I had a beta reader for this chapter. The beta readers name is Cobolt 99. I know I've tried starting adventures with other Pokemon stories but this one I'm very proud of and have a feeling I can finish it. Whether or not it can be found in Google is another story. I do not own Pokemon. But the characters of Pokemon are in it and I have OC characters. Please read and review. Co-Authors are FemGenjo Sanzo and Jessie Stargazer. One character belongs to FemGenjo Sanzo.
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How do dreams come true? Do people find something their good at and eventually become remembered for it? Does someone hold a paintbrush and draw what the sky and space look like? Does a Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur become their final forms just by waking up one day feeling bigger? That's how people believe in dreams, but what really brings dreams to life is someone to look up to.
The rules of becoming a Pokémon Trainer have changed. You can no longer be a trainer at the age of ten. To give Trainer's more experience they have to be thirteen years old. Today was a certain boy's thirteenth birthday. His name was John. John Cloud. People called him McCloud, Saint Cloud, and Cloudy but his last name was only Cloud.
John was skinny because his metabolism was high. He was a little naïve but not as naïve as his hero Ash Ketchum. He heard when Ash started he didn't know anything about catching Pokémon or being a trainer. John had a whole closet of different clothes but for his first day he was wearing a grey shirt with jeans cut at the bottom. His eyes were brown and his hair was blond. John didn't wear any caps. He wanted to start off different than his idol Ash Ketchum. And unlike Ash he had more in his mind than just being a Pokémon Champion winning the Indigo League.
"First I'm going to get a starter Pokémon. I don't care which one I get as long as it's my friend. I want to train only the Pokémon I will take into the Indigo League; only six will do. I'll need a grass type for Pewter City Gym, Cerulean Gym, and Viridian Gym. I need a ground type for Vemilion City Gym and Cinnabar Island Gym. I also need a Pokémon that knows dark moves but not a ghost type for the Saffron City Gym. If what Thomas said is true that Sabrina has powerful psychic Pokémon. Grass, ground, and dark...a fire type Pokémon would be a good match for the Celadon Gym but I don't want a Pokémon that is afraid of water and could burn my face. Maybe if I'm lucky I can find a Dratini and evolve it into Dragonair to use ice moves and flying moves. The only psychic Pokémon I'd want against Koga of the Fuchsia gym would be Hypno. That leaves one last Pokémon. Should I capture a fighting Pokémon or a water Pokémon? After this journey is finished I can finally tell Judy I like her."
John liked this girl Judy all his life. He liked her when he was one and she was three putting her finger in his cradle. He liked her when she was six and he was four and she asked him to help her play hopscotch. She liked her when he was ten and she was twelve and she was trying to keep a wild Vulpix but her parents wouldn't let her because it belonged to another trainer. Judy cried every morning when she woke up no longer seeing her red furred bushy tailed friend curled up on her bed. Judy wanted to own a Pokémon but her parents wouldn't let her until she turned thirteen and started her own journey. You can play with Pokémon, you can feed them, but you can't go on a journey with them until you turn thirteen.
"Now that I am 13 I get to go on my very own journey."
But the journey didn't start until John had breakfast. If he wasn't fed he wouldn't be able to concentrate and if he didn't have his morning glass of orange juice he would get thirsty really fast. He walked downstairs to the kitchen where his mother was making breakfast and his father was reading the newspaper. His father was an old man with rugged features. One of which was his face chin, those wrinkled eyes, and the little hair on his head. He had big arms that were also hairy. He wore a black vest with a white shirt underneath, grey pants, and a black tie. His father's eyes were short grey. He always had a pipe in his mouth but he never smoked it.
John sat down at the table and waited for breakfast to be served. His father looked up at him and asked, "You ready to start your adventure?"
"Of course I am," John smiled with a self-confident look. "I was training for this since I heard about becoming a trainer. I went to bed early so I could have all the time in the world to decide which Pokémon I'll chose and which Pokémon I should catch."
"So do you have any idea on what starter you're going to choose?" his mother asked sitting the breakfast down on the table.
