Chapter 1

Red had been waiting a long time now for this day. The day when he could take his first Pokemon and go out to prove himself. His dad had set out before him, but had apparently failed miserably and quit, going into hiding from the shame and humiliation that his hometown of Pallet would put on him. The town where Red was going start his journey from.

He was in his room, at eight thirty in the morning, going over things one last time in his mind. He knew which Pokemon he wanted to take. There was no possible way he could be there late, because he was already awake. He had a good feeling that the first, and considered by most to be the hardest part of a young trainers journey, was running smoothly for him.

Half an hour later, he made sure he had all the items he had bought with an allowance of ¥300. This wouldn't have been much, but the Poke Mart was having a very special sale on. For the new trainers only. He had a few potions and Poke balls, both invaluable items for a trainer. He was finally ready now to go and receive his Pokemon.

Instead of walking, Red took his bike to Professor Oak's laboratory, to make absolutely sure they would be there first ones there. Despite his efforts, Red arrives at the same time as Green, an arrogant kid who he hated with a passion. Green would always taunt Red at school for not being as knowledgeable about Pokemon as he was, always commenting that he was the best out of the two.

"Well, well, well! Look who it is. Red. How nice of you to show up to say your goodbyes before I go off and become a success. Loser." Green sneered at Red.

"Shut up you idiot. You know as well as anyone that I'm getting my first Pokemon today too." Red replied.

Green was about to reply when the door in front of the two boys swung open. The two boys entered, as more and more local people began to cluster round outside.

When inside the lab, the two boys saw many bookshelves full of books and newspaper clippings about Pokemon. This was almost heaven for Green. All this information and knowledge to absorb. Red, however, saw them as boring stains of ink on paper he didn't want, or need, to read. Reds mind had started to wander, but he remembered that Professor Oak was talking to them, so he started to listen again.

"In this world, as you two obviously know, there are creatures known as Pokemon. Now, when I was younger, I took an oath to complete a great work of literature. An encyclopaedia full of statistics and information on every Pokemon. Now, of course, this was too much for me to do alone. I captured about fifty or so in my prime, and so, every year since I officially retired, I have sent out some young people with a love of Pokemon from the town I was living in. I have picked you two boys this year." Oak explained to them. "You cant complete this task without first receiving a Pokemon to help you catch others. This is why you're here today. To pick from one of three Pokemon that I believe are suitable for beginners."

With that, the Professor took three Poke Balls from a shelf and placed them in front of the boys on a table. He went into some detail of the three Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander. Red had known from the first time he saw the list of Pokemon oak was giving out in the newspaper, that he wanted a Bulbasaur. When given the choice, Red shouted out quickly, "Bulbasaur is mine!"

Green replied with, "Fine. Take that useless thing. It can't do anything. I'm going to take Charmander. When it evolves, it will become a Charizard. Charizard isn't only a strong battler. It can also fly which will make travelling a lot easier. See? I'm always one step ahead Red, and I always will be."

"FINE THEN! LETS BATTLE!" Red shouted at his arrogant Rival.

"That's ok with me. Professor, do you have a battle area we can use?" green asked.

"I have space out the back. We can go there. That way we won't cause any damage to the town." Oak replied.

As the boys went to the battle area, Oak went outside and told the locals to come through and watch. Everyone wanted to see how well the boys could handle they're first battle. The two stood opposite each other. Charmander and Bulbasaur also stood eyeing one another, trying to psyche the other one out. The audience grew tense with excitement and anticipation.

Before the match began, Oak announced, "I will referee this match. Each participant shall use ONE Pokemon. The first to knock the opponents Pokemon out, or forces their opponent to forfeit, is the winner. This battle will have no time limit. BEGIN!"

Red knew that his Bulbasaur was still very young and curious, and didn't know any moves apart from very basic tackles yet. But he also knew it was the very same for Green. He saw this as more of an opportunity to get used to his Bulbasaur and learn more about how it reacts to a situation than as a chance to win a meaningless battle.

Green, however, thought of this as an opportunity to test his tactical abilities and strategy. He wanted to become an expert on this type of thing. He really didn't care about capturing every Pokemon to update a book for the public to see. It was his dream to learn about every Pokemon, but keep that data to himself, so that h could win every match in a perfect link of moves. No one would be able to stop him.

