against the quiet, slow life that Pallet Town had to offer.
'But it's the first of January,' cried Jack indignantly, staring down his irritatingly calm mother, 'All fourteen year olds have the right to receive a Pokémon today.'
His mum sighed, 'We've already gone over this. Neither your father or I want you to receive a Pokémon and we do not have a trainer school here. If you want to walk all the way to Viridian City be my guest. We won't come with you, we will not support you with money, we will not help you if you persist with this trainer nonsense.'
Jack lost his temper. 'This is all your fault. If we had stayed in Saffron like I wanted to then this wouldn't have been a problem. But you had to move to this backwards shit hole!'
His mother's eyebrows knitted together angrily but Jack did not care anymore. He stormed out of the house, anger radiating off him in palpable waves, slamming the door behind him so hard that the woven willow shutters of the house broke from their hinges and came crashing to the floor. Jack was too irate to care.
As stormed through the scattered houses people avoided him, people who knew to keep well away when one of these moods befell him. His feet took him to the Pokémon lab right at the edge of town - the lab which he was forbidden to enter. The Pokémon lab was run by the renowned and elderly Professor Samuel Oak and was an unwanted part of the town.
When Samuel Oak arrived in Pallet Town ten years ago at the age of sixty he was rebuffed by the townsfolk, but they didn't actually have the authority to stop him living there. When he built his Pokémon lab undeterred he was shunned by the already hostile townsfolk. He had not shown himself once in his decade living there.
Jack loitered outside the lab. He didn't have the courage to go in. Suddenly a deep, strong voice spoke quietly to him. 'Are you going to wait there all day? Come in. I know what you want.' Jack whipped round but he could not determine the source of the voice. Shrugging, he entered the lab, closing the door softly behind him.
'You're fourteen, aren't you?' asked the deep, oddly hypnotic voice. Jack whirled round to see Samuel Oak. Age had been kind to Samuel Oak. A serious Pokémon trainer in his youth, he was still slim but muscular with tanned, weather-beaten skin. He wore a long white lab coat with a Pokéball stitched in red, white and black thread where his top pocket should have been.
'You want a Pokémon.' It was not a question. Jack nodded. Oak sighed sadly. 'I cannot give you one. I released all mine into the wild except one, and I am loathe to give him away. No.' He shook his head, 'I will lend you some Pokéballs to catch your own Pokémon.'
Oak handed Jack a bag filled to the brim with black Pokéballs striped with yellow. 'I don't get any Pokémon to help me?' asked Jack nervously, comprehending the dangers of venturing into the wild without a Pokémon to protect him. 'I'm afraid not,' said Oak, 'but I will be watching over you making sure you come to no harm.' Jack nodded, his fears slightly allayed. He turned to walk out the door but was stopped by Oak's surprisingly strong grip. 'You cannot be seen. Understand me now. It is imperative that you are not seen.' Jack nodded again, slightly shaken, and walked quietly out of the door after checking that the coast was clear.
Jack slipped out of the town quietly, without being seen. As soon as the town was out of his view he began to walk normally, swaggering around and enjoying his first taste of freedom. Suddenly he heard a pain filled cry to his left and he was sprinting towards the source before he knew what was happening. The sight he found when he arrived was appalling.
A group of Mankey, far from their preferred territory of the forest, were savagely beating a Pokémon that Jack did not recognize. It was a baby, that Jack was certain of, but large and obviously going to become a formidable creature. It was tortoise like with a brown-scaled body spattered with occasional orange and grey spots. A steel mask covered most of its face and metal bangles were locked around the lower portion of its legs. It had four steel claws arranged equally around its circular feet. The steel looked weak and pliable, and obviously wasn't fully grown.
The group of Mankey were viciously beating it, thin arms and legs powering punches and kicks that were surprisingly formidable. The unknown Pokémon let out a low, keening sound filled with pain that reached down into the depths of Jack's soul. A large, heavy stick somehow found its way into his hands and he was running towards the Mankey, teeth bared in a vicious snarl, before he knew what was happening.
He barrelled into the midst of the Mankey, heavy stick smashing skulls left and right. The Mankey were sent spinning like skittles and soon all were on the floor. In the back of his mind Jack remembered something he heard about Mankey, something about their fighting spirit....
He turned round and three quarters of the Mankey were already on their feet. They chattered angrily and Jack realised with a start that he could understand their irate mutterings. Man with hurt stick dangerous. Must make careful battle plan. Kill fire creature. In a clear voice Jack spoke, knowing that all Pokémon could understand humans, 'If you leave now I will not follow you and kill you. If you attack me you will all die.'
Jack spoke calmly but his voice was full of menace. The Mankey became confused and began to back away. Fire creature not worth it. He won't burn forests here. Man dangerous. Back to forest. The Mankey suddenly retreated as one, as if from an unspoken command. Jack immediately bent down to look over the creature.
It was badly hurt. One of its legs was badly broken whilst livid bruises covered its body. It couldn't move, so Jack thought it might have spinal damage. He was sure that if he left it here it would die within the hour. Jack removed a Pokéball from his backpack and opened it in front of the prone Pokémon. There was a flash of light as the Pokémon was immediately converted to pure energy before the Pokéball closed shut.
The Pokémon was so weak it didn't even shake. Oak suddenly crested the hill and saw Jack. He was breathing heavily and sweat shone on his brow. 'There you are, you lost me completely,' he bent over still breathing heavily, 'I'm getting old,' he muttered.
He saw the Pokéball on the ground and smiled suddenly, 'ah, you caught something.' Noticing Jack's solemn face Oak's smile melted away, 'what's wrong?' Jack grimaced, 'it was being tortured by a pack of Mankey, if it is not helped soon it will die.' Oak nodded, immediately taking charge of the situation. He turned and ran back towards the town shouting, 'Hurry up, and follow me.' Jack followed at a sprint but he was barely able to keep up with the super-fit Professor.
They arrived quickly at the old lab and Oak directed Jack to a strange, archaic looking machine that was gathering dust at the back. It consisted of a complicated looking computer attached to a tray with six circular holes. Oak placed the Pokéball in one of the holes and began fiddling about with the buttons. 'Go home,' he said to Jack without turning, still concentrating on the machine, 'it will be healed by tomorrow. Come back then.'
Jack could not stop worrying about the strange baby Pokémon that he had saved, he desperately wanted to release it and talk to it, train it....anything. His parents had accepted his story about 'going for a walk' without comment and he knew that they were just happy that he hadn't done anything drastic....little did they know.
That night he could not sleep. He desperately tossed and turned, wanting to sleep so that morning would come that bit quicker. His mattress seemed harder and thinner than it used to, his pillow seemed lumpier and more uncomfortable than it used to and sleep cruelly evaded him.
He woke up to bright midday sun streaming through the shutter-less windows and ran quickly downstairs. His parents were out, but they had left a hastily scribbled note on the table with directions for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Jack ignored the directions and sprinted towards the lab with a happiness that threatened to brim out of him. He knocked loudly on the metal door and was vehemently quietened by Oak before being ushered in.
'It is fully healed now, open the Pokéball and make sure that you are the first thing it sees.' With another flash of bright light the Pokémon was deposited on the floor and looked deep into Jack's blue eyes with its orange ones, like deep pits full of flame. The voice that Jack was able to discern from the strange chatters coming out of the creatures mouth drowned out Oak's surprised exclamation. Thank you so much. The voice was childlike, but full of so much more intelligence than the inane chattering of the Mankey.
I will fight with you and I will serve you with all my strength and ability Jack. My name is Dante. I am the last of the Heatran, the fierce guardians of the sacred volcanoes. A metallic, feminine voice interrupted Dante in mid speech. Heatran, the lava dome Pokémon. It dwells in volcanic caves. It digs in with its cross-shaped feet to crawl and ceilings and walls. Its body is made of rugged steel. However, it is partially melted in spots because of its own heat.
'This is my Pokédex. It is a unique machine that automatically records data on everything you see. If you catch a Pokémon it gives you a description like the one you have just heard as well as information like height, weight etc. It is the only one of its kind and I am giving it to you. I want you to record data on every Pokémon in the world and help me complete a full Encyclopaedia on all 493 Pokémon.'
Jack took the Pokédex from Oak, thanking him profusely before starting to look through its features. It had 493 Pokémon slots but all but number 485 were empty. 'Oh, one more thing before you leave. To legally participate in trainer battles you have to have a trainer card. If you wait for one second I can print you one.'
Tongue between his teeth, he began to press buttons on an archaic printer. It began to rumble and rattle before spitting out a small, postcard sized laminated piece paper. 'You slot into your Pokédex here,' said Oak, sliding the card into a slot on the right side of the Pokédex, 'and voila. Your details are automatically registered. Without the Pokédex you would have to register at a Pokémon centre.'
