This story was born with several pokemon influences, my game on the Fire and Leaf games, the old, old comic books and all the pokemon artists on the internet. (Some of their works are amazing).
This story was written from boredom, the insistent voice of my little poke-mad cousin and my own little piece ofmind where pokemon roam (being sixteen it's not something I'm proud of).
Pokemon: Kei of the God Pokemon
Chapter One: Dreams don't come true
I tried again I fell again to find out for myself
It hurts for a life time
Your picture rests there for a lifetime
And for a lifetime I will dream of you
I prepare a mantle inside of my heart
With your photograph to sooth the scars
Unable to be erased unable to be forgotten
As I grow older I will dream
-Zao, The Dreams that don't Come True
There was nothing about that day that would have given Kei any idea of something special happening. The day before had seen the Danna family home packed with family members for Kei's fourteenth birthday, which the family had planned as a surprize for the youngest female member of the family; and it was a pleasant surprise that she had needed for some time. Kei had recently finished treatment for tubercolousis, which was very common on her father's side of the family. When Kei contracted it, it had scared her parents because it came on so suddenly and violently, she had to be rushed to the hospitol in Viridian City to get proper treatment. Recovery was tense for the Danna family, it wasn't clear if she would make it, that's how severe it was with Kei. Somehow though, she pulled through. It had left her lungs fragile though, she had to be careful in cold weather, so going on a pokemon journey was out of the question as far as her parents were concerned. Kei had always loved pokemon, every type, every form, everything about them; in just one night, when she began a coughing fit and bringing up blood from her painful lungs, her dream of becoming a pokemon master was shattered. Kei was a warm-hearted creature, everyone loved her, so news of her not comming back from the hospital didn't travel well and for a while an air of tension hung in Pallet Town's atmosphere like a digusting smell until she returned, fragile though she was. She was anunusual girl, she had grown her grey-ash coloured hair to the point that it reached the small of her back, quite often many people mistook it as being silver in colour, her eyes were a deep blue, but had many flecks of grey in them. She wasn't exactly tall for her age, but gave the impression of being tall because of her slender form and long limbs and torso, she was slender mostly because she had lost weight over the year as a result of her infection. Her skin went well with her hair, it was pale and soft for not being very exposed to the elements. Amongst her many talents and abilities, there was prehaps one flaw that had proven many timesto be both her undoing and her strength, her raw determination. While it had indeed played a big part in her recovery, it had also perhaps been why her condition became so critical to begin with. Determined to believe that the first time she had woken and tasted a hint of blood in her mouth that she had simply bit her tonuge in her sleep, or when her lungs got painful her body was just protesting at the position she was sitting in; she had let it pass her mind until she could not push it any longer. However, that had all passed and the weather today was warm and sunny, as it often was in Summer. Kei was outside with her friends and their pokemon in the new park that Professor Oak had funded to build just outside his lab for the energetic children which enjoyed watching the pokemon in his lab field from afar; a particular favorite was Ash Ketchum's tauro herd. As Kei, Sophie and Maya sat on the swings they watched Ryan and Hikru play football with their pokemon; Hikru's nidoran, Ryan's pikachu, and Maya's growlithes, Sophie's totodile was in her bedroom getting rest because she was sick. Kei couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous of her friends, they all had pokemon of their own while she had to be content on helping to care for her mother's annoying pidgey, Pid. "Are you okay Kei?" Sophie asked from the swing on her right side.
"I'm fine, just a bit jealous of you guys," Kei confessed to herfriend. "I can't go on a journey because of my lungs. It's not fair!"
"Why not just ask your parents to have a pokemon as a pet?" Maya asked
"Because Pid would torment the poor thing," Kei replied "you know what he's like!"
"If you're talking about Pid, that thing is not a pidgey! He's a beedrill in feathers!" Ryan said as he and the others walked over, out of breath because of their football match.
"He's not that bad." Sophie said "He's more like a scyther." One ofMaya's growlithes howled in agreement for he had been a subject to Pid's often eccentric behavior. The children laughed and earned some glances from nearby people who were walking by. One such person, who very grateful for the outburst of laughter,was Kei's grandmother who approached the children and asked what they were laughing about.
