Pokémon: LeafGreen

Chapter 1: In the Lab

It's dark. And quiet.

How long has it been? I haven't seen the others in ages. Where could they be? Could they have started off already? No, that can't be. The professor said he'd let us know when the trainers were coming. I believe him.

All curled up in its ball, a lone orange lizard thought about its upcoming life as a partner. He had been thinking to himself for quite some time, mostly because he hadn't seen his friends for a while and was getting lonely. All this silence was sure to get the better of him in the long run.

I wonder what'll happen once we're out. Who's going to take care of us? And what if some get left behind? What if no one comes?

The wait was getting to his head. After only a couple of days, he had already started doubting his former master's plan of giving him up for another trainer. He remembered his mother telling him to trust the professor. He knew what he was doing, so there was really nothing to worry about.

Mom trusts him. I must believe him.

He knew there was no way for him to possibly know when the time would come, but he was getting anxious. His now curled up body was getting restless. He wanted to get out soon – he was still too young to understand how the mechanics of the ball should work, after all. Ignoring the constant heartbeat in his ears, he closed his eyes yet again to relax, but to no avail. He couldn't wait here much longer. The professor must have known when the trainers would get here.

I believe him.

CLANG.

What was that? The lizard's eyes flew open as it heard a distant sound coming from outside the ball it resided in. Not being able to move, it instead pressed its head against the wall from the inside, desperate to hear more than just mumbles and a few ticks.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP.

Somebody was running. The lizard knew it was either the professor himself or one of his aides. It listened for more sounds.

SLAM.

That must have been the front door of the research lab. Whoever was running must have been rushing outside for some reason. The lizard wondered for a moment what could be so important to just randomly rush out like that. Was there an accident? Had somebody fainted? Did a car crash outside? Was the place on fire? If so, why didn't they just let him out? He could help!

Please don't let anything bewrong outside the ball…

For a couple of minutes, the lizard stayed perfectly still in his ball trying to listen for more sounds. If there had been an accident, it certainly wasn't inside the lab because no further commotion was heard from within the offices. There was an eerie stillness for a moment before the lizard heard a little thud and secluded mumbles. Thinking it was just the aides gathering something up in the lab, he thought nothing of it, until the mumbles were getting clearer. His non-visible ears perked, and he felt his heart racing as he heard not one, but twovoices as they drew closer and closer. Now and then, he could even make out a few words.

"…you…grand…soon."

"I…wait!"

Somebody was clearly waiting for something, or someone, or both. The lizard heard somebody give a small groanbefore the room going silent again. Disappointed, he closed its eyes again, only to sharply open them the second it did so.

His ball was being lifted!

"…this…mon…tiny…"

He didn't care who was talking on the other side of the wall right now. All that mattered was that somebody had picked him up! Could this be the day? Was he finally being chosen? Was this his destined trainer? He could hardly wait to be let out of his ball so he could have a look at its new friend.

Only to be put back on the research table again. All that excitement, all that sudden happiness washed away in an instant. It hadn't been a trainer, had it? It had only been one of the aides measuring the weight or checking to see if he was still intact. Of course he was still intact! Why else would he just lie there aimlessly and wait? The lizard was getting impatient now, especially after having been given the false hope that somebody had come to pick it up. Now was not the time to sulk, though, so he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and relaxed.

I believe him.

THUD.

Was that one sentence some kind of trigger for people either rushing out or bursting in? Again, more sounds were heard, only this time, there were more distinct voices. Just like before, they slowly trailed closer and closer to the ball the lizard was in. One of them was definitely the professor, the other was the one he had heard earlier and possibly had picked him up, but he didn't recognize the third one from anywhere. The lizard curled his front feet into little fists as he tried to listen for more words.

"…fed…waiting!"