'So...I'm officially a Pokémon trainer now...' Jack could barely believe that his decade long dream had finally come to fruition. He never thought that he would be able to become a Pokémon trainer, it was more like a dream that you lusted after but knew would never come true. Now it was true Jack was in heaven on earth. Oak smiled knowingly. 'You are, keep the backpack and Pokéballs, you will need them more than I do. I also have something more for you.'
He magically produced three full restores and max revives. 'Use them with care.' His eyes narrowed as he thought carefully about the next thing he was going to say. 'I think you should visit your parents before you leave. Now they cannot legally stop you I think they will be resigned to their fate and let you go with their blessing.'
Jack nodded and returned Dante. 'Professor Oak....?' Oak smiled, 'Yes Jack?' Jack gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, 'thank you so much. I will never forget you.' After one meaningful backwards look Jack walked towards his house.
His parents were just arriving back at the house when Jack arrived. 'Where were you?' Jack asked curiously, taking in his parent's dirtied clothes and skin. 'We decided to have a romantic meal to celebrate our anniversary, just the two of us. But we got attacked by Pokémon!' Jack's mother spat out the word Pokémon, her voice filled with hate. 'I hate them so much!' she growled angrily, 'they are a blight on this beautiful land.'
Jack's heart sank at these words, he knew that his leaving would not be so simple. 'What attacked you?' asked Jack, 'it can't have been that bad otherwise you would be in worse shape.' Jack's dad took over from his mum who was almost incoherent with anger, 'it was a group of grey furred rat like Pokémon with huge front teeth and a curly tail. One knocked over your mum and began to eat our food. Another tried to bite me but missed and took out a clump from my shirt.' He showed the right side of his torso where the shirt was ripped to shreds with a large, ragged hole taken out of it.
'You see why we don't want you to have Pokémon,' cut in Jack's mum, her face twisted as she said that word again, 'they are ugly, vicious little creatures that should be purged.'
Jack looked down at the floor and scuffed his feet, he wanted to tell them but he knew he couldn't leave until the morning anyway so he decided to postpone it. 'I'm sorry about what happened to you, but don't blame Pokémon. You've been warned not to go into their territory, Rattata are fiercely territorial and will attack anything that enters its territory. Not all Pokémon are like that.'
His mother's eyes glinted with uncharacteristic fury, 'do not defend them,' she spat, 'go to your room now!'
Jack did as he was bid by his mum and walked along to his room, shutting his door quietly and locking it. He knew he would have another sleepless night tonight. Jack buried his face in his thin pillow, grinding his teeth audibly as he tried to decide what to do about the dilemma that faced him. After today he knew his mum and probably his dad hated Pokémon. He knew they would want to stop him leaving whatever happened.
Jack decided that he would leave in the middle of the night, and leave a note to tell his parents what was happening. They would hate him for it. Jack hated himself for it, but there seemed to be no other option. In his mind Jack conjured up increasingly wild and crazy ideas to solve his dilemma, but he knew in his heart that he must leave in the night. At around midnight he decided to leave.
Jack crept out quietly, desperate not to make a sound and disturb his parents who would definitely stop him from leaving on the journey that his heart was set on. After quickly writing the note in an italic scrawl Jack crept out of the door and began to run out of the town. Just as he was about to exit the town something knocked into him with some force, sending him crashing to the floor kicking up dust in a mushroom shaped cloud around him.
Jack heaved himself up and looked at what had hit him. In front of him stood the mayor of the town, handlebar moustache bristling with irritation, a Mankey standing in front of him. 'Stop where you are,' he said quietly, menacingly. 'You are not allowed to leave.' Jack growled, 'I have my own Pokémon, I can do what I want!' with a flash of light Dante was released onto the ground.
When Dante saw the Mankey he began to growl. The sound made Jack's hairs stand on end; it was that full of hatred. Through it all Dante was shouting expletives at Mankey which were so terrible that they cannot be put into words. 'Dante, attack,' shouted Jack, 'ancientpower!' Earlier Jack had been researching the moves that Dante knew and could learn in preparation for his Pokémon battles. He just didn't think that he would need them that early.
Dante began to focus and a strange power began to build up around him. Suddenly he released it in a shockwave that crashed out of him and hit the Mankey with great force. The Mankey was sent spinning before hitting the ground hard. The Mankey barely managed to get to its feet before Dante was on it again. 'Dante tackle!' Dante smashed into the Mankey with its shoulder, smashing into the Mankey's face. This time the Mankey stayed down.
'Don't try and stop me,' said Jack dangerously before returning Dante and running off, leaving the stunned mayor in his wake. I'm finally free!