"Oh, yes. That damn pidgey, how your mother ever trained him I'll never know. He's worse then your grandpa's snorlax." after a few more seconds of laughter the children and the old woman began to walk out of the park and towards Kei's house, which was nextdoor to the Ketchum family home. The, so far, unbeaten pokemon master Ash, had watched Kei grow and saw great potential in her, even after her infection he could still see the fire that burned in those blue greyish eyes and secretly held her in high respect to become the new pokemon master; of course he didn't let that be known. "Kei, could you come inside now, you have to get ready for the party."
"Alright, see you guys later then." Kei asked turning to her friends.
"Yeah, we have to get ready for tonight as well." Ryan said, as the other's behind him tried desperately to keep staright faces and succeeding for the most part, Kei just ignored what she did see. "We'll see you tonight, Kei." They waved her goodbye before she was led into the house by Grandma Danna. The Kei home was an average size house for the Pallet Town, but Mr. Danna had turned an old storage room into a spare bedroom, giving them plenty of room for one of Kei's friends to stay over. Her parents and Grandpa Danna were sat at the dining table and Pid was flapping around Mrs. Danna's head acting like the mad pokemon he was.
"Finally, you came home!" her mother said as Kei said down next to her. "We had to send Grandma out to find you."
"Sorry, I forgot." Suddenly, Pid flew straight at her and she barely had time to duck, causing the bird pokemon to hit the wall behind her. He quickly regained himself and fluttered onto her shoulder. "What do you want, you nutter?" Pid pecked her nose gently in reply.
"We're going to the Lab tonight, for your party, so you'd best start getting ready." her father said. "Quickly or we'll be late."
"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Kei said rushing upstairs, Pid flying closely behind cawing orders at her. Her family waited a few moments before talking.
"Has Professor Oak got him ready?" her mother asked
"Yes, the squirtle I foundwounded is better now. She's going to love him." her grandpa said. There was suddenly the loudsound of something falling over upstairs, Pid's terrified cries and Kei's harsh voice calling out the guilty party.
"PID!"
The Danna family were on their way to the lab and Kei still had no idea what they were planning. Sophie and Maya joined the procession when the family past their houses and Maya's growlithes followed; Totodile was feelingmuch better but Sophie insisted on carrying her to the party. Reaching the lab, Kei was met by at least half the town and their pokemon, all wishing her 'good lucks' and 'happy birthdays' of course. Ash, Misty and Pikachu were amongst the first to greet her, along with Gary Oak, his sister May and Professor Oak. Throughout the afternoon there was all manner of entertainment, mostly in pokemon form, but some came in the form of ex-Rocket members Jessie, her husband James and their talking meoth. It was around nine o' clock when she realised why the party was held at the lab; it would be a birthday she was never going to forget. Professor Oak called for everyone's attention.
"Right everybody, we all know why we're here, but first, cake!" The birthday song was suddenly heard and Kei was led to a table, on top of which, was a birthday cake in the shape of a squirtle with fourteen candles burning away.
"Make a wish Kei! It might come true!" Hikru said after singing. (('Yeah right, you know my wish won't come true.')) Kei thought, but she did so anyway. Just to give her friend peace of mind. After, she blew out the candlesthe room exploded into applause and more cheers.
"Happy birthday, Kei." came three voices at once, along with three pokeballs being placed on the table in front of her. There was a somewhat stunned scilence in which her father, Ash and Gary looked at each other, their hands stilloutstretched near the pokeballs they had put on the table. Everyone's attention then went to Kei, who just stared at the three red and white objects in front of her, stunned and unable to beleive what was in front of her. Kei then reached out to grasp the pokeball Gary had set down, then she gathered the other two and operated them. Three red beams of light formed into three pokemon on the floor beside her chair, a charmander, a squirtle and a bulbasaur. The three looked at each other and then to Kei, the three basic pokemon took only a few seconds before realising that she was the one who they had been told about, they cheered their own versions of happy birthday and lunged at her, knocking her off her chair and onto the floor. If Kei felt anypain she didn't notice it, she was too happy to feel anything else other than the three pokemon hugging her chest and stomach. All around others cheered and her father, Ash and Gary chatted embrassingly with themselves, telling the others how they had planned to give her the pokemon of their choice without knowing that the others were thinking the same.
