Staring uninterestedly at the screen, the boy took notice of the announcer. "The red gyarados was witnessed again by the local fishermen yesterday, and as it disappeared into the huge Lake of Rage, our cameraperson Eddy Milton had captured some valuable footage of it. Let's have a few words with him."
"While not finding the gyarados after following its trail, we have got a few of its scales, and our scientists are hoping to find the cause of its unusual color and its connection with the lake. That's all Sherry, thank you."
"Thanks Eddy. Before concluding our program, we wish to report to all our Sinnoh fans that after years of studying pokemon in other regions, Professor Rowan has returned to his homeland to further continue his research. See you next week, same day, same time, on Pokemon Live!"
An expression of interest was seen on his face, the red gyarados, hmm…maybe I'll also see it one day with my own eyes.
Clicking the power button on his remote, the boy lazily rose up to change his clothes. After he got into his red shirt, blue jacket and other garments, he put on his lucky cap. Yes, it was a lucky cap, his grandfather had given it to him on his most recent birthday, and good things always happened when he wore it.
Meandering down the stairs to the living room, he noticed his mother getting some small package. "Good thing you're up Lucas, breakfast is almost ready."
"Okay mom, what are we having today?"
The woman smiled, "Your favorite, bacon with eggs and bread."
"But that's not my favorite, pasta is!" But the black haired boy stopped soon, as it was no use arguing with his mother.
As he sat down, he asked,"Hey mom, any calls from Barry today?"
The woman nodded and told him to have breakfast first. She was tired of her son running off to adventures with their neighbor's son, Barry Richards. As their fathers were, Lucas and Barry were very fast friends, from the young age of three. Each cared for the other as a brother, and they had gone into many adventures–and misadventures, but were best friends none the less.
As the boy neared to finish his meal, his mother told him that as always, Barry spoke too fast on the phone for her to comprehend properly, so she just stated that Lucas would wake up soon, and she would send him over. Rising up from his seat, Lucas washed his face headed over to the door while wrapping a scarf around his neck. "Bye mom, see you later."
As he went out, Lucas spread his sight across the huge garden. Barry's house was about half a mile away from his, so to be called neighbors were kind of weird, but their town, Twinleaf was never one of the most populated, as it was situated at the very end of the Sinnoh map, and news about it came up once in a blue moon.
Walking down the lane, Lucas met old lady Vera on the road. Her son was a scientist working in Veilstone, and boy, did she make people know it. But otherwise she was a kind lady, agreed Lucas, as she helped him many a time when he was in trouble.
Finally he reached Barry's house. It was very similar in size and shape to his own, painted light peach all over, with a large garden around it. As he reached their door, attempting to press the doorbell, BAM!
A blonde boy, about Lucas' age had swung open the door to himself crash headfirst into Lucas. He wore a striped shirt, and dark grey pants. He also wore a scarf around his neck, like Lucas. Both collided, falling on the ground like a dead Wobbuffet. Barry was the first to speak, "Hey Lucas, watch where you're going. Can't you ever walk with your eyes open?"
Lucas retorted, "Yeah, like you're to say. Its your fault, like always, that we've crashed."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, its always my fault, right? You're the Mr. Goody-two-shoes. Leave that, I charge you a million dollar fine for being late." Said Barry dusting himself.
"You and your fines, why did you call me here anyway? To bicker with you?"
Looking at him in the eye, Barry spoke up, "No, I've got very important news for you. You've heard about the red gyarados right? It lives in some Lake of Rage, which from what I've heard, is very similar to our Lake Verity. See the connection..."
Interrupting him, Lucas said, "Please Barry, tell me you're not thinking what I'm thinking."
"Yup! We two are going to capture some rare pokemon in Lake Verity and become famous! It's a foolproof plan. Come on." Without even hearing Lucas' response, he tugged his hand and ran off to Lake Verity.
"Leave my hand, I can run by myself." shouted Lucas on the top of his voice.
"Man, what is it with you? Aren't you excited that we can finally bring fame to our little town, hasn't it been our dream since childhood?"
