Dissent to Madness

Chapter 1: A Humble Beginning

My name is Red, and this is a memoir of my life. This is a story about me and my best friend, or perhaps my worst enemy, and our journeys with our Pokémon. I don't even know when or how to begin, but the day Blue and I received our first Pokémon from professor Oak seems like a good place to start. Blue and I lived in a very small town called Pallet. We were the only boys or even kids our age in the whole place, and had been best friends ever since we were babies. That was how it all started.

I still remember it like it was only yesterday, the crisp, sunny morning in Pallet town when Blue and I received our first Pokémon from Professor Oak, Blue's grandfather. At that time we had no idea we would be receiving our first Pokémon only later that day. Well, I haven't been completely honest, it was MY first Pokémon, Blue's first Pokémon was a Ratatta that his sister, Daisy Oak had caught for him just outside of town, when he was very young. That Ratatta never left his side and none of us dreamed what would one day happen to Blue and his Ratatta, but that's a story for another time.

"I bet you won't do it!" Blue goaded me.
"Oh yeah? Bet I will! Wild Pokémon don't scare me!" I must admit, I DO remember being a bit nervous, walking in to the tall grass, where the wild Pokémon jump out and attack people with no warning. But I wasn't going to lose a bet to Blue. It wasn't a real bet of course, we were ten years old at the time; we had nothing to bet with. But our pride seemed like good a thing as any, so I wasn't going to back down.

I walked up to the edge and braced myself, but I never made it in to the tall grass, not then anyway. I heard very loud yelling from a familiar voice, so I stopped and turned around to see what was happening.
"WAIT! What do you kids think you're doing!" the figure running across the yard was now close enough to be identified.
"It's grandpa! Red, come on, let's make a break for it." We both knew that we weren't allowed to go in to the tall grass and that if our parents found out they would go nuts. Unfortunately, Blue doesn't have any parents, they both left when he was just a kid. What's more unfortunate about that is the fact that the Professor had become the closest thing he had to a parent. So now that old man Oak had caught us messing around with the tall grass, he was going to be very angry. And that was worse. At least, that's what I thought at the time.

Blue and I turned to run, but we were to slow, too late. Samuel grabbed the collars of our shirts and hauled us around to face him. His face was red with anger and exhaustion, the yard was quite a way for an old man like him to run. He looked at me menacingly and hissed through his teeth "I'll deal with you later, Red." He turned to Blue, his face turning from anger, to disappointment. "I'm very disappointed with you Blue; I would have expected better from you." And I knew that that made him feel so much worse than I did, even after getting yelled at.

Later that day I was complaining to myself for being confined to my room as punishment, when mum called me downstairs. "Red, Professor Oak wants to see you at his lab, so off you go, shoo." Mum hurried me out the door and sent me off to the lab. After quite a bit of walking, I finally arrived at the laboratory.
When I went in, Blue was already waiting for me. "So grandpa called you here too huh, wonder what he wants." He didn't have to wait long for his answer, because mere seconds later, the old man walked through the door.
"You're both probably wondering why I called you here, right?" We both nodded and the professor continued. "Well I've been talking it over with your families and we've decided to give you each one capable fighting Pokémon, for protection."

I remember the pure joy I felt at that moment. I can safely assume Blue felt it too, because his face lit up like a flamethrower from a Charizard, just like mine. Of course, that could have just been the light from the Charmander's tail Professor Oak just released from a Poké ball, reflected in our faces. Along with the other two Pokémon he let out, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. But those other two didn't interest me, not really. I remember not being able to take my eyes off that Charmander. I was like a moth to the flame, and without realizing it, I had taken a few paces closer to him. I remember wondering why I was so entranced by that one Pokémon, but neither of the others. If you asked me now, I still wouldn't be able to tell you. An educated guess might be that the fire in his tail reflected my youthful energy and my passion for Pokémon. But then, I was too young to think such complex thoughts, guess I just thought he was cool.

"Red" Samuel's voice cut through my little trance and I jumped a little at the shock. "This will be your very first Pokémon, won't it?"
"Yes sir." I replied with a more than just noticeable stutter.
"Come now Red, no need to talk like that to me, I've known you nearly as long as your own mother has. Anyway, let's forget about that." He paused for a moment, seeming to try and figure out how to phrase his next sentence. "Red, I'd like you to have first choice of what Pokémon you want. Go ahead and choose any you like."
"But Gramps! That's not fair!" Blue blurted out.
"Be reasonable Blue, unlike you, this is Red's first Pokémon. You have your Ratatta, but Red doesn't have a Pokémon of his own, just give him this will you?" Blue stopped to consider for a second. "Alright, I don't need to be greedy like you Red, hurry up and make your choice."
"I don't need to" I said instantly. I walked over to the three Poké balls that now once again contained the three Pokémon. I picked up the ball on the right, containing Charmander and turned to face Professor Oak.

"I can really have it? It's my Pokémon?"
" That's right Red; that Pokémon is yours from now on, and the privileges and responsibilities that come with it are also yours." He turned to face Blue "Sorry about that Blue, I hope you weren't hoping for Charmander, were you?"
"What I was hoping for was the opportunity to stick it to Red, and get a better Pokémon than him, and he just gave me that chance." Blue walked over to the table holding the Poké balls and picked up the one in the centre, containing the water type Pokémon, Squirtle.

"Since he just chose a fire type, my new water type Pokémon will destroy him every time." "Would you care to bet on that?" I retorted.
"You bet." Blue challenged. They both jumped back as they threw their Poké balls forward. Red didn't waste any time. "Charmander, use scratch!" Charmander pounced across the few metres separating him from Squirtle and left claw marks on Squirtle's arm as he flew past. "Squirtle, turn around and use tackle!" Squirtle turned around and ran at Charmander, bouncing off the ground and tucking his head in to his shell when he got close enough. "Charmander, while he can't see! Dodge left, and hit him with your scratch attack on his way past!" The plan worked marvellously, sending Squirtle flying from the extra momentum generated when Squirtle was hit from behind by the scratch attack. He flew in to a close wall and drooped to the ground defeated. "Yeah! We did it Charmander! We won our very first battle!"

"Very well done Red, that was a marvellous display, and on your first time too, congratulations. I could see the bond between you and your Pokémon already. It must have seen how when prompted to choose your Pokémon you chose him without hesitation." Professor Oak turned to face Blue. "Don't feel bad Blue, Charmander was just too fast, not to mention that scratch is a better attack than tackle. His Charmander was dealing more damage, faster and with higher accuracy, why, it would have been a miracle if you had won.
"Don't try to console me old man." Blue demanded bluntly. "It's oblivious why he won, his Pokémon is better than mine; I just picked the wrong Pokémon."

There was an awkward silence for a time, before a realization struck me. I turned to the professor and asked him a question he obliviously didn't want to hear. "Professor, when you said we had the privileges of owning a Pokémon, does that mean..?" I trailed off because I was sure he knew what I was going to say next. "Yes, Red; if you so choose, you two can go on your own Pokémon journeys." He reluctantly informed us. At this, the disappointment on Blue's face disappeared completely, and he became full of energy. "Really!?" Blue blurted out seemingly by accident. "In that case, Red, Gramps… smell ya later!" Blue sprinted out the door and ran towards the edge of town, near the area they were hanging around at earlier. After packing some things and saying some farewells, I followed Blue's example, and started for the next town, Viridian City. And that's how our training journeys with our Pokémon began.