As the night drew on, Kei was told that her parents had decided to let Quill go on pokemon journey after her last check-up with the hospital doctor. The check-up revealed that Kei's lungs, though scarred, were strong enough to stand the areas of travel she would have to face; and they knew on their own that Kei was determined enough to survive on her own. As news of the decision spread about Pallet Town, how the Danna's were going to let their daughter go on a journey if she could get a pokemon it eventually fell on the ears of Ash, who had immediately captured a bulbasaur from the surrounding wilds and told it that it was to belong to another trainer. The news then reached the lab, where Gary was now helping to run things, an old Charizard of a friend, had given to a breeding center for rare pokemon had fathered some charmanders,the owner of the father, had asked if Gary was interested in a few, Garygot one for Kei. Unknown to both of them that her father had already decided to give her a squirtle Grandpa Danna had found wounded a few weeks ago. Since all the pokemon seemed to be getting on with each other and more importantlywith Kei, and since Kei was going to start her journey late, they allowed her to keep all of them. It was clear that immediately the three pokemon and Kei wouldn't have any trouble bonding, even strong-willedBulbasaur and timidCharmander got on great, even if Charmander was a bit of a clutz with his tail. After eating the first cuttings of the cake the party began to die and people began leaving, around midnight, the party was wrapped up all together and Kei ran on ahead with her 'boys' following. When they got home Mrs. Danna put her foot down on Pid who tried to attack the unfamilar pokemon as Kei and the boys ran upstairs, shouting goodnight as they went to her bedroom. Still too excited to go to sleep the pokemon and master sat up and played games; with a very protective Pid listening from the closed door.
A week later
"Bulbasaur! Razor Leaf!"
"Blow the leaves away with gust!" the sounds of a harsh wind sounded from the back garden of the Danna house. "Quick attack!" the cry of a hurt bulbasaur was heard but he quickly recovered, waiting for his trainer's next command. From the fence, Ash and Misty watched with facination, they knew Kei was smart with pokemon types, so why use Bulbasaur, a ground type, against Pid, a pidgey... even if Pid's type could be argued over. (('What are you doing?')) Ash thought to himself. Both Bulbasaur and Pid were tired, they huffed and puffed deeply trying to get more air into their lungs.
"Tackle!" Bulbasuar charged, his claws digging into the ground.
"Sand storm!"
"Jump now and pin him with a vine whip!"
"WHAT!" Bulbasaur jumped as high as could, missing the sandstorm and grabbing Pid's wings in a vinewhip, forcing the pidgey to his back on the ground, Bulbasaur above him, yet to land on top of the struggling bird pokemon.
"Finish this Bulbasaur! Razor Leaf!" Unable to blow the attack away, the sharp leaves hit their mark. The pained cries of a pidgey coming from somewhere in the midst of the billowing leaves. Once the attack finished, Bulbasaur landed heavily on top of Pid, knocking out whatever fight was still in the pidgey. Bulbasaur spun back to his master's side, waiting for the sand storm to pass, no one made a sound and Bulbasaur stared intently into it, trying to see if the pidgey was up, even after such an attack. However, the sand storm disappeared and revealed a fainted Pid. Mrs. Danna imediately went to the aid of her feathered pokemon and picked him up. Bulbasaur had long since jumped into Kei's arms with Squirtle and Charmander at her feet cheering for him too. Ash was clapping loudly from the fence as Pikachu wondered how on earth she came with that stragegy. Her mother came over to congradulate her daughter. Kei gave the fainted Pid a kiss for being a good sport and Bulbasaur gave his own thanks. Pid let out a quiet caw of 'don't mention it, I'll beat you next time' as Mrs. Danna went inside to find the can ofpotion for her loyal pokemon.
"Kei! Kei!" Kei turned her head towards the sound and saw Ash at the fence, she hadn't noticed him come and watch the battle, she had been so engrossed in it, waiting for the proper chance to execute her plan with Bulbasaur, it worked wonders on the wild pidgey, four of which she had captured along with a couple of rattata. She went over to him, Bulbasaur still in her arms, looking very smug with himself. Charmander and Squirtle were wrestling with each other now, having grown tired of the aloof look in Bulbasaur's eyes.
"Hello Mr. Ketchum." Kei said
"You don't need to be formal with me, not after that spectacular battle." Kei blushed a little. "How did you come up with that?"
"I didn't, Bulbasaur did, or well, he came up with the evading sand attack part." Kei explained "He did it the first time we faced a pidgey, and I just added the vine whip and razor leaf combo."
"That's a clever strategy." Mrs. Ketchum said, (('Wow, you're getting big Mrs. Ketchum!')) Kei thought, but kept it to herself. Mrs. Ketchum, or Misty, as she encouraged Kei to call her, was six months pregnant with the couple's first baby. She was a friendly, red-headed woman, who used to be a gym leader. Technically, she still was, but she spent most of her time with Ash in Pallet Town now than with her three sisters in Cerulean City. "I'll have to give you a battle one day."
"I'll wait patiently, Misty." Kei said. Ash's hand suddenly came out and stroked the top of bulbasaur's head.
"You're raising him well Kei." Ash praised "What do you feed him?" Bulbasaur decided to jump down and joined Charmander and Squirtle in their wrestling match.
"At the moment premium Bulbasaur feed with some apples and berries, I'm attempting to find my own recipe for feed however."
"Well, when you get on your way, I susgest you stop by at the Pewter pokemon gym, you'll find a man called Brock there, he's a pokemon breeder and a good one too. Go see him, tell him you're a friend of Ketchum and he might give you some pointers." Ash said.
"Pewter pokemon gym, man called Brook," Ash quickly corrected her mistake "friend of Ketchum, okay, I'll remember." Kei said, her face suddenly fell abit "If I ever get going." Ash and Misty looked at her funny. "I told them that we'd go when it felt right. I want them to feel secure before just taking off into the unknown, I want to get their levels up as well."
"For a week?" Ash said, Misty moved away to help Ash's mother cook.
"I know, long isn't it. But it just doesn't feel right to go at the minute." Kei said, looking over to her boys who were still playing around. Ash was silent for a bit. Pikachu looked up at him from the fence and understood what that concentrated look on his face was; he was about to give one of his rare but oh so true and meaningful lectures. Kei was about to be part of history.
"Kei," he waited for her to look back to him "Kei, sometimes a person just has to do something without knowing anything." He could see Kei was listening closely to him and continued "Sometimes, it's better to just go, go and don't look back at what you could've done better or what you did before hand, face everything as it comes and never regret it." Kei was still listening quietly. "I had a caterpie once, I raised to become one of the most powerful buterfree ever seen. One day, I had to let him go, he found someone to love. Saying goodbye was hard, we had grown so close, it hurt so much to see him disappear over the horizen, but I know we both made choices that were right. What I'm trying to say is that... sometimes, the only decisions you can make are the decisions that cause you the most pain. A primeape also chose to leave, but he's now a top pokemon boxing champ, and a charizard, I found him as an abandoned charmander in the rain, as a charmeleon and charizard I found it hard to control him becuase I wasn't his original trainer, but when he decided to leave to live with other charizards I had to run, I couldn't look back at him because I knew I wouldn't have been able to leave him behind. I didn't look back, not even when he roared." His eyes had glazed over when he mentioned his old charizard, it had obviously meant alot to him. "Do you see what I mean?" Kei thought hard, knowing he would know if she didn't at least do that.
"Yes, I think... " Ash was looking at something behind the young girl. Turning she saw Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur look at her; they had heard the story too and each face held the same message. We want to go...
The rest of the day was spent visiting their favorite hang outs, the cave in the cliff by the beach, the waterfall in the forest, the forest itself and the laboratory park, overlooking Ash's tauro herd. Tommorow, they would leave, Kei's mother was getting everything ready for her while she had insisted Kei go spend time with friends. Her boys could understand her reluctance to leave, they had grown to love the warm sea and summer days, but they knew that like them, Kei was burning for adventure. And while they share that feeling, nothing would stop them in reaching the top. They were all sat on top of the highest cliff of Pallet Town's coast, looking over the horizen, Squirtle rocking in his shell, Bulbasaur listening to the wind and Charmander's flaming tail casting a yellow glow as the sky began to turn to a dark red and purple. Knowing that in a year or so, they would return to this same spot, stronger, harder, wiser; ready to battle at Indigo Plateau.
