Episode 1: Pallet Town, where things begin.
It was morning in the small, quiet town of Pallet. Birds sang and the sun shone in through the crooked blinds of a second story window. It was a girl's room, with odd things such as cinder blocks and glass jars scattered on the floor.
Still in bed, the girl was lying on her side with curled brown bangs hanging into her eyes, draped in a sheet and snoring lightly. A sharp buzzing sound began to pierce the air, making the girl's eyes twitch and drag open as a grimace hit her face.
"Ungh... shut up..." she groaned, flailing her arm around clumsily to find the Poliwhirl alarm clock. With a solid thwack to its head, the sound stopped.
The girl remained still for a few moments, her arm still extended, then rolled onto her back. "What time is it?" she asked herself groggily, eyes shifting to the clock.
"8:40? Shit!" she snapped, sitting up quickly and slipping out of the bed.
"Shit, shit, shit..." she repeated to herself as she dragged on a pair of pants, changed shirts, put on a green jacket and yellow socks. Nearly tripping over a large jar, she kicked it angrily at the wall and then rushed out of her room.
----
"Shit..." she muttered as she paced quickly down the road. Her hair was a mess as usual, her face unpleasant and her green eyes dazed and bloodshot.
"Good morning, Kylie!" chimed a heavyset, middle-aged man, who waved to the girl.
"Unh?" she answered, looking to him as she went. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered, waving blandly and continuing on her way.
"Aren't you getting your first Pokémon today?" he wondered, unaffected by her demeanor.
"Yeah!" she snapped. "So I don't have friggin' time to talk to you..."
The man watched contentedly as she went by. "Ah, that Kylie... just like her father at that age," he remarked in a sentimental tone.
Soon, Kylie arrived at the largest building in town, the laboratory of Professor Oak. As she tugged open the double door, she could hear him in the main hall, giving his typical introductory speech.
"My name is Oak, but some people call me the Pokémon Prof.!" he stated matter-of-factly to a group comprised largely of dazed twelve year-olds. Kylie moved up and took her place in the back.
"I've devoted my life to studying Pokémon!" he explained, folding his arms behind his back. Kylie was still half-asleep on her feet, drifting in and out of his words.
"Pokémon are... certain creatures... in the wild... special abilities... that coexist with humans... it's an important responsibility..."
Kylie couldn't believe how much the man could talk, but before long her mind wandered to the Pokémon that filled the various red and white balls upon the large table. She had spent the past week debating on which Pokémon to pick, even though she had known all along what she wanted.
She was going to pick the Grass Pokémon Bulbasaur, because as far as she was concerned, the other two were sort of stupid-looking. She replayed this decision in her mind again and again as Oak talked.
Something in Oak's eyes caught Kylie's attention, and she stared up at him as he concluded his extended lecture:
"I hope that all of you will learn and experience many new and wonderful things as you begin your Pokémon adventures! Now, please form a line and you may each select your very own Pokémon."
She smiled a little. She was convinced this would be the best thing she ever got to do. Her Bulbasaur could probably clobber all the weak Pidgey and Rattata around town.
Only one bad thought struck her; what if all the Bulbasaur were taken? Being in the back of the crowd had placed her near the end of the line.
"Now then," Oak explained, "from left to right, the Pokéballs you see contain Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon, which is a Grass type; Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon, a Fire type; and Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle, and a Water type."
"I'd like a Bulbasaur!" requested the small kid in shorts at the front of the line. Oak smiled and handed him a Pokéball.
Growling, Kylie watched with narrow eyes and waited as the line moved up.
"Uh... I heard Bulbasaur is the best, so..." the next kid said.
Kylie's face twitched as another Bulbasaur was taken, threatening to fulfill her fears. Most of these kids were boys, and a little younger than her. She was convinced she could beat most of them up, though Oak would probably restrain her from stealing their Pokémon.
"Charmander! Charmander!" yelled a hyperactive boy, barely able to stand still once he reached the table.
"Yes, yes, Jason," Oak agreed, seeming to know the boy, holding a ball toward him but not yet relenquishing it to his grabbing hands. "I already spoke to your mother about this, but please be responsible with this Pokémon's Fire-type abilities..."