"But..." Lucas paused himself. Barry is right. I always wanted to be known, but why am I not excited at all? I do not feel the slightest bit of enthusiasm, but rather, nervous. What is with me?
"We're here, finally."
Lucas was so lost in thought that he forgot that he was running all the time. It was time, yes, time for him to shine. So many years of patience had not gone to waste. Now I just have to find a rare pokemon and...Something struck like a bolt from the blue.
"Umm...Barry, you wouldn't happen to have any pokemon, would you?"
"Nope, why do you ask?"
"Why do you ask, eh? How in the world are we supposed to catch a pokemon when we don't have one to catch it!?"
"I never thought about that. Hey look there, who's that?"
The boys spotted two people having a talk. The elder man seemed to be in his early sixties, and was dressed in a formal coat, possessing a hat in his hands. He had bushy white hair with a mustache to match. The other was a girl, about the boys' age, with long black hair upon which was situated a knitted white cap. She wore a red skirt, with a matching red jacket.
"Professor, how do you like your return to Sinnoh? What do you plan to do in the future?"
"From what I've heard, the quantity of pokemon in Sinnoh is immense. I can't wait to get started. Say, what have you found here?"
"Nothing at all Professor, nothing. Except the ordinary pokemon, nothing is to be seen here."
The Professor looked sternly at his assistant, "Dawn, don't speak of pokemon like that. Most pokemon change from one form to another. This process is called "evolution". According to my studies, about 90% of all pokemon are related by evolution. It may occur as a form of maturity, or when the pokemon needs to quickly adapt to a given situation, it evolves. It's a way by which "incomplete" pokemon become more "complete". Understand? No pokemon can be defined as worthless. Even the weak magikarp evolves into the fearsome Gyarados. "
"Okay Professor Rowan, I'll never say that again. Sorry for my mistake."
On the other side, the boys were hiding in the bushes, eavesdropping into their conversation.
"Hey Lucas." whispered Barry.
"What?"
"That girl called that man "Professor Rowan". We don't have a professor in our town, so who is he?"
"Rowan –I've heard that name before? Where, where...got it." said Lucas, positioning his hand on his chin.
"Where?" Barry whispered back.
"Professor Rowan's a famous scientist who studied many years in other regions to learn about pokemon. Now he has returned to Sinnoh to further investigate about them. I've heard about him in Pokemon Live." said Lucas in response.
Changing the scene, Dawn uttered, "Professor, maybe we should get going. It's almost 7a.m. and we came here around 5, that too without breakfast."
The older man just nodded in agreement and both went on towards Sandgem town. Seeing this, both Barry and Lucas came out of hiding. "Man, I sure hope that Professor gives me some pokemon. Hey, what's that?" asked Barry pointing towards a brown object in the grass.
Lucas went on to have a closer look,"It seems like a suitcase. Maybe that professor left it here and later forgot about it. Let's return it"
"No, I say we open it and see what's inside. Maybe it has some rare pokemon." objected Barry.
Lucas shook his head, "Never, it's not ours, it belongs to the professor, and we should return it to him."
Barry sighed, "A look won't harm, would it?"
"I don't care. I'm going to return it right now, so out of my way."
"You're not the boss of me, I'll just have a look." insisted Barry, as he snatched it out of Lucas' hands.
Suddenly, both the boys heard a melodious voice, and gleaming eyes. It was coming from the center of the lake, and repeated itself again.
"Hear that Lucas, I'm sure it's a legendary pokemon." Barry said.
Trying to defy the fact, Lucas said, "Don't come to conclusions, it was probably just a common pokemon. By the way, give the suitcase back to me."
Just as Lucas was about to seize the case, he heard the high, clear call of a bird. When both turned around their heads to see, they saw several grey, starling like birds coming towards them. "Starrr...!" cried the winged creatures.
Both the boys had the same thought in their minds, "Run!" As they dashed away from the creatures, Barry cried, "Hey Lucas, why are they attacking us?"
"How should I know? We've done nothing to trouble them."
Not satisfied with the answer, Barry noticed another group of the same species heading towards them from the front. "Lucas, I'm opening the case. It may be the last option we have." said Barry, as he moved his hand to open the suitcase.