"…listen…here…held inside…only have…"

"…gramp…about…"

"…patient…"

"Not…sure…"

The lizard bit his lower lip in excitement as he heard the third voice approach him. For a moment, it was as if he was about to be chosen, but then he heard the seed give her signature cry. Disappointment swept over the lizard.

"…see…your choice…"

"No."

No? The seed wasn't being picked? Oh joy! He still had a chance of being chosen! Again he curled up its front feet, as well as his toes, squinted and frowned, as if to mentally tell whoever was choosing to pick him – to please pick him.

Still nothing, but he heard the turtle bounce on the research table. Of course. It was always the turtle that went first – his mom had told him so. Fine, be that way, trainer. Be just like everybody else.

"…your… one worth…"

"No."

No. No way. This couldn't have been happening. Was this really happening? The lizard bit his arm to see if he was still dreaming, but the only thing that brought up was a pain that shot up to his neck. The trainer, whoever it was, had said no to both the seed and the turtle. Last time he checked, there were only three choices available, which must have meant–

"Charmander!"

"Ah, Charmander is your choice," he heard the professor say. His sight was still a bit blurry due to the darkness inside the ball, so it was hard to make out who had chosen him. "You should raise it patiently. So, Red, you're claiming the fire Pokémon Charmander?"

Charmander blinked a few times to moist his large green eyes and stretched his back before he looked back up at the person in front of him. Immediately, he could tell that this person was worthy of being his partner; the boy whose name was Red, according to the professor, couldn't have been much older than ten or eleven years old, with dirt-brown hair and matching eyes. He was appropriately dressed given his name, wearing a red cap and a red jacket, and on his feet, he even wore a pair of red shoes. His face screamed determination before he even got a chance to speak, and seeing him hold the Pokéball really made Charmander feel that Red was born to be a trainer. As Charmander looked his new friend in the eye, Red smiled at him, turned to the professor and simply said "Yes."

The professor grinned in acceptance as Red shrunk Charmander's Pokéball to pocket size and stuck it on his belt. Puzzled, Charmander merely looked at his trainer with adoration without trying to question why he didn't put him back inside the ball, but in hindsight, he was glad Red made that decision. All this time alone in the ball had been tiresome.

He was about to hop off the table when another boy; auburn-haired, slightly taller, and with a cockier and more self-centered expression than Red, approached the two. He was frowning, as if Red had chosen exactly what he had planned to. The boy walked right next to Red and pressed the front button on one of the two Pokéballs left on the research table.

"I'll take this one, then," he said with a smirk as one of Charmander's long-time friends, Squirtle the blue turtle, popped out of her Pokéball. When she was done adjusting her eyes to the light in the room, she and Charmander met each other's eyes and smiled in glee at each other. They had been chosen!

The auburn-haired boy followed Red's move and shrunk Squirtle's Pokéball before both boys turned to the professor for more advice. Charmander wasn't listening to anything they were saying, and instead turned to Squirtle to talk to her.

"Isn't this fantastic?" he asked after he had gotten her attention. "Finally we were chosen! This waiting has been driving me crazy, what about you?"

"Oh definitely," Squirtle agreed with a wide smile. She looked as though she was fighting the urge to jump up and down and scream in delight. "I'm just so glad he chose me, you know? I mean, I didn't really expect to be chosen, since, well, I'm a turtle, but here I am: out of my ball and ready to face the world!"

Charmander chuckled a bit before replying. "Yeah, who'd have thought, right? Just imagine, we're all going on different adventures, and then maybe we'll meet each other again when we're all grown up!"

"All of us?" Squirtle's smile faded slightly, and she sounded uncertain. She looked to her right and left, as if searching for something or someone, and then glanced back at Charmander again. "Then where's Bulbasaur?"

They both automatically looked up at the last Pokéball on the table, and then around in the lab. There were only two people in the room besides the professor and his aides, and no one seemed to be arriving to take the spot of the third trainer. Bulbasaur the green seed would be left all alone in the lab. Charmander looked back down at Squirtle, who seemed equally concerned.