"Yes! YES! Charmander!" the boy yelled again as he took the ball and charged away from the table. "This is so awesome!"
He threw the ball down and as it hit the ground, a small orange reptile emerged in a flash of light, its long tail marked at the tip by a ball of burning flame.
"Ah - Jason! Please, not indoors!" Oak called out to him, fruitlessly.
"Who wants to battle? Huh? HUH? Who?!" Jason demanded, looking around with deranged eyes at the other children who had just received their Pokémon.
"They'll give a Pokémon to anyone these days," Kylie muttered, then spoke up. "Hey, kid! Take your Charmander outside or I'm gonna punt it and you both right out the door!"
"Oh yeah?!" Jason said, pointing at Kylie. "Charmander! Use your Flamethrower attack!"
A few children panicked or screamed, expecting flames to shoot forth from its mouth, but the Charmander merely blinked curiously at Jason's extended finger, then at Kylie, with its large, friendly eyes.
"Er... can I please get an aide out here?" Oak requested loudly, in a bit of a panic, looking to where his nearest staff members were working.
A middle-aged woman in glasses briskly walked up and politely escorted Jason and Charmander toward the door.
"There's one every year," Oak spoke to himself, with a weary scratch of his head.
The line continued to progress, and Kylie was getting frustrated. Bulbasaur was the popular choice, and she feared there wouldn't be enough.
"Ooohh... out of my way!" she suddenly barked at the hapless youths in front of her, beginning to shove past of them. Most of them let her by, and the few that didn't weren't very difficult to move.
"I said, out of-" Kylie was brought to pause by the taller boy ahead of her in line who ignored her request.
She narrowed her eyes at him, puzzled. He seemed to be the oldest one there, if not the same age as her. He was also quite distinct even from behind, clad in a vibrant blue jacket, with wavy pink hair that frizzed outward in certain places.
"Please..." he said in a calm tone, looking over his shoulder at her. He had on sunglasses and a white scarf around his neck, nestled inside the raised collar of his jacket. "Wait your turn."
"Who the hell are you?" she asked, leaning her head forward. "I've never seen you around here before."
"Kylie, you don't know Brand?" said a heavyset kid behind her.
"My family lives here," the boy in blue interjected, turning to look at them. "However, we've been studying fossils on Cinnabar Island for some time. I've returned to receive a Pokémon from the Prof."
"Fossils?" Kylie repeated. "Sounds boring."
"He lives in that big house on the edge of town," another boy told her. "The one you thought was abandoned."
"Oh, right, the place where I threw the cinder block through that big window!" remembered Kylie.
The boy named Brand stared at her. "That was you, huh?"
"Yup!" she said with a smile, not seeing any problem.
Brand frowned subtly at her. "Your behavior is questionable. Kylie, is it? A pushy vandal like you isn't suited to Pokémon training."
She gritted her teeth at him. "What's your problem? You wanna fight?!"
"Hmph," he said and turned his back to her. "It's my turn."
"Hey!" she piped after him as he walked up to the table where Oak was waving off the previous youth, a carefree girl who was skipping away happily with her Pokéball. Kylie shot her a glare that drew a scared, timid reaction from her.
"Ah, Brand, it's good to see you!" Oak told the boy. "How are your parents doing?"
"Things are well," Brand said politely. "We are close to reviving a prehistoric Pokémon."
"Oh, I've read about it in one of their reports! It's quite exciting," Oak replied with a nod.
Kylie made a disgusted face and looked between the two at the table. There were three divisions there, a red, blue and green one. Of the green, only one ball remained. Her Bulbasaur.
"Ugh...!" she groaned and stormed up to the table. "Who cares about some dinosaur Pokémon? If you aren't going to pick one, it's my turn!"
"Ahaha..." Oak laughed nervously. "My apologies, Kylie. It was my fault for distracting him. Brand, go ahead and choose."
"But, he's going to take the last Bulbasaur!" she protested.
"Hmm..." Oak put his hand to his chin and thought. "Bulbasaur appears to have been quite popular today."