Lucas was too late to stop him from doing so, as they both ceased to run. Inside the case were three round, red and white balls, each labeled with a mark. Lucas gazed at all of them, "These are Pokeballs."
Barry grabbed one of them, "I don't care what they are, but they may be useful. I'm taking one, you take one too, its time for action." The one he had taken had a flame on its surface.
"But..." saying so Lucas saw all of the birds had caught up to them. There were six of them, all circling above their heads to attack. He felt his hand moving towards the first ball, the one with the leaf mark. "Guess there's really no other option." Saying so, Lucas threw his ball on the ground, and Barry followed. At once both the balls flung open, releasing white light which gradually started to reform itself.
The light from Barry's ball took the shape of an orange chimpanzee-like Pokémon, primarily a shade of orange, but with light yellow on its face, and other areas. In the area where it would have possessed a tail, was a bright orange-yellow flame. "Chim?" asked the surprised pokemon.
Close to it was a prominently green turtle like pokemon, covered by a brown little shell. Its head possessed a prominent jaw, and a sprout growing from the upper end. Unlike Barry's pokemon, it stood on all four of its legs.
By this time, both the pokemon had realized that they were in battle. The birds too seemed to notice the entrance of the new pokemon. This was proved as one of them charged down at the chimp, hoping to knock it out.
"Guess it'll be an eye for an eye," said Barry, "Attack!"
The reaction came faster than expected, as the orange chimp swiftly scuffed its opponent with its nails. The aerial creature had not expected this, but it quickly recovered to go back to its companions.
Again the birds charged down to assault the pokemon. This time Lucas commanded his pokemon, who shot forward at the birds. It was different from how the chimp had attacked, as it was rather slow in comparison. It seemed to prefer to defend rather than to dodge, and hit harder as well.
This scuffle carried on for sometime, until the birds started to retreat. They realized it was pointless fighting stronger pokemon, defeating them would be a hard task, and now and then they could be injured.
Barry, excited as ever, shouted in triumph, "Try attacking us again, you birdbrains."
Lucas however was observant; he noticed that all the birds went in different directions, not as a flock would, perhaps as if they were trying to flee from something, not them of course, but something bigger, and much stronger. But he too was happy that they got rid of the birds, and as well as because of the bond he had built up with the turtle. Looking at it, he said, "It was all thanks to you and your friend over there that we are safe now. If you hadn't been here, I can't imagine what we'd have been."
"I agree!" said Barry.
The two pokemon, probably understanding their speech, cried in a joyous voice.
Just then, the girl they had seen earlier arrived there, muttering to herself, "It was so silly of Professor to forget his suitcase here; he usually doesn't forget his things."
Then she set her eyes on Lucas, Barry, the open suitcase, the two pokemon. She had only one conclusion on this, "Thieves!"
The boys seemed to take notice of her for the first time, with a reaction, "Thieves! Where are they?"
"You malicious criminals, don't try to act all innocent, after kidnapping both Turtwig and Chimchar, do you think I'll spare you?" said the girl, charging towards them. Oh, there is Piplup's pokeball. I'll teach these thieves not to mess with me!
"Listen lady, I think you are misunderstood. We were just..." started Lucas, as the girl angrily shouted, "Kidnapping innocent pokemon to do God knows what with them! Go, Piplup! We need to teach someone a lesson about stealing! Use peck on the red capped thief."
But to her surprise, Turtwig took the blow for Lucas, its hard shell canceling the power of the peck.
Barry retaliated, "We're not thieves. We were attacked by some wild birds when we..."
The girl seemed shocked, "Using naïve and young pokemon to attack wild birds, oh, I'll never forgive you, never!" She was about to order her Piplup to attack again when,
"That's enough Dawn, you can stop."
All eyes went to the large figure coming out the narrow path. It was Professor Rowan, who looked at all the children with disappointment.
"Dawn, I think it was not necessary at all to attack these boys out of chauvinism. They used the pokemon to defend themselves, I'm sure of that, as Turtwig took a blow for the red-capped lad, and no hostage would do that for its kidnapper. Am I right, boys?"