"Well, my dad did say that we might not all get chosen," she said, still looking up on the table. "What do you think? You think she'll ever get out?"

Charmander was doubtful, but didn't want to believe what he really thought would happen, so he said: "I'm sure the professor will let her out of there if no one comes around," and smiled hopefully.

Suddenly, Charmander saw that Red had turned around from the Professor and was calling to him. He looked back at Squirtle and gave her a wave before following his new friend. Red was standing in the middle of the lab with his arm reached out as if to hold someone's hand. Charmander had only just reached him and the two of them begun walking outside when he heard Squirtle's trainer shout from behind.

"Wait, Red!" He paused to let Red turn around again. "Let's check out our Pokémon. Ya know, to see how strong they are off the bat." He grinned proudly. "Come on, I'll take you on!"

Red adjusted his position as the auburn-haired boy pushed Squirtle out to battle. Charmander looked around and wondered if this was really a safe place to be having a fight. Couldn't they accidentally break something valuable in the lab if they weren't careful? Before he could think about it further, though, Red tapped his shoulder and gestured him to go for it. Not doubting his trainer's decision, Charmander did just that.

"Oh for Pete's sake, Blue…" the professor sighed. Charmander assumed that 'Blue' was the auburn-haired boy's name. "So pushy, as always."

The professor was obviously hinting that Blue had always gotten his way with everybody. Now why did he do that? Did he know the boy? Whatever the case, Charmander took a few steps forwards and before too long, he and Squirtle were only a few inches away from each other. They both frowned but quickly grinned at how silly it was that they, two Pokémon that had grown up together since level one (now on level five), were competing against each other.

Squirtle winked at her opponent and whispered out of the side of her mouth: "Go easy on me, will ya?" She grinned stupidly, as if to tell him that this was only a practice fight they wouldn't have to repeat. Charmander got the hint right away and winked back with a smirk. "Right back at you."

And so, the fight began. Charmander already knew that at such a low level, he would only know two attacks: a damaging move and a defensive move, but since Squirtle was equally low on both levels and attacks, he didn't worry about this not being a fair game. Knowing he was faster than her, Charmander reached out his arm and gave Squirtle a nice Scratch. She winced a bit and backed off, rubbing the spot on her face where he had scratched her. She then grinned and sprinted forward, giving him a nice Tackle to the ground. At the very touch, Charmander could feel she had hit a critical spot on his body, and so it took him some time to stand back up again.

"Attagirl!" shouted Blue in the background. Charmander paid no attention to him and instead rushed towards Squirtle to give her another Scratch. She took the hit, and to his surprise, she didn't attack him back right away, but instead decided to Whip her Tail at him, causing him to lose focus for a moment. After his next attack, Squirtle's Tackle hit harder than it should have, so Charmander had to think fast if he didn't want to lose this battle. He gathered up some strength and launched himself at her with his claws, accidentally hitting her eye in the process.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!" he exclaimed, and really meant it. This was supposed to be a harmless fight, so he promised himself not to get so caught up in it as it went on. Squirtle nodded and grinned, one eye squinting and full of tears.

"'Sokay, buddy!" she shouted back as she prepared for another attack. Charmander wasn't sure if it was because of his natural speed or because of Squirtle's eye, but her next Tackle missed, causing her to ram into one of the machines in the lab. Her power wasn't too great, though, so there was no harm done.

Knowing it would be unfair to attack his friend while she was still down, Charmander waited until Squirtle was back on her feet and ready for the next turn before he prepared his claws for yet another Scratch. This time, though, he was the one who missed, as Squirtle simply grabbed his arm in mid-air and Tackled him to the ground from there. Charmander could tell that his health was running low; he was breathing more heavily and he could hear his own heart pound in his eardrums. Nevertheless, he tried to hit Squirtle one more time, managing to somehow stretch his arm up to put damage on her shell while still lying on the ground.

