Hey, guys! Sorry for the lack of updates. My life's been major chaos. Two jobs, college prep, etc. You know, the usual.
Anyhow, this story was requested by Aristicus and a few other people. I've chosen to post this, along with Way of the Gods. There's a big difference between the futures of these two stories, however.
I plan to rewrite this, hopefully soon. I will be posting a poll soon for you guys interested in this to decide where you want Taylor to be—Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, or Unova. Until said rewriting gets underway, I will post this here as a completed story despite it only being the beginning. I hope it's everything you guys thought it would be.
I hope you guys like it! Enjoy!
Pokemon: The True Way of A 'Pokemon Master'
"Go, Turtwig!" shouted a boy with short black hair.
"Chimchar, you're up!" another boy with blonde hair cried.
The turtle and the monkey both appeared, ready to fight. The boys gave them commands, Tackle to Turtwig and Scratch to Chimchar. The pair fought each other, repeating the attacks over and over until one of them fainted. The blonde groaned and returned the Fire-type. The two boys shook hands and parted ways as the sun set.
Once the boys were gone, a bright yellow mouse jumped out of a nearby bush and watched them leave. He smiled triumphantly as he clutched the forgotten red and white sphere to his chest. Turning, he dashed into the undergrowth and back into the forest.
Climbing up a tree, he dropped the orb among the other five he managed to successfully steal from foolish humans who didn't pay much attention to how many they had attached to their belts. A wide grin nearly split the mouse's face in half. He almost had everything he needed for his journey.
You must be wondering who this is and what he's doing, right? Well, I'll tell you. This is Taylor the Pikachu. He's the only Pikachu that lives around here and he doesn't know how he got here. He's most recognizable by the large fringe of fur that occasionally hides his eyes, mainly his left eye. And he's planning to do something no Pokemon has ever dared to do.
"Nearly done!" Taylor laughed. "Six 'Poke Balls', hand-stolen from those foolish humans. One 'PokeDex', stolen from that big stone box in the human settlement where the smart human lives. Four Oran Berries, two Cheri berries, two Chesto Berries, three Pecha Berries, one Rawst Berry, one Aspear Berry, two Lum Berries, one Leppa Berry, two Persim Berries, and one Sitrus Berry, all stolen from Berry's secret garden."
"Who's secret garden?"
"WHAAA!" Taylor whirled around and pressed his back against the far wall of his den. "Um…hi, Berry? Uh…I didn't mean 'steal', per say. I meant…borrow! Yeah, 'borrowed' from Berry's secret garden!"
Glaring at him in annoyance outside of his tree den was Berry the Absol. She, too, wasn't a native of this particular area of Sinnoh but she hardly cared. She was a former human's pet who was released on account of aggressiveness. She lived closest to the lake, harvesting the many berries she planted in her garden.
"'Borrowed', huh? When will I get them back, Taylor?" Berry asked, obviously seeing through his lie.
"Um…" Taylor couldn't think of anything. "Never?"
Berry sighed and sat down by the tree Taylor lived in. "Taylor, I know what you're doing." she said. "And, just to save you the heartbreak, it won't work. You'll be captured the moment you set foot in a human city. A Pokemon can never become a Pokemon Master and that's final."
"Why not?" Taylor cried. "We can do everything a human can do! We have our resources!"
"Like what?" Berry asked.
"We don't need their 'Potions', we have Oran Berries! We don't need 'Antidotes', we have Chesto Berries! We don't need 'Ice Heal', we have Aspear Berries! We don't need 'Pokemon Centers', we have Sitrus Berries and Leppa Berries!"
"Then why did you go so far as to steal Poke Balls and a PokeDex?" Berry asked.
"Because those are the only two things Pokemon cannot substitute with berries!" Taylor replied. "A 'PokeDex' for learning about new Pokemon I meet and 'Poke Balls' for capturing new friends."