When morning came, her boys got ready with her. Squirtle gave himself and Bulbasaur a shower with water gun in the bath tub and Charmander had a dry wash with a damp brush over his tough, red scales and yellow belly as Kei stripped from her nightwear and showered, taking time to collect her thoughts she watched as the water ran over her slender body and followed the faint grooves caused by her operation scars and muscle definition. They all looked their best as they went downstairs, Kei was dressed in a T-shirt with a flareon design on it and baggy shorts which covered her knees with pockets wherever there was room, handy for a traveller. She wore running socks which came to her ankles, when she had her trusty running shoes on you couldn't tell if she was wearing socks or not. Breakfast wasn't the quiet affair Kei thought it would be, as her aunts and uncles and many cousins were still in Pallet Town they wanted to wish her luck too and see her off as well. Pid, did seem to be very quiet though, as he sat on her shoulder and sidled right up to the left side of her face. She wore her hair so that the hair on top of her head was in a pony tail, while the hair underneath was allowed to hang down like normal. Every so often, Pid would peck gently at a part of her fringe she had platted and tied with a small bead which hung over her left eye. At ten o' clock, she was ready; at the entrance of Pallet Town there was a small gathering of friends and neighbours, including Maya, Sophie, Hikru and Ryan. Ash and Misty was also there, Gary and Oak, Jessie, James and Meoth.Maya's growlithe's howled as Kei and her family drew near. Sophie was the first to hug her good bye.
"I'll miss you."
"This feels hard enough already, I don't want you crying. I already have a sad pidgey on my conscience." Kei said, sqeezing her friend's shoulders. Maya was next with Ryan and Hikru behind her.
"You promised me and my growlithes a re-match remember? Don't forget." Maya said, giving Kei an equally powerful hug to rival Sophie's.
"I won't forget."
"What about us?" came Hikru's voice "Don't forget us."
"I won't forget anyone." Maya meanwhile kneeled down to give her best friends pokemon a hug each.
"You look after her, she can be a bit big-headed at times but we love her." the boys gave her reasuring calls and then forced the brown haired girl into another hug with all of them. At the time Ash and Gary came up to Kei, each was carrying something. Ash was the first to speak with her.
"Remember what I told you, Kei." Ash said "I want to face you at Indigo."
"I'll be there, don't worry, and bring your best pokemon." Kei said with a confident smirk; down by her knees her boys spoke outwith herand puffed out their chests, rather difficult for Bulbasaur being a quadruped. Ash smiled and handed what was in his hand to Kei. It looked similar to a watch, but Kei knew better, it was the latest versus seeker. It could automatically record people you had already faced to a private database within the seeker and you could talk with those people, not only just summon them to battle. Kei imediately tied it to her wrist and thanked Ash for his gift. Gary stepped up next and handed her a pokedex and some pokeballs to get her started, despite the other twenty ultraballs her father had placed in her backpack. "Thanks Gary."
"Don't worry, I just want you kick Ash's butt for me." he said with a smirk of his own "You will kick his butt for me won't you?"
"You bet ya!" Kei said. Gary nodded approvingly. Everyone said their goodbyes, with a hug from a few young children every now and then. Even a couple of hugs for each of the boys. Eventually, the list of goodbyes ran out, it was time to go. After a hug for her mother and father, and of course, Grandpa and Grandma Danna. Just when she was about to go, a familar feathered creature landed on her head and cooed. Pid settled on her shoulder and then allowed Kei to pick him up. "What do you want... you... nutter?" Kei said, barely containing her tears. Pid sat silently in her hands for a moment, before reaching up and pecking her nose gently. Kei thought for one moment she could see moisture in the pidgey's eyes; if there was, she didn't find out. Pid let out a loud caw and forced himself from Kei's arms to fly away in the direction of the ocean, he didn't look back at her (('Pid...')). She forced back tears of her own, put a smile on her face and said the final good bye. Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, looked in the direction of where their ageing friend had flown off to. If Pid found it so hard to say good bye, Kei must have meant very much to him. (('We promise, we'll take good care of Kei. We'll bring back home safely.')) the boys said to themselves. Pid couldn't hear, but they still made the promise to him. Kei finally got going, her boys following and her rattata and pidgey ready in five pokeballs around her waist. As the sounds of Pallet Town gave way to the wild noises the route to Viridian CityKei found herself thinking back to the time she thought she would naver be able to this. She now had her boys and had caught five pokemon already, it wasn't much, but it proved that she had what it took to catch pokemon.
The path to Viridian would take a day by foot, not that she was complaining. It was miracle she was even here in the first place with the faint light of Charmander's tail lighting the way for them as omnious black clouds and the night drew in over them as evening fell. Pallet Town and the people she had known for a long time were behind her now.It was in this moment, that Kei felt something many never felt in their lifes. Just how small and insignifcant she was, it felt as if something had happened, something had pointed at her and said "Right, you can have your dream." She explained why she was giggling to herself when Squirtle looked up at her and they all had a good laugh at it, but her dream had came true. And she had no idea, just how right she was.