His mother was beautiful. The secret to her beauty was her kind heart and how she always made sure her son was in good hands. She was five years younger than her husband, had long purple hair with a red ribbon in her hair. She wore many clothes but when she was cooking she put on her pink apron with the words "I Am A Great Mom" written on the front. Her clothes were green with red stripes. Was his mother happy about John going out on a Pokémon journey? Of course not. She wished he would just get a starter Pokémon and stay here to get a job she liked—gardener, contractor, or doctor—but John really wanted to be a trainer like Judy.
He did as his father asked and went running for the Pokémon lab. He made it there just in time. There were two other people there. One was a girl that seemed to be the same age as him and the other was a boy the same age as him. The girl came up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Nicole, but you can call me Nina if you want."
"Hi Nicole." John was a little nervous talking to her. John didn't really talk to many girls beside Judy. He didn't even have any friends at school. "Are you here to pick up your Pokémon?"
"Yeah, I am. I'm so excited," Nicole said looking at the lab. "I'm new to Kanto."
"Really?" John asked. "Where did you come from originally?"
"I'm from Kalos. My parents brought me here to get away from the bad things happening there," Nicole said the last part softly looking at her shoes. I hadn't noticed that her hair was almost too dark to tell that it was still a red colour.
The boy walked between Nicole and John. He looked away from them at the bench of pokéballs. He didn't seem very chatty so John had to start a conversation for him.
"My name is John. Do you want to tell me your name or do I have to guess it for you?"
"No, I don't talk to poor little people," the boy says looking distastefully at the two of us. Nicole looks up and punches the boy. He falls to the ground.
"Nicole! You shouldn't have done that!" I yell looking at Nicole.
"He was talking mean to us so I have him what he deserved."
The door to the research lab opened. The professor walked inside and dropped his lollipop when he saw the boy bruised on the ground.
"What happened to the poor boy?" the professor asked. Nicole looks up and says softly, "He made fun of me and John."
"Made fun of you or not you can't hit someone. It's not a nice thing to do," the professor said.
"B-But Pokémon hit each other all the time," Nicole stammered.
There's a line between what Pokémon can do and what people can do. Pokémon battle for all kinds of reasons but the battles I expect are for fun or to protect you from danger. Because you didn't know that I'm letting the boy you hit chose first." Nicole shook her hands as she fumed with rage. The professor walked up to the boy and helped him to his feet. "What is your name?" He asked.
"I'm Alexander Hopkins." the boy says like he owned the world.
John looked over at Nicole to see her shaking. She was mumbling, "His family killed my own."
John was the only one paying attention to her. The professor and Alexander walked to the bench, which had three pokéballs on top, so Alexander can pick out his Pokémon. "We have Bulbasaur on the left, Charmander in the middle, and Squirtle in the far right," the professor said. "Which one do you want?"
"I pick Charmander."
Nicole looked over at John and asks in a deadly voice, "Which Pokémon are you choosing?"
"I'm not picking the Pokémon you want," John shivered. Nicole scared him. "You want Squirtle, right?"
"You can have Squirtle if you really want him," She said nonchalantly. "Any Pokémon is fine with me."
"Still I'll go with Bulbasur." John says taking the poke ball on the left. Nicole takes the last one, and holds it close to her chest.
"Now that you have your Pokémon I have something to share with you'" said the professor. "In Pallet Town there may not be any dangerous Pokémon but out there, there are Pokémon that have been popping out of nowhere. Some say they have seen a Scyther in Viridian City, others say there have been Tauros in Pewter City, and last someone was crazy enough to say an Aerodactyl was flying over Cerulean City."
"Wild Pokémon?" Alexander asked.
"I don't know. I'm just warning you to not rush this journey. Stay in one city as long as you can and then go every three days. To know which Pokémon I'm talking about when you see them I'll hand you your Pokédex."
They took their Pokédexes and walked out of the lab. When Nicole left the lab a young girl about six ran up to her, and said out of breath, "Mom wants you to have Riken."