"You don't need to capture your friends, Taylor. This little dream of yours is pointless. Just quit while you're ahead. I know I did." Berry stood up and started walking away.
"Well, then you are a coward!" Taylor accused. "I refuse to give up on my dreams like you did, Berry! I will become a Pokemon Master!"
Berry growled and glared at him. "What did you say, Taylor?"
"You are a coward!" Taylor repeated.
"THAT'S IT!" Berry roared.
Taylor screamed, tripping over one of the red and white spheres in his rush to get as far away from his den's entrance as possible. Berry's scythe turned a brilliant silver and she jerked her head to the side, unleashing a blade of wind that cut Taylor's den clean in half. As the top half of the tree fell away, Taylor screamed as Berry placed her front paws on the remains of his den and bared her teeth.
"I've had enough of your attitude, Taylor! It's time I taught you a lesson every Pokemon should know! Don't…mess…with…ME!" Berry shouted.
Taylor screamed, curling up in a ball as Berry dove down on him. One of the Poke Balls rolled in front of his feet and Berry's nose hit the button on the front, causing it to open. The Absol screamed as she was engulfed in red light and pulled into the ball. The ball closed and clicked, signaling a successful capture.
Taylor lay curled up on the floor of his exposed den, waiting for Berry to kill him. After a few minutes, he slowly looked up and realized that she was gone. The Pikachu hesitantly sat up and noticed the Poke Ball twitching.
"Huh?" Taylor picked it up and peered through the transparent red top. What he saw inside terrified him. "WHAAA! Berry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Inside of the Poke Ball, glaring up at him with hatred in her red eyes, was Berry the Absol. Taylor had unintentionally captured her when she attacked him. The panicking Pikachu pushed the button and watched as Berry popped out in a flash of white light. Berry glared at him.
"What…did…you…do?" she shouted.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know, honest!" Taylor wailed. "I'm so sorry, Berry!"
"You little…?" Berry stopped, blinking in shock.
Taylor was crying. He was actually crying. For as long as she had known him, the Pikachu had never cried. If he got hurt, he always sucked it up and carried on without a care. If one of their fellow forest Pokemon died, he'd just pay his respects and then move on with his life. Taylor had never cried in front of anyone. As far as Berry was concerned, Taylor had never cried in his life!
"Taylor? Hey…stop that." Berry said gently. "Come on, Taylor. You can stop crying. I'm not going to hurt you. You didn't do it on purpose, anyway."
Taylor looked up and sniffled, tears running down his furry cheeks. "Really?" he whimpered.
"Really," Berry nodded.
Noticing that the tree Taylor had previously lived in was destroyed, the Absol placed her front paws on the stump Taylor was sitting on and picked him up in her teeth. Carrying him like she would a baby Absol, she turned and headed back to her own den. Taylor panicked at first, demanding she get his things as well. After gathering up all the items Taylor had stolen, the pair headed deeper into the forest.
Once they entered a small clearing, Berry walked toward a large tree with the ground beneath it forming a hollow. Slipping between a few roots, she entered her den. Taylor quickly followed her, not wanting to be left behind.
"I've never been in your den before, Berry." Taylor said.
"First time for everything, Taylor," Berry replied.
She soon reached a large cave-like room dug directly below the tree's massive trunk. The Absol yawned and padded toward her nest of leaves and grass, collapsing onto it. Taylor just stood there, admiring the large but plain room.
"Get over here, Taylor." Berry ordered. "It's been a long day and we both need some rest."
"Okay," The Pikachu scampered over and curled up against Berry's side. "Thanks, Berry. I'm sorry…about capturing you. It was an accident, honest."
"It doesn't matter," she grumbled. "What's done is done. Besides, you could just release me again. That's how I escaped my owner and came to live here."
"Oh…okay." Taylor sighed. "…Night, Berry."
"Good night, Taylor." Berry curled up around the Pikachu and slowly drifted to sleep.
Taylor, on the other hand, couldn't sleep.