The party, back then, was as wild as a party in Pallet Town could get. There was a melancholy air, despite the celebrations lighting up the night; though Leaf had come back from her journey in one piece, Red hadn't.
The population of the tiny town toasted to Kelly's journey, to Red's safety, to the next generation of trainers - but Blue was leaning nervously against the wall of his house, occasionally taking sips from his drink. Red's hadn't shown up to the party at all.
But when I look back on that night, that's not what I remember. I remember Leaf's Leafeon, green and quick like a cat, out of its Pokéball, reluctantly playing with some of the younger kids. While I played with that Leafeon, the nine-year-old me knew: I'd be a Pokémon champion, if not a master, just like she was.
My name's Jack Oswin, and that's my plan. Or it was, anyways. The day I got my first Pokémon, my mission changed.
I ran downstairs with a wide smile on my face that day. "Mom, it's today," I said breathlessly, rapidly buttering my toast and stuffing in it my mouth.
"Slow down, you'll choke," my mom replied with a slight laugh.
"But Squirtle's gonna be taken by the time I get there," I argued, gulping down some orange juice. I knew that four other kids I'd gone to school in the academy Viridian City with - Joy Bentley, Finn Conleth, Pari Aiman, and Blake Altan. In addition to the three starters Red and Leaf got to choose from, Oak got two new Pokémon in: an Eevee and a Pikachu. But I was after Squirtle.
"You're not even dressed," argued my mother. "Slow. Down."
"Okay," I replied, running back upstairs at a rapid pace, taking a piece of toast with me. I quickly got dressed: blue jeans, a short-sleeved red and white hoodie with a white undershirt, and black and red boots. I also put on my red and white baseball cap - backwards, so it looked cooler - and put my red and white headphones around my neck, faintly blasting my pump-up song of choice.
I ran back downstairs. "Can I go now?"
My mom sighed. "If you must. But come straight back home, alright?"
I was out the door at "must."
Pallet Town is tiny - absolutely tiny - so it took me a grand total of five minutes to reach the lab. Despite living in Viridian City and having a bit of a walk, Joy Bentley was already there, smiling widely. "You showed up, Oswin!" she called out with a small wave. Her long, light brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and her freckles totally increased her "everything-is-awesome" vibe. She had on a green and white hoodie with a green shirt, green Converse sneakers, and skinny jeans. She also had on a green and white baseball cap on. "Can we battle, like, as soon as we get our -"
"My mom's making me go home," I replied, pulling out my MP3 player to switch between songs.
"Come on. It'll be fun," she added, like I didn't know that. I'd love a chance to battle Joy, but not that day.
"I don't want to get in trouble, and besides, my mom's going to want to meet whatever I end up with," I said, shaking my head again. Joy frowned, and was about to yell at me, most likely, but that's when Finn walked in, quick like a cat.
Finn's the smart one of our group, that's for sure; he's got the glasses to prove it. His light blond hair was messy, as usual, with one cowlick sticking up. He had on a white button-up shirt with a light and dark blue, short-sleeved hoodie over it, jeans, and blue boots. "Hello," he said stiffly, the door to the lab closing loudly behind him.
"Conleth! You can battle after you get your Pokémon, can't you?" Joy said, running towards him. Finn pushed up his glasses and turned his head away.
"It wouldn't make any sense," he answered, crossing his arms. "Our Pokémon will, most likely, be at level 5, and therefore not learn enough type-effective moves for a good battle. Sorry."
"...But it'll be fun!"
"No."
"Conle-"
"Nope."
"Fine." She ran back to me, frown-pouting. I rolled my eyes. "Nobody's around to battle," she added, like that was a justification.
"I'm here!" a bright, slightly accented voice called suddenly, and before I knew it, Pari had ran up to hug the both me & Joy. She moved from Kalos a few years ago and quickly clicked with most of us, aside from Joy; I got the impression Pari was way too girly for her. That day, she had on a classic Pari Aiman outfit - a dark purple bow in her hair (complementing her long, dark orange braids), a dark purple trenchcoat dress thing, grey leggings, and black boots with lots of buckles. "It is a pretty outfit for the day we get our first Pokémon, no?"
"You look fine," I assured her, switching the song again.
"Finn, bonjour!" she called out; in response, Finn raised one of his hands slightly. Then Pari turned back to me. "So we are just waiting on Blake, no?"
"He lives in Celadon, so chances are he'll be a while," I answered.
"He's just putting us off," announced Joy, very annoyed. "If his Celadonian butt doesn't show -"
"I'm here," said a quiet voice from the doorway; Blake walked in with a small smirk before taking his place against the wall next to Finn. His dark brown hair stuck straight up, as usual; he was wearing a long sleeved grey shirt, a dark blue-grey short-sleeved grey jacket, dark jeans with a light blue belt, and blue sneakers. He also had on a dark blue scarf.
"Are you all here?" Professor Oak asked. While Pari, Joy, Finn and I had our conversations, Oak had been preparing the five Pokéballs we'd choose our starters from. "In that case, welcome to the world of Pokémon!" he began. I couldn't help but grin; we'd all heard about the speech, but we'd never actually had it said to us. Even Finn and Blake, who were usually emotionless & angry, respectively, were smiling lightly.
"My name is Oak," he began. "People call me the Pokémon professor. This world is inhabited with creatures called Pokémon." He gestured at the five Pokéballs out on the table. "For some people, Pokémon are pets. Others use them for fights. Myself...I study Pokémon as a profession."
"Now it's up to the five of you to decide on the Pokémon you'll go on your journey with. Are you all ready? Your own Pokémon story is about to unfold. You'll face fun times and tough challenges. A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits!"
"So who's the oldest out of all of you?" Oak asked then, looking down the line we'd main to listen to his speech.
"That would be me," replied Finn, pushing up his glasses and stepping forward. "I know which starter I'd like to receive," he added, looking Oak dead on in the eye. "Charmander."
"Oh! An interesting choice."
"And a logical one; its typing isn't the best, but it learns some good moves," Finn said, outstretching his hand. The professor handed him his Pokémon, which he proceeded to take out of its Pokéball a few meters away. The two played together for a little bit.
Pari stepped forward next. "I'm going to be the next person to receive their Pokémon, as the second oldest," she declared. "And I want the Eevee! It can evolve into the type discovered in Kalos, Fairy, can it not?"
"Among other things, yes!" Oak replied, tossing her the Pokéball. Her Eevee popped out and she grinned widely. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A boy."
"Magnifique! His name shall be Vila," she declared once again, and immediately snuggled against the small Pokémon.
"Me next. And I know you're older, Blake, but you got here last," Joy said, and then nodded like that made sense. "Hand over the Bulbasaur, Prof," she directed at Oak, raising her eyebrows.
"It's easy to ra-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know! I'm going to evolve it into Venusaur and take out my enemies so hurry up," she said. I exchanged a look with Blake that said "This girl is crazy".
Oak handed - very carefully, I noted - a Pokéball to Joy. "Thanks!" she yelled, bolting to another part of the lab to play with Bulbasaur.
"You wanna go next?" I asked Blake, having no preference as long as he didn't pick Squirtle. Only the Squirtle and the Pikachu were left.
"I'm used to taking whatever's left," he replied with a frown. Of course.
"Can I have the Squirtle, professor?" I asked politely.
"Of course." He took the Pokéball from the table and handed it to me before turning to Blake: "That leaves you with Pikachu. Are you alright with tha-"
"Yes." He grabbed Pikachu's Pokéball off of the table and walked - almost - straight out of the lab.
"Don't go out yet!" Oak yelled loudly at Blake's retreating back. "There's something I have to talk to you about before you all leave, and I must tell it to you all together."
"What is it, Professor?" Pari asked, still snuggling her Eevee - Vila, I mean - close.
"There's something a few of the parents and I have been thinking about," he began. "We've all got our heroes on this journey - Red or Leaf. But only one's came home, and it's been so long."
"Red's probably traveling another region. It's the most logical option out of the possibilities," Finn said, sending his Charmander back into her Pokéball.
"He should be home," assured Oak. "So that's why I want the five of you to search Kanto and perhaps even further than that to find Red. His mother is worried, and my grandson..." Oak trailed off with a sigh. "It's affected everyone in town. So we're asking you all to look for Red...to bring him home."
I looked around at my friends. We'd all had our own plans and our own dreams, but finding Red - would that be an adventure we could take? For whatever reason, everybody looked at me. My palms started to sweat at the pressure, but I found courage I had no clue what to do with, and said three words that sealed our fates forever.
"Let's do it."
Author's notes:
1. Finn and Joy's Pokémon are both female; Blake, Pari and Jack's are all male.
2. The Oak intro speech is a mishmash of the ones from Red and Blue and the ones from Gold and Silver.
3. I'm suffering from X and Y withdrawal, fact of the day.
4. I'm sorry about the over-description in this chapter. I just wanted you to have some idea of what all the characters look like.
5. Reviews appreciated.
6. Later.