The girl hands Nicole a Poke ball. Nicole takes and puts her hand on the girl's head. She says softly to the girl. "Tell mom that Alexander Hopkins has gotten his first Pokémon."
John didn't want to get involved with Nicole and her family. He was going to try to figure out more about his new Pokémon. He ran back to his home to show it to his father's old Pokémon. They were all excited to see him. Rush the Tauros licked John with his tongue, Slash the Scyther leaned close to him, Chomp the Snorlax waved to him, Soak the Lapras sprinkled him with water, and Beam-Beam the Slowbro levitated him in the air. Beam made sure he didn't move him too much so he could enjoy it.
"I'm guessing that you want to know what the Pokémon in this ball is," Nicole says before tossing the poke ball in the air. The Pokémon that comes out is an Umbreon.
"Riken was my dad's Pokémon. I have one more other than the starter I just got, but I'm not going to tell you what it is 'till latter, "Nicole says with a sad look on her face.
After Beam put him Josh down Chomp-Chomp let him jump on his big squishy belly. Jumping on a Snorlax's belly was like jumping on a trampoline but it also felt like a marshmallow. John was having so much fun he didn't even remember he had Bulbasaur in his pocket... until Bulbasaur came out of his Pokéball.
The Bulbasaur saw all the Pokémon and hid behind Riken. Nicole saw this and brought out her Squirtle. Her Squirtle was smaller than most.
"You're small for a Squirtle so I shall call you Squrt." Nicole says.
All the Pokémon gathered around Nicole. They looked at her like some kind of strange creature. John had to get them away from her by pushing them away.
"It's okay. She's a friend of mine."
John saw his Bulbasaur behind Riken. John had never seen an Umbreon before. He just saw it as some kind of four-legged, quadruped Pokémon with black fur. It seemed friendly. When John put his hand over it Riken raised its head and rubbed against John. It was making loud purring sound. John liked it, but he tried to get Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur ran away from John and hid behind his dad's team.
"Well Riken seems to like you, but your Bulbasur seems to be the problem." Nicole says with a laugh.
"Come here, Bulbasaur."
John tried to grab his Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur was hard to find because it kept running around his dad's Pokémon. Nicole covered her mouth when she laughed. It was funny seeing John work so hard to grab his own Pokémon. John managed to catch Bulbasaur when it ran in front of Beam. Beam used Psychic to lift Bulbasaur in the air.
Nicole was laughing when he caught the Bulbasur, and said, "You might want to give it a nickname."
"A nickname?" John blinked when he thought of that. The only nicknames he could think of were ones that had to do with green and the big bulb on his back. None of them sounded good. "Why can't he just have the name Bulbasaur?"
"He? Do you know if your Pokémon is a boy or a girl?"
"Is there a way to tell?" John asked.
"Not for all Pokémon, but my dad taught me how to tell." Nicole says picking up the Bulbasur. Eventually she says, "It's a boy."
John noticed how Bulbasaur wasn't shy when Nicole picked him up. Maybe it was how cute she was or her heart-warming smile that got Bulbasaur to stay quiet for her. Giving Bulbasaur back to John...he tried to get out of his hands. He even stomped his foot in John's face trying to get out.
"John."
It was his father. He and his mother were now outside looking at John and Nicole.
"Hey, mother, father," John says looking back at them.
"John who is that girl?" his father asks in a weird voice.
"Hello," Nicole waves to them. "My name is Nicole. Have you met my Pokémon Spurt and Riken?"
"Hello Nicole. I don't think I have ever seen you in town," his mother says softly.
"You haven't I'm from Kalos." Nicole says looking at her Pokémon.
"You're from the Kalos region?" John's father asked taking his pipe out of his mouth to make a surprised expression. "I've never been to the Kalos region. What's it like there?"
"Yes but it is no longer safe to live there. Many places have been destroyed," Nicole says pulling her Pokémon to here.
"Dad, can you help me?" John asked.
"Sure. What is it?" His father asked.
"Can you help me with my Pokémon? He's very shy of me."
