It may have been a beach, but it sure didn't feel like it. There wasn't much sand, and the shoreline didn't even extend very far before it reached the wall around the town. There were rocks everywhere, and the water didn't even crash up against them. It just slowly rose and dropped, occasionally making a splash here or there. At least it was gentle.
Megan stared out at the horizon. The pale sky was almost gray as it joined the ocean. The ocean and the sky were always joined like this... together... forever...
The rocks weren't too comfortable to sit on, but she always felt better to look out at the sea from the southern shore of Pallet Town. Even though the town was small and everyone knew of every place in the town, nobody ever seemed to notice this shore. A light breeze lifed from the ocean, causing Megan's golden brown hair to dance from her shoulders to her neck. She brushed it away and collapsed her head into her lap as the water quietly trickled through the rocks below her.
She had just turned 18, and she had no idea what to do with her life. She had always just planned on becoming a Pokemon trainer, but that didn't work out. She was too afraid to go alone, and her friends had all deserted her for one reason or another. So now she just sat on the rocks and watched the ocean everyday, especially at the horizon. Maybe one day a boat would appear, row up to her, and her old friends would get out and they would go on a Pokemon journey together.
She lifted her head up and grabbed the Pokeball that she kept on her necklace, always with her. She rubbed the blue engraving, and even though it was full of broken dreams, she smiled. Everyone told her that she was being childish to want to raise Pokemon, and that her friends would never come back... but everytime she looked at the Pokeball, she could see their smiles from that day that they bought the Pokeballs together, and she always smiled back.
The wind picked up, and a few drops of water splashed from a rock to her pink sneakers. It was time to go. It was starting to get dark, and she was going to try again today for the last time. She stood up and made her way up the rocky shoreline to the grass, and soon enough to the dirt path back into town. Pallet was a dull town. There were few buildings, and most of the buildings were the same. There weren't even many stores, as most people went to the next town for shopping, or they had things delivered.
Megan strolled slowly past the indentical, gray buildings. This wasn't the Pallet she remembered from her childhood. That Pallet was colorful, and here friends were always there to liven it up... but now it was just a gray cluster of buildings with that lonely, rocky shore. She walked past a flattened area in the ground where a building had been torn down and a new one was going to be built. She paused for a second, shook her head, and continued on to the only building that looked different than all the others: the laboratory.
Though Pallet looks boring, it is the home to the famous Pokemon researcher, Professor Oak. His research is the top in the field, and Pallet often has reporters and other science groups swarming the labs. Today was just a regular day though, and Megan was there to find her friend Ellen, one of the Professor's aides. Just as she was about to grab the handle to the front door, the knob turned.
As the door swung open, a young woman was revealed. She wasn't much taller than Megan was, and she even looked about the same age. She didn't seem to put much time into her appearance, as her short hair just laid on her head, and some of it even rested in her face. She had large, thick-rimmed glasses and was wearing a wrinkled, black turtleneck with a large, white lab coat thrown over it.
"Oh, Megan..." She spoke softly, "Aren't you cold?"
Megan looked down at herself. She was wearing an orange long-sleeved cotton tee-shirt which was pretty thin, and some dark red courdoroy pants. It was the first time she had noticed she was getting cold; it was also the first time she noticed her clothes didn't match at all.
"Hi Ellen!" She replied, "I didn't expect you to be leaving already..."
Ellen's eyes shifted to something far away and back to her friend, "There wasn't much work to do today. Just typing on the computer, and I am fast with that, so..."
"Want to go for a walk with me then?" Megan smiled.
Ellen knew what was coming, but she shrugged, smiled gently, and shut the door behind her. The two walked around the outer edge of Pallet, which was blocked off by a tall wooden wall, built to keep wild Pokemon from entering the town and bothering the residents. The wood was old and warped and had seen quite a bit of wear and tear over it's long lifespan, but it still gave the people of Pallet a feeling of protection and comfort. Megan and Ellen spent most of the walk watching the wooden planks pass them by, until Megan started to speak again.
"Ellen, I know I've bothered you about this a lot, but..." Her voice stammered both from nerves and the cold, "I want to go looking for them. I don't care if we won't find them or if it's stupid or whatever you're going to say. I want to do it... and you have to come with me... please..."
Megan's eyes started to tear up. It always happened when she asked Ellen to go on the journey. It had been a while since the last time, but Ellen was still used to it. She didn't respond for a short while.
"I can't. I work here now, and I've settled in just fine..." Ellen said into the wind, barely reaching Megan's ears, "And they probably have already forgot about us."
"You can't say that, Ellen! I still remember! You still remember!"
"It's been ten years, Megan." She snapped.
Megan flinched. It was the first time Ellen had ever spoken louder than the soft whisper-like tones that she normally spoke in. Even though it was softer than Megan's normal talking, for Ellen it came across as a shout. Together, they continued to walk along the edge of town, not speaking another word.
- - -
"Megan, come outside!" A voice yelled from outside Megan's house, "I got a Charmander!"
Ellen snarled, "Doesn't she know you can just knock?"
Megan and Ellen ran to the voice and opened the front door.
"Alex, that's only a doll!" Megan said as her friend held up her new Pokemon.
Alex giggled, "I know, but there's a new Pokemon store down the street near Oak's lab! You have to go!"
"Okay, let's go!" Megan giggled.
"Shouldn't we ask your mom?" Ellen warned.
Megan laughed, "I'm eight years old! I can go where ever I want!"
Ellen hesitated, but followed the two to the store next to the lab.
A small squeaking noise rang out across the silent night. The two girls had never heard a sound like that before.
"Did you hear that?" Megan started looking around for the source of the sound.
Ellen mumbled, "From over there."
Megan couldn't hear her, but saw her point a finger toward the rocky shore on the south side of Pallet. When did they walk this far?
- - -
Another squeak came from the same place, and the friends ran to see what it was. The sound repeated again, but it was hard to see anything now that it was getting very dark outside. A cold wind swept across the shore and Megan shivered. Ellen looked at her for a bit.
"Oh well, we'll probably never find out what it was. You should go home and get warm." Ellen advised her friend.
Megan spotted a small, wriggling object among the rocks, "No, look!"
The two ran to the little blue object as it struggled and squeaked again. As they got closer they saw it was a small ball-shaped Pokemon. It was only around a foot tall, and it had a white belly with a black swirl on it. It had rather large eyes and a small pink mouth that almost looked like it was wearing lipstick. It had two small feet and a large tail shaped like a shoehorn. The Pokemon was dripping with water, and one of it's small feet was stuck under one of the rocks from the beach. It tried to pull its leg out, but squeaked in pain as it's body plopped sideways against the rough rocks.
Megan quickly pulled the rock off it and picked it up and looked at it's foot. It had been scraped and bruised from the struggle with the rock, and it was slowly starting to bleed. Megan gasped as the smooth and wet Pokemon wiggled in her arms, making it difficult for her to hold.
"Let's take it up in the grass." Ellen suggested.
Kneeled over, Ellen pulled a small bottle of ointment from her pocket as Megan laid the little creature in the grass, trying to calm it down. Ellen used the corner of her coat to dab away the blood from the Pokemon's injury and proceeded to scoop a little ointment on her first two fingers on the other hand.
"Now, this is going to hurt, little guy," Ellen slowly moved her hand toward the wincing Pokemon, "but it will make it heal a lot faster."
As the ointment brushed the open wound, the Pokemon squealed in pain and started to kick wildly. Megan almost started to cry watching the poor Pokemon's face in pain. Ellen carfully pinned the hurt leg to the ground and applied the ointment quickly as the Pokemon wailed into the night.
There was a rustle in the grass behind Megan, but before she could turn to look, a sharp pain cracked into the back of her head. She cried out and leaped forward, her knee landing right next to the Pokemon. She checked to make sure she hadn't mashed the creature into the ground and turned around to see what hit her. The attacker looked like the Pokemon the two girls had rescued, but it was much larger, maybe even two feet taller, and had arms with clenched fists at the end, ready to hit anyone in its path. The little Pokemon jumped up from Ellen's hold and hobbled over to the larger one.
"That must be its mother!" Ellen exclaimed, standing up and backing away, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." Megan stood up, rubbing the back of her head, "She probably heard her baby crying and came to fight us off..."
The larger Pokemon dove at Ellen, but Ellen jumped backwards, falling onto her back. The Pokemon then started running after Megan, swinging its fist violently. It let out a strange yelp as it rammed into Megan. This time it landed a good hit into her stomach, knocking Megan off her feet, but she quickly gained balance and glanced to see if Ellen was okay, but what she saw was more than just that.
Ellen pulled a small ball out of her pocket and pressed a button on it -- it was a Pokeball. Megan noticed that it had a small blue engraving on it and forgot all about the Pokemon that had just attacked her. Ellen threw the ball and a flash of white light brought a small, round Pokemon into the grass. This Pokemon was also a small blue ball, but it had tiny, beady eyes and large leaves growing from its head.
"Oddish, use Sleep Powder on these Pokemon!" Ellen shouted, catching the Pokeball that returned to her hand.
The little Oddish waved its leaves and a cloud of powder filled the air around the two wild Pokemon. They immediately fell over into a deep sleep. Ellen ran to her friend to see if she was okay.
"Ellen..." Megan whispered, "You..."
- - -
A little boy ran to the three girls as the entered the store, "Hey, guys, come look what I found!"
"Hey, Marcus, you came here, too?" Alex asked him.
"Why are you talking to those stupid kids?" An older boy laughed at Marcus.
"Shut up, Joe!" The younger boy snapped back, "They're my friends!"
The three girls followed Marcus away from Joe and to a box in the store. Megan picked up the box. It was shiny and was labeled "Friendship Pokeballs". Inside there were four Pokeballs. They looked like the regular style -- red on one half and white on the other -- but in the red half, above the button, they had small blue engravings of the Japanese characters "To," "Mo," "Da," and "Chi," spelling out the word for "friends."
Megan got excited, "Let's buy these and then use them when we all become Pokemon trainers, okay?"
The four children pitched in their money and bought the set of Pokeballs. Each child took one Pokeball from the box and held it out in front of themselves.
"With these, we promise to go on the greatest Pokemon journey, and to be friends forever!" Megan cheered.
The group chimed together, "It's a promise!"
- - -
"I know..." Ellen's voice returned to a low mumble, "I've been secretly training and raising Oddish. I love Pokemon, and I really want to train them, but I just can't go on a journey with you... I have a job and things now, so I didn't want you to know about Oddish. I'm sorry."
"N-No!" Megan was dumbfounded, "I'm... not mad! I'm so happy! I thought you hated Pokemon training!"
Ellen slightly smiled and walked over to the small Pokemon, "Anyway, I think this Pokemon has broken a bone or two in it's foot. We really need to get it to a Pokemon Center right away."
Megan nodded, still in disbelief.