"Calm yourself," Brand said, glancing at the girl from the corner of his eye. "Disregard your concerns. I'm going to choose the Tiny Turtle Pokémon, Squirtle."
"Good!" she said back bitterly.
"Now then," Oak said pleasantly. "Kylie, it's time to choose your Pokémon. Do you need me to remind you about each one?"
"I know the damn Pokémon," Kylie answered impatiently. "I want this one."
She scooped up the last Pokéball from the green set while Oak frowned at her strong language.
"Good choice," Brand told Kylie as she stepped away from the table. "Bulbasaur is an even-tempered Pokémon. It's good for beginners."
Kylie clenched her fists. "Who are you calling a beginner?!"
"You're just now beginning, aren't you?" he answered with a shrug.
As the two quarreled, the last in line received their Pokémon, and around that time a boy in a red cap walked in silently and approached Oak.
"Hello, Kei. I thought you might not come," Oak told the boy, watching him as he surveyed the remaining Pokéballs. "Sorry, but there are no more Bulbasaur left for today. If you were set on one, I can-"
The boy chose a ball from the red set.
"Ah, very good. Charmander may be more difficult to raise, but I'm sure you'll do fine."
The boy walked back toward the door, glancing at Kylie and Brand as he passed. Kylie looked his way just long enough to meet with his red-brown eyes.
"Anyway, just don't assume you can get away with anything just because you have a Pokémon now," Brand nagged Kylie strictly, but the girl turned away from him, hair swishing as she followed after the boy in red and black.
---
"Wait a second!" Kylie moodily called out to the boy, just outside of Oak's lab. "You're not from around here, are you?"
He kept going, angering the girl who had her fists on her hips.
"I'm talking to you!" she said more loudly. "These are Pokémon for people from Pallet Town only!"
"I lived in Pallet..." the boy finally replied, stopping and glancing over his shoulder coldly, a black lock of hair hanging over his eye.
"Before my parents died."
Kylie stared at him in awkward silence as he turned and walked off.
"Not many people knew about Kei," Brand stated as he walked up beside Kylie.
"Kei?" she asked, pointing after him. "That guy?"
Brand nodded. "Mm. It was five years ago, I think. He went to an orphanage in Viridian City after that, but he was waiting until Oak would give him a Pokémon."
Kylie looked down at the Pokéball in her hand. "Eh, that doesn't matter to me. I have a Pokémon now! And the first thing I'm going to do is hand you your ass so you have something to stuff in that big mouth of yours!"
Brand gave her a crooked frown. "That's... somewhat of a disturbing image. You really have it out for me that badly? Then, I suppose we can battle. Even this early on in our paths, the results should be telling."
"Yap, yap, yap! Just bring out your Pokémon!" she said and threw her Pokéball down. "Go, Bulbasaur!"
The Pokémon that appeared, Bulbasaur, announced its name in a gritty voice. A speckled creature of blue and green, bearing a large plant bulb on its back, it looked to its owner for the first time.
Kylie made an odd face. "I kind of thought you'd be bigger..."
Taking out his Pokéball, Brand released his Squirtle before him. "Come out, Squirtle."
The small, cyan turtle with a wave pattern on its tail emerged, down on all fours; with a slow push of its front limbs it wobbled and lifted until it stood.
"Nice to meet you," Brand told it cordially, kneeling down and extending his hand. The Squirtle gave him a scrutinizing gaze before accepting the human's handshake.
"My name's Brand. I hope we can find working together to be mutually pleasing."
The Squirtle looked reluctant, but offered up its own language of agreement, the shake ending soon after.
Meanwhile, Kylie had squatted down next to Bulbasaur. "Hey, why don't you stand like Squirtle?" she asked.
Bulbasaur made a few bucking motions and lifted to two feet, but within a second it slumped back down to all fours. It didn't appear to have the coordination, or at least the desire to stand.
"What's wrong with you? Did they give me a weak one?!" she ranted.
"Bulbasaur moves on four legs because of the seed on its back," Brand explained.
"Er... I knew that," she said, standing back up. "I mean, it's obvious just by looking at it."
"If you say so. Then, do you still wish to battle now?" he asked, reaching up and moving the rim of his shades.
"Of course! I'm ready when you are!" Kylie said with a clenched fist and a pointed finger. "Go, Bulbasaur! Tackle it!"
Bulbasaur looked back to her and nodded quickly, dashing forward on its small limbs.
"Squirtle," Brand instructed fluidly as he crossed his arms, "Withdraw."
The Squirtle blinked once in thought and then quickly slipped its legs, tail and head inside of its brown and yellow shell. It remained midair for a split-second as Bulbasaur charged into it headfirst, both bouncing in opposite directions afterward.
"No fair, you coward!" Kylie shouted. "Come out of there, Squirtle!"
Brand's Squirtle poked its head out of its shell and saw the staggered Bulbasaur getting back on its feet. It slipped back out of the shell.
"Tackle it, Squirtle."
Squirtle sprang forward and dove at Bulbasaur with its elbow, the weight of its shell lending force to the attack which sent Bulbasaur flipping in a short flight backwards. The Grass Pokémon shook its head back and forth and regained its posture, though in pain.
"Perhaps you should give your own Pokémon orders, instead of mine," said Brand.
"Ugh... Bulbasaur! What moves do you know?" she asked her Pokémon.
Squirtle wobbled on one leg as Bulbasaur stared at Kylie blankly.
Brand's mouth curled at one end in disappointment, and he lowered his shades to look at her directly with his dark turquoise eyes. "You planned on Bulbasaur as your Pokémon, but you don't know its moves?" he asked in stiff disbelief.
Two cordlike green extremities emerged from Bulbasaur's bulb, twisting slowly in the air. Kylie's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly.
"Oh, right! Vine Whip!" she said. "Use it!"
The Bulbasaur couldn't escape the feeling that it would do better fighting without its trainer. It reared back a vine that then lashed downward at Squirtle. The turtle hopped to one side of the vine with the foot upon which it had been aimlessly tottering. However, the other vine then swung down at it.
"Squirtle!" Brand called to it, but neither of them came up with a solution in time and the Squirtle was struck in the head by the vine, knocked to its belly.
"Keep attacking!" Kylie called out.
"Withdraw!" Brand instructed.
Squirtle ducked into its shell as the next vine whips rapped at it, causing it to pivot and rock from the impact.
"You can't stay in there forever!" Kylie said. "Bulbasaur! Can you pick it up?"
Bulbasaur's vines snaked around Squirtle's shell and lifted it off the ground. Brand watched with a slight grimace as Squirtle was shaken about in the air.
"Now smash it into the ground!" called Kylie, sounding bloodthirsty.
Bulbasaur hesitated for a moment, but then it took the shell and bashed it into the street. Sparks flew as the smooth shell hit the rough concrete and rebounded into the air where the vines still held it aloft.
"You really think you can break a Squirtle's shell so easily?" Brand asked, although he was still concerned.
"We'll see!" Kylie retorted. "Keep it up, Bulbasaur!"
With a loud slam, Squirtle's shell rattled and scuff marks showed on its surface. A crack was left on the road. Several of the youths from Oak's lab had gathered to watch the fight, but they all backed up as Squirtle hit the road.
Brand bit his lip. "Squirtle..." he said quietly. "Am I, an heir to the proud Hildegard family, so easily beaten...?"
Kylie sensed her opponent's worry and laughed proudly. "Ready to give up already?"
"Squirtle's losing because it's weak to Grass types," one boy told a girl next to him.
"Huh?" Kylie asked, looking over her shoulder at the boy who jumped in surprise. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Y-you didn't know?" he asked, wide-eyed. "Grass beats Water, Water beats Fire, Fire beats..."
"Don't be stupid!" Kylie snapped. "I'm winning because I'm better!"
Brand winced as Squirtle was flung around, still hiding out in its shell. "She didn't know such a thing? No... I can't lose to such a girl."
With one arm folded over his chest, he raised his other hand to his chin and thought carefully. "Squirtle. Use your Bubble attack."
Responsively, Squirtle popped its head out of its shell, its limbs following. Finding itself still suspended midair, it opened its mouth and with a gurgling noise spat bubbles toward Bulbasaur.
"Pfft!" Kylie scoffed. "Haha, bubbles. Knock it around some more, Bulbasaur!"
The bubbles pelted Bulbasaur in the face, one popping in front of its eye and momentarily distracting it, but after that it simply pounded the helpless Squirtle into the sidewalk. No longer hiding in its shell, the Squirtle cried out in pain this time.
"Keep using Bubbles!" Brand called out boldly. "Aim for its vines!"
Blood ran down Squirtle's head but it was still keen to fight. It opened its mouth and began to spit a stream of bubbles, the way they drifted making their aim too poor to hit the thin vines. To solve this, it aimed at the stretch of vines right next to its own shell, hitting itself as well. It didn't know what its trainer had in mind yet, but it had little option but to try.
Kylie glared at the battle impatiently. "This is just getting stupid now! Bulbasaur! Finish it already!"
Brand watched carefully as Bulbasaur raised Squirtle up high and started to swing it hard toward the ground. To the surprise of everyone, Squirtle popped out of Bulbasaur's hold and spun around in the air. The vines slapped onto the street and Squirtle landed on one leg, bouncing questionably a few times before righting itself.
"What?" Kylie huffed, shaking her fist. "Bulbasaur, why'd you let go?!"
Brand grinned slyly as he looked upon his Squirtle, its shell subtly gleaming with moisture in the sunlight. "It slipped," he said plainly.
"Urrgh!" Kylie fumed, stamping her foot. "Bulbasaur! Vine Whip! Get it!"
"Not this time!" Brand announced. "Squirtle! Tail Whip!"
Squirtle rushed forward, skittering out of the way of the slap of a vine. It turned its back to Kylie and the other vine met its shell and slid off from the slickness. Taking one hop closer, Squirtle slung its tail in between Bulbasaur's legs, then spun itself around on one foot, tripping the Grass Pokémon onto its back.
"Bulbasaur! Get up!" Kylie screamed at it.
"Squirtle! Tackle!" Brand called out.
Squirtle bent its knees and dove headfirst into Bulbasaur's exposed belly, shuddering it and sending it rolling to Kylie's feet. The spectators began to cheer.
"No! Bulbasaur, we can't lose like this!" Kylie whined, dropping down to her knees and shaking the creature in an attempt to stir it.
Bulbasaur tried to move, but it flinched in pain in the attempt, its leg spasming.
"You did well, Squirtle," Brand said with a sigh of relief.
"Hey, it's not over yet!" Kylie snapped and shook Bulbasaur harder.
Shaking his head, Brand then adjusted his shades and frowned at her seriously. "Your Bulbasaur can't fight like that. I have no interest in harming it further. Clearly I've won."
"Grr... you bastard!" she said, gritting her teeth and hanging her head. Bulbasaur was clearly not going to get up, although it was still conscious.
"You fought better than I thought," he said and walked up to his Squirtle. "Squirtle, we'll go to the Pokémon Center and have you attended to. I suggest you do the same, Kylie."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," she muttered, picking up her Pokémon and looking it over. "C'mon, Bulbasaur..."
Brand sighed and watched her as he returned his Squirtle to its ball. He had nothing else to say to her. He turned and began to leave.
"You... Hey, you! Cotton candy head!" Kylie called out to him.
"Hm?" he asked, stopping.
She stood up, holding Bulbasaur to her chest. "You'd better be ready, 'cause next time I'm not going to lose!"
Brand didn't turn to face her. He thought about her words and took in a breath.
"It will be the same every time. I'll never lose to a trainer like you."
It was quiet as the crowd drifted away and Brand continued walking off.
"That girl would have had no problem killing my Squirtle, I'm sure of it... or her own Bulbasaur," he said to himself once he was out of sight. "I fundamentally cannot accept a trainer like that."
"That bastard thinks he's so great," she said to herself, glaring off where he had been, "just because he knows more than me... I'll just have to get better, that's all. Isn't that right, Bulbasaur."
---
Pallet Town, where many aspiring trainers begin their Pokémon journeys. As Professor Oak sends off the latest group, what will become of them? Who among them will achieve greatness?
Next time: Viridian City awaits.