"Is it just shy of you?" His father asks. John nods yes. His father try's picks up the small Pokémon, but it runs away from him as well.
"Don't you two see?" John's mother asked. They didn't know what she was talking about. She walked up to the Bulbasaur. It didn't run away from her. It stood still and let her pick it up. "It's afraid of boys not girls."
That seemed to strike a though in Nicole. She stood tall and called, "Vine come!" The Bulbasur wiggled free from John's mother and ran over to Nicole.
"It listens to you too?" John shouted in defeat.
Nicole nodded her head rubbing the Bulbasaur's head. This was a very disappointing day for John. He always wanted to go on a journey with his starter Pokémon but Vine was listening to Nicole instead of him. It was not fair. That means she would have three Pokémon, two starters and one Pokémon from her region, and John would have none.
"I can get Vine to listen to you, but it might take a while," Nicole says pulling out some Pokémon treats. She hands them to John.
"John it's not your fault that Vine doesn't listen to you, it's the Hopkins," she says.
"Why is it Alexander's fault my Pokémon won't listen to me?" John asked.
"Yes...why is it my fault?" That was the sound of Alexander, Nicole's enemy. She turned around and saw Alexander.
"What are you doing here?!" She shouted.
"I came to challenge John to a battle."
"Alexander you know right well why Vine doesn't listen to John! Your father attacked mine! He hurt many of the Pokémon in my dad's lab!" Nicole yells causing all the Pokémon to hide.
"Your father is the professor?" John asked.
"He was the one in Kalos. He didn't survive the attack though. Only five of the Pokémon survived the attack. The three starters we got to choose from, Riken, and my mom's only Pokémon." Nicole says pulling out one more Poke Ball.
"Wait, Nicole. Let me battle Alexander." John put his hand on Nicole's shoulder. Their hands entwined when he tried getting her permission.
"Fine, but let me get Vine ready," Nicole says pulling him over to the Pokémon. She gets John to give the Pokémon several treats before it jumps to his arms.
"Is it the treats that make Pokémon listen to me?" John asked.
"No it's not," she said. "Pokémon don't love anyone when they first met them. You have to appeal to them. Vine likes treats."
Alexander called out his Charmander. When Nicole saw how the Charmander looked at Alexander she yelled, "You've manipulated Smoke!"
"Who wouldn't?" he asked looking straight at Nicole.
Nicole looked disgusted, "Anyone with a heart, that's who. It's just wrong!"
John gazed at the Charmander, something about it did look off... He was about to ask about this "manipulation" when a voice interrupted him, "Are you going to fight me or not?" It was Alexander.
"'Course I am! Just give me a second!" John replied, annoyed. 'Let's see, according to the Pokédex Vine will only know Tackle and Growl...' he thought quickly, putting Vine down, 'Charmander will probably know something similar so I don't have to worry about type-advantage... Good!'
"Smoke, use Scratch," Alexander ordered. The fire-type did as its master commanded, scampering up to Vine with a dead look in its eyes and scratching him across the nose.
"Not fair!" John protested, "The battle hadn't started yet!"
"Well, life's not fair is it?" Alexander smirked, "Use Scratch again, Smoke."
John retaliated, "Vine, use Tackle!" The little grass Pokémon hesitated, was it really going to obey this boy's demands? His mind was made up for him when he saw the Charmander racing forward once again.
'That scratch had hurt!'
Making his decision, he ran towards the fire-type and crashed into it, knocking the thing back and few steps. "That's it! Tackle again!" John cheered. Smoke was still dazed from the impact, and not responding to its own trainer's angry shouts. Vine charged it again, this time one of its sharp claws raked his side as he barrelled into it. Vine growled angrily, tackling once more at John's command.
"Get up!" Alexander looked furious as his Pokémon fell to the ground, too worn out to keep fighting. Nicole looked worried, but triumphant as he returned it to its Pokéball with a scowl.
"That's what you get for manipulating him!" she exclaimed.
Vine, meanwhile, had trotted back to John. "You did great!" John congratulated, grinning and giving the Bulbasaur one of the few remaining treats, at which it happily cried its own name.
"You see that's what happens when you manipulate a Pokémon," Nicole says looking at Alexander.
Alexander was speechless. He had nothing to say. He left them to a Poke Centre where he could heal Charmander.
"Why does that happen? I mean Charmader seemed to like me," Alexander asks later.
Meanwhile John was getting dressed to go on his adventure. Ignoring the professors warning he decided to go on the same day as when he was given Bulbasaur (he wasn't too comfortable calling him Vine).
He walked outside and ran into a man and woman.
"Is that your Bulbasaur? He's cute" said the woman.
"You should be careful Team Rocket has been up to no good around this town, so don't let your guard down" said the man as he petted a Meowth.
"I will be thanks for the heads up," said John as he walked off.
"Do you guys think he'll be ok?" asked the Meowth.
"Yes he reminds me of Ash."
"I hope he can stop Team Rocket for good so they never hurt us again James."
"Yah after what they did to you Jessie I hope they don't harm you again."
[Flash back]
Jessie was getting ready for yet another plan to steal Pikachu when suddenly she heard something behind her.
"Who's there?" she asked. No answer. "I asked who's there… Ahhh!"
Someone clamped their hand over her mouth and injected something into the back of her neck and she knew no more. Jessie woke up awhile later tied up and in a room that looked like a lab of some kind.
"Where am I?!" "Why are you doing this?!" she screamed.
Some men from Team Rocket came in and for a minute Jessie thought she was saved. But then they started injecting her sedatives and she was trying to fight them off but could feel herself getting weaker and everything was getting dark and fuzzy. Jessie felt one of the grunts put a rag over her face. Then all of a sudden boom! The lights went out and she felt herself being picked up off the table they had her on and being carried out of the room. The last thing she saw before going out was James taking her to a car and telling their friend Mondo to drive. She woke up in a hospital with James, Meowth and Ash and his friends. Later James told her it was Ash who helped them save her. and that Team Rocket had tried to use her in some kind of experiment that had almost killed her Giovanni had even told James that if he tried to stop them he was fired to which James had said "You can't fire me I quit!" then they had made friends with Ash and the others. And were now helping Officer Jenny and Mr Looker stop TR.
[Flash back ends.]
"That's all I can do right now I have to go to bed can we pick up here tomorrow?"
John couldn't control his Bulbasaur. When he took him out of his ball to battle a wild Rattat he stared at it and did nothing.
"Use Vine Whip." Bulbasaur did nothing. Rattat used Quick Attack to get up close and hit Bulbasaur. "Tackle." Bulbasaur still didn't listen to him.
Rattata left the battlefield. John was rubbing his hair and screaming to him. He still had trouble with his Pokémon and he didn't know what to do.
"You were using Vine all wrong." John knew that voice. He turned around and saw Nicole with her Squirtle Spurt. "You have to call Vine by his name. That's the name he's had at birth. Before each battle you also have to offer him a treat and give it to him after s battle."
"Thanks for the advice, but I don't have time to remember all of this," John answered standing up and pulling on his hair as he tried to think.
"I know. No one knows more about Vine, Smoke, and Spurt than me. That's why I want to come with you on your Pokémon journey."
"Why should you come with me? Why should you have to teach me about my own Pokémon! I should have given my Pokémon its nickname!" John yelled at Nicole.
Nicole came up to John and whispered into his ear, "John you don't realise how hard was it for me to see the Pokémon I had help care for since they hatch leave my side! The least you can do is treat Vine like he had been since he had hatched!"
John took a deep breath of air out of his mouth. She was right as usual. It pained John to know a girl knew more about him about Pokémon, but she wasn't the first girl who was better than him.
"You can come with me."
"Good because I was coming anyway," Nicole says happily.
John didn't get what was going through Nicole's head. She was a weird girl but that weirdness was what made her a good person. John and Nicole walked away from Pallet Town to start their Pokémon journey. A happy Vine, Spurt, and Riken jumped in the air and followed them.