Pallet town hadn't always been so crowded, but the population had been growing steadily since the day Professor Samuel Oak gave the first starter Pokemon out. Young trainers flocked to the once peaceful town continuously in hopes to get a Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, and because of this, a new Pokemon center had to be built just south of the main housing. All the newcoming trainers stayed in it, and Tavis Sanczel, who had come from Vermillion city by the wings of a Fearow, had hopped on the bandwagon this year.
He was eleven years old. A thin pale boy with eyes and hair that shared the same dark brown color, he stood just under 5' tall, with absolutely no visible muscle tone. On his shoulder usually perched his only friend in this unfamiliar place; a Farfetch'd named Arree, though being just a pet for five or six years had kept him much too weak for battle. Tavis already had his mind set on which Pokemon would be his "starter." As he visualized it, a loud knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. Before Tavis had a chance to get a reasonably clear view of who was there, the guy mismanneredly shoved his way in. This is where his story really begins.
"Hey kid, I'm Karick Morse, your traveling buddy. What's your name?" This stranger was tall and was built like a basketball player. His skin was tan and his head was covered with very light brown hair, on top of which was a blue baseball cap placed backwards.
Tavis was completely dumbfounded. What just happened?
"T-traveling buddy?"
"Well, that's a pretty weird name." Karick laughed at his own joke, which wasn't giving Tavis a wonderful impression. "Heh heh... no, but seriously. New rule says that all trainers younger than thirteen have to travel with a more experienced trainer, I've been assigned to you, and this would go a lot easier if you'd tell me your name."
"Is this a joke?"
"Name, please."
"Tavis."
"Tavis?? That's an even weirder name!"
Tavis was sure someone was pulling a prank on him at this point, so he promptly shooed out Karick and closed the door after him. But Karick remained persistant in being obnoxious.
"Stay in denial if you want, kid, but you're not allowed get your pokemon without me!"
"There's no way I'm travelling with anyone but you, Arree," he whispered to his confused bird. "Especially not with that guy."
--
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
"All trainers under thirteen must be accompanied by their traveling buddy to obtain a starting pokemon. Move along, young man."
He wasn't about to argue with the security guard at the door to Professor Oak's laboratory. Turning away with Arree at his side, dark clouds seemingly hung low in the sky above him.
No, really, it was going to rain.
His sad eyes fell upon a young, red-haired girl. Standing next to her was another girl who looked Karick's age, fifteen or sixteen, presumably her travelling buddy. He watched her eagerly toss a pokeball a few feet, sending out a red light that eventually dimmed down to reveal the form of a Squirtle.
Why did he have to be supervised by another human? Wasn't a Pokemon enough? Was is only because they didn't speak the same language? If only he had been born just two years earlier... this wasn't fair.
"Come on, Arree. Let's go find that Karick person."
Karick took this as his cue to leap out of the shrubs where he was hiding. "No need for a search party, I'm here!"
"Are you stalking me?!"
Just then, they were both startled by a new voice. "So Karick, I see you're escorting a rookie trainer." It was none other than Professor Oak himself! Tavis didn't know how to react, but luckily he didn't have to.
"Hey, Professor! Yeah, I'm with Tavis here. We're getting along great," Karick lied.
"That's nice to hear," said Oak, though judging by the humiliated look on Tavis' face he didn't quite believe Karick's last remark. "I assume you're Tavis?"
"Yes, sir. I'm here for a Pokemon," Tavis stammered, and bowed his head.
"Great. Just follow me inside, and you can meet your companion."
--
On a table were three Pokeballs placed neatly in front of labels describing the creature inside. Oak waved his hand at the three red and white balls. "Here are the three types available as a starter. A bit of advice, the most popular one is Bulbasaur. Because of its grass-type characteristics, it's the easiest to beat the closer gyms."
Tavis knew what he wanted. "I'd like a--"
"Get a Bulbasaur," Karick interrupted. "Trust me, that was my starter!"
"Let the boy choose on his own, Karick." Tavis was thankful to have Oak around for now to keep Karick quiet.
"I'll take this one, please." He pointed to one of the pokeballs.
"Very well." Oak handed Tavis a ball with a fancy mark etched in just above the opening. "You do know how to get it out of the ball, correct?"
"Like this?" Tavis tossed the pokeball onto the same table with the other two. That familiar red light exploded, but hit the others slightly, causing them to open as well. All three were on the table when it faded. The two without trainers looked at Arree (who scowled back), but the one Tavis had chosen was curled in a ball, eyes tightly shut, too frightened to move.