Reds ambitions were much more simple. He wanted to catch any Pokemon he saw that he liked, or that he thought would be helpful and friendly, and go on to win in a battle with the Pokemon Champion, Lance. He wanted to bring out the best in the few Pokemon he WOULD capture, not capture hundreds of monsters he couldn't give attention and care to. They were better living their lives in the wild.

As the bell rang, Red told his Bulbasaur to charge in and tackle. Green however ordered his Charmander to growl. This threw Bulbasaur off course, and resulted in a weak attack that did no damage to Charmander. Now that it was in close, Green ordered a scratch attack. It was powerful, very powerful. It knocked Bulbasaur to the ground. It quickly got back however and hit directly with a surprise tackle from behind. The two Pokemon faced each other again, ready for round two. This time, they both charged in headfirst. Charmander tried to scratch, but Bulbasaur jumped over it, bouncing on the small lizards head as it went, throwing itself higher. It flipped in mid air, and came directly down on the Charmander, pinning it to the ground. It growled into its face, intimidating it and lowering its fighting spirit and strength. Charmander scratched the small plant-like dinosaur on its face to get it off, but got a tackle in return.

The two were learning a lot from their first battle. Bulbasaur had already learned to be more cautious, and listen to its trainer more. Red had been trying to tell it something, but it wouldn't listen. It kept one eye on Charmander, and slowly turned its body till it was almost looking at Red. Red said it was being too reckless, and shouldn't go for head on attacks like that. Bulbasaur nodded.

Out of the two Pokemon, it looked like Bulbasaur was hurting the most. Charmander was just better suited to attacking. Red didn't know much, but he knew from research he had done on Bulbasaur after he realised he would choose it, that it was better suited to long, drawn-out matches where it could use its leech seed and poisonous powders too sap the enemy of strength. Because Red's Bulbasaur was so young, it didn't know how to fire a leech seed, and it didn't have enough pollen or sunlight stored in its bud to use moves like sleep powder and solar beam. Despite this, Red told it to hang on and wait for the Charmander to make a mistake, then counter it.

Charmander charged in and went for a flurry of scratches. Many of them connected, but near the end o its attack, Charmander fumbled and lost its footing. Bulbasaur hit it hard, knocking it over. It then continued to tackle it while it was on the ground. Charmander rolled across the ground, constantly being hit by the tackle attacks. It was building up anger now. It caught Bulbasaur's legs and flipped over in a backwards roll, taking the small dino with it. It threw it up in the air, and waited for it to fall back down before delivering a tide turning scratch. It caught Bulbasaur's face with its claws and brought it straight down into the hard ground.

Red could see that Bulbasaur couldn't last long. He began thinking about forfeiting . He didn't want to let his rivalry destroy Bulbasaur's trust in him. It was the wrong thing to do to let this battle continue.

"Charmander, FINISH THIS WEAKLING!" Green commanded. Charmander charged in for a final attack.

At the last minute, Red ran over and grabbed his exhausted Bulbasaur and jumped out of the attack's way. "STOP!" Red cried out. "Bulbasaur's had enough. I cant let it battle anymore. It's proved to me that it's a strong-minded Pokemon that can handle itself in battle. I forfeit."

"Humph! Figures. I knew you wouldn't be able to beat me. Wimp. Well, I've proven myself here. I'm leaving." Green said as he went back into the lab.

"Wait! I have to give you your Pokedex!" Oak shouted after him.

"Forget it. I'm not doing all that work for you. That will just take my focus away from being the best battler I can be. Later." Green called back.

The town's people started clapping as Red went back inside. "Well done Red! You did the right thing!" They shouted.

http/img318.imageshack.us/img318/5986/chapter1pic9ji.png Click this for a pic. Credit to bgh2, Mewto man, and koopaul, who igot Red, Oak, and the two Pokemon sprites for. Thanks.

http/img318.imageshack.us/img318/5986/chapter1pic9ji.png CLick for a pic. Credit to bgh2, koopaul, and mewtwo man. It was from their sheets that I got the Oak, Red and pokemon sprites. Thanks.