The Grey Journey
"Remember, my son. You will take on the family business whether you like it or not. Go now and enjoy your life; go and live your Great Adventure, but remember that in the end…your place is as my successor."
Giovanni, Viridian City Gym Master.
Pallet Town was a mass of old wooden buildings, lost in the near wilderness South of Viridian City. The only way out was through the sea, where old boats would sometimes carry passengers to Cinnabar island, or through the North past Route one.
Amidst the tranquillity of the place, silence reigned even as the sun shone with its rays through the window's glass panel, disturbing his quiet sleep, but without fully waking him up.
There was something extremely wrong with that moment, but the foreboding chill wasn't enough to convince him to turn around or crack an eye open. He kept on snoring lightly, as sleep was the best thing that could happen to him. The feeling of being the prey passed through his mind for an instant.
It was all that it took.
"GOTCHA!" the scream, directly sent into his ear, woke him up with a shriek of his own. He jumped on the bed, holding the pillow with both hands as his feet tangled against the sheets, sending him to tumble on the ground.
"What the hell!" he gasped for air, moving his hands to his ears that still ringed, and dropping the pillow in his lap. "Y-You! Leaf! I'll get you for this!" he snarled, pointing an accusing finger towards the teenager girl that had simply barged inside his house.
"Ahah! I got Grey! I got Grey!" she sung, moving her index fingers to the right and to the left, a smile on her face. Her long grey hair had twin bangs covering the sides of her face, as a large hat stood atop her head. She already had a yellow bag slung over her shoulder, and a hastily donned cerulean sweater and red skirt.
The thing he actually noticed was that, once more, she hadn't even bothered to pull her socks all the way up the her knees.
"Why did you have to wake me up?" he mumbled, bringing his right hand to his forehead and staring blearily at her. If looks could kill, he was sure his would do it.
"Today's the day!" she chirped. "It's the day I become a Pokémon Trainer!"
She pumped her right hand up and down, holding a victorious smile. "I'm going to be the very best!"
"Good," he grumbled as he fell back on the bed, covering his head with the sheets. "Let me sleep."
"Ehi!" she bellowed, "No sleeping! You have your own Pokémon! So come on! Help me choose my own!"
"Why are you disturbing me for this? Just get the one you like," he brought the pillow over his head to drown out the noises. The pillow was yanked away a moment later, as the sixteen-year-old brat stared at him with her cheeks puffed and red.
"Please! You've got to have some suggestion, right!?" she yelled out, her voice now a high-pitch. He winced at the volume.
"Look," he muttered. "I'm without coffee in my system. Come back in an hour."
"But the others will all have taken their Pokémon by then! Come on! I woke up early to get the best-est pick! Professor Oak has a Charmander, a Squirtle and a Bulbasaur! Which is the strongest?"
He slowly muttered curses under his breath as he walked out of his room, whistling sharply.
There was a sharp rustling noise, as a Rattata appeared from the corner of the corridor. The way it dashed and the smile it held made him look like the demented version of Micky Mouse…without the children potential.
"Rat-Tata!" it exclaimed, jumping against his knees and waggling its tail like a dog. "Ratta-ta?" it asked then, cocking its head to the side.
"Her," he pointed towards Leaf. "Why is she inside?"
Rattata began to hiss, his fur spiking up. He showed his teeth, his claws emerged…and Leaf just rolled her eyes and brought down her hand open with a candy in it.
Rattata had the decency to hesitate for a second, before swallowing the candy and then rolling on his back to receive some belly rubs.
"Who's a cute little Rattata? You are! You're a little cute mouse aren't you? Yes! Who's cute? You are! You are-are-are so much!"
He'd get cavities before the end of the morning if this kept up. "Norman," he hissed. "Act dignified for once!"
Norman whined pitifully, before slowly rolling back on its four paws and trudging behind him like a kicked dog.
"Don't be mean with little Norman!" Leaf exclaimed.
"Go and get yourself a Pokémon, Leaf," Grey replied. "I think there's Gary leaving the house just over there…"
"AH! Quick! What's the easiest one to start with?" she yelled, scampering towards the door.
"A Water Type," he replied instantaneously, before suddenly biting his tongue as he realized he had given the wrong answer. The girl was off before he could correct himself, and in the end, he didn't try to pursue her. Sure, Water was fine for the first Gym, but for the second Bulbasaur was actually a better pick. If he learned a grass move before the Pewter one, then it was a safe bet to assume a winning streak at least until the fifth Gym Leader.
"Well, Norman," he muttered. "Let's get ourselves some breakfast."
He opened the door of his kitchen and froze into place.
The window was open, and a Pokémon he had never seen before was calmly pecking at his cereal boxes. It held a giant backpack slung over his shoulders, and it squawked indignantly as he entered his very own kitchen.
"Those are my cereals," he deadpanned.
Norman hissed, swishing its tail.
"Delibird," it croaked, grabbing a package from within his backpack and setting it on the table. "Delibird."
He ignored the creature for good and carefully pried open the cardboard box. The bright red R of team Rocket was the most visible thing atop the package, and he bit his tongue as he saw not only his uniform, but also his orders.
Vacation time was over.
"Deli-bird?"
He slung the grey trench coat over his shoulders, grabbed the empty Pokéballs and then grimly nodded to the despicable bird-brained Pokémon.
"You can tell father I'm on it," the Pokémon appeared satisfied even though 'father' had the same tone as an insult, and the creature flew out with the cereal box still in its beak.
He groaned and dropped the trench coat on the table. Norman looked at him with curiosity, waggling its tail.
"Best to get started on packing then," Grey grumbled.
"We're going on a Journey, Norman," he said over his shoulder. "Take care to be stocked on—"
When he turned around, Norman had on its back a small bag, filled to the brim with canned Pokémon food.
"Of course," he grumbled. "You share an ancestry with squirrels, right?"
"Rat-Ta-Tà!" Normal cheerfully said with his eyes closed and a grin stuck on its face.
Grey sighed; his gaze went up to the sky's darkening clouds. Wonderful…his journey would begin in the middle of a downpour.
Really, utterly, wonderful.
Author's notes
Pokemon. Gotta Catch Them All.
Maybe not.
*shudders*
Not a crack fic. Not an angst fic. This is me trying a normal story without 'extremes' of one type or the other.
First off, spoilers ahoy!
Read the following lines at your risk and peril!
Silver is the son of Giovanni. This hasn't changed.
Grey is the 'lead executive' of Team Rocket in one of the mangas, but this here is clearly not the case.
This story has a mix of both Anime-Manga-and whatever rocks my boat while I write. The purpose of this story isn't to write a gritty realism or a bloodshed filled one.
It's mostly writing about a journey with the eyes of an adult, rather than a child. (I upped the age of the starting trainers from 11 to 16, if you noticed)
Taking from the wiki (or its pictures where I could) Leaf starts with Squirtle. 'Blue' starts with Charmander. Red goes with Bulbasaur. Ash gets Pikachu and Gary gets Evee.
Grey…has Rattata.