The excited expression on his face moved to a frown - not from disappointment, but more out of concern.
"What's wrong with this Charmander?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. That one isn't exactly fit for fighting, but I can get you another one." Oak started toward another room, probably with other Charmander inside.
"Uh, no, thank you. I want this one."
The orange lump had uncurled slightly and was now peering cautiously around the room. Behind it, the Squirtle sprayed it with a weak water gun. Squirtle and Bulbasaur snickered childishly while the Charmander shrank back into a fetal position and whimpered.
"Tavis, we made a mistake with it. Normally we let the biological parents take care of their children until they're about three months old, but this one here was accidentally taken when it was far younger than the rest. It's too timid to battle. Are you sure you want it?"
"Man, get a Bulbasaur! That thing's a wimp," Karick spoke up again.
"Well, I don't want it to live its entire life in a laboratory like this. No offense to you, sir." Tavis lifted the Charmander into his arms. Arree nudged it with his bill, but it still wouldn't move. "Maybe he would feel better if I took him outside."
Oak shrugged. "Suit yourself, but just come see me if you decide you can't handle it. I have something else for your journey. Two empty pokeballs for catching wild Pokemon. We used to give out five, but with our growing popularity we have had to cut some expensive. However, once you reach Viridian City you should be able to buy more yourself -- they aren't overly costly."
"That's fine, sir. Thank you!" Arree hopped onto Tavis' shoulder as he carried his new pokemon, and Karick trailed closely behind. Oak watched Tavis with mixed feelings of admiration and confusion and didn't give Karick a second thought.
--
Everyone was sitting in the lobby of the Pokemon center. Some young trainers were getting everything ready to leave. Some clung to a parent, crying, while their mothers explained that is was family tradition to be a Pokemon trainer, others had the same situation on the videophones. Tavis let Arree and Jasper sit on a bench as discussed something with Karick.
"Look, Karick. I wasn't planning on doing this with, you know, another person, and we aren't getting along anyway. I think we should split up after we leave this town."
Karick only laughed at Tavis. "Tough luck. They require that we both check in in the Gym of every city we reach."
"That's stupid." He was curious as to when the rules were changed, and why, but Karick was annoying and not worth talking to. He asked Arree a favor instead. "Arree, can you talk to Jasper and try to make him feel more comfortable?"
"Farr fetched," he replied, after removing his prized possession, a green stick, from his beak. Of course he didn't know exactly what Tavis was saying, but he got the basic idea from his body language.
"You nickname your pokemon?"
"Yeah, it seems better than just calling them by their species names," Tavis said. "Arree and Jasper are my only two anyway."
"That's a waste of time. It's easier to remember the names of their species."
"But there are so many of every species, it might get confusing sometimes."
"Also, your 'Jasper' is a girl."
(And Tavis was all like 0o;;;;;;;;;;)
"What's the matter with you, why are you hiding?" Arree attempted prying information out of Jasper, but speaking before the words were thought out, it sounded more harsh than he had wanted it to.
"What's the matter with you? Why are you talking to me?" was Jasper's defensive reply. She still sat on the bench, but her eyes never met Arree's.
"Don't be afraid of me. I don't want to hurt you, and I couldn't even if I did. I'm not strong at all."
"What about them?" Jasper looked up for only a second, at the two humans.
"Well, the shorter one, his name's Tavis, he's nice. We've been friends for a long time. I wouldn't trust that other one, though," Arree joked, nudging Jasper a little.
She finally looked at him and asked, "Do you have a name?"
"I'm Arree. Wanna be friends?"
"Uh, okay."
"Man, if these people are deciding to leave when it's about to rain, I doubt their status as trainers is going to last long." He really speaking more to himself, but Karick overheard Tavis' commentary.
"I thought we were doing that."
"Of course not! If we run into another trainer who wants to battle, a Charmander is probably not up to playing in puddles!" Tavis snapped back.
"I'm getting the Earthbadge as soon as I can, and I have authority over you. Frickin' tool."
"You'll get in trouble if you leave without me, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
...Karick really was an idiot.
"I'm not going to leave until the storm lets up, and you can't make me do otherwise."
Ten minutes later, all Tavis's things were stuffed into a backpack; Jasper in her pokeball, and Arree on his shoulder. With a black eye he glared at Karick backed by a huge growling Rhydon and said, "You suck."
Karick, now wearing a smirk, recalled his Rhydon.
And they were on their way.
This story has been brought to you by 2004. Go look at Neurospaston you guys, it's better. D: