I was looking over some of my older stuff, and found, to my extreme pleasure, some old magazines from the 90's, specifically magazines about Pokemon, the first real anime series I ever got into. Although it's been years since I stopped watching new episodes of Pokemon, the series, specifically the Kanto region, always held a dear place in my heart. So, as a tribute to the series that first made me an anime fan, I've decided to start a little fanfiction following the adventures of three really different trainers setting off on their Pokemon journey. Now, I know that sounds clichéd, but I feel that anyone, so long as they're a good writer, can make a clichéd idea appealing. To people reading my other two fanfictions, The Other Daughter of Serenity (a Sailor Moon fanfic) and An Angel Doesn't Belong in a Fruits Basket (an Evangelion/Fruits Basket crossover), rest assured they will be going ahead as according to plan. I just want to add this third fic to my resovoir, especially considering TODOS is almost finished. ^_^
One brief tidbit of information before you start reading: this takes place in the world of Kanto, and will only feature the original 151 little critters unless I choose otherwise. The reason for this is that I really stopped watching Pokemon at the end of Johto because the series was really carrying on way too much with lots of useless filler, but the original Kanto series had precious little filler, and the filler that it did have was fresh and original. I just love the original saga a thousand times more, and believe that Red and Blue were two of the hardest Pokemon games ever, so there you go.
So, enough explaining! Time to get on with that story you came here to read. Please Read and Review! I love to hear reviews, especially extremely critical ones so I know what to improve upon. ^_^ Enjoy.
The Impossible Dream
Part 1
8:00 AM was the time the gates opened. 8:00 AM was when the passage of time would be steered ever so slightly in a new direction. 8:00 was when destinies and dreams would be shaped. 8:00 AM was when dreams would see their genesis, and be lead down the road to their utter annihilation. It was at 8:00 AM that Professor Oak opened the doors to his little facility, and allowed the children of Pallet, the new generation, to accept their starter Pokemon.
It was a tradition he held in high regard, an action he performed every year, on the dot. Every so often, a person would come late, and he'd have to use one of his emergency Pokemon to keep the child from bursting into tears. It was this problem, that children would cry when he had to reject him, that drove the dear professor to raise the age from 10 to 14 after the rather troubling incidents involving his grandson and his rival, Red, in the face of Team Rocket. Thankfully, that organization had since disbanded, and there were rumors that, even now, in Johto, the remaining members of that dreadful gang were being rounded up and taken care of by a group of children. Although it did the good professor proud to see his own disciples eliminating international crime rings, their parents were less than pleased at the prospect of sending their little children off into the world filled with baddies wishing them irreparable harm, so he decided to try to wait a little longer before sending little children who had yet to go through puberty into the cold world to fend for themselves.
Usually, after opening the gates, it took several minutes before any of the children actually arrived. However, to his astonishment, he found a rather innocent looking girl, her hands rubbing along her shapely legs to warm them up in the cold beyond the professor's threshold, wearing a rather adorable sky blue fur jacket over her slender, mature frame, and innocent blue jeans over her shapely legs that would be the envy of any grown woman, her gentle, heart shaped face aimed toward the good Professor with those sweet pools of azure set dead center on her angelic face. "Oh dear," Professor Oak stammered, stepping back a few feet to allow the girl passage into the facility, "I didn't expect you to arrive here so soon, Mary."
Mary smiled, innocently, as she said, proudly in her soft, high voice, "I arrived here ten minutes early to make sure I was first in line."
"Very proactive and mature of you, Mary."
"Thanks, I knew you'd say that." Mary took a few steps forward into the rather sloppily prepared lab. The Professor noted that Mary glanced over at the stacks of disorganized graphs and charts, closing her eyes momentarily in disgust, before twirling around on her toes, a broad smile on her lips, as she asked, in that same sweet tone, "May I ask for one of the Pokemon? I've been waiting so long for this day to come, you know."
"That I do," Professor Oak replied, smiling.
"Would it be impolite to just ask for what I want right now? I've wanted this baby for a long time, and I know exactly what to chose." The Professor wasn't sure whether or not Mary regarded the Pokemon as a pet, as an adopted child, or perhaps as a new dress that had just arrived in the outlet fashion store. After the Professor assured her that her future actions would be, in no way, considered in polite, Mary came to the point, never once breaking that innocent tone of hers, never once unfolding her hands behind her back. "If I may, would it be alright if I chose Squirtle?"
"That's a fine decision." Mary approached the table standing only five meters away, curling her fingers around the Poke-ball with a water droplet imprinted on the front. With a glint of longing in her eye, she pressed the button along the ball's equator, summoning a surge of light, releasing the adorable little pale blue turtle from its spherical confinement.
"Squirt!" the animal cooed, staring up at its lovely master. The Squirtle dove into her bosom, stroking its cheek against her collar bone, devoted. Mary stroked the back of its head with her finger, a small smile crawling up her lips, though it was hard to really know just what she was smiling about.
"It's adorable."
"I'm glad you like it. Now, here is your Pokedex. Thanks to Red and Blue, it's been completed, but I think it will still be a good idea to take it with you on your journey." Professor Oak withdrew the red miniature computer, which Mary eyed with a less than enthusiastic expression.
"Thanks very much," Mary replied, accepting the machine, pocketing it, surely never to withdraw it again, "By the way, would it be possible for you to give me some Poke-balls? I hear Route 01 is filled with wild Pokemon."
"I would love to, but those balls cost money. Don't worry, I'm sure once you arrive at Viridian City you can purchase some, especially if you beat some of the trainers located there."
Mary's face fell. "But, Professor, would it be really that big of a deal? I mean, just one little ball?"
"I'm sorry, Mary, but those are the rules. Don't worry; I hear your family is well off. You should be able to afford plenty of balls, and besides, the Pokemon on Route 01 are not worth capturing."
Slightly crestfallen, Mary replied, reclaiming some of her lost charm. "That's perfectly fine. Thanks a lot, Professor."
"You're quite welcome. Good luck."
Professor Oak waited an additional ten minutes for the next trainer to arrive. This Asian girl was the complete opposite of the walking Goddess Mary. This girl was a little pudgy, not fat, but just a tad overweight. Although she still was a rather pretty girl, she wasn't quite flawless like Mary. Her short locks of hair fell along her shoulders as she approached Professor Oak, wearing jeans and an ordinary hooded sweatshirt, her arms at her side, a cheerful expression on her face.
"Hello there, Yumi," Professor Oak replied, smiling in amusement.
"Hey," Yumi replied, waving goofily, her lips curled in a broad, toothy grin, "Good to see you, Professor."
"Good to see you too. Might I assume you're hear for—"
"No, I walked here because it's good for my health."
"Well, in that case, I suppose I won't need to give you one of these—"
"Professor, I'm being sarcastic."
"Oh," Professor Oak replied, mildly amused. Sarcasm was a trait, despite all the books he had read and all the sights he had seen, that he'd never truly come to grasp completely. Regardless, he camouflaged his moment of ignorance with a laugh of confidence. "I know that, Yumi. Of course you'd never just walk here to—"
"Can I have a Squirtle?" Yumi asked.
"Come again?"
"A Squirtle," Yumi repeated, "Just like my big brother got a few years back, you know? He had a Squirtle, and it was so cute I knew it was what I wanted ever since I was a little kid. You do have a Squirtle, don't you?"
"I'm afraid I already gave one to Mary," Professor Oak replied, frowning slightly.
"Mary was here already?" stammered Yumi, her fists clenched.
"The moment we opened up, I'm afraid," Professor Oak replied, "Perhaps you could learn from her example and be a little more on time."
"She took that Squirtle because I wanted it," Yumi muttered.
"I'm sure she wouldn't do something as selfish as that, but don't worry, we have two other Pokemon here for you to choose from."
Yumi considered this, gazing at the two balls ahead of her, weighing her options. After a few moments of thinking, she asked, anxiously, "Is it possible to capture a Squirtle in the wild?"
"It's extremely rare, but not unheard of. Most of these three Pokemon are bred, but I'm sure countless trainers are willing to set up a trade."
"Alright, I'll take Charmander, then," Yumi replied, approaching the table, withdrawing a Poke-ball imprinted with a red hot ball of flame.
"Wise decision," Professor Oak replied, "That's just what my grandson chose, you know."
"Blue?" Yumi asked, "What gym is he in charge of, again?"
"Viridian, but it's probably best for you to try facing him much later on, like after you've collected the other 7 badges."
"Is he that tough?" Yumi asked, curiously.
"Oh, he's one of the best," the Professor replied, smiling, "Why, he's probably second only to Red himself."
"Well, I'm sure he can't be that good, can he?"
"Well, he usually uses his weaker Pokemon against trainers trying to face the Elite Four, but he is formidable to say the least even with his weaker members of his team."
"He's pretty hot," Yumi confessed, blushing deep red, "Actually, he's just delicious." Professor Oak felt his body begin to overheat as he stared in shock at the girl before him as she began to blush, her knees almost giving way to her weight as she dreamed of Blue's face. Professor Oak was saved from having to endure this sight for much longer by the welcomed proclamation of the third trainer's arrival.
"Hey! I'm here!"
Yumi glanced up, an expression of disdain on her face. "Oh God, who invited him to come here?"
The boy who entered the room was dressed in a long, flowing trench coat, the collar raised up, angled to give him the appearance of a rather formidable opponent. In actuality, it only made the boy, emphasis on boy as opposed to teenager or man, look rather goofy. His eyes, one shaded blue and the other green, stared up at the Professor, a determined look in those two pools, his messy orange hair pointing this way and that. Pointing toward the Professor, he asked, proudly, in a voice that clearly had yet to be affected by puberty, "I'm here for the Pokemon!"
