Howdy, there, readers! :D This is my very FIRST story on this glorious website, so if it's not good, that's why. XD But anywho, I wrote this story for a Zine project in my Journalism class, which required us to write 16 pages on one topic (mine was Pokemon :D). So yeah, here's a story I wrote about two friends - Red (yes, Red from the original games) and Penelope (some girl my dad gave me the name to XD) - and their quest to find the infamous Red Gyarados in the Lake of Rage :D
It was a bright, warm day – perfect for going fishing. My friend and I had been planning this fishing trip for weeks, only to have our previous plans smothered by rainstorms and strong heat (which is quite ironic because we caught Kyogre and Groudon a while back). But today was the day we could finally go fishing – but not on the backs of our Pokémon this time, they got distracted last time.
"Penelope!" I heard a voice yell from outside. "When are you coming out? I've got the boat ready with the rods and everything!"
"Hold on, Red! I'm still getting the food packed!" I yelled back to my friend.
Red and I had been best friends for as long as I can remember. We always searched for legendary Pokémon together and "saved the world" (as different professors had put it over the years). We were inseparable and had just as close bonds with our Pokémon.
"Penelope! Hurry it up in there!" Red yelled.
"Okay, okay! I'm coming!"
Once outside, I saw Red sitting on the dock, legs dangling over the edge with his hat sitting next to him. He looked back at the sound of my footsteps and got up. He grabbed his hat as he was standing up and put it on.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"What do you think?" I said, holding up a basket full of snacks.
"Sweet. So we're all set?"
"Yep! Let's go!"
We got in the boat and Red undocked it as I was putting my backpack and the picnic basket in their rightful places on the boat. I heard the sound of the engine and we started off, into the infamous Lake of Rage.
"You know what would be cool?" Red asked as he was steering towards the middle of the lake. "If we found that rare Red Gyarados everyone talks about."
"But that's only a legend! I mean, how many shiny Magikarps do you see every day? And what about Victini? Ever seen that?"
"I haven't see any shiny Magikarps. And Victini is a myth, so your argument is invalid," he said, smiling sarcastically back at me.
"Okay, you got me there, but seriously. Have you ever seen any shiny Pokémon?"
"Well, no. But that doesn't mean they don't exist!"
"I'll have to see it to believe it."
We stopped in the middle of the lake and got our Old, Good, and Best Rods.
"Today, I'm going to prove to you that the Red Gyarados exists," Red said looking up at me with a sly smile on his face, "and I'm gonna catch it."
"Yeah, sure. But Arceus save us if one of us dies in the process," I replied sarcastically.
We cast our lines into the water and waited. After a few minutes, I caught something on my line – and it was something BIG.
I struggled to reel in whatever was on the end of line so I called for Red's help.
"Red? Red! A little help here!"
Red looked back and dropped his rod when he saw the trouble I was in. He got next to me and held onto the rod with me and helped me pull in what was on my line.
"Oh, my Arceus," Red said in amazement.
I looked up and saw what he was talking about. On the end of my line was the one, the only, Red Gyarados.
"HOLY RAYQUAZA!" I said, jumping back. Red jumped back just in time for the Gyarados to jerk his head back on the rod and roar. It jumped out of the water and did a backflip before diving back in the lake.
It threw its head back up through the water and looked at us. It reared its head back and roared again, a sign that it was ready to fight.
"This is my chance!" Red yelled. "I'm going to catch the Red Gyarados!" He reached for a Pokéball around his waist and threw it. "Go! Venusaur!"
I couldn't let him battle the Gyarados alone, so I, too, threw one of my Pokémon into battle. "Zoroark, go!"
At the sight of the two Pokémon before it, the Gyarados shot out a beam of light at the two from its mouth.
"Hyper Beam? Seriously?" I said as Zoroark and Venusaur avoided the attack.
"Well, you know what?" Red yelled at the Gyarados, "Venusaur! Use Solar Beam!"
"He's insane. Really, truly insane," I said to myself. "Oh, well. Zoroark, use Shadow Ball!"
The attacks from the Pokémon hit the Gyarados at once. It fell back and slammed down on the water, causing water to splash everywhere.
"It's HP is low!" Red yelled to me. "I'm gonna throw an Ultra Ball and catch it!"
He grabbed a black Pokéball with a yellow band around it and threw it at the Gyarados. It opened in the air and sucked the nearly-fainted Red Gyarados into it. It fell back down onto the boat and wiggled for a little bit.
We stood there watching it, anticipating it to open back up to let the Red Gyarados escape, but, to our amazement, it stopped and made a small clicking sound.
"Yes!" Red exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. "Venusaur, you did great! Time to go back into you Pokéball," he said to his Venusaur, holding out its Pokéball.
"Good job to you, too, Zoroark!" I said to my Zoroark, hugging him. He hugged me back and smiled. "Time for you to go back, too," I said, holding out his Pokéball as well. He nodded and went back inside.
"I told you I'd catch it!" Red said to me. "I bet you can't catch a shiny Magikarp today," he said, smiling.
"Well, let's see," I replied, casting my line back out.
Almost immediately I felt a tug on my line and reeled in…a shiny Magikarp.
'Well, then, would you look at that?" Red said in amazement. "I guess I lost that bet."
"I guess you aren't going to be the only one with a Red Gyarados, either," I said smiling at him.
It certainly was a great day for fishing.