Barry looked pleased, "Yes Professor, we came here to look for rare pokemon, and saw one too. But then..."
He was interrupted by Lucas, "It may have been some common pokemon..."
"Yeah, as if all common pokemon have gleaming eyes and very melodious voices. As I was saying, after that we were attacked by some wild bird pokemon, but Chimchar and Turtwig here helped us out. Hardly had we rested when this wild girl started calling us thieves and then attacked us." finished Barry.
"Wild?" asked Dawn with a spiteful look.
"Hmm..um.. yes, it is possible that may have happened. But two young lads without any pokemon, entering a place hoping to capture rare pokemon, I can't think of what the world will be if there were people like you all around." scolded the professor.
"We're sorry Professor, it was all my fault. I was the one with the idea of capturing rare pokemon, my friend here is blameless." apologized Barry.
"Well that's big of you, say, do you love pokemon?" he asked.
Lucas replied, "Yes of course, we really love pokemon."
"Are you sure?"
Lucas looked bothered, "You may ask us a hundred times, but the answer will be same. We really care for pokemon."
Barry looked at him in surprise, he had never seen Lucas so confident; he was always the boy who would be at his best behavior with adults, always polite.
But Professor Rowan seemed satisfied with his answer, "I see. Return the pokemon to their pokeballs and follow me."
Both Lucas and Barry recalled the pokemon and handed over the balls to Dawn, who put them back into the suitcase and followed the professor.
They had walked for a while, when Barry whispered to Dawn, "Where is he taking us?"
Dawn, although rather offended with Barry, answered, "We're going to his lab in Sandgem town."
Sandgem town was to the north eastern side of Twinleaf town, about a mile away, but it was more populated and known than Twinleaf. They soon reached his lab. It was a large white house, with marbles all around, and a relatively large garden near it. As they entered through the front door, they noticed several men and women in white lab coats, busy in doing their scientific work.
Rowan reached his working desk and signaled the boys to sit down on the chairs.
He proceeded to say, "Pokemon, our world is full of them; they come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities. Some are common, others are rare. Wherever you go you will likely run into these marvelous creatures. We humans share a close bond with them that binds the two of us together. Some people train pokemon for battles and pit their skill against others. Some work hard to raise pokemon as pets and friends. But regardless of how we interact with them, pokemon will always continue to be our partners in this world. My work is to collect information about these pokemon for the betterment of mankind. For years I have been studying in other regions with my colleagues about pokemon. Now as I have returned to my homeland, I would like to gather data about pokemon here too. But it is not possible for me to go round the whole region gathering data about pokemon, so I would like the help of some capable and willing youngsters. The three pokemon, Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup were meant for these chosen trainers."
Barry interrupted him, "So what does that have to do with us?"
"I propose that you and your friend here help me in my quest. You will gain information for me, as well as fight gyms or do other things around the region. So how about it?"
Barry readily jumped in joy, while Lucas asked, "So you mean we can have Turtwig and Chimchar?"
"Yes, of course, after the bond you have built with them, I think its fitting for you to have them. Release them here if you like." He signaled Dawn to bring his suitcase. After she had brought it, he opened it and gave the pokemon's pokeball to them. Both released the pokemon. The pokemon seemed happy seeing their brief masters, as they cried in joy.
"I have yet another special thing for you, this," said Professor Rowan as he showed a red electronic device in his hand, "Is a pokedex. It is an invaluable tool for trainers. It gives information about the pokemon seen by its camera, and records information about new ones. To better understand it, use it on your pokemon."
Barry nearly snatched it out of Rowan's hand, "How do we use it?"
"Just point it towards the desired pokemon and press the red button."
Barry did as he was told and pointed it towards Chimchar,
Chimchar: The Chimp pokemon
Gender: Male
Type: Fire
Ability: Blaze
Description: The gas made in its stomach ignites on its rear. When it is in bad shape the flame weakens.
Lucas took his as well and pointed it at Turtwig,
Turtwig: The Tiny Leaf pokemon
Gender: Male
Type: Grass
Description: It bathes in the sunlight and undergoes photosynthesis. Its shell is made up of hardened soil.