He stood up again to meet her eye-contact, and the two friends grinned at each other again as their respective trainers urged them to attack. Squirtle went for another Tackle while Charmander aimed for a good spot to Scratch. They met mid-way, and hit each other at the exact same time. Squirtle had Tackled him straight in the shin, while he had scratched her shoulder with more power than he intended to. A sharp pain shot up his leg as he groaned and held up his knee to rub his shin, almost losing his balance in the process. He turned to see Squirtle lying on her stomach, panting, with seemingly no intention of standing up. Feeling a little guilt sting his stomach, Charmander walked up to her and reached out a hand to help her stand up – being a turtle; that ought to be hard.

"Thanks," she said as she accepted his help and slowly stood up again. She looked at him, and then at herself. "Wow, we took quite a beating, huh?" She gestured to his shin, which was beginning to show a visible bruise.

Charmander looked down on his own body before examining Squirtle's, glad to know that she wasn't as hurt as he'd thought she was. "Heh, yeah, we may have gone a little overboard," he said sheepishly as he eyed the Scratch marks on Squirtle's shoulder. "You gonna be okay?"

Squirtle looked at her shoulder and then brushed herself off. "I'll be fine. Besides, I have Blue to take care of me now, so I might as well get to him and heal up," she said and then reached out for a handshake. Charmander took it and they shook hands before Squirtle slowly approached her trainer. Charmander did the same. Red had knelt down on the floor and had his arms open to congratulate Charmander on his very first win.

Blue, however, was completely stunned. As Squirtle came to his side, he looked at her in disgust, it seemed. She cuddled up to his leg, and he picked her up, still with that same shocked expression on his face. "Unbelievable," he sighed. "I picked the wrong Pokémon!"

Charmander could see Squirtle's happy face completely melt off, now knowing how disappointed her trainer was. Didn't Blue know the two of them knew each other? That this was just a silly practice fight for the two of them that they would never have to go through again? Charmander looked up at Red, who looked just as surprised as he did. Normally, Charmander's mother had told him, when a trainer lost a battle, they accepted the defeat and vowed to get better. Blue seemed far away from accepting the fact that he had lost, though. He frowned at the blue turtle in front of him and put it down before looking at Red and the professor again.

"Okay. Okay, alright," he said and raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, I'll go and make my Pokémon battle to toughen it up. Red," he nodded towards Red, "gramps," he did the same to the professor, "smell ya later!" And with that he strutted out of the research lab, with a sad-looking Squirtle following stat. Before going out the door, she turned around to give Charmander one last look, with an expression that basically said: this isn't how I pictured it…

Red just stood perfectly still, having clearly not expected such a behavior from Blue. He patted Charmander on the head, looked at him straight in the eyes, and simply said: "Don't worry, little guy. I won't belittle you like that." He then stood up and walked up to the professor, who was confirmed to be Blue's grandfather, and shook his hand, obviously thanking him for giving him the opportunity to become a trainer. He picked up the now shrunken Pokéball on his belt, and contemplated over whether he should return Charmander into it or not. The lizard only watched; he trusted Red to the fullest, and even if he'd tell him to return to the abysmal dark room that was the Pokéball, he would do it for him. To his surprise, though, Red shook his head and put the ball back in its place.

"You know what?" he said as he looked at Charmander once again. "You look like you could use some fresh air. Come on. Let's go exploring." He starting walking towards the front door and gestured his Pokémon to follow him. Still a little wounded from the battle, Charmander did exactly that, happy that his trainer seemed to understand the torment he had gone through inside the Pokéball while waiting for him. Red opened the door and waved to the professor. "Thanks again!" he said before he closed it again.

Filling his lungs with air, Charmander sniffed the outdoors for what felt like five minutes. This was it. He had finally been chosen by a trainer, and they were already going on an expedition.

He could hardly wait to see what adventures lay ahead.