"Oh great! Professor, I know you're obliged to give him that Bulbasaur, but are you sure you aren't just going to send that idiot to his death by letting him go out on a journey? I mean, I doubt he can even make food to survive."
"Yumi? What're you doing here? I thought only guys could be trainers," the boy stammered, his forced dramatic pose broken as he stared in awe at Yumi.
"Oh, is that right, Tony? Well, whatever happened to equal rights amongst the sexes, huh?"
"What?"
"You know, they're plenty of female trainers. Half of the Elite Four are female!"
"The what?"
"Don't you know anything?! Stupid idiot!"
"Kids! Break it up," Professor Oak stammered, coming between the two.
"Well, she started it," Tony stammered, defensively.
"I so did not! You started it by being an idiot!"
"Fatso!"
"Baby!"
"Thunder thighs!"
"Smallus Dickus!"
"Smallus what?"
"You're so stupid you can't even understand my insults! Moron!"
"Now, break it up, kids! I will not have a battle in my—"
"A battle! That's what we'll do!" Tony laughed, "Alright, Yumi, let's see who really is the best!"
"I know I am, but if it means that much to you, okay," shrugged Yumi, "There's only one pokemon left, Tony. Why don't you go grab it."
"You bet I will! Professor, toss it over to me!"
"You're in no position to make demands," Professor Oak mumbled, grudgingly, as he approached the table in the center of his room. As he curled his fingers around the solitary ball on his table, a ball with a leaf imprinted on its surface, he asked himself how wise of an idea it really was to allow two children with a history of rivalry to unleash hell upon each other with two creatures strong enough to level a building. As he turned to the two children, he shouted as he threw the ball into Tony's outstretched hands, "Take this outside, alright?"
The two children complied, and left the facility, fire burning in their eyes. The two young trainers stared each other down for a moment before summoning their little critters, the lizard-like, scarlet Charmander facing the also reptilian Bulbasaur, the bud on his back leafy green. The two creatures stared at one another, just as competitive as their trainers. They were trained to obey, trained to fight, trained to follow their Master's orders without a moment's hesitation.
"Okay, flamethrower!" Yumi shouted, passionately. A moment passed, maybe two, only for Charmander to turn toward her master, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"I'm afraid Charmander doesn't know how to use that attack just yet," Professor Oak observed, solemnly.
"Wait, what?"
"Tackle it, Bulbasaur!" Tony shouted, forcefully. The reptilian plant creature dove toward Charmander, shoving its weight against it. It knocked Charmander into the floor before the Bulbasaur landed nimbly on its feet, turning back to its opposition, ready to attack again.
"Damn! Scratch its eyes out!" Yumi shrieked. Charmander pushed itself up, evading a second tackle, only to drive its claws across the side of the Bulbasaur's body as it sprinted past Charmander. Tony's eyes widened as his newfound Pokemon stumbled forward, its side scarlet, scratched up, as expected.
"Get up and beat Yumi up!" Tony shrieked. Bulbasaur pushed himself up, weakly, glaring directly at, not the enemy Charmander, but rather at Yumi.
"Uh, Tony?"
"Tackle her!" The Bulbasaur obeyed his master's orders by sprinting toward Yumi, and flying at her shins. Before Yumi could even react, her Charmander darted between her master and the Bulbasaur, his mouth wide open as a burst of flames flew at the assailant. He was consumed with fire as the poor Pokemon hit with the attack shrieked in pain, falling to the wayside as it rolled over the dirt, putting the flames out underneath its weight. Even after the embers died away, the smoldering flesh was still left red hot and charred. Tears sprang to the poor animal's eyes as it glared at Charmander, unjustly furious.
"What the hell is wrong with you, you stupid bastard?!" Yumi snapped, "You're lucky you didn't break my legs."
"I didn't order it to attack you, per say," Tony grumbled.
"That was thoroughly irresponsible, Tony! You're lucky your mother donates so much to my research, otherwise—"
Charmander's shrieks of pain interrupted everyone. To their astonishment, everyone turned to see Bulbasaur on top of the poor Charmander as it pounded the poor creature with its front paws, beating it senseless before Charmander kicked the creature away. It landed on its burned side, shrieked in pain, and then fell silent. Professor Oak approached the Bulbasaur, only to see its eyes spiraling around under its eyelids. "It's fainted."
"Yeah! I won!" Yumi cheered.
"This is only the beginning!" Tony shouted, confidently.
"Well, for Yumi it is. For you, Tony, you'll need to wait until we revive your Bulbasaur, and maybe you'll need to wait a little loner after I